Museum of Ceramics has prepared the following offer for the holiday period:

  • until 12 August – presentation of the exhibition “Ceramika Marity Benke-Gajdy – jubilee exhibition”
  • from 19 August – presentation of the exhibition “30 lat bolesławieckiej Solidarności” and promotion of the book by Mariusz Olczak and Łukasz Sołtysik, “Ludzie bolesławieckiej Solidarności”
  • free city tours during the holiday period, every Thursday from 10:00 to 12:00, for groups of at least 5 people. Meeting point: the building at 14 Kutuzowa Street. The tour programme includes the following options:
  1. The Trail of Medieval Builders and Gold Diggers
    Today, Bolesławiec’s cityscape is dominated by buildings associated with the work of medieval builders: the town hall, the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Nicholas, and the defensive walls. They were built by groups of bricklayers and stonemasons travelling across Silesia. A remarkable technical solution on a European scale was the water supply and sewage system (1531), which supplied the city with water and discharged waste into the Bóbr River. The water supply was fed by the Queckbrunnen spring, whose water was believed to have miraculous properties. The activities of gold diggers are also connected with the city’s beginnings. Gold mining brought such large revenues that Duke Bolesław the Tall founded the settlement of Boleslavia in 1190. It was the origin of the later city
  2. The Trail of Renaissance Poets
    In the second half of the 16th century and the first half of the 17th century, a group of outstanding residents of Bolesławiec formed an intellectual elite that became part of the achievements of European culture. Several renowned writers who created the so-called first Silesian school of poetry received their early education at the Bolesławiec school – Martin Opitz, Andreas Tscherning, Christoph Colerus, Andreas Scultetus, Kaspar Kirchner, astronomers Christoph Neubarth and Kaspar Knoll, the Europe-wide famous printmaker David Tscherning, and finally Ephraim Ignaz Naso von Löwenfels. This extraordinary phenomenon of early modern Bolesławiec earned the city the name “the cradle and paradise garden of early modern Silesian poetry,” as well as of science and art (the most important sites on the trail: the townhouse at 1/2 Karpecka Street – Martin Opitz’s birthplace, Rynek 6 – Andreas Tscherning’s birthplace, Kaspar Kirchner’s epitaph in the Sanctuary of the Assumed Mother of the Church)
  3. The Napoleonic Trail
    The Napoleonic era left a significant mark on the history of Bolesławiec. Napoleon, Emperor of the French, visited the city five times. The most important people who influenced the course of the war stopped here: Field Marshal Kutuzov, commander-in-chief of the Russian army; General Blücher, commanding the Prussian Army of Silesia; Tsar Alexander I; and King Frederick William III of Prussia. The city was also the scene of the famous story involving Rosalie von Bonin, who took a French general prisoner. Bolesławiec was involved in the ongoing military operations, which significantly influenced its later appearance (the most important sites on the trail: the townhouse at 2 Prusa Street – the former “Under the Black Eagle” hotel, Rynek 28 – the present-day Agora bookshop, a bas-relief depicting Rozalia von Bonin capturing a French general, the monument to Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, the Museum of Ceramics, Department of the History of the City, 14 Kutuzowa Street, the former Royal Orphanage at Bankowa Street, the Kutuzov monument at II Armii Wojska Polskiego Street)
  4. The Trail of Architects and Patrons
    Many highly interesting architectural structures were erected in the city in the 19th and 20th centuries. They exemplify cooperation between municipal institutions and residents themselves, who often acted as patrons. Among the many architects active in Bolesławiec, two outstanding individuals stand out: E. Gansel, creator of the viaduct and the tower of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and Friedrich Schiller, author of the complex of the Regional Hospital for the Nervously and Mentally Ill. One of the finest examples of architecture modelled on English solutions is the development along Willowa Street and its surroundings, created under the influence of the leading architectural authority of the time, Hermann Muthesius (the most important sites on the trail: the railway viaduct, the house at 19 Zgorzelecka Street, the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the building at 6 and 14 Komuny Paryskiej Street, Willowa, Leśna and Obrońców Westerplatte streets, the former Masonic lodge – now Kindergarten No. 2 at 17 M. Brody Street, the MDK building at 5 Grunwaldzka Street, the District Court building, the theatre, the Fernbach townhouse at 6a Mickiewicza Street, the Regional Hospital for the Nervously and Mentally Ill)
  5. The Trail of Natural Scientists and Garden Designers
    The 19th century also made its mark in the field of natural sciences (K.F. Appun was born in Bolesławiec) and garden design. Three park layouts designed by the outstanding landscape planner E. Petzold still exist in the city (the most important sites on the trail: the park by the District Court, the park at Kosiby Street, the former shooting park at Parkowa Street, the Municipal Forest at Jeleniogórska Street, the park at Zgorzelecka Street)
  6. The Trail of Ceramic Artists and Sculptors
    Bolesławiec has centuries-old ceramic traditions. They can be found in the collections of the Museum of Ceramics and by studying the history of famous potters and ceramic artists: J.G. Joppe, W. Pukalla and A. Hennig. The city also has a collection of outstanding sculptures by renowned artists: J.L. Weber, K.F. Schinkel, P. Breuer and J. Bary-Doussin of Bolesławiec (the most important sites on the trail: the Museum of Ceramics at 13 Mickiewicza Street, the former Ceramic School building, the Sanctuary of the Assumed Mother of the Church, Castle Square, the Municipal Bathing Facilities – now the MOSiR building)

The Municipal Public Library offers access to collections in the Adult Lending Library, Talking Book Lending Library, Adult Reading Room, Children’s and Youth Department, Phonographic Department and Branch No. 1 (Staroszkolna Street), as well as Internet access in the Ikonk@ Reading Room, Adult Reading Room and the branch.

In addition, the MPL offers:

  • “Academy of Imagination” – art and educational activities for children (every Monday)
  • “Holiday Mornings with Fairy Tales” – group reading of fairy tales combined with art activities
  • “Journeys in the Virtual World” – we discover the secrets of nature and interesting places and visit museums – Ikonk@ Reading Room (Tuesday to Friday, 10:00–12:00)
  • “One, Two, Three! Let’s Play!” – educational games in electronic and traditional board-game formats
  • “The Magical World of Puzzles for Young and Old” – join us. Together with artist Rosina Wachtmeister, we put together small masterpieces of art. The series includes pictures made up of thousands of pieces (Children’s and Youth Department and Adult Reading Room)
  • “Summer Film Library” – we are changing the rules for making films available: more films can be borrowed for longer
  • “Senior Academy” – learning to use a computer and surf the Internet for seniors (Tuesday to Friday, 10:00–12:00, Adult Reading Room)
  • “A Book for a Penny” – summer book fair

(MC/MPL information)