History / The restoration of Polish cities from WW2 destruction [123]


It was, and is, a tremendous achievement, but it wasn't pure magic. This success story has a dark side. In order to rebuilt Warsaw the Communists teared down several former German towns. Wroclaw is the most prominent example, but Jelenia Gora or Legnica are more interesting. Wroclaw was badly damaged, but Jelenia Gora was a fully preserved town, which was demolished until the 60s. Ditto for the town center of Legnica.

History / The restoration of Polish cities from WW2 destruction [123]

Jelenia Gora wasn't ruined at all. It gets even more interesting: what you see today are reconstructions! More or less the complete old town was dismantled until the 60s and later rebuilt. Todays rynek is a reconstruction in more simple forms. Pure madness, if you think about it.

Legnica looked like this after the war and before it was dismantled (the old quarter was a rare example of Frederician baroque):
wroclaw.hydral.com.pl/33964,foto.html
Today it looks like this:
wroclaw.hydral.com.pl/21916,foto.html

But you don't have to stop here. Warsaws churches were destroyed too. When these churches were rebuilt churches from former German territory provided the interiors. The most prominent example is Lubiąż, which provided more than 30 paintings for Warsaw, whereas the stalls are in Stężyca now. That's why the church looks like this today:

wroclaw.hydral.com.pl/98369,foto.html