Wroclaw - Panorama Racławicka

The history of Wroclaw dates back more than a thousand years. At various times, it has been part of the Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Habsburg monarchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Prussia, and Germany. Wrocław became part of Poland again in 1945 as part of the result of extensive border changes and expulsions after WWII.

In 990 Mieszko I of Poland conquered Silesia and Wrocław. The town became a commercial center. In the 12th century Polish, Bohemian, Jewish, Walloon, and German communities existed here.

Wroclaw was devastated in 1241 during the first Mongol invasion of Poland. In the 13th century due to migration from Saxony and Bavaria, Wroclaw got germanised. The population adopted the German language and culture and the name changed to Breslau.

Between 1342 and 1344 two fires destroyed large parts of the city, which was a part of the Bohemian Kingdom at that time. Charles IV`s , successors Wenceslaus and Sigismund became involved in a long-lasting feud with the city and its magistrate, culminating in the revolt in 1418 when local craftsmen killed seven councilors.

After the city had defeated the Bohemian Hussites the city was besieged by a combined Polish-Czech force in 1474, however, a ceasefire was signed, according to which the city remained under Hungarian rule.

The Reformation reached Breslau already in 1518, and in 1523 the town council unanimously appointed a new pastor and thus introduced the Reformation in Breslau.

In 1526, the Habsburg monarchy of Austria inherited Bohemia, Silesia, and the city of Breslau. In 1609 German emperor Rudolf II granted the free exercise of church services to all Bohemian and Silesian Protestants. In the following Thirty Years' War, the city suffered badly. It was occupied by Saxon and Swedish troops and lost 18,000 of its 40,000 residents to the plague.

The Counter-Reformation had started with Rudolf II who encouraged Catholic orders to settle in Breslau. The dominance of the German population under the Habsburg rule in the city became more visible, while the Polish population diminished in numbers.

After Frederick the Great besieged the city for a year, it surrendered in 1741. In 1742, Queen Maria Theresa handed over Silesia to the Prussian king.
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This circular building houses the "Racławice Panorama", a monumental (15 × 114 meters) cycloric painting depicting the Battle of Racławice, in which the Polish army led by Tadeusz Kościuszko defeated the Russian army in 1794.

The panorama is arranged in a circle and, with the viewer in the center, shows various scenes from different angles. It was originally located in Lviv (Lemberg), but after WWII was dismantled under secrecy and moved to Wroclaw, where it remained in hiding for many years. The building in which it is now exhibited was completed in the 1980s. The architect was Marek Dziekoński.