Within the hospital grounds at aleja Tysiąclecia in Bolesławiec, there was a cemetery for residents of the Provincial Silesian Asylum for the Insane, today known as the Wojewódzki Szpital dla Psychicznie i Nerwowo Chorych. Its history dates back to the 1850s, when a decision was made to build a modern hospital that would provide shelter and care for people suffering from mental illnesses from across the region.
In 1857, land was purchased for the construction, and a year later a design for the complex was created on commission from Ryszard Schiller, a student of the famous architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The main hospital buildings were soon erected, while subsequent expansion stages added, among other things, pavilions for less seriously ill patients and utility buildings. The total construction cost amounted to 328,602 thalers, considerably exceeding the expenditure on other major projects, such as the construction of the railway viaduct in Bolesławiec.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the hospital complex was expanded to include new residential buildings for staff, a morgue and a church. The facilities and expansion made it possible to increase the number of patients from 400 to 1,150.
The cemetery, probably established in the 1860s, is now a place where many gravestones bear only numbers, recalling the insensitive treatment of patients in the past.
This devastated cemetery is not only a testament to the history of medicine, but also an opportunity to reflect on the rights and dignity of people struggling with mental illnesses. We should continue to remember their stories and strive for greater empathy and understanding.