Bolesławiec is one of those towns that became widely renowned for the products made by its craftsmen. Many people, including residents of Bolesławiec, associate the town with ceramic goods. There is no reason to be surprised. Bolesławiec stoneware is coveted by many museums and collectors. The fame of master ceramic craftsmen has overshadowed the work of other local artisans. Bolesławiec was large enough that other crafts obviously had to flourish there as well. How many readers know that firearms were made in Bolesławiec?
The Historical Museum in Wrocław, in one of its branches, located in a monument that is both interesting and little known—the Arsenal—collects and studies military artifacts. It was therefore obvious that the branch's research program had to include the issue of production in Lower Silesia. For what would happen if someone from Kraków, Nowa Sól or London came across a Silesian product—a rifle or pistol—and heard from an employee of the Historical Museum in Wrocław that there was nothing to say about it? Such research has been conducted for many years. It is difficult because of Silesia's well-known history. The residents of Bolesławiec surely remember the peculiar fate of the Kutuzov Museum. During the war and after it ended, many other collections met an even more tragic fate, as they were destroyed.
At the outset, there were several dozen towns, but Bolesławiec was not among them. Now we know of about a thousand gunsmiths from more than a hundred localities!
So we know more now, but there is still much to do. The names of gunsmiths have been found in archival records, but we do not know what their products looked like. Conversely, we know the makers of some weapons but have no information about their lives. This applies both to Silesia as a whole and to Bolesławiec.
We learned about the oldest gunsmith from Bolesławiec known to us from the records of the Viennese gunsmiths' guild: Georg Ernest Foborg, the son of a gunsmith from Bolesławiec in Silesia, began his apprenticeship in Vienna on 29 January 1719. We do not know whether he returned to his hometown or sought his fortune elsewhere. But this tells us that his father was a gunsmith in Bolesławiec. We know about another gunsmith from the signature on a weapon. The Museum in Nowa Sól has a flintlock rifle signed on the barrel with the gunsmith's name and date: Meistner in Bunzlau 1826. Before the war, the Municipal Museum in Bolesławiec had another flintlock rifle by this gunsmith, two years older. What happened to it?
We also know about the Winter family, active in Bolesławiec from the mid-19th century. They had a workshop on Klasztorna Street. Winter, the last of the dynasty, produced weapons of such distinction that he won a silver medal at the craft and industrial exhibition in Zgorzelec in 1905. He can be seen in an attractive Art Nouveau printed advertisement for his workshop. He was, moreover, not only a skilled gunsmith. He also achieved good results in competitions organized by Silesian shooting fraternities; for example, in 1901 he took first place in Złoty Stok. But his weapons have not been found. The Historical Museum in Wrocław, in the Arsenal, has a rifle barrel bearing the inscription F. Winter in Bunzlau. It was purchased years ago from a collector from Bolesławiec. We do not yet know this gunsmith's first name, but we know that his weapon attracted attention at an exhibition in Lwówek in 1873. He was also interested in shooting; from 1884 to 1889 he served on the governing body of the Bolesławiec shooting fraternity.
An exhibition of Silesian gunsmithing is planned for two or three years from now. It will be held at the Arsenal in Wrocław. Perhaps, thanks to the readers of “Głos Bolesławca,” the exhibition will feature more weapons from Bolesławiec or other towns in Lower Silesia?