Our navigation bar is loading . . . . . .


Advertise on JCSM - Hear JCSM's Weekly Devotions via Podcast/RSS Feed! - Skip These Ads

You can advertise your site right here!Click here to learn more!

 10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings by Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.

 JCSM's Top 1000 Christian Sites - Free Traffic Sharing Service! Join the Online Christ-Centered Ministries!

-
Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

Click here and add this page to your favorites!

Return to the JCSM Study Center!

Encyclopedia Britannica



BRESLAU (Polish Wraclaw)

This article appears in Volume V04, Page 499 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BOS-BRI
BRESLAU (Polish Wraclaw) , a city of Germany,
capital
  of the Prussian province of Silesia, and an episcopal see, situated in a wide and fertile plain on both banks of the navigable Oder, 350 M. from its mouth, at the influx of the Ohle, and 202 M. from Berlin on the railway to Vienna. Pop. (1867) 171,926; (188o) 272,912; (1885) 299,640; (1890) 335,186; (1905) 470,751, about 6o% being Protestants, 35% Roman Catholics and nearly 5% Jews. The Oder, which here breaks into several arms, divides the city into two unequal halves, crossed by numerous bridges. The larger portion, on the left bank, includes the old or inner town, surrounded by beautiful promenades, on the site of the ramparts, dismantled after 1813, from an eminence within which, the Liebichs HOhe, a fine view is obtained of the surrounding country. Outside, as well as across the Oder, lies the new town with extensive suburbs, containing, especially in the Schweidnitz quarter in the south, and the Oder quarter in the north, many handsome streets and spacious squares. The inner town, in contrast to the suburbs, still retains with its narrow streets much of its ancient characters, and contains several medieval buildings, both religious and secular, of great beauty and
interest
 . The cathedral, dedicated to St John the Baptist, was begun in 1148 and completed at the close of the 15th century, enlarged in the 17th and 18th centuries, and restored between 1873 and 1875; it is rich in notable treasures, especially the high altar of beaten silver, and in beautiful paintings and sculptures. The Kreuzkirche (church of the Holy Cross), dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, is an interesting brick building, remarkable for its stained glass and its historical monuments, among which is the tomb of Henry IV., duke of Silesia. The Sandkirche, so called from its dedication to Our Lady on the Sand, dates from the ,4th century, and was until 1810 the church of the Augustinian canons. The Dorotheenor Minoritenkirche, remarkable for its high-pitched roof, was founded by the emperor Charles IV. in 1351. These are the most notable of the Roman Catholic churches. Of the Evangelical churches the most important is that of St Elizabeth, founded about 1250, rebuilt in the ,4th and 15th centuries, and restored in 1857. Its lofty tower contains the largest bell in Silesia, and the church possesses a celebrated organ, fine stained glass, a magnificent stone pyx (erected in 1455) over 52 ft. high, and portraits of Luther and Melanchthon by Lucas Cranach. The church of St Mary Magdalen, built in the 14th century on the model of the cathedral, has two lofty Gothic towers connected by a bridge, and is interesting as having been the church in which, in 1523, the reformation in Silesia was first proclaimed. Other noteworthy ecclesiastical buildings are the graceful Gothic church of St Michael built in 1871, the bishop's palace and the Jewish synagogue, the finest in Germany after that in Berlin.
The business streets of the city converge upon the Ring, the market square, in which is the town-
hall
 , a fine Gothic building, begun in the middle of the 14th and completed in the 16th century. Within is the Fllrstensaal, in which the diets of Silesia were formerly held, while beneath is the famous Schweidnitzer Keller, used continuously since 1355 as a beer and wine
house
 .
The university, a spacious Gothic building facing the Oder, is a striking edifice. It was built (1728-1736) as a college by the Jesuits, on the site of the former imperial castle presented to them by the emperor
Leopold
  I., and contains a magnificent
hall
  (Aula Leopoldina), richly ornamented with frescoes and capable of holding 1200 persons. Breslau possesses a large number of other important public buildings: the Stadthaus (civic hall), the royal palace, the government offices (a handsome pile erected in 1887), the provincial
House
  of Assembly, the municipal archives, the courts of law, the Silesian museum of arts and crafts and antiquities, stored in the former assembly hall of the estates (Standehaus), which was rebuilt for the purpose, the museum of fine arts, the exchange, the Stadt and Lobe theatres, the post office and central railway station. There are also numerous hospitals and schools. Breslau is exceedingly rich in fine monuments; the most noteworthy being the equestrian statues of Frederick the Great and Frederick William III., both by Kiss; the statue of Blucher by Rauch; a marble statue of General Tauentzien by Langhans and Schadow; a bronze statue of Karl Gottlieb Svarez (1746-1798), the Prussian jurist, a monument to Schleiermacher, born here in 1768, and statues of the emperor William I., Bismarck and Moltke. There are also several handsome fountains. Foremost among the educational establishments stands the university, founded in 1702 by the emperor
Leopold
  I. as a Jesuit college, and greatly extended by the in-
corporation
  of the university of Frankfort-on-Oder in 1811. Its library contains 306,000 volumes and 4000 MSS., and has in the so-called Bibliotheca Habichtiana a valuable collection of oriental literature. Among its
auxiliary
  establishments are botanical gardens, an observatory, and anatomical, physiological and kindred institutions. There are eight classical and four modern schools, two higher girls' schools, a Roman Catholic normal school, a Jewish theological seminary, a school of arts and crafts, and numerous literary and charitable foundations. It is, however, as a commercial and industrial city that Breslau is most widely known. Its situation, close to the extensive coal and iron fields of Upper Silesia, in proximity to the Austrian and Russian frontiers, at the centre of a network of railways directly communicating both with these countries and with the
chief
  towns of northern and central Germany, and on a deep waterway connecting with the Elbe and the Vistula, facilitates its very considerable transit and export trade in the products of the province and of the neighbouring countries. These embrace coal, sugar, cereals, spirits, petroleum and timber. The local industries comprise machinery and tools, railway and tramway carriages, furniture, cast-iron goods, gold and silver work, carpets, furs, cloth and cottons, paper, musical instruments, glass and china. Breslau is the headquarters of the VI. German army corps and contains a large garrison of troops of all arms.
History.Breslau (Lat. Vratislavia) is first mentioned by the chronicler Thietmar, bishop of Merseburg, in A.D. 1000, and was probably founded some years before this date. Early in the r 1th century it was made the seat of a bishop, and after having formed part of Poland, became the
capital
  of an independent duchy in 1163. Destroyed by the Mongols in 1241, it soon recovered its ' former prosperity and received a large influx of German colonists. The bishop obtained the title of a prince of the Empire in 1290.1 When Henry VI., the last duke of Breslau, died in 1335, the city came by purchase to John, king of Bohemia, whose successors retained it until about 1460. The Bohemian kings bestowed various privileges on Breslau, which soon began to extend its commerce in all directions, while owing to increasing wealth the citizens took up a more independent attitude. Disliking the Hussites, Breslau placed itself under the protection of Pope Pius II. in 1463, and a few years afterwards came under the rule of the Hungarian king, Matthias Corvinus. After his death in 1490 it again became subject to Bohemia, passing with the rest
1In 1195 Jaroslaw, son of Boleslaus I. of Lower Silesia, who became bishop of Breslau in 1198, inherited the duchy of Neisse, which at his death (1201) he bequeathed to his successors in the see. The Austrian part of Neisse still belongs to the bishop of Breslau, who also still bears the title of prince bishop.of Silesia to the Habsburgs when in 1526 Ferdinand, afterwards emperor, was chosen king of Bohemia. Having passed almost undisturbed through the periods of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, Breslau was compelled to own the authority of Frederick the Great in 1741. It was, however, recoverd by the Austrians in 1757, but was regained by Frederick after his victory at
Leuthen
  in the same year, and has since belonged to Prussia, although it was held for a few days by the French in 1807 after the battle of Jena, and again in 1813 after the battle of Bautzen. The sites of the fortifications, dismantled by the French in 1807, were given to the civic authorities by King Frederick William III., and converted into promenades. In March 1813 this monarch issued from Breslau his stirring appeals to the Prussians, An mein Volk and An mein Kriegesheer, and the city was the centre of the Prussian preparations for the campaign which ended at
Leipzig
 . After the Prussian victory at Sadowa in 1866, William I. made a triumphant and complimentary entry into the city, which since the days of Frederick the Great has been only less loyal to
the royal house than Berlin itself.
See Burkner and Stein, Geschichte der Stadt Breslau (Bresl. 185'-1853); J. Stein, Geschichte der Stadt Breslau im zgten Jahrhundert (1884) 0 Frenzel, Breslauer Stadtbuch (" Codex dipl. Silisiae," vol. ii. 1882) ; Luchs, Breslau, ein Fiihrer durch die Stadt (12th ed., Bresl. 1904).


End of Article: BRESLAU (Polish Wraclaw)


If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/BOS_BRI/BRESLAU_Polish_Wraclaw_.html">
BRESLAU (Polish Wraclaw)
</a>
(Previous)
BRESCIA (anc. Brixia) 		(Next)
BRESSANT, JEAN BAPTISTE PROSPER (1815-1886)

 


 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

The JCSM Study CenterAmerica's Christian FoundationSkeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and ExplainedNKJV Web Hosting and Services
JCSM's Sermons, Debates and the Bible on MP3The Online Christ-Centered MinistriesDo You Have A Web Site?  Your Ad Could Be Here!Seminary Notes and PapersThe Picturesque Photo Albums


Kingdom Debt Solutions - Be Debt Free! Sport Logos - Quality Athletic Equipment The JCSM Study Center Your Ad Could Be Here! Launch A Successful Internet Organization or Business! Learn Guitar, Bass, or Piano in San Diego county!

You can advertise your site right here!

Free & Cheap Cell Phones  |  Cheap Long Distance Phone Service Carriers  |  Talk America Local Phone Service  |  Ztel & MCI - Unlimited Long Distance
Compare Cell Phone Plans & Companies  |  International Calling Cards & Prepaid Phone Cards  |  Voice Over IP Broadband Internet Phone Service  |  Wireless Phone Plans & Cheap Cell Phones

Dr. Jason Gastrich

Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.

 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries is directed by Dr. Jason Gastrich.  It was founded in 1997 and it exists to bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ.  JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, discussion boards, weekly html and mp3 devotionals, free email accounts, and much more.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA  92169
1-877-850-3878 or Email

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-2008.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Online First Aid and CPR Certification  .  The Online Christ Centered Ministries  .  The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained  .  The Inerrancy Discussion Board  .  Free Email Accounts  .  Home Equity Loans  .  JasonGastrich.com  .  The Missions, Apologetics, and Creation Bible Conference  .  Young Earth Creation Science  .  San Diego Music Lessons  .  10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings  .  Gastrich.net  .  Maximizing the Internet: 12 Keys to Success  .  Louisiana Baptist University  .  NKJV Web Hosting and Services  .  Michael Newdow  .  San Diego Soccer Training  . Christian Guitar Lessons  .  Jesus Christ Saves Ministries  .  Eternal Security