Issue 4(68)/2021

DOI: 10.5277/ARCHITECTUS

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Articles

Małgorzata Chorowska - Chronology of transformations in Grodno Castle from the 13th to the mid-16th century

doi:10.37190/arc210401

The aim of the article is to present the results of the architectural research on Grodno Castle which was carried out by the author in the years 2017–2019 in cooperation with Radosław Biel and a query of published written sources by Agnieszka Gryglewska. They shed new light on the chronology of transformations in the structures of the upper castle in the period from the end of the 13th to around the mid-16th century. Contrary to what has been previously thought, the shape of the upper castle consisting of three wings of buildings with a height of 3–4 storeys was formed in a different way at that time. This was previously attributed to construction actions undertaken in the early modern age. The late-medieval origin also refers to the tower perimeter of the middle castle and the lower part of the wall protecting the zwinger.      As a result of the conducted studies and field research, construction actions which were undertaken in the Middle Ages in the upper castle, can be grouped into three phases that occurred in around 1300, 1350 and 1500. In phase 1, a high perimeter wall with battlements and a hoarding overhanging the entrance gate to the castle and a section of the southern wall from the rocky slope and the road running along the River Bystrzyca Valley, were constructed. The wall climbed a rocky slope, culminating on the eastern side. There, at the highest point of the hill, it formed a square tower in plan with the same height as its adjacent sections. This fact makes us connect Grodno Castle with the type of the so-called coat castles, relatively rare in Silesia, but numerous in the territory of Bohemia. The wall surrounded a large courtyard and the rock on which the princely house was built. The entrance to the castle led from the south-west through a high ogival gate arcade secured with a portcullis.     In around the mid-14th century, a long two-winged house was added to the inner side of the defensive wall. It had two storeys and reached half the height of the present 2nd storey of the castle. From the east, the southern wing reached the rock on which the oldest castle building was built. The last medieval extension probably took place at the beginning of the 16th century, due to the fact that the Czetryc family obtained a royal privilege in 1502 and a lucrative customs house in Jedlinka. As a result, the two-storey stone house was transformed into a four-storey stone and brick house, although some of its internal divisions and the rooms above the kitchen were made of wood. The storeys of the heightened house “climbed onto the rock” on which the house from phase 1 previously stood and were closed from the north with a thick stone wall. Even further to the north there was a brick kitchen. The most important room in the house was a magnificent two-storey hall which occupied the entire central part of the southern wing on the 3rd storey. Thus, it turned out once again that the scope of construction works which were carried out in the castle in the Middle Ages and the size of its body turned out to be larger than originally assumed.

Keywords:

    grodno

    castle

    middle-ages

    knights’-hall

Radosław Biel, Magdalena Konczewska, Paweł Konczewski - Archaeological research at Grodno Castle in Zagórze Śląskie from 2017 to 2019

doi:10.37190/arc210402

Although Grodno Castle (Kynsburg), located in the southern part of the Wałbrzych Mountains, due to its turbulent history has been popular since the 19th century, this fact has never translated into the level of advancement of the scientific studies devoted to it. Until recently, scientific research, especially excavations, was carried out to a very limited extent. The aim of the article is to present and discuss the results of archaeological research conducted in 2017–2019 and its correlation with the knowledge provided to us by written sources. For this purpose, the most important historical events related to the functioning of Grodno Castle are briefly discussed. Then, the results of analyzes of the nature and relative chronology of the stratigraphic layers forming the embankment located on the castle zwinger and lying in the courtyard of the upper castle are presented, along with summarizing the conclusions of the typological, morphological, chronological and comparative analyzes of the archaeological finds discovered during the excavations. As a result of these activities, in the case of the layers forming the embankment located on the zwinger, 6 phases of anthropogenic activity were distinguished, which were related to historical events, and an image of the material culture of the castle inhabitants and the changes taking place in it over more than seven centuries were obtained.

Keywords:

    castles

    late-middle-ages

    early-modern-period

    silesia

    hussite-wars

    robber-knights

Radosław Biel - The functional analysis of the 15th century fortification of the Grodno castle

doi:10.37190/arc210403

The aim of the article is to discuss the potential purpose, and then a functional analysis of the structure, the stone relics of which were discovered during the archaeological research conducted in 2018 and 2019, on the zwinger of the Grodno castle, located in Zagórze Śląskie. The chronology of the structure, based on the analysis of the accompanying artefacts, was established in the first half of the 15th century, linking its destruction with the Hussite wars that were going on at that time. The analysis of the iconographic material and the results of research carried out on similar sites in Silesia, the Czech Republic and Moravia allowed for a hypothesis that the structure in question was a relic of a so called parkan – the oldest, previously unknown line of additional fortifications. Such wooden or stone-and-wooden objects would be the first response to the firearms spreading at that time. The theoretical model of the effectiveness of this type of fortification is considered, taking into account a number of basic factors, such as the terrain, the possibilities of armaments at that time, and the location of attackers and defenders. Various scenarios are discussed, taking into consideration the results of practical and theoretical experiments related to the use of early modern firearms and artillery published in the literature on the subject. The results of the conducted analyses seem to confirm both the proposed function of the structure and a number of benefits of its construction.

Keywords:

    middle-ages

    castellology

    hussite-wars

    silesia

    grodno-castle

Marek Bogdała, Anna Chodkowska - Roundel bastion fortifications of Grodno Castle in Zagórze Śląskie

doi:10.37190/arc210404

The article presents the roundel bastion fortifications of Grodno Castle in Zagórze Śląskie in detail. It also describes subsequent stages of their extensions, including the previously unknown phase of fortifications of the outer bailey (the so-called middle castle), dated to around 1500, when a fence with two cylindrical towers, the first gatehouse, and a stable building were built. The largest transformations were connected with the construction activity of the von Logau family, which in 1547 came into possession of the castle and made its renaissance reconstruction as well as its extension by the lower part of the outer bailey. Other significant changes took place in the 19th century when the castle was saved from complete demolition and adapted for visiting by tourists. These actions influenced, inter alia, the appearance of its fortifications and surroundings.      The text presents the stages of the roundel bastion perimeter construction. There are also references to the traces of its non-existent elements. Building material such as brick formats and the type of mortar were observed. In the course of analyses, technologies of terrestrial and aerial photogrammetry were used, which made it possible to develop virtual models of the researched objects. On the basis of the data obtained from laser aerialscanning, a visualization of the terrain model around the castle was developed. Thanks to digital models, information, which was hardly legible during architectural research using traditional methods, was obtained. The authors express the need for further studies, in particular archaeological ones, which would allow discovering these relics of the castle which are still hidden.

Keywords:

    roundel-bastion

    fence

    defensive-wall

    embrasure

    grodno

Agnieszka Gryglewska - Kinsberg House, a place fit for a prince to live in… Grodno Castle in modern times (16th and 18th centuries) in the light of historiographic sources and field research

doi:10.37190/arc210405

The subject of the article is the early modern remodeling and extensions of the medieval Grodno Castle (Kinsberg) at the time when it was the seat of the von Logau family, i.e. Matthäus, Kaspar and Georg, in the years 1545–1595, and its subsequent transformations until 1823. Purchased then by Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching, the castle was secured and turned into a romantic ruin. The studies were based on the analysis of German historical research, mainly from the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, using the sources which were either incomplete or lost in 1945. Historical descriptions of buildings and an attempt at interpreting them were presented. Preserved iconographic materials and the field research, which was conducted in the years 2019–2021 by a team of scientists from the Department of History of Architecture, Art and Technology of Wrocław University of Science and Technology, were also taken into consideration.     The aim of the article was to present the architecture of the castle in its heyday. The discussed early modern phase of its remodeling turned out to be a consistently implemented and completed concept of rebuilding the late-gothic castle from the beginning of the 16th century into an elegant Renaissance residence which consisted of a three-winged body of the upper castle closed with a curtain wall, crowned with a high roof surrounded by an attic, with an internal courtyard and a tower; then the middle castle, outer bailey and lower castle. In terms of the quality of architecture and its design, Grodno Castle could compete with Silesian princely residences at the end of the 16th century.

Keywords:

    architecture-of-the-16th-and-18th-centuries

    grodno-castle

    von-logau

    silesia

    zagórze-śląskie

Teresa Dziedzic - Details’ wandering – transformations of architectural details and sgraffito of Grodno castle in Zagórze Śląskie

doi:10.37190/arc210406

The article attempted to trace the history of the creation and conservation as well as changes in the location of modern portals in Grodno castle (Kinsburg). The turbulent history of their transfer, assembly and restoration is closely related to the history of the castle in the last 200 years. Research based on the analysis of archival materials from the 19th and 20th centuries, which, however, only partially capture the subject of the portals, were supplemented with an analysis of iconography and the results of field research conducted between 2019 and 2021 by a team from the Faculty of Architecture of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology.      The presented research results revealed the problem of determining the original location of several portals and the origin of their components. The condition of the portals requires an urgent conservation intervention. This article encourages undertaking more extensive research and analysis of the details of window and door dressings in Grodno castle in Zagórze Śląskie.

Keywords:

    portal

    grodno-castle

    architectural-detail

    sgraffito

Grzegorz Sanik - Grodno Castle in the iconography from the 18th and 19th centuries

doi:10.37190/arc210407

The aim of the article is to describe the image of Grodno Castle in Zagórze Śląskie in the iconography from the 18th and 19th centuries. The subject of the research covered graphics which were made by draftsmen and engravers at the end of the 18th and the 1st half of the 19th centuries, i.e. at the moment of the greatest changes in the substance of the monument. The article analyzes the state of preservation of the walls of Grodno Castle in individual representations. First of all, the analysis covered residential wings of the upper castle as well as the buildings of the lower courtyard with particular emphasis on the elements destroyed, dismantled, or rebuilt during transformations of the castle in the 19th century. Historic, analytical, and comparative methods were applied in our research.     During the analysis, it was possible to describe and indicate the non-existent fragments of the upper castle buildings. According to the author, the gable above the southern wing and the attics are particularly important. The information collected in this way may be helpful in the future when trying to reconstruct the historic roof and restore its cubature. From the 1820s to the end of the century, major changes also took place in the lower courtyard. The farm buildings were demolished, i.e. stables, a shed and a bakery building with a bathhouse. The remnants of early modern roundel bastions have been adapted to tourist needs. The described non-existent structures of the lower castle may also be helpful in the future when trying to reconstruct these buildings.

Keywords:

    grodno-castle

    zagórze-śląskie

    kynsburg

    kinsberg

    kynau

    iconography-of-the-19th-century

Łukasz Orlicki - Papal bull of Benedict XIII (1394–1417) from Grodno Castle

doi:10.37190/arc210408

The article aims at discussing a unique cultural property, which is the papal bull of Pope Benedict XIII that was discovered during the archaeological research conducted in Grodno Castle in 2017, as well as at determining the potential connections, as a result of which this cultural property found its place in Lower Silesia. The number of papal bulls which are discovered in contemporary Poland has been growing significantly from year to year. They are not only visually impressive artifacts, but above all good dating proofs due to the name of their issuer on each of them. In the case of identification of the papal bull discovered in Grodno Castle, initially there was a problem connected with the fact that in the history of the Catholic Church there were two popes bearing the name of Benedict XIII, i.e. Pedro de Luna who was in office at the turn of the 15th century and Francesco Orsini who ruled in the 18th century. Thanks to the source query and the comparative analysis, the issuer of the copy from Grodno Castle is undoubtedly the first of them – in historiography referred to as the Pope of Avignon obedience and colloquially as an anti-pope, due to the schism prevailing in the Church at that time. At the same time, it was ruled out that this cultural property might have been placed on the secondary deposit due to the analysis of the stratigraphy of the context layers in which it was discovered. On the basis of the query, the article also presents several hypotheses about a possible way the papal bull got to Lower Silesia. The conclusion which can be drawn from the research is the need to conduct further studies, not only on this particular cultural property, but first of all, in a broader aspect of papal bulls in Poland.

Keywords:

    grodno-castle

    middle-ages

    papal-bull

    benedict-xiii

    pedro-de-luna

Aleksandra Chlebicz, Paweł Konczewski - Thanatourism at Grodno Castle in Zagórze Śląskie

doi:10.37190/arc210409

Thanatourism is a concept involving travel to sites associated with death and suffering. It is not a cult of death, but merely a form of tourism aimed at discovering places of human tragedy. Grodno Castle is a popular destination of thanatourists, as it features specific forms of attractions, namely a starvation dungeon with a displayed skeleton, a torture chamber, and burial crypts of the previous owners. The article discusses the phenomenon of the growing attractiveness of thanatourist places. Secondly, it presents the results of a study of human bone remains found in the starvation dungeon of Grodno Castle. The assumption was that the bone material could belong to the heroine of the legend of Princess Margaret (i.e. it could have been artificially assembled for the purposes of the exhibition) or it could come from the tombs of the last owners of the castle. An anthropological analysis was carried out, involving determination of the sex, age and other parameters, and appropriate measurements were taken. The analysis of the material showed that the remains belonged to at least three individuals of different ages, and both sexes (young woman, 19–22 years old; adult male, over 35 years old; mature woman, 45–55 years old). Most likely, some of the examined bones used to make up a displayed skeleton in the past. The article also presents findings of a survey conducted among tourists at Grodno Castle, concerning their characteristics, as well as their motivations for visiting. According to our findings, Grodno Castle is mostly visited by women aged 35–44 with higher education, who live within 100 km from the castle. The main motivations for their visit are their interests in the past and the opportunity to tour the castle. The most frequent feelings expressed by the tourists during their visit were curiosity and enjoyment. Thanatological elements did not attract much attention. The lookout tower turned out to be the best tourist attraction. The exhibitions of human remains, coffins and the torture chamber mostly aroused curiosity, compassion and sadness among the visitors.

Keywords:

    death-tourism

    dark-tourism

    tourists’-motivations

    human-remains

    anthropological-analysis

Tomasz Stolarczyk, Maciej Madziarz - Mining of non-ferrous metal ores in the valley of the Bystrzyca river in relation to Grodno Castle

doi:10.37190/arc210410

The article discusses the issues of mining works from the Middle Ages and early modern period (until 1618), carried out in the region of the Bystrzyca river valley, in the vicinity of Grodno castle (the area located on the border of three meso-regions: the Sowie Mountains and the Wałbrzyskie Mountains and Foothills). The chronology of local mining probably dates back to the Middle Ages; however, the best documented reports refer to mining works carried out in the 16th century. They were undertaken both in the territory of the Grodno castle fiefdom – mainly in Dziećmorowice – and in the neighboring villages: Schlesierthal, Modliszów, Lubachów and Bystrzyca Górna. The remains of former mining works have been the subject of mining archeology research for years. A significant part of them was entered in the register of sites included in the Archaeological Picture of Poland program. The authors of the article presented the most important historical mining excavations in the given area and documentation related to the individual sites.

Keywords:

    non-ferrous-metal-ore-mining

    grodno-castle

    mining-archaeology

    mining-history

Milan Sýkora - Castles of Northwestern Bohemia in the Middle Ages

doi:10.37190/arc210411

The oldest royal and nobility castles appear in Northwestern Bohemia in the 2nd third of the 13th century. Builders mainly use castles with a Bergfried and a palace or with a donjon, regular castle dispositions remain limited to the environment of royal cities. However, the growth in construction of nobility castles did not occur until the reign of John the Blind, when many of them were built as fief castles. During the 14th century we can observe different tendencies in the construction of castles. There are more sophisticated mansions, where a large palace stands as the main building. In the last quarter of the 14th century we can already observe decline in the use of defensive components. The direction of the castle architecture towards comfortable settlements was disrupted by the Hussite wars and the massive development of firearms. During the war years in Bohemia, an ingenious architecture was being created using both passive and active defence means, which spread throughout Europe and formed one of the sources of inspiration for modern bastion fortresses. After the Hussite wars, we see tendencies aimed at improving the quality of residential and representational components.     The purpose of this article is not only to present the complicated beginnings of castles in north-western Bohemia (today’s Ústí region), but also to attempt to describe the development trends of castle architecture until the late Middle Ages. In his work, the author focused on the description and interpretation of several key objects and on the outline of general trends.

Keywords:

    northwestern-bohemia

    high-middle-ages

    castle

Rafał Śledzik-Kamiński - Bastion fortifications in Wiązów and Żórawina as an example of less known Silesian implementations by Hans Schneider von Lindau

doi:10.37190/arc210412

The article is devoted to early modern fortification builder Hans Schneider von Lindau. The aim of the work was to present a professional career of this fortification builder and his bastion fortifications thanks to the studies of source literature as well as archival iconographic and cartographic materials. The fortifications in two smaller centers, i.e. Wiązów and Żórawina, were researched. In Żórawina, it was possible to determine the hitherto uncertain authorship and to pinpoint the construction time of fortifications, namely for the years 1597–1602. In general, the author of the article claims that the fortifications designed by Hans Schneider von Lindau in smaller centers were as modern as the bastion fortifications he erected in larger towns.

Keywords:

    bastion

    bastion-fortifications

    early-modern-period

    hans-schneider-von-lindau

    wiązów

    żórawina

Jadwiga Urbanik - New color trends of the model Werkbund estates and Neues Bauen residential architecture during the Weimar Republic in Germany

doi:10.37190/arc210413

The purpose of the article is to present the color trends of the Werkbund model housing estates (1927–1932) in the background of Neues Bauen residential architecture built under the urban construction program during the Weimar Republic in interwar Germany (1918–1932). After the World War I, despite the exhaustion of the country due to war, effort was made to build new housing estates, which later became a model for modern housing solutions. The task of the architects of that time was to show that industrialization was not synonymous with the loss of individuality. An excellent weapon in the fight for individuality of housing estates was color, which was used to distinguish new buildings from the surrounding grays of the old ones. The Weimar Republic period in Germany, displayed two distinct color trends “white architecture” and the “colorful city” (“Die farbige Stadt”). The most spectacular changes, aimed at giving German cities a new face, were initiated by Bruno Taut in Magdeburg and Berlin, Ernst May in Wrocław (former Breslau) and Frankfurt am Main, and Otto Haesler in Celle. The exhibition housing estates of the Werkbund, constructed from 1927 to 1932, were a review of the tendencies entering the housing construction of the interwar period. Today, the only way to discover the architect’s original concept following years of use and reconstruction of the houses (even those under conservation protection) is through stratigraphic studies of the paint coatings. These types of studies have been conducted in many model housing estates. This article is based on personal experience of the author who participated in the revalorization of Wrocław’s model housing estate Werkbund, where both color trends are clearly visible.

Keywords:

    weimar-republic

    neues-bauen

    werkbund

    color-trends

    residential-architecture