Острувек и остров Пасека, Ополе — полёт 360° с гидом

Where did Opole begin? Archaeologists say the very first settlement stood on Ostrówek, the northern part of Pasieka Island, in the middle of the Oder river. That was back in the eighth century.

Whose land was this long ago, before the dukes came? It belonged to a pagan tribe called the Opolanie, until Duke Mieszko I conquered their land in the year 992, and the Opolanie lost it.

Why did a whole town have to move? Duke Casimir I moved the settlement from its island to the right bank of the Oder. Every inhabitant had to leave, so a castle could stand on the old town.

How old is Opole as a chartered town, with its own town law? In the year 1254 Opole received German town law, which was expanded, decades later, with Neumarkt law.

What made Oppeln matter in the region? The first railway linked Oppeln with Brieg and Breslau, and the first factories followed, greatly raising the town's weight in the whole region.

Why did this organ take so long? It's the red stone hall with columns: Filharmonia Opolska. Its organ was ordered from Sauer of Frankfurt in the year 1979, but was fully assembled only by the year 1994.

How long did the builders get for this monument? It's the white winged figure ahead. The Nike of Opole was approved in the year 1970, and the builders were given only 28 days to put the whole monument up.

Who once kept watch over this very spot in Opole? Kaiser Wilhelm I: the Kaiser Wilhelm I statue was set up right here, just where we are flying now.

Can a church move to another village? After secularisation, the wooden church of Saint Barbara that stood here was taken apart and sold to the village of Kollanowitz, where it still stands today.

Who used to govern from here? The Upper Silesian government met here for many years, until it moved into a new building on Pascheke island, and then the square was renamed Annabergplatz.

Which house was rebuilt here, and which was not? The old Regierungsgebäude never came back, but the house called Europa did, and it then held the very popular Restaurant Europa.

How did Oppeln vote when asked to choose a country? At the plebiscite in the year 1921, Oppeln voted overwhelmingly for Germany, and only five percent of the votes went to the newly independent Polish Republic.

What happened after a Polish opera night in Opole? In 1929 a Polish theatre from Katowice came here to perform Halka by Stanisław Moniuszko. After the show, a German militia brutally beat the actors, and the police silently allowed it.

Which reporter fought Germanisation with a newspaper? Bronisław Koraszewski, a Polish reporter and a declared opponent of Germanisation, founded the newspaper Gazeta Opolska here, and later the People's Bank in Opole as well.

What did people here actually speak at home? Besides German and Polish, many of the town's citizens once used a Silesian dialect with a strong German influence, which some people called wasserpolnisch.

Where did the editors of Nowiny Codzienne end up? When the newspaper Nowiny Codzienne was closed down, its whole editorial team, including the editor-in-chief Jan Łangowski, was deported to concentration camps.

What was Opole's rabbi forced to do on one November night? During Kristallnacht, in November 1938, the Nazis forced the town's rabbi, Hans Hirschberg, to set the New Synagogue on fire himself.

How could a Silesian stay at home? Silesians who saw themselves as Poles could stay after a special verification: they declared Polish nationality and swore an oath of allegiance to the Polish nation.

Who came to Opole from the east? Many Poles driven from the Kresy, the former Polish lands annexed by the Soviet Union, settled here after the war, for example people from Lwów.

Who ruled after the dukes? The Habsburgs took the region in 1532, when the last duke, Jan II the Good, died, and at that time around 63 percent of the townspeople still spoke Polish.

Where was Poland called to rise against the Swedes? It's the church with the white tower. In the year 1655 King John Casimir's chancery sat in the Holy Trinity Church friary, and the royal call was read there.

Who cut this friary off from Poland? It's the pink wings around the garden: Klasztor Franciszkanów. In the year 1725 the order moved it from the Polish province to the Czech one.

Which Opole monument is a cannon shaped like a tower? The monument to the defence of the voivodeship, put up in the year 2000: a cannon in the form of a castle tower, on a plinth shaped like the voivodeship.

Why does Opole Town Hall look Florentine? It's the white tower straight ahead. In the year 1864 architect Albrecht oversaw a brand new tower here, built to the model of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy.

How did the last Duke of Opole leave? In 1668 King John II Casimir of Poland abdicated, and since he was also the last Duke of Opole, the region passed straight to the Habsburgs.

What happened to Opole Town Hall's tower on a July morning? In 1933 workers began pulling down the annexes that spoiled the square, but the tower was poorly secured, and in July 1934 it came crashing down, yet nobody was killed.

Which of today's Opole districts voted for Poland in the plebiscite? Grudzice, Malina, Winów and Wrzoski among them, then separate villages, and in each the majority voted for Poland.

Who held Opole as a pledge? The Habsburgs pawned the duchy of Opole to a series of different rulers, and several of those rulers were monarchs of the Kingdom of Poland.

Did the last dukes of Opole ever speak German? Not at all. Nicholas II and Janusz II the Good, the very last dukes of Opole, never mastered the German language.

Which Polish newspaper was published here? The Gazeta Wiejska dla Górnego Śląska, the Village Gazette for Upper Silesia, was published right here in Opole, written in the Polish language for its readers.

Does Opole still grow today? Quite recently, nearby villages, Borki and Czarnowąsy among them, became part of the city, and thousands of new citizens joined it, despite the protests of the inhabitants.

Where did Opole's plague start? It's the small white church below. St. Sebastian Church rose on the site of an old tavern, where the plague of 1679 broke out and took more than 900 lives.

Who lies in Opole Cathedral? It's the twin brick spires. Its Piast Chapel is the burial place of Duke Jan II the Good.

8K (7680×3840), 60 кадров/с. Открытые субтитры на английском впечатаны в изображение: три копии вокруг обзора, одна — рядом с местом, о котором идёт речь. Озвучка — синтетический голос на английском.

Факты гида взяты из:

• Википедия (на польском): Klasztor Franciszkanów w Opolu
• Википедия (на польском): Kościół Świętej Trójcy w Opolu
• Википедия (на польском): Ostrówek (Opole)
• Википедия (на польском): Wyspa Pasieka
• Википедия (на польском): Pomnik Bojownikom o Polskość Śląska Opolskiego
• Википедия (на польском): Filharmonia Opolska
• Википедия (на польском): Katedra Podwyższenia Krzyża Świętego w Opolu