General Fridrich Bogislav von Tauentzien and the history of his earthly

Remnants

This is a discussion on the historical, monumental tomb of Prussian general Bogislav von Tauentzien (1710-1791) buried in the central part of present Kosciosko Plaza in Wroclaw. The tomb was destroyed during the autumn of 1945.

In the middle of present Koscioszko Plaza, amongst decorative flowerbeds stands a large glazed obtrusion in remembrance of those fighting for freedom and democracy. Actually, there isn't an easy access to it, but you can see it from a passing streetcar, that it's standing on some type of old slightly raised from the ground pedestal. This means that in it's place was something else previously, some type of monument was standing in the corner of the present glazed obtrusion. On old photographs from pre-war Wroclaw you can see that in it's place stood a gigantic monument in honor of Fridrich Bogislav von Tauentzien. It was also the tomb of the general, and this plaza until 1945 was named after him (Tauentzienplaz).

Bogislav von Tauentzien was born in Lebork in 1710. He comes from an old Prussian gentry, but his first name and surname indicates also distant Polish roots. His whole life he dedicated to a career in the Prussian army, he climbed quickly onto the level of an officer and day before the Seven-Day war he became general. He was entrusted with the defense of fresh Prussian possession, Wroclaw. In 1760 organized by him garrison in the city bravely returned all the attacks of the Austrian army, and the general all by himself, here before a decisive attack, standing at the entrance hall of St. Gertrude church, which played a role as a barricade before Swidnicka Gate, dedicated it to his staff by hitting the ground with his hat: If we do not retrieve the attack, then I will fall here and be buried here. The attack was retrieved and the deserving general until his death became the functioning commander of the Wroclaw garrison. He died in 1791 and by his wishes was buried close by the chapel of St. Gertrude.

This place is located at the front of the Swidnicka Gate, from 1318 it was a cemetery. It served as a burial for people who did not have the city's citizenship, the poor, and vagabonds, and also the desperados.

Close by was a stone gallows, on which executions were conducted. In 1603 the cemetery was destroyed, and in it’s center was built a votive chapel in honor of St. Gertrude. It stood in front of one of the most important city gates, named Swiednicka, which blocked the road coming from the city towards the south.

After the general’s death, his sons built him a simple tomb with a simple brick slab, which was enclosed by an iron fence. In 1795 in it's place stood gigantic monument, which was planned by the general's oldest son (also a general) Bogislav Fridrich Emmanuel Tauentzien 1760-1824). He also funded this project and employed 2 of the best architects of the time and sculptors: Carl Gotthard Langhans and Gottfried Schadow (the creators of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. As a result a gigantic monument several meters high was erected. On the parallel-piped base were placed two marble plates representing bas-relief, the departure from the seiged Wroclaw plus record of Swidnica. On this pedestal was erected a sarcophagus decorated with bronze plates. One of the casted mounds was a portrait of the deceased (general). On the marble sarcophagus rested the statue of Bellony, the former Roman goddess of war. She was represented as a widow expressing grief over the death of a hero. Bellona was done in Classical German, she had artistic historical value, so the monument had a recognition as valuable and artistic. In 1880 the marble bas-reliefs, on the base, were replaced with bronze replicas, which the Slaski Museum of Art in Wroclaw has.

In 1807 from the order of Hieronim Bonaparte, who conquered Wroclaw, the embankment was burnt, also the Swidnicka Gate and the chapel of St.

Gertrude. The French engineers built in it’s place a large square plaza, which was supposed serve as plaza for military parades and shows. The Tauentien tombstone, however, was saved and it became the center of the plaza. Hieronim Bonaparte, himself, gave this plaza the name Tauentzien Plaza (Tauentzienplaz).

One of the reasons for reconstruction of the city was the burning of the city's wall, in the XIX century. The city's administration has moved from the congested old town to the old suburb where it performed representative functions. This has also happened to the Przedmiescie of Swidnicki, whose center was Tauentzienplaz. Around it was built a strong urban center. In the vicinity was the main communication artery of the XIX century Wroclaw, which is Ogrodwa St.(it also had the names of: Gardenstrasse, Adolf Hitlerstrasse, Marshall Stalin St.,General Karol Swierczewski St., Marshall Jozef Pilsudskie St.) by which started the first train station of Wroclaw. From the train station of Dolnoslaski left the first train in 1947 which was the first to travel on present Polish soil. On Tauentzienplaz, two very important streets cross each other (present names are: Swidnicka and Kosciuszki). One of them cuts the city on the north-south axis, the second one on the east-west axis.

At the beginning of the XX century the first city communications have

started. The streetcars became into existence, it was between the axis of north-south which, "hugged with it's arms the monument", which, in this way, found itself on a special island. Here, in 1927 was built a luxurious department store, which is still there today.

During the battle of Festung Breslau in 1945 the monument wasn’t damaged. At the end of 1944 it was rebuilt with sacks of sand, which saved it from the bombardments and attacks which ruined the whole suburb of Przedmiescie Swidnickie. The Front Line during 7 days went through the embankment of the railroad which was in straight line of 200 meters. In May, 1945 the Russian sappers cleaned out Tauenzienplatz from mines and other projectiles, this way clearing the road to the square and farther to the north of the city in the direction of the bridges, which were not destroyed and which connected Wroclaw with the northwestern parts of the Slask, Wielkopolski and Pomorze Soils. During this time the construction which was built by the sacks of sand was taken down, which was protecting the monument from any type of harm. The monument and tombstone of the general were preserved very nicely.

In July, the government officials came to Wroclaw to take over the governing of the city from the hands of the Russian commander. At one of the first exchanges of power was planned the destruction of all German monuments. It was done by plans and by a method. It was started at the square, where by the help of gathered spectators, a bronze monument was pulled down by ropes, from it's base, it was the monument of Ceasar Wilhelm I, next on the Solny Plaza, the monument of Marshall Bluecher met it's fate. This act was always witnessed by a Polish government official, and after these spontaneous acts, by coincidence or not, the spectators also partook in this work, and they quickly put the bronze elements onto the trucks and the trucks took them to be melted down, and the next group quickly destroyed the bases and took the rubble to the city dump. To show that this was not a spontaneous act of the Polish people several Poles were presented in front of the courts, the ones who at the attack at the Odra (river) found, hidden by the Germans, the monument of Ceasar Wilhelm III and cut it into elements and sold it as scrap-iron. They were saved from a hard sentence by a hired professor from Krakow who defended them and said that the monument wasn't an artistic contribution. They were sentenced to 3 years for stealing of the scrap iron. During the fall of 1948 came the time for Gen. Tauentzien tombstone's destruction. In the morning came to the plaza, a group of people under the direction of the mayor of the city, Boleslaw Drobner and they stripped the monument of all it’s bronze elements. A 4-ton truck was filled to the top. Next was demolished the iron fence. At about noon the workers demolished the foundation, Ballona, with crowbars and went after the marble sarcophagus. There hidden was a male skeleton in an old-fashioned Prussian uniform. There were some type of markings on it, a sword and other elements. The hat and sword took the mayor as a souvenir, the rest of the tombstone was divided between other locals, those that were present at the opening of the tombstone. Next they broke the sarcophagus and the monument. The rubble was put on the waiting trucks and taken to the public dump. When evening came, only the base of the tombstone was left. In the years 1953-1956 the region of the Kosciuszki Plaza was rebuilt. And there now stands a socialist Kosciuszkowska Dzielnica Mieszkaniowa (shortened to KDM)(a housing project), it is an exact copy of the Warsaw's MDM-u(a housing project in Warsaw). In the spot where the monument stood was placed a large stone which was built from a grey granite. The writing, on it, is difficult to read at this time, but you can read it from a window of a stopped streetcar at the corner of the Plaza. It says,"To the fighters for freedom and democracy-from the citizens of Wroclaw". During the Marshal Law, someone painted the symbol of the then fighting Solidarity movement:

"Solidarnosc" and at one time a decoration was added by a vandal. Some

people believe that underneath the stone are the general's remains, others do not care at all.

BILIOGRAPHY

1. Szafkowska Magdalena: Plaza of two generals. The Wroclaw Gazzette 1999 number 271 p. 1, 4.

2. Encyklopedia Gutenberga T. 17(the Gutenber Encyclopedia Chapter 17).

3. Antkowiak Zygmunt: Streets and Plazas of Wroclaw: Published by Ossolineum 1970.

Author: Mgr.(someone with Master's Degree) Grazyna Trzaskowska

Tombstone of Gen. Tauensien (view from approximately the year 1912)