Jelenia Góra, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland

🇵🇱 Jelenia Góra is a historic city in south-western Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, close to the Karkonosze mountain range running along the Polish-Czech border – ski resorts such as Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba are situated 10 to 15 km from the city. Jelenia Góra constitutes a separate urban gmina as well as being the seat of surrounding Jelenia Góra County. The area, including the oldest spa district of Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój, is one of the most valued recreational and leisure spots in Poland.

The city's history dates back to as early as the 10th century, but the settlement was granted town rights under Polish rule in 1288. Jelenia Góra was founded on important trade routes linking the Holy Roman Empire and Bohemia with Eastern Europe. The region flourished as a result of trade privileges that became the basis for the establishment of weaving and mining industries during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance periods. Jelenia Góra witnessed many historical conflicts such as the Thirty Years' War and the decisive Silesian Wars. During World War II, the city was miraculously saved from destruction.

The central suburb of Jelenia Góra possesses many historical and architectural structures of great significance, including the 17th-century town hall, baroque churches and a restored central marketplace as well as parks and gardens. The nearby Karkonosze National Park, visited by over 1.5 million tourists annually, has its headquarters in Jelenia Góra.

History The city's origins officially date back to the legendary founding of the settlement by the Polish duke Bolesław III Wrymouth of the Piast dynasty in 1108, and in 2008 the city celebrated its 900th anniversary. Jelenia Gora is also mentioned as having been used as a staging point by Bolesław III for his military campaigns against the Czechs in 1110. The original fortified hilltop gród over time developed into a sizable trading settlement, which expanded outside of the old fortifications, forming a suburb around the original settlement. The Piast gród has been preserved as an archeological site – now the Bolesław Wrymouth Hill.

In 1281, the city was given an urban charter by the Polish duke Bolesław the Horned when German settlers migrated to the region. In 1281 the settlement was first mentioned as Hyrzberc, and in 1288 in Latin as Hyrsbergensium. In 1345 a city council was established. In 1348 an earthquake struck the city, and Duke Bolko II the Small granted it new privileges. When the Silesian Piasts lost inheritance and Agnes of Habsburg, the last duchess of Świdnica-Jawor died in 1392, the city passed to Bohemia, ruled by the House of Luxembourg. In 1426 and 1427 the city was invaded by the Hussites. From 1469 to 1490 it was part of Hungary and afterwards it was part of Bohemia, ruled by the Jagiellonian dynasty. In 1502 King Vladislaus II issued a privilege extending the city's autonomy and in 1519 King Louis II granted the right to an annual fair.

The town was inherited by Habsburg Austria in 1526, two years after the town adopted the Protestant faith. A Protestant school was built in 1566. In 1560 a fire destroyed large parts of the city and stopped the economic development, which until then had been characterized by linen-weaving. The city recovered when Joachim Girnth, a shoemaker on a return journey from Holland, introduced veil-weaving. The first "light veils" were offered in 1625, and five years later the city received an imperial privilege by Ferdinand II for these veils.

During the Thirty Years' War the city suffered badly. Hirschberg was beleaguered by troops of both parties, paid high contributions, and during a siege in 1634 the city burned down again. Two more sieges followed in 1640 and 1641. The town needed several years to recover. One reason for the new boost was the creation of a merchant society 1658, which secured Hirschberg's position as the most important centre of linen and veil trade in the Silesian mountains during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Protestants of the city were oppressed during the Counter-Reformation, but the second Treaty of Altranstädt, which allowed a Protestant community centre and church to be established outside the medieval city walls, brought relief. Great sacrifices by the merchant society, especially its most prominent member Christian Menzel, made the construction of a large church, modelled after Church of Catherine in Stockholm, possible. The cemetery of the church was the preferred burial place for most merchant families.

Hirschberg was annexed with Lower Silesia by the Kingdom of Prussia during the Silesian Wars. The city was again partly destroyed, had to pay contributions and was seized several times. The detachment from Austria and the new border in the mountains to the south badly damaged the economy as the merchants lost a large part of their customers. Although Prussia took on substantial efforts to revive the economy, they never recovered completely and finally lost their position during the industrial revolution.

In 1800, John Quincy Adams, ambassador in Berlin at that time and future President of the United States, visited Hirschberg and said: "Nothing can be more beautiful than the location of Hirschberg, a beautifully built city with numerous splendid buildings, in a valley surrounded by hills on all sides, with the magnificent view of the Giant Mountains (Karkonosze/Riesengebirge Mountains)".

In 1871 the town became part of the German Empire with the Prussian-led unification of Germany, as one of the largest towns in the Province of Silesia. In 1889 the Deutsche Riesengebirgsverein (German Giant Mountains Club), an organization to protect the environment of the Giant Mountains (Karkonosze) and to promote tourism, was founded by Theodor Donat and 47 other dignitaries of the region.

After World War I, the town became part of the Prussian Province of Lower Silesia in 1919, and in 1922 became a separate city. During the Nazi era under the regime of Adolf Hitler, a subcamp of KZ Gross-Rosen was located in Hirschberg. On September 1, 1939, the day of the German invasion of Poland and the outbreak of World War II, Luftwaffe used the airport in Hirschberg to conduct air raids on Poland. In April 1940, the first transport of 2,000 Poles deported from Sosnowiec, Będzin and Olkusz for forced labour arrived to the city. In the city, the Germans organized 19 labor camps in which they imprisoned mainly Poles, Czechs, Frenchmen and Belgians, but also Luxembourgers, Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks, Estonians, including women. They also established four prisoner-of-war camps: two for French soldiers, one for Jews from different countries and one for Soviets. French prisoners of war organized a secret resistance movement and co-operated with Poles from other camps. In 1943 and 1944 there was a significant influx of Germans from the bombed German cities, and in 1944, after the crushing of the Warsaw Uprising, Poles deported from Warsaw were temporarily imprisoned there. When the Red Army captured the city, as a result of the influx of people in the last years of the war, there were 160,000 people in the city.

According to the decisions of the Potsdam Conference, the town was placed under Polish administration and became officially known by its Polish name of Jelenia Góra, which was first recorded in 1882, and is a literal translation of the German name "Hirschberg". All remaining German inhabitants were expelled westward and new Polish settlers came to the area. In the 1950s also Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War, settled in Jelenia Góra. The city was not destroyed in the war, but the state of its buildings and infrastructure declined over the next decade. The new Polish authorities dismantled the neglected tenements around the Old Town until 1965 and destroyed the cemetery of the former German Protestant church. Since then the buildings around the market place have been reconstructed in simpler 18th century historical forms. The town was enlarged through the incorporation of surrounding localities, including the spa town of Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój (Bad Warmbrunn) in 1976, now a district of Jelenia Góra.

Geography City is located in the northern part of the Jelenia Góra Valley. From the west, the city is surrounded by mountains and foothills of Izera Mountains, north Kaczawskie Mountains, east Rudawy Janowickie Mountains and in the south Karkonosze Mountains. The centre is located about 1 km (0.6 mi) east from place where two rivers Bóbr (Beaver River) and Kamienna (Stone River) connects.

Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój Known from the 13th century owing to warm, curative springs that gave it their name. Owing to the old owners of these lands, the Silesian Schaffgotsch family, at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries its fame extended far beyond Silesia and managed to attract flocks of patients, including many eminent persons. Modern analysis shows that water therapeutic effectiveness is due to sulphur, silicon and fluorine compounds together with the high temperature reaching 90 Celsius degrees. Therapeutic sessions used to be based mainly on baths, today a wide range of treatments in the field of hydrotherapy, inhalation therapy as well as physiotherapy, phototherapy and electrotherapy.

Zdrojowy and Norwegian Parks These two parks are located close to the main pedestrian street of Cieplice. Zdrojowy Park main avenue was created already in 1796, however, the entire park was created in the first half of the 19th century when the Schaffgotschs reconstructed part of the garden into an English garden and made a part of it available to the residents of Cieplice and patients.

At the beginning of the 20th century, owner of paper machine factory Eugen Fülner made several investments towards the spa. One investment was creating a picturesque park, called the Norwegian Park. Norwegian Park owes its name to a wooden building erected in 1909, whose finishing resembles Viking boats.

The Gallery and Zdrojowy Animation Theatre was built in 1797–1800 and designed by the architect Carl Gottlieb Geissler from Wroclaw. Inside there is still a functioning restaurant, a cigar lounge, a reading room and a large concert hall. Theatre was built between 1833 and 1836, it can accommodate up to 270 spectators. Founded by Schaffgotsch family built in the neoclassical style. Currently scene belongs to the Zdrojowy Animation Theater in the Zdrojowy Park.

Sobieszów Sobieszów is located along the stream of Wrzosówka and nearby is the Chojnik castle. From the fourteenth century to 1945, the village belonged to the Schaffgotsch family and wore a German name Hermsdorf unterm Kynast. Karkonosze National Park management is established in Sobieszów. Location area creates favorable conditions for starting here hiking in the Karkonosze Mountains.

Chojnik Castle Chojnik Castle (German Kynast, pol. Chojnasty 1945–1948) – a castle located near JeleniaGóra-Sobieszów on the top of the Chojnik mountain in Karkonosze Mountains. This mountain rises to a height of 627 meters above sea level, and from the south-east side is a 45-meter cliff plunging into the so-called Hell Valley. The fort is located in a nature reserve, which is the exclave of Karkonosze Mountains National Park.

"Chojnik Golden Bolt" Knight's crossbow tournament – Once a year the picturesque ruins of Chojnik play host to the struggles of knight fellowships. The tournament is accompanied by shows of medieval customs, dances, crafts and warfare.

Jagniątków Jagniątków (up to 1945 German Agnetendorf; Agnieszków 1945–1946) – a district of Jelenia Góra (since 1998) From here leads many trails in the mountains, both pedestrians and cyclists. It is the highest district of Jelenia Gora, and has good communication with the city bus (lines 15 and late-night course line 9).

Divine Mercy Church in Jagniątków The church was erected in the years 1980–1986. Its shape was inspired by the architecture of Podhale. Thanks to this shape the church perfectly inscribes itself into the mountainous landscape.

Jagniątkowski Black Cauldron Jagniątkowsk Black Cauldron – glacial cauldron in the Western Sudetes in the Karkonosze Mountains and is located in south-western Poland, in the Western Sudetes in the western part of the band Karkonosze Mountains, in the Karkonosze National Park, north of the Black Pass, on the north-eastern slope of Śmielca and north-western slope of the Czech Stones.

Aviation Owing to natural factors the Jelenia Góra Valley boasts exceptionally good conditions for gliding and hand-gliding. Consequently, the Jelenia Góra airport and the local flying club enjoys much popularity among flying aficionados from Poland and abroad alike.

Education There are three higher education institutions in Jelenia góra: • Karkonoska Państwowa Szkoła Wyższa, • Wrocław University of Economics (faculty in Jelenia Góra), • Wrocław University of Science and Technology (faculty in Jelenia Góra).

Culture Jelenia Góra has a wide range of cultural institutions, including theaters, a concert hall, and cinema and art exhibitions offices. Festivals such as the International Film Festival "Zoom Zbliżenia", International Street Theatre Festival, and the International Festival of Organ Music "Silesia Sonans" take place.

The "Silesia Sonans" European Organ Music Festival takes place annually in autumn. Other cultural and entertainment events include concerts, art shows, exhibitions, fairs, and events geared for children and families. The"Silesia Sonans" Festival is particularly noteworthy. Outstanding Polish and foreign artists gather to play pieces of famous composers inside the Garrison Church. • The Cyprian Norwid Theatre first opened as early as in 1904, with performance staged ceremoniously. The building was designed in the Art Nouveau style with features typical for 19th-century theatre edifices. Theatre remains active to this day with new performances staged regularly. The same building features a restaurant "OldPub" with live music. • Open Air Museum of the Polish Army Armament – the largest open-air museum of this type in Lower Silesia. It is located on a former military unit. Since 2005 Łomnica has an open-air exhibition, which presents the radar equipment from entire Poland. • Lower Silesian Philharmonic in Jelenia Góra (pl) is the concert hall of the Lower Silesian Philharmonic hosts many famous artists and the Jelenia Góra symphonists give concerts in Poland and abroad, participate in international festivals accompanying known persons from the art world and also support young talents. Concerts for the local audience, regional projects and educational activity are another vital part of the Philharmonic's undertakings. • Zdrojowy Animation Theatre was built between 1833 and 1836 in the neoclassical style, it can accommodate up to 270 spectators. Founded by Schaffgotsch family, one of the three puppet theaters in Lower Silesia. Currently scene belongs to the Zdrojowy Animation Theater in the Zdrojowy Park which aside from its primary activity also organizes the cultural life of Cieplice. • Natural History Museum is located in the Norweski Park in Cieplice. It was built in 1909 on the basis of a draft Frognersteren restaurant situated just below Oslo. Collections are mainly based on the now-defunct Schaffgotsch collection. It includes Poland's largest exhibition of birds. • Jelenia Góra Cultural Center works with many events in the city (League of Rock, charity event WOŚP, September Jeleniogórski, Krokus Jazz Festival, Comedy Film Festival "Barejada", International conference on new educational techniques) also runs a number of workshops. • Karkonosze Museum – The museum collects exhibits related to the history, ethnography, crafts and regional art. Particularly interesting exhibits include the largest artistic glass collection in Poland, ample 18th- and 19th-century glass painting collections, collections of tinwork and an ethnographic exposition – a Lusatian-built wooden cottage equipped with traditional equipment used in the 18th and 19th centuries. • Karkonosze Light Festival – During the Light Festival the city gains a special kind of charm owing to colorful, professionally designed illuminations. The aim of the project is to present the most modern technologies and products used to illuminate cities, whilst maintaining care for the environment. • ZOOM – ZBLIŻENIA International Film Festival is a festival promoting independent films. The format of the competition is open, anyone willing can challenge the silver screen with their piece. • Antique and curio fair for a few days in September revives Jelenia Góra commercial roots. The local fair is one of the largest in Poland, it is attended by collectors from all of Europe. At the fair, you can buy old furniture and practical items, numismatic collections, books, trinkets and plenty of other things. • International street theatre Festival – In August the Jelenia Góra Town Square for a brief period transforms into a stage for incoming artistic groups. Actors are not confined by the closed space of theatre building and the unique scenery and the scale of the plays provide unforgettable thrills.