Everyone has been talking about the Pilchowice bridge in Lower Silesia in recent days, and this has been due to the latest installment of "Mission Impossible" with Tom Cruise, which is likely to be partially filmed in Poland. The news that the former railroad viaduct is to be blown up for the super-production has ignited a discussion about the monuments, their significance and protection.
The producers of the film "Mission Impossible 7" want to blow up the 114-year-old, one of the tallest railroad bridges in Poland. Interestingly, the Ministry of Culture itself has agreed to at least partially blow up the historic structure on Lake Pilchowice. Additionally, Poland will contribute 5 million to the American superproduction.
"It will be our success!" said Deputy Culture Minister Pawel Lewandowski in an interview with Wirtualna Polska, reasoning that in the film's trailer the main scene is supposed to be the one of the Polish bridge, i.e. following his line of thinking - the film will promote Poland. However, the deputy minister failed to mention that the Polish bridge in the new part of "Mission Impossible" will not be a Polish bridge, but a Swiss one. Because it is in Switzerland that the film with Tom Cruise is to be set.
is it a monument?
The lattice-builtbridge, suspended over Lake Pilchowice, was built in 1906 as part of the German line from Jelenia Góra to Lwówek Slaski. It is considered one of the highest railroad bridges in Poland - its parabola is 38 meters from the bottom of the Bay of Beaver river, and the total length of the structure is 135 meters. It survived the war, the attempts of the Germans to blow it up, however, it may not survive Tom Cruise.
About the value of the bridge, Deputy Minister Lewandowskispeaks dismissively:
I would not fixate on the fact that it is a monument. Not every old thing is a monument [...] It has no artistic, scientific or social value.
Lewandowski also mentioned that the Americans will put a new bridge in place of the devastated structure, which will be paid for by Polish taxpayers....
The whole world in defense of the bridge
However, specialists from around the world and the local community think otherwise. A letter on the matter was issued by The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage - The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH). Chairman Dr. Miles Oglethorpe emphasized the historical value of the bridge and mentioned that only a few bridges of this specific design have survived in the world. He also pointed out that in the age of digital technology, there is no reason to destroy the structure during filming.
Barbara Nowak-Obelinda , the Lower Silesian provincial conservationist since 2013, intervened in defense of the bridge. The bridge has already been placed under conservation protection and is to be entered in the registers of historical monuments. It is also already in the provincial register of monuments. This means that work on the structure must be halted. Prof. Malgorzata Omilanowska, former Minister of Culture and National Heritage, also spoke on the matter, writing in an open letter that there is no justification for blowing up the bridge in Pilchowice. Will such arguments change the deputy minister's decision?
