For us Poles, there is one very important suggestion in this story: we did not know how to appreciate Breslau until now, we did not know its true, great past. Germans have tried to forget, and Poles have tried not to understand—well, because how can we rejoice in the German achievements of a „recovered”, in fact, not our own city? And so from the once great Breslau an ordinary Polish provincial city was made. It's time to restore it to its former glory and full splendor.
Wroclaw's market square trumps all during the Christmas Market, its quality and style show that the cultural gene has successfully jumped from the former inhabitants of Wroclaw to the new ones
© City Hall of Wroclaw
Breslau was not only important, but it was also big: a century ago, it was several times larger than Krakow at the time. It was a city on a completely different scale conceived. Hence the monumental buildings, hence the wide tracts, endless cobblestones, promenades stretching for miles, star-shaped intersections, the originally consistent urban planning, still somewhat reminiscent of Paris in places.
If I were to point to Wrocław's benchmarks, no contemporary Polish city would be among them, although some urban planning analogies could be found in Szczecin. Breslau is the most different city in modern Poland. Breslau was so German that it has not yet been fully assimilated by Poland to this day.
Breslau is not like Krakow, Poznan or Warsaw. Breslau is closely related to Berlin, there are a lot of analogies between these cities, they are connected by the names of the same architects and urban planners.
The Centennial Hall, a UNESCO site, with its spire and surrounding area—right next door is the zoo with the Afrykarium, well there are power spaces in Wroclaw....
© Wroclaw City Hall
On the second day I pushed aside the theme of Breslau's Germanness and made water a priority. I rode along the shores of more islands, tried to embrace the perspective of not only the small islands in the center. These are just lovely, Daliowa, Tamka or Słodowa. But the key is to embrace the larger ones, like Kępa Mieszczanska. Olbin, Biskupin, all of these lay or in a sense lie on islands, and they determine the character of Wroclaw, make it a Stockholm. A city on islands, an archipelago city—I didn't understand it until now, a city where you can swim instead of drive. Stockholm is the second benchmark of Wroclaw.
Wroclaw is like Stockholm, water and monumental buildings are fused here, unlike in other Polish cities today
© Wroclaw City Hall
But no one will fully understand this original Breslau, because what was most important in this city in a dynamic sense has disappeared irrevocably from its space. I am referring here to the Oder fleet.
A century ago, the second largest inland port in Germany (in terms of transshipment) was... Koźle. Yes, our present-day, inconspicuous Kędzierzyn-Koźle. More than 10 million tons of cargo a year passed through this port—mainly Upper Silesian coal, but also other raw materials and industrial products. There was so much of this that the infrastructure on the Oder River was constantly expanded to eventually handle vessels of up to 500 tons. And there were barges in those days (until 1945) on the Oder... more than three thousand. Imagine more than three thousand large vessels crowded on a narrow river, sailing from Kozle through Breslau to Szczecin. That time the Oder was boiling with life, the now empty Wroclaw locks worked tirelessly, a powerful business revolved around this industry. Today there is no trace of it, but it is on such a scale that my historian's soul shook with excitement. How is it possible, to have such a breach in memory, in the image of the city?
