Legnickie Pole
Encyclopedia
Legnickie Pole l is a village in Legnica County
, Lower Silesian Voivodeship
, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina
) called Gmina Legnickie Pole
. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany
.
It lies approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) south-east of Legnica
, and 56 kilometres (35 mi) west of the regional capital Wrocław. The village has a population of 780.
The village was the site of the decisive Battle of Legnica
(Battle of Liegnitz, or Battle of Wahlstatt) on 9 April 1241. In the battle, Mongols
of the Golden Horde
led by Kadan
and Baidar
defeated a Polish
-German
army under Duke Henry II the Pious
of Silesia
. The Mongols annihilated their opponents and joined with the main army in Hungary
, but upon receiving the news of the death of their Grand Khan Ögedei Khan
, they turned back to attend to the election of a new Khagan
, or Grand Khan. The site became known in German as Wahlstatt, or "battle field", in honor of the battle. The battle marked the westernmost expansion of the Mongols into central Europe
. From 1335 until 1742 it was part of the Kingdom of Bohemia
and thus later of Austria
.
The village became part of the Kingdom of Prussia
during the 18th century Silesian Wars
in 1742. During the Napoleonic Wars
, the Prussian general Prince Blücher
defeated a French
army under Marshal MacDonald
at the Katzbach
, a small river running through Wahlstatt and Liegnitz, in the Battle of Katzbach
on 26 August 1813. In honor of this victory Blücher received the title Prince of Wahlstatt on 3 June 1814.
A Baroque
abbey
built at Wahlstatt in 1727 through 1733 with its complex of attendant buildings became a Prussian training institute for cadet
s in 1840. Among others, future field marshal and German president Paul von Hindenburg
studied here from 1859 to 1863, as did the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen
, until 1911.
Following the Treaty of Versailles
, which limited the size of the German military, the abbey was turned into a boarding school
for boys in 1920. During the Nazi
era, it was first a National Political Institute of Education and in the final months of the war a prisoner of war camp Oflag VIII-F
.
The village became part of the communist People's Republic of Poland
following World War II
, had its German-speaking population expelled
, and was given its current Polish name Legnickie Pole ("Field of Legnica", from 1945-48 it was named Dobre Pole). The former abbey became a hospital for emotionally disturbed women in 1957. The Baroque church now houses a museum of the Battle of Legnica. Until 1961 the Lutheran Evangelical
German
pastor remained and prevented the dilapidation of the formerly Protestant church. After 1961 and the emigration and expulsion of the last few Germans, the church was made into a museum on the Battle of Legnica by the Polish state authorities.
Legnica County
Legnica County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. The county covers an area of...
, Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province , is one of the 16 voivodeships into which Poland is currently divided. It lies in southwestern Poland...
, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina
Gmina
The gmina is the principal unit of administrative division of Poland at its lowest uniform level. It is often translated as "commune" or "municipality." As of 2010 there were 2,479 gminas throughout the country...
) called Gmina Legnickie Pole
Gmina Legnickie Pole
Gmina Legnickie Pole is a rural gmina in Legnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the village of Legnickie Pole, which lies approximately south-east of Legnica, and west of the regional capital Wrocław...
. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
It lies approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) south-east of Legnica
Legnica
Legnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county...
, and 56 kilometres (35 mi) west of the regional capital Wrocław. The village has a population of 780.
The village was the site of the decisive Battle of Legnica
Battle of Legnica
The Battle of Legnica , also known as the Battle of Liegnitz or Battle of Wahlstatt , was a battle between the Mongol Empire and the combined defending forces of European fighters that took place at Legnickie Pole near the city of Legnica in Silesia on 9 April 1241.A combined force of Poles,...
(Battle of Liegnitz, or Battle of Wahlstatt) on 9 April 1241. In the battle, Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
of the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
led by Kadan
Kadan
Kadaň , is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic.The city lies on the banks of the river Ohře. Although it is situated in an industrial part of the Czech Republic there is no major industry within the city and people usually work in offices or have to commute. There are two...
and Baidar
Baidar
Baidar was the second son of Chagatai Khan.He participated in the European campaign with his nephew Büri from 1235-1241. He commanded the Mongol army assigned to Poland with Kadan and, probably, Orda Khan....
defeated a Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
-German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
army under Duke Henry II the Pious
Henry II the Pious
Henry II the Pious , of the Silesian line of the Piast dynasty was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław and Duke of Kraków and thus High Duke of all Poland as well as Duke of Southern Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. During 1238–1239 he also served as a regent of two other Piast duchies: Sandomierz...
of Silesia
Duchy of Silesia
The Duchy of Silesia with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Piast dynasty in 1138, it fragmented into various Duchies of Silesia. In 1327 the remaining Duchy of Wrocław as well as most other duchies...
. The Mongols annihilated their opponents and joined with the main army in Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, but upon receiving the news of the death of their Grand Khan Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan
Ögedei Khan, born Ögedei was the third son of Genghis Khan and second Great Khan of the Mongol Empire by succeeding his father...
, they turned back to attend to the election of a new Khagan
Khagan
Khagan or qagan , alternatively spelled kagan, khaghan, qaghan, or chagan, is a title of imperial rank in the Mongolian and Turkic languages equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a khaganate...
, or Grand Khan. The site became known in German as Wahlstatt, or "battle field", in honor of the battle. The battle marked the westernmost expansion of the Mongols into central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
. From 1335 until 1742 it was part of the Kingdom of Bohemia
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...
and thus later of Austria
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
.
The village became part of the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
during the 18th century Silesian Wars
Silesian Wars
The Silesian Wars were a series of wars between Prussia and Austria for control of Silesia. They formed parts of the larger War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War. They eventually ended with Silesia being incorporated into Prussia, and Austrian recognition of this...
in 1742. During the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, the Prussian general Prince Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...
defeated a French
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
army under Marshal MacDonald
Étienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald
Étienne Jacques Joseph Alexandre MacDonald, 1st duke of Taranto was a Marshal of France and military leader during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Family background:...
at the Katzbach
Kaczawa
The Kaczawa is a river in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in Poland. It springs from the Kaczawskie Mountains near Kaczorów and flows north and northeast through the towns of Świerzawa, Złotoryja and Legnica...
, a small river running through Wahlstatt and Liegnitz, in the Battle of Katzbach
Battle of Katzbach
The Battle of Katzbach on 26 August 1813, was an accidental engagement of the Napoleonic Wars between the forces of the First French Empire under Marshal MacDonald and a Russo-Prussian army of the Sixth Coalition under Prussian Marshal Graf von Blücher...
on 26 August 1813. In honor of this victory Blücher received the title Prince of Wahlstatt on 3 June 1814.
A Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
built at Wahlstatt in 1727 through 1733 with its complex of attendant buildings became a Prussian training institute for cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
s in 1840. Among others, future field marshal and German president Paul von Hindenburg
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg , known universally as Paul von Hindenburg was a Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and politician, and served as the second President of Germany from 1925 to 1934....
studied here from 1859 to 1863, as did the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen , also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I...
, until 1911.
Following the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, which limited the size of the German military, the abbey was turned into a boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
for boys in 1920. During the Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
era, it was first a National Political Institute of Education and in the final months of the war a prisoner of war camp Oflag VIII-F
Oflag VIII-F
Oflag VIII-F was a World War II German POW camps for officers located in Wahlstatt, now Legnickie Pole in Silesia and Mährisch-Trübau, now Moravská Třebová in north-central Czech Republic.- Timeline :...
.
The village became part of the communist People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, had its German-speaking population expelled
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
, and was given its current Polish name Legnickie Pole ("Field of Legnica", from 1945-48 it was named Dobre Pole). The former abbey became a hospital for emotionally disturbed women in 1957. The Baroque church now houses a museum of the Battle of Legnica. Until 1961 the Lutheran Evangelical
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
pastor remained and prevented the dilapidation of the formerly Protestant church. After 1961 and the emigration and expulsion of the last few Germans, the church was made into a museum on the Battle of Legnica by the Polish state authorities.