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BRESLAU (Polish Wraclaw)

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 499 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BRESLAU (See also:Polish Wraclaw) , a See also:city of See also:Germany, See also:capital of the Prussian See also:province of See also:Silesia, and an episcopal see, situated in a wide and fertile See also:plain on both See also:banks of the navigable See also:Oder, 350 M. from its mouth, at the influx of the Ohle, and 202 M. from See also:Berlin on the railway to See also:Vienna. Pop. (1867) 171,926; (188o) 272,912; (1885) 299,640; (1890) 335,186; (1905) 470,751, about 6o% being Protestants, 35% See also:Roman Catholics and nearly 5% See also:Jews. The Oder, which here breaks into several arms, divides the city into two unequal halves, crossed by numerous See also:bridges. The larger portion, on the See also:left See also:bank, includes the old or inner See also:town, surrounded by beautiful promenades, on the site of the ramparts, dismantled after 1813, from an See also:eminence within which, the Liebichs HOhe, a See also:fine view is obtained of the surrounding See also:country. Outside, as well as across the Oder, lies the new town with extensive suburbs, containing, especially in the See also:Schweidnitz See also:quarter in the See also:south, and the Oder quarter in the See also:north, many handsome streets and spacious squares. The inner town, in contrast to the suburbs, still retains with its narrow streets much of its See also:ancient characters, and contains several See also:medieval buildings, both religious and See also:secular, of See also:great beauty and See also:interest. The See also:cathedral, dedicated to St See also:John the Baptist, was begun in 1148 and completed at the See also:close of the 15th See also:century, enlarged in the 17th and 18th centuries, and restored between 1873 and 1875; it is See also:rich in notable treasures, especially the high See also:altar of beaten See also:silver, and in beautiful paintings and sculptures. The Kreuzkirche (See also:church of the See also:Holy See also:Cross), dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, is an interesting See also:brick See also:building, remarkable for its stained See also:glass and its See also:historical monuments, among which is the See also:tomb of See also:Henry IV., See also:duke of Silesia. The Sandkirche, so called from its See also:dedication to Our See also:Lady on the See also:Sand, See also: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 See also:emperor See also:Charles IV. in 1351. These are the most notable of the Roman See also:Catholic churches.

Of the Evangelical churches the most important is that of St See also:

Elizabeth, founded about 1250, rebuilt in the ,4th and 15th centuries, and restored in 1857. Its lofty See also:tower contains the largest See also:bell in Silesia, and the church possesses a celebrated See also:organ, fine stained glass, a magnificent See also:stone See also:pyx (erected in 1455) over 52 ft. high, and portraits of See also:Luther and See also:Melanchthon by See also:Lucas See also:Cranach. The church of St See also:Mary Magdalen, built in the 14th century on the See also:model of the cathedral, has two lofty See also:Gothic towers connected by a See also:bridge, and is interesting as having been the church in which, in 1523, the See also:reformation in Silesia was first proclaimed. Other noteworthy ecclesiastical buildings are the graceful Gothic church of St See also:Michael built in 1871, the See also:bishop's See also:palace and the Jewish See also:synagogue, the finest in Germany after that in Berlin. The business streets of the city converge upon the See also:Ring, the See also:market square, in which is the town-See also:hall, a fine Gothic building, begun in the See also: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 See also:Keller, used continuously since 1355 as a See also:beer and See also:wine See also:house. The university, a spacious Gothic building facing the Oder, is a striking edifice. It was built (1728-1736) as a See also:college by the See also:Jesuits, on the site of the former imperial See also:castle presented to them by the emperor See also: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 See also:government offices (a handsome See also:pile erected in 1887), the provincial House of See also:Assembly, the municipal archives, the courts of See also: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 See also:exchange, the Stadt and See also:Lobe theatres, the See also:post See also:office and central railway station. There are also numerous hospitals and See also:schools. Breslau is exceedingly rich in fine monuments; the most noteworthy being the equestrian statues of See also:Frederick the Great and Frederick See also:William III., both by See also:Kiss; the statue of See also:Blucher by See also:Rauch; a See also:marble statue of See also:General Tauentzien by Langhans and See also:Schadow; a See also:bronze statue of Karl Gottlieb Svarez (1746-1798), the Prussian jurist, a See also:monument to See also:Schleiermacher, See also:born here in 1768, and statues of the emperor William I., See also:Bismarck and See also: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-See also:

corporation of the university of See also:Frankfort-on-Oder in 1811. Its library contains 306,000 volumes and 4000 See also:MSS., and has in the so-called Bibliotheca Habichtiana a valuable collection of See also:oriental literature. Among its See also:auxiliary establishments are botanical gardens, an See also:observatory, and anatomical, physiological and kindred institutions. There are eight classical and four See also:modern schools, two higher girls' schools, a Roman Catholic normal school, a Jewish theological See also:seminary, a school of arts and crafts, and numerous See also:literary and charitable See also:foundations. It is, however, as a commercial and See also:industrial city that Breslau is most widely known. Its situation, close to the extensive See also:coal and See also:iron See also:fields of Upper Silesia, in proximity to the See also:Austrian and See also:Russian frontiers, at the centre of a network of See also:railways directly communicating both with these countries and with the See also:chief towns of See also:northern and central Germany, and on a deep waterway connecting with the See also:Elbe and the See also:Vistula, facilitates its very considerable transit and export See also:trade in the products of the province and of the neighbouring countries. These embrace coal, See also:sugar, cereals, See also:spirits, See also:petroleum and See also:timber. The See also:local See also:industries comprise machinery and tools, railway and See also:tramway carriages, See also:furniture, See also:cast-iron goods, See also:gold and silver See also:work, carpets, furs, See also:cloth and cottons, See also:paper, musical See also:instruments, glass and See also:china. Breslau is the headquarters of the VI. See also:German See also:army See also:corps and contains a large See also:garrison of troops of all arms. See also:History.—Breslau (See also:Lat. Vratislavia) is first mentioned by the chronicler See also:Thietmar, bishop of See also:Merseburg, in A.D.

1000, and was probably founded some years before this date. See also:

Early in the r 1th century it was made the seat of a bishop, and after having formed See also:part of See also:Poland, became the capital of an See also:independent duchy in 1163. Destroyed by the See also:Mongols in 1241, it soon recovered its ' former prosperity and received a large influx of German colonists. The bishop obtained the See also:title of a See also:prince of the See also:Empire in 1290.1 When Henry VI., the last duke of Breslau, died in 1335, the city came by See also:purchase to John, See also:king of Bohemia, whose successors retained it until about 1460. The Bohemian See also:kings bestowed various privileges on Breslau, which soon began to extend its See also:commerce in all directions, while owing to increasing See also:wealth the citizens took up a more independent attitude. Disliking the See also:Hussites, Breslau placed itself under the See also:protection of See also:Pope See also:Pius II. in 1463, and a few years afterwards came under the See also:rule of the Hungarian king, See also:Matthias See also:Corvinus. After his See also:death in 1490 it again became subject to Bohemia, passing with the See also:rest 1In 1195 Jaroslaw, son of Boleslaus I. of See also:Lower Silesia, who became bishop of Breslau in 1198, inherited the duchy of See also: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 See also:Ferdinand, afterwards emperor, was chosen king of Bohemia. Having passed almost undisturbed through the periods of the Reformation and the See also:Thirty Years' See also: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 See also:Leuthen in the same See also:year, and has since belonged to See also:Prussia, although it was held for a few days by the See also:French in 1807 after the See also:battle of See also:Jena, and again in 1813 after the battle of See also: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 See also:March 1813 this monarch issued from Breslau his stirring appeals to the Prussians, An mein See also:Volk and An mein Kriegesheer, and the city was the centre of the Prussian preparations for the See also:campaign which ended at See also:Leipzig.

After the Prussian victory at See also:

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 See also:Stein, Geschichte der Stadt Breslau (Bresl. 185'-1853); J. Stein, Geschichte der Stadt Breslau See also:im zgten Jahrhundert (1884) 0 Frenzel, Breslauer Stadtbuch (" Codex dipl. Silisiae," vol. ii. 1882) ; Luchs, Breslau, ein Fiihrer durch See also:die Stadt (12th ed., Bresl. 1904).

End of Article: BRESLAU (Polish Wraclaw)

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