The Tscherning family was undoubtedly the best-known family in Europe to originate from Bolesławiec. Today, none of them live in our town, and, moreover, studies and articles devoted to the town rarely mention them. The Tschemingowie were Germans, although the roots of this family were most probably purely Slavic. This is indicated by the oldest surviving forms of their surname: SCHERNING (1402), CZERNEG (1450), CZERNING (1463), and ZCERNIG (1469). Flemish origins of the family have not been ruled out either.
The family’s progenitor is considered to have been MERTEN TSCHERNING (1430–c. 1530), the owner of a mill mentioned in F. Holstein’s “Chronicle.” His descendant was Martin Tscherning (born 1520), recorded in the records of the University of Wittenberg as “Magister Martinus Schernigk vom Buntzel,” later archdeacon in Krosno nad Odrą. His son, also named Martin, worked at the Bolesławiec school and taught Martin Opitz, S. Alischer, and A. Senftleben Latin. This branch of the family produced Johannes von Tscherning (1557–1609), a Bolesławiec writer and notary, ennobled by Emperor Rudolf II on 5 July 1589. Interestingly, he lived in a townhouse at the corner of the Market Square and Kościelna Street. An epitaph was erected in his honor on the southern wall of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to the right of the sundial, between two damaged tombstones. Importantly, it is one of only two surviving memorials to the Tschemingowie. The inscription on the slab reads: Siste viator. Joannis Tscherningii civis et a secretis Reipublicae Boleslaviensis notarii publici ossa hic recubant. Is in vita profuit omnibus, nocuit nemini. Eum amaverunt bonae Musae, suspexerunt viri probi, honestaverunt cives nostri. Hic dum vixisset annos LII, septimanas VII, die XIX decembris anno MDCIX pie moriens humanae imbecillitatis exemplum reliquit. lam scis quis fuerit. Abi et aetemae salutis memor te quoque mortalem essa memento Martha Emerichiana vidua, filiae et filii moestissimi P(oni) C(uraverunt). It means: “Pause, traveler! Here lie the bones of Jan Tscherning, citizen, secretary, and notary of the Republic of Bolesławiec. In life, he helped everyone and harmed no one. He was loved by the good Muses, admired by virtuous men, and honored by our citizens. Having lived 52 years and 7 weeks, he died piously on 19 December 1609, leaving an example of human frailty. Now you know who he was. Go, and remember eternal salvation; remember that you too are mortal. The widow Martha Emerich, his daughters, and his most sorrowful sons commissioned this monument.” At the bottom, between the lines, the Tscherning family coat of arms was carved: three golden lilies placed on a purple horizontal band. This Jan’s son, Johannes' Tscherning (1588–1666), was a Bolesławiec judge and councillor and administrator of the castle in Grodziec. On the occasion of his wedding to Anna Wolframb in September 1619, their friend M. Opitz composed a commemorative poem in Leipzig and then sent it to Bolesławiec. Another member of this line, also named Jan, became mayor of Rawicz in Greater Poland. Other descendants included Andreas Scultetus, who originated from Bolesławiec and was a poet of the so-called Silesian school, as well as the wife of F. Holstein, the oldest Bolesławiec chronicler.
The most famous member of the family was undoubtedly Andreas Tscherning (1611–1659), who came from a line of furriers and tanners living on Mikołajska and Celna streets (today Kutuzowa and Prusa streets). He was born in a building on Mikołajska Street. In time, M. Opitz became his guardian. He was one of the first Germans to devote himself to the study of Oriental languages. Following his teacher’s example, he also wrote a “Poetics.” During the Thirty Years’ War, he stayed in Toruń, where he taught at the local secondary school. At Opitz’s urging and advice, he then went to the University of Rostock. He settled there permanently and became a professor of poetic art. His descendants held important and influential positions at the Danish royal court. Another Andreas Tscherning (1572–1641) came from the family’s main line. He was the son of the aforementioned M. Tscherning, a Bolesławiec councillor and judge married to Maria Opitz, M. Opitz’s aunt. He rendered great service to his hometown by granting the council a loan of 1,000 thalers, a considerable sum for those times. He also remained in close contact with his cousin Andreas from Rostock, writing a New Year’s poem especially for him, among other things.
Seven children were born from his marriage to Maria Opitz. Because of the Thirty Years’ War, they had to leave Bolesławiec one after another. The first to leave was Jan, who settled permanently in Strasbourg, where he married Anna Maria Betram, the daughter of a Mainz printer and widow of the engraver Piotr Aubry. In time, he received city citizenship and, like his descendants, became a well-known and respected publisher and bookseller. His brother Dawid remained in Bolesławiec for a long time and had the opportunity to become friends with his cousin Andrzej Tscherning, a frequent and welcome guest at the house at 4 Celna Street. It was probably this later poet who awakened Dawid’s interest in art. Dawid spent his youth in Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, and with his brother in Strasbourg, where he had the opportunity to learn graphic art from Jakub von der Heyden. As a result, after returning to Silesia, he became one of the better-known engravers. Dawid spent a very long time in Poland. In Kraków, he created, among other works, a portrait of Maria Ludwika, the wife of King Władysław IV, and later a portrait of Jan Kazimierz on the occasion of his coronation in 1649. Every second or third major print published by the Kraków printing houses of Kupisz or Schedel came from Tscherning. Łukasz Kupisz and his wife were, moreover, godparents to Dawid’s son, Jan. Another of Dawid’s sons, Andrzej, became a well-known painter. In the 1650s, Dawid’s family returned to Silesia, specifically to Brzeg. There, his talent was developed by his son Jan, who followed in his father’s footsteps and was also closely connected with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Among other works, he created a portrait of Augustus II the Strong and a view of the Jasna Góra Monastery, which remained in the Ossolineum collection until 1939. Much more could still be written about the Tschemingowie, but that is material for separate articles.