Jelenia Góra Valley
The palaces and landscape parks of the Jelenia Góra valley represent one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomnik historii), as designated on 20 September 2011.
Already in the 12th century the Polish kingdom built several strongholds against Bohemia near Jelenia Gora valley, such as Nowo Grodziec or Swiny.
After Boleslaw I initiated the Ostsiedlung in Silesia, the valley was cleared of forests by German colonists beginning in the late 13th century, and several villages and towns were established, among them Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra).
At first Bad Warmbrunn (Cieplice Śląskie Zdrój, now a district of Jelenia Góra) with its hot springs became a popular bath and tourist centre.
In 1822 Wilhelm, a brother of Prussian king Frederick William III, was the first prince of the Hohenzollern dynasty who took his summer residence in the Hirschberg valley, at Fischbach (today Karpniki) castle.
The valley became a princely hideaway, and in 1839 the king purchased nearby Schildau Castle (today Wojanów) for his daughter Princess Louise.
Artificial ruins, small pavilions, cottages, romantic temples and viewpoints created a cultural landscape of international recognition.
Important churches and the castles, testimonies of the early Polish culture before the German colonization in the 13th and 14th century, were preserved, palaces and manors however were neglected, vandalized and sometimes destroyed.
Directly after the war the reactivation of tourism was tried, however as most holiday homes in the valley were occupied by new settlers and the touristic infrastructure was in a sorry state these attempts failed.
The parks, the excellent hiking trail network and erstwhile viewpoints run to seed, while most of the art collections were either destroyed or dissolved and spread all over Poland.
After the collapse of communism in Poland a rediscovery of the cultural landscape began, which is increasingly accepted and appreciated by the descendants of the Polish settlers.
Already at the end of the 18th century Hirschbergs director of town planning, Schönau, created several gardens on the surrounding hills of the city.
These early parks were affected by Sentimentalism, as the art of garden design was especially suitable to stimulate deep feelings like melancholy, teariness, amazement or joy.
Instead of different scenes and architectural styles more reduced designs, only consisting of mere scenic elements like trees, groves, creeks, meadows and hills, became popular.
Since a few years, the Polish conservation organization tries to preserve and recreate the cultural landscape, which slowly recovers its lost beauty.
An outstanding feature of the valley is the large number of country seats and locks, for example Mysłakowice, Staniszów and now to Jelenia Góra or Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój with park and spa.
Chojnik, a castle ruin on a foothill of the Karkonosze (Giant) Mountains, overlooks the entire Jelenia Góra valley.
The core of today's building emanated from the 18th century, when Maximilian Leopold von Reibnitz expanded it to a Baroque palace.
In 1837 Frederick William III left large parts of his estate to religious refugees from Tyrol, who built picturesque Alpine-style houses.
Until 1909 the stately home continued to be the summer residence of the Prussians kings and German emperors, afterwards it was sold for 1,7 million Mark.
Initially owned by the families Predel and Reichenbach, it was bought by Hans I. Schoff in 1476, who enlarged the castle with a two-storied mansion.
At the end of World War II, it was used as a depository for important art treasures from Silesia and the national library in Berlin.
