The tomb-chapel of Samson Woller’s family in Leśna near Lubań – the work of Carl Lüdecke

Ewa Grochowska, Krzysztof Stefański

doi:10.5277/arc150204

Abstract

Leśna (German Marklissa) is a small town picturesquely situated in Izerskie Foothills, nearby Lubań. In the 19th century a textile industry wasdeveloped here. The owner of the biggest production plants, converted in 1888 into the joint stock company “Concordia”, was Samson Woller, a manufacturer of Jewish descent. In 1883 he built in Leśna a tomb-chapel according to a design of well known Breslau’s architect Carl Lüdecke. Its plans survived in the collection of Technische Universität in Berlin. The building belongs to the most interesting examples of tomb-chapels erected in the 19th century in Lower Silesia. The tomb-chapel is built on a central plan with a center square crowned by a cupola. It presents the classic-Renaissance style. The building is distinguished by an unusual location – outside the city, on a hillside that slopes towards a lake. It is the most interesting architectural work from among other tomb-chapels designed by Carl Lüdecke. Current condition of the object, which in 2013 was entered into the register of historical monuments, is very bad.     The article presents history of Samson Woller’s tomb-chapel in Leśna. It also contains analysis of chapel’s architectural value comparing it to other objects of its type built in the same periods in Silesia. A separate thread are Samson Woller’s connections to Polish lands – at the end of the 19th century he acquired estates in Dłoń and Smolice in the south of Wielkopolska, nearby Krotoszyn. They were given as a dowry to his daughters: Helen and Maria Otylia.

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