One of the items on the agenda of the October session of the Bolesławiec City Council was a vote on a draft resolution “on recognizing the petition as not warranting consideration.” (The resolution was adopted.) The petition itself concerned naming the square located near ul. Sierpnia ’80 and the Bolesławiec Basilica of the Virgin Mary after Rev. Johannes Fischer.
Councillors and officials justified rejecting the idea, among other things, by saying that it had very little public support. Secretary Jerzy Zieliński also noted:
Surely, in the city’s 800-year history, it would be possible to find examples of more distinguished figures who still have no memorial dedicated to them in our streets or squares.
The mayor, Piotr Roman, also spoke:
I am pleased by this discussion. I refer you to the collections of Heimatgruppe, the expellees’ association in Siegburg, which has its own museum. There you will find many people who made a great contribution to Bolesławiec
And he pointed out that, in the City of Ceramics, perhaps only Martin Opitz has been properly commemorated. Then, however, he received two text messages. The first reminded him that we do, after all, have the Pückler palace. The second SMS read:
It would be nice if you named one of the structures—perhaps the viaduct?—after Gansel.
This refers to Friedrich Engelhardt Gansel, a German architect who designed, among other things, the tower of the present-day Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bolesławiec and our famous viaduct.
The mayor added:
It would be worth discussing. After all, we are not turning our backs on the fact that people lived here for several hundred years—perhaps believing in the same God—but speaking a somewhat different language.
What do you think? We invite you to join the discussion.