POLAND : WROCLAW
WROCLAW is the capital of southwestern
Poland's province of Lower Silesia. The city is located on the Oder
River approximately 310 kilometers southwest of Warsaw, 200 kilometers
east of Dresden, Germany, and 120 km from the Czech Republic.
Wroclaw originated in the 10th century AD at the crossroads of trade
routes and was first governed by the Polish Piast kings. In the
following centuries it was ruled at various times by the
Germans,Bohemians, and Prussians. In 1741 Frederick II the Great of
Prussia changed its name to Breslau.
During the Second World War the city was heavily damaged. Gradually the
old city was restored to its beauty. Nearly all the monumental buildings
were preserved. Now it is a uniquely European city in present-day
Poland, with its architecture echoing that in Austria, Bohemia, or
Prussia. Wroclaw's Gothic style is originally Silesian, its Baroque
style owes much to court builders of Habsburg Austria (Fischer von
Erlach, Ch. Tausch), and Wroclaw still has a number of buildings by
eminent modernist architects, such as Hans Poelzig or Max Berg, the
famous Jahrhunderthalle (Hala Ludowa) by Berg (1911-13) being the most
important.
The city with its charming historical center, parks, good restaurants,
hotels and friendly people (700.000 inhabitants) is a pleasant place to
visit and to do business. As Poland's fourth largest city, Wroclaw is a
center of industry, communications, transport, education, and the arts.
The city has Poland's largest flour mills, electronics and
data-processing facilities, foundries, machinery plants, textile mills,
the Hutmen copper plant, and food-processing facilities. Wroclaw
provides international rail connections, an airport, and river
transport. Eight educational institutions are located in the city along
with nine museums, several theaters and music centers, and a botanical
garden and zoo.
