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Opole - A Stronghold, A city, the Capital of the Region

Opole ‒ A Stronghold, A city, the Capital of the Region


Stronghold on Ostrówek

The exposition devoted to the early medieval hillfort in Ostrówek in Opole forms part of the exhibition "Opole ‒ A Stronghold, a City, The Capital of the Region".

During long-running archeological excavations in Ostrówek, wooden frameworks of a stronghold were revealed, as well as a wealth of relics, allowing us to gain insights into the history of the stronghold, its defensive system, the layout of the buildings, the furnishings of its dwellings, as well as into the everyday life and the belief systems of its inhabitants. The Ostrówek stronghold was erected on the northern promontory of Pasieka island, on wetlands, near a viable passage on the Odra river. At first, it functioned mainly as a chokepoint of the local authorities, fulfilling an important military function. The stronghold served as the headquarters for the ducal’s representative and for stationing troops consisting of several dozens of warriors together with their families and servants. With time, the stronghold became an administrative-political hub and the headquarters of the Castellan, knightly troops as well and administrative officials. The site was also inhabited by craftsmen and by people dealing with trade.

The well-preserved wooden elements which had been discovered allowed for the reconstruction of the embankment, streets, squares and buildings. The construction of defensive structures and the layout of the hillfort are presented both in the form of a computer animation, and of drawings which depict the subsequent stages of the erection and reconstruction of the rampart, plans of the layout of the dwellings and streets of the stronghold, mock-ups, as well as photographic documentation of the investigation showing the remains of the rampart, streets, houses, squares and construction elements. A reconstructed carcass construction log-house contains typical furnishings, as well as household appliances and everyday objects in every household at that time. The display presents fragments of fabrics, remains of both summer and winter clothes, leather shoes and parts of attire and accessories. The presence of troops in the hillfort is confirmed by numerous militaria and elements of horse harnesses, which are showcased in the exhibition. There are also artefacts related to various crafts: cooperage, weaving, shoemaking, pottery, metallurgy and the processing of limestone and wood.

This part of the exhibition is complemented by a multimedia presentation showing the performance of specific activities, such as spinning or making stave vessels, as well as by drawings depicting craft workshops in the 11th – 13th centuries. The commercial contacts of the population living in the stronghold in Ostrówek are evidenced by miscellanea presented at the exhibition such as: silk fabrics, silver denarii, lead and limestone weights, fragments of glass vessels, remains of a sleigh, a hub and spokes of a wooden wheel, a miniature cart made of wood and bark, and miniature bark boats. The exhibition also includes relics related to spiritual culture and pastimes: musical instruments (pipes, whistles, a primitive fiddle), items for games (dice, pieces for board games, wooden animal figures, dolls and animals cut from leather, rattles, a wooden spinning top, miniatures, and a miniature grain crushing mill). Artefacts related to worship and beliefs constitute a separate group.

The exhibition was organized from the collections of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Wrocław Branch) and the Museum of Opole Silesia.

Late Middle Ages
The second part of the exhibition is devoted to the late Middle Ages period, which began in the 13th century and ended in the first quarter of the 16th century. It is a period in which the influx of Western European population groups settling in Silesia brought along a specific material culture. The concomitant changes taking place at that time in various areas of life were confirmed, among others, through the results of archaeological excavations. These changes are often referred to as the “13th century revolution”. Archaeologists studying castles, settlements and the centers of medieval cities have not only registered relics of the so-called immovable objects, constituting elements of their construction, but most of all, via them, they acquired many variegated ‒ though usually fragmentarily preserved ‒ artefacts used at that time. Iconographic sources ‒ illustrations (illuminations) included in medieval manuscripts are a very valuable source of learning about customs, everyday life and the material culture of that period.

The holdings of the Archaeological Department include several hundred late-medieval antiquities that were obtained both during excavations carried out in the Opole district of Ostrówek ‒ where in the 13th century a brick duke's castle was built in the place of a fortified stronghold ‒ and during archaeological surveys performed on the occasion of various investments within the oldest city precincts. The exhibition presents selected issues related to the functioning of these two important institutions: the castle and the city, which ‒ despite their close proximity and mutual relations ‒ were very distinct from each other.

Apart from the artefacts from the museum’s own possessions (the Archaeological Department and the Historical Department), the exhibition presents antiquities from the collections of the District Museum in Nysa. Iconography plays an important role, and above all, 17 reproductions of merchants and craftsmen portrayed in the House Books of Twelve Brothers (Hausbücher der Nürnberger Zwölfbrüderstiftung) ‒ two foundations that were established in medieval Nuremberg and are now kept in the local Municipal Library.

Modern history
The image of Opole in the middle of 18th century is presented on a mock-up based on a graphic by Frederick Bernard Werner, whose drawings serve as a basic source of information to learn about the town in this period. The graphic shows the urban layout of Opole, which at that time, covered only 16 hectares. The mid-1770s is an important historical caesura for the city ‒ from 1742, it became part of the Prussian state (from 1871 ‒ German). The mock-up is accompanied by a few minutes' lecture (in Polish, English and German), describing the then appearance of Opole in detail. Crafts were the main source of income for the town's inhabitants until the end of the 18th century: more than half of the inhabitants made their living from processing handicrafts.

The history of Opole craftsmen is presented in the room which gathers objects related to Silesian guild craft, among other things, chests and counters, seals and documents, coffin plates, craft standards and craft altars of Opole’s weavers’ and shoemakers’ guilds. A variety of exhibits are displayed, e.g., pots, keys, padlocks, hinges, tools (including an impressive carpentry planer from 1726). Many of these items formed part of the Museum possessions even before 1945. Particularly noteworthy is a large sign from a locksmith's workshop, as well as souvenirs related to the activity of the Opole butchers' guild. Among the exhibits gathered in the pre-war Municipal Museum are Prussian militaria. The collection of old weapons and weaponry was replenished after the war and now numbers several hundred exhibits. Militaria, originating mainly from the area of Silesia, are exhibited in the subsequent room and are showcased in the context of the history of 18th -20th centuries. They include artefacts originating in the 19th century, made by gunsmiths from Gliwice, Kłodzko, Legnica, Namysłów, Nysa, Ozimek and Wleń. Czech centers are also represented: Karlovy Vary, Šumperk. Noteworthy among the exhibits are examples of Prussian military percussion cap weapons from the first half of the 19th century, as well as the pioneering model of firing pin gun ‒ the Dreyse model 1841 (these types of objects are rare in Polish museum collections). The exhibition also includes edged weapons, among which are valuable, for example, Wrocław productions from the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The exhibition is complemented by plans, graphics, photographs and documents (including a letter from King Frederick II of 1746) illustrating the history of Silesia within military contexts. The transformation which the town of Opole underwent in the 19th century, when it turned from a typical craft town into an industrial one, with a modern infrastructure ‒ is presented in the part of the exhibition in which the gathered iconography shows the town as the capital of Opole regency (Regierungsbezirk Oppeln). Extant graphics, plans, photos and postcards illustrate the dynamic demographic and territorial development of the city: from a small, definitely secondary town in the region, inhabited in 1816 by only 4,050 people, to the main city of Upper Silesia, with 50,561 inhabitants in 1936. The nineteenth century brought about rapid economic growth for the city, which was related primarily to the discovery of Opole marls and the development of the cement and lime industry (the first Grundmann cement plant was established in 1857), the beginning of the railway (the line led to Opole in 1843) and the Odra river transportation. Old photos remind us of buildings that no longer exist today, incl. The Piast Castle with a park, a synagogue, the buildings of the Opole market before 1945, the old regency edifice and the Odra Gate. Many of the presented objects originally had a completely different appearance, which has changed as a result of their reconstruction or expansion, e.g., the cathedral and the main post office. Some localities of the former Opole regency have also been immortalized. This part of the exhibition has been supplemented with publications from Opole printing houses.

Part of the displayed iconographic material also concerns the plebiscite in Upper Silesia on March 20, 1921. Opole, which in 1919 became the capital of the newly established Upper Silesian Province, for nearly two years was the seat of international forces controlling the preparation and the course of voting by residents, deciding whether the region was to belong to Poland or Germany. After Poland lost the plebiscite, and after the third Silesian Uprising and following the final division of Silesia (October 20, 1921), Opole and Opole Silesia remained within the German state. About 530,000 Poles remained in this area. The Polish Union in Germany (Związek Polaków w Niemczech) represented the Polish community in Germany. From February 18, 1923, Opole fulfilled the function of the capital of the 1st District of the Association of Poles in Germany (I Dzielnica Związku Polaków w Niemczech). The exhibition also includes memorabilia documenting Polish social and cultural life in the region. Two consecutive rooms were devoted to the post-war history of the city, starting with the occupation of Opole by the Soviet army at the beginning of 1945 until the 1960s. At the outset, attention was drawn to the fact of the settlement of the depopulated town by Poles who came from the so-called Eastern Borderlands and from the center of the country. The exhibition also presents a picture of Opole, destroyed by military operations, and shows changes in its appearance after its reconstruction. In this context, the phenomena of the political, social and cultural life are exhibited. The exhibition features images presenting the new authorities, the first harvest festival, May Day celebrations, newly opened schools, cultural events, celebrations of the 1000th anniversary of the Polish state and the events of 1968. Recalling the images of Opole during the Polish People's Republic was meant to familiarize visitors with the atmosphere of public life under communist conditions.

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