The Napoleonic Era made its mark very strongly in the history of Bolesławiec. The French emperor was a five-times visitor to the town. Other important actors in the Napoleonic war also took rest locally: the chief commander of the Russian army, field-marshal Kutuzov, general Blücher, heading the Silesian Army of Prussia, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm III. This is where the famous story of Rosalie von Bonin happened, who took a French general as a prisoner. The city participated in the theatre of war, which was to have a serious impact on its future shape.

Napoleon in Bolesławiec

Napoleon Bonaparte first came to Bolesławiec on 16th July, 1807, on his return to France after signing the peace accord in Tylża. He entered the town between 10.00 and 11.00 p.m., accompanied by the prince of Berg and assisted by 13 coaches and 200 French soldiers. After the change of horses, the emperor carried on in the direction of Dresden, while his suite stayed overnight. The second visit of the emperor and his entourage was on 29th May 1812, at exactly 5.00 p.m. A great welcome ceremony was prepared, with participation of the president of Legnica regency - von Erdmannsdorf, the head of the Bolesławiec and Lwówek county - von Tempsky, as well as deputies to provincial government and town officials. After a short rest, with all the town bells ringing, Napoleon went on towards Chojnów. Another visit of the French commander took place on December 13th, 1812, while the French army retreated from Russia. The emperor travelled in disguise, as prince of Vicenza by the name of Caulaincourt, and stayed for a meal in the “Under the Black Eagle” hotel. The fourth stay of Napoleona lasted for two days. Chasing Blücher’s army during the Saxon-Silesian campaign of 1813, Napoleon reached Bolesławiec on May 25th, at 4.00 in the afternoon. Angry about the escape by the mayor, several town hall officials and numerous residents, he ordered that the mayor’s house be brought down, and only after a lot of pleading changed his mind and took mercy. The town was the main quarters of the French military, and Napoleon stayed in the house at 28 Market Square /now the Agora bookshop/. The attitude of citizens influenced the way soldiers behaved: requisitions covered the whole town, particularly the suburbs and the Royal Orphanage. Head of the Orphanage and the pastor went to the emperor, to plead for a halt of the plunder. The army left Bolesławiec in the morning of May 27th. Napoleon’s ways crossed the city for the last time on 7th June, 1813, during the return to Görlitz. Having stopped for the night, the emperor sent a few letters from here, including those to Maret, the prince of Bassano, and marshal Davouta.

The tenement house at 2 Prusa St - the former hotel “Under the Black Eagle” (12)

Napoleon’s stay in Bolesławiec on 13th December 1812 is probably the one most frequently and extensively described. Fleeing away from the outskirts of Moscow in a harsh winter, Napoleon had to travel in sleigh. Half-frozen, the emperor did not lose his sense of humour, despite the danger of being arrested by Prussians. The sleigh was damaged close to Bolesławiec. At 7.00 in the morning, with the air temperature of minus 22.5°C, Napoleon entered the city and stopped at the “Under the Black Eagle” inn, taking a 2nd floor room. He was helped to a breakfast and coffee, served in a blue cup that later found itself in the Bolesławiec Museum. During his rest, Napoleon discussed with the inn-keeper, Zoller, who - not knowing his interlocutor - frankly answered questions pertaining to the country’s internal situation, taxes, administration and the war. The less pleasant were the inn-keeper’s replies, the more questions were asked by the guest, who eventually concluded with a smile: „He’s right, he understands more than many important people. He is not a court servant”. After a short nap, about 8 p.m. Napoleon went on with his journey. The contemporary building at 2 Prusa St is a post-war reconstruction of the baroque tenement house, destroyed during the World War 2. The house built originally in 1714 had a simple architectural design. It was bought in 1809 by a locksmith who turned it into an elegant hotel named “Under the Black Eagle”.

28 Market square - now the Agora bookshop (13)

The house owned by trader Ernst Jenke welcomed the most famous people of the Napoleonic times: general Blücher /22nd March, 1813 /, Tsar Alexander I /18th April, 1813/ and Napoleon himself /25-26th May, 1813/

Rosalie von Bonin /1781-?/

According to an old legend, that brave Bolesławiec woman ventured a courageous deed at the time of Napoleonic wars. Barely 26, she took part in capturing the French general Le Brun. In the winter of 1807, Rosalie von Bonin went to see Prince von Pless to inform him on the possibility to take over the French military funds. The prince assigned 70 soldiers to her, commanded by lieutenants Schrader and Fischer. On February 10th, 1807, before the French divisions came, Rosalie returned to Bolesławiec and, with several carabineers, captured general le Brun who had stopped in the city, taking over 70,000 thalers in cash.

The town hall, eastern façade - the relief of Rosalie von Bonin capturing general le Brun (2) The relief, by the well-known sculptor Jenny von Bary-Doussin, depicts the moment of general surrendering and giving-up his sabre to the brave woman. The plaque was opened on 16th June, 1913. A fountain under the relief is called the ‘Ms Bonin’s spring” and belongs to the municipal water company.

Mikhail I. Golenishchev - Kutuzov /1745 - 1813/

A Russian general, then field-marshal, a prince of Smolensk, the most important of the Russian commanders of Napoleonic era. He studied the art of military command and combat strategy from general Suvorov. Originally famous for his part in the conquest of the Turkish stronghold of Ismail (1790). In 1805 Kutuzov lead the 1st Russian Army sent to aid the Austrians in their war against Napoleon in Bayern; he headed the coalition army of Russia, Prussia and Austria at Austerlitz (1805), and was removed soon after the bitter defeat. During Bonaparte’s venture towards Moscow in 1812, Kutuzov was named the chief commander, mainly due to the popular pressure, and using the clever ‘retreat tactics’ he did not allow the French to reach a victory over the Russian army. He fought a severe battle at Borodino, and during the Great Army’s retreat, he dealt the French serious blows at Małojarosławiec and Beresine (it was then that he received the titles of field-marshal and prince of Smolensk). Kutuzov was hostile towards Polish state ambitions - he took part in thwarting the Bar Confederacy, and - most likely - in the war of 1792 and defeating the Kościuszko Insurgence.

Museum of Ceramics, Department of History of Bolesławiec, 14 Kutuzowa str. (14)

The present building of the Museum, designed in the classicist style, used to be owned by Friedrich von Mark, a local salt trader. In 1813, it hosted field-marshal Kutuzov. The prince of Smoleńsk came to Bolesławiec on a horseback, at 4.30 p.m., on 18th April 1813. He was accompanied by Tsar Alexander I and the entire military retinue. On the following day, the whole group of visitors took part in an Orthodox mass held in the protestant school, and in the afternoon - they followed on in the direction of Lubań. After a few kilometres, Kutuzov started suffering from high fever and had to return. On April 20th the 72-year old Kutuzov was held in bed with typhoid, and two days later he wrote to the tsar: “I am weaker and weaker every day. There is no way I could go further, not even in a coach.” On the same day, the ill commander was visited by the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm III. Residents of the city paved the street with hay, to soften the sounds made by coaches and horses. They also founded the prize of 1,000 thalers for the person who manages to cure the marshal. But despite this exceptional care, the patient’s condition deteriorated. Kutuzov died in his 2nd floor room, on 28th April, at 9.35 in the evening. The embalmed corpse was exposed in public, and on 9th May it was ceremoniously transported in a tin coffin to St. Petersburg, with the heart placed in a silver capsule. The memorial plaque was installed in 1922, and after World War 2 the place was reopened as the Kutuzov Museum, administered by Russians. After the Russian personnel left the building, the place was refurbished and opened again in 1995, as the History of Bolesławiec department of the Museum of Ceramics. Apart from the Holstein chronicle, the museum gathers materials pertaining to the history of Bolesławiec - iconographic and cartographic, as well as tin and glass vessels, coins, objects of everyday use connected with the city, Bolesławiec-based newspapers and publications, and a collection of sculpture.

The Kutuzov memorial at Kubika St (15)

The monument was created by K.F. Schinkl and G. Schadow, outstanding artists of the classicist era. It was made in 1819, at the order of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, and originally situated in the market square - just to be moved to the promenade at Kubika St in 1893. Cast in iron, the memorial has truly imposing sizes of 12.24 m (height) and weighs 30 tons. The very form is intriguing, too - an obelisk, with two pairs of lions at the bottom, originally facing east and west. The text engraved in German and Russian on the sides of the obelisk said: “To him I devote this simple memorial - Friedrich Wilhelm III. Up to this place did Kutuzov of Smolensk lead his Russian armies which went from one victory to another, until death put an end to his famous life. He was the liberator of his fatherland. He was the one whose path led to freedom of the people. Blessed be the holy memory of the hero”, followed by a list of medals and distinctions. Simplicity of the forms used, taken from Egyptian art, and the choice of widely understood allegorical figures, facilitate symbolic interpretation of the monument, which stresses the timeless, non-transitory memory of Kutuzov’s courage.

The former Royal Orphanage - a group of buildings at Bankowa St (16)

The Royal Orphanage, opened Gottfried Zahn in 1754, was a pedagogical centre well known and respected throughout Silesia. Since 1767 it had a printing press, where the first periodical of Bolesławiec was published from 1774: „Miesięcznik Bolesławiecki dla Pożytku i Przyjemności” (The Bolesławiec Monthly for Public Benefit and Pleasure). At present, the set of buildings comprises edifices created in the II half of 18th, as well as in early 19th century. It also used to include the present house of the General and Medical Schools, designed by Clingestein and built in the years 1914 - 1917.

Kutuzov monument and the military cemetery at Zgorzelecka St (17)

Another Kutuzov memorial was placed exactly where the commander reached in his chase after Napoleon, and where he had to step back due to illness. The monument by J.M. Böhm (junior) was funded by Kutuzov’s daughter and by Count von Sacken, and the consecration ceremony took place in 27th August, 1814. In the form of a broken column, symbolizing the suddenly broken life, crowned with an oak wreath, a symbol of heroism - the memorial also included a little tin coffin which covered the marshal’s bowels The pedestal bore the inscription saying: “Prince Kutuzov of Smolensk rested in eternal sleep on April 28th, 1813.” After the second world war, the monument was surrounded with a cemetery of 7th Tank Corps of the Guard and 31st Infantry Division of 1st Ukrainian Front.