Krzyzowa
Encyclopedia
Krzyżowa k is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Świdnica
, within Świdnica County
, Lower Silesian Voivodeship
, in southwestern Poland
.
It lies in the historic Lower Silesia
region, approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) southeast of Świdnica
, and 51 kilometres (32 mi) southwest of the regional capital Wrocław. The village has an approximate population of 220.
The international youth meeting place Kreisau - long name: International youth meeting place "Kreisau Endowment for European Understanding" (IJBS Kreisau) - is situated in the village.
-Świdnica was first mentioned in a 1335 deed. Like most of Silesia, the Krzyżowa area had been annexed by the Prussian
king Frederick the Great after the First Silesian War
in 1742. The manor was purchased by the Prussian field marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
after the Austro-Prussian War
of 1866, and from that time on this extensive property was the family seat of the Moltke noble family till 1945. At this place the members of the anti-Nazi resistance
group Kreisau Circle
met, hosted by Helmuth von Moltke's great-grandnephew Helmuth James Graf von Moltke
, who was executed in January 1945.
After World War II
the property was used as a farm, and still today the single houses carry names like cowshed or stable. On 12 November 1989 the Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki
and the German Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl
held a reconciliation meeting here and decided to redevelop the property as an international youth meeting place. The renovation was predominantly financed by the "Endowment for German-Polish Understanding". In 1998 the meeting place was officially opened. Those attending the opening ceremony included the widow of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, Freya von Moltke
, and the initiator Helmut Kohl.
The property has several hectares of grounds, many comfortable guestrooms for youth groups as well as for private guests, a dining room (in a former cowshed), a cafeteria, sports rooms and sports fields, conference rooms (with simultaneous translation arrangement) as well as party rooms (with table tennis and pool). A restored castle containing an exhibition on the Kreisau Circle is also located here.
Gmina Swidnica, Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Gmina Świdnica is a rural gmina in Świdnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Świdnica, although the town is not part of the territory of the gmina....
, within Świdnica County
Swidnica County
Świdnica County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. The county covers an area of...
, Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province , is one of the 16 voivodeships into which Poland is currently divided. It lies in southwestern Poland...
, in southwestern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
It lies in the historic Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia ; is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast.Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of the medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526...
region, approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) southeast of Świdnica
Swidnica
Świdnica is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. It has a population of 60,317 according to 2006 figures. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh largest town in that voivodeship. From 1975–98 it was in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship...
, and 51 kilometres (32 mi) southwest of the regional capital Wrocław. The village has an approximate population of 220.
The international youth meeting place Kreisau - long name: International youth meeting place "Kreisau Endowment for European Understanding" (IJBS Kreisau) - is situated in the village.
History
The settlement in the Silesian Duchy of JaworDuchy of Jawor
Duchy of Jawor was one of the Duchies of Silesia, with a capital in Jawor. It was created in 1274 as a subdivision of the Duchy of Legnica in Lower Silesia under the rule of Henry V the Fat, the eldest son of Duke Bolesław II the Bald...
-Świdnica was first mentioned in a 1335 deed. Like most of Silesia, the Krzyżowa area had been annexed by the Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
king Frederick the Great after the First Silesian War
Silesian Wars
The Silesian Wars were a series of wars between Prussia and Austria for control of Silesia. They formed parts of the larger War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War. They eventually ended with Silesia being incorporated into Prussia, and Austrian recognition of this...
in 1742. The manor was purchased by the Prussian field marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was a German Field Marshal. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as one of the great strategists of the latter 19th century, and the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field...
after the Austro-Prussian War
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...
of 1866, and from that time on this extensive property was the family seat of the Moltke noble family till 1945. At this place the members of the anti-Nazi resistance
German Resistance
The German resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Germany to Adolf Hitler or the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. Some of these engaged in active plans to remove Adolf Hitler from power and overthrow his regime...
group Kreisau Circle
Kreisau Circle
The Kreisau Circle was the name the Nazi Gestapo gave to a group of German dissidents centered on the Kreisau estate of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke. The Kreisauer Kreis is celebrated as one of the instances of German opposition to the Nazi regime...
met, hosted by Helmuth von Moltke's great-grandnephew Helmuth James Graf von Moltke
Helmuth James Graf von Moltke
Helmuth James Graf von Moltke was a German jurist who, as a draftee in the German Abwehr, acted to subvert German human-rights abuses of people in territories occupied by Germany during World War II and subsequently became a founding member of the Kreisau Circle resistance group, whose members...
, who was executed in January 1945.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the property was used as a farm, and still today the single houses carry names like cowshed or stable. On 12 November 1989 the Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Tadeusz Mazowiecki is a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II.-Biography:Mazowiecki comes from a Polish...
and the German Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998...
held a reconciliation meeting here and decided to redevelop the property as an international youth meeting place. The renovation was predominantly financed by the "Endowment for German-Polish Understanding". In 1998 the meeting place was officially opened. Those attending the opening ceremony included the widow of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, Freya von Moltke
Freya von Moltke
Freya von Moltke was a participant in the anti-Nazi resistance group, the Kreisau Circle, with her husband, Helmuth James Graf von Moltke...
, and the initiator Helmut Kohl.
The property has several hectares of grounds, many comfortable guestrooms for youth groups as well as for private guests, a dining room (in a former cowshed), a cafeteria, sports rooms and sports fields, conference rooms (with simultaneous translation arrangement) as well as party rooms (with table tennis and pool). A restored castle containing an exhibition on the Kreisau Circle is also located here.