Silesian architecture is the name given to the constructions made in Silesia throughout time, and those by Silesian architects worldwide. The name is also applied to buildings made within its geographical limits before the constitution of Silesia as a duchy (earlier than 1172) or before this name was given to those territories, and largely depends on the historical moment. Due to historical, geographic, and generational diversity, Silesian architecture has had a host of influences.
Romanesque architecture
The Romanesque art in Silesia appeared with the Christianization of the region. The first known structure, relics of a church on Ostrów Tumski in Wrocław, was built in the mid-10th century. Around 1000 Bolesław I of Poland founded a three-nave cathedral on the same place, styled after the cathedral in Gniezno. Few other buildings of that time are known. The rotunda in Cieszyn (Těšín), of Moravian- Bohemian origin, dates back to 1050.
The 12th century was a time of great advancement. The first monasteries and minsters, in Wrocław and Lubiąż, were built, and the quality of work improved significantly, as the builders adopted architectural styles from Southern Germany and Meuse. Outstanding achievements of this era were the cathedral and the abbey church of the Benedictine order in Wrocław, the latter being the most magnificent Romanesque building in Silesia. It was planned after its mother church in Tyniec near Kraków, whereas its Westwork was influenced by Thuringian traditions. The church of the first Cistercian monastery in Lubiąż, built by monks from Pforta in Thuringia, was the first of many buildings made of brick in Silesia.
The beginning of the 13th century was marked by a big increase in building activity, caused by the large influx of German settlers (Ostsiedlung). Most of the municipal churches in Silesia, built of stone or brick, emerged at that time. Examples were Głogów, Nysa, Jelenia Góra or Ziębice. These late Romanesque Silesian churches were a mix of local, Saxon-Thuringian and Bohemian traditions. There are only seven known examples of that time in Upper Silesia, but 67 in Lower Silesia, including secular buildings.
Silesian Gothic
The heralds of Gothic architecture were connected with the building activities of the Cistercians and the patronage of Henry I the Bearded. Two monasteries, in Trzebnica (Trebnitz) and Henryków (Heinrichau), as well as two residences, in Wrocław and Legnica (Liegnitz), were early examples and referred to architectonic standards in Southern Germany and along the Rhine. They probably indicate to the dynastic connection between Henry I and the House of Andechs. Characteristic attributes of all these buildings were the combination of brick constructions and details made of stone, which were most likely brought in via Altzella in Saxony.
The Tatar invasions of 1241 led to the decentralization of Silesia. Baronial patronage decreased whereas episcopal and later municipal patronage increased. The most important construction project of that time was the cathedral of Wrocław, which became the first pure Gothic building in Silesia. The chapel St. Hedwig in Trzebnica was another important structure of that era. Both buildings cited early French traditions, imported via Saxony, Bohemia and Austria. Most mendicant orders built their monasteries in the second half of the 13th century, most notably in Wrocław, Głogów, Brzeg and Strzelin. At the same time, the first hall churches appeared. The most original were in Ziębice and Złotoryja (Goldberg). A tower that remains of the castle in Prudnik is considered to be the oldest private defensive structure in Poland (circa 1255).
Silesia's towns needed approximately 50 years after its foundation to get their independence. In the 14th century, many of these towns began to build their own big parish churches, and with the assistance of the new Bohemian sovereign, a dynamic sacral development program began. Dominant were now Bohemian, Moravian, Southern German and Lower Austrian architectural traditions, but mixed with local traditions which preferred more simple forms. The most characteristic creation of the entire 14th century remained the basilical municipal church with a long nave and no transept. This style was most probably derived from the Cistercian abbey in Zlatá Koruna (Goldenkron) in Bohemia. Although Silesia was now a part of Bohemia, a state of the Holy Roman Empire, the Parler Gothic had almost no influence. Architectural embellishments can only be found in three churches, probably all built by master builder Claus Brynner.
This dynamic sacral development program lasted the entire 14th century, and starting around 1370 many bigger cities added guild and family chapels to their parish churches. At the end of the century, all monastery construction projects ended, and with the spreading of the Hussite Wars to Silesia most building activities were greatly reduced.
The expansion of the town hall in Wrocław after 1480 marked a big change in the architectural history of Silesia. As it was obvious that local workshops, represented by Hans Berthold, could not meet the expectations, the city decided to invite experts from Saxony and Lusatia around master builder Paul Preusse. At the beginning of the new century, this influence from Saxony and Lusatia was most notably in western parts of Silesia, where Conrad Pflüger and Wendel Roskopf from Görlitz built city halls and churches in Löwenberg (Lwówek Śląski), Bunzlau (Bolesławiec), Sagan (Żagań) or Gröditzberg (Grodziec), all in the tradition of Benedikt Ried from Prague. Later Lucas Schleierweber from Schweidnitz (Świdnica) continued this Görlitz style and constructed buildings in other parts of Middle Silesia.
Renaissance and Mannerism
The Renaissance era began with the accession of Johann V. Thurzó as Bishop of Breslau. As a great patron of the arts he introduced the new style in Silesia as he commissioned two foundations plates (1505, 1509) at his residence in Jauernig (Javorník, today in the Czech Republic) and the sacristy portal (1517) on the cathedral in Breslau. The latter was probably made by a local artist, whereas most other early Renaissance projects were carried out by Italians from Ticino, the so-called "Comasks". The most successful were members of the Parr family (Pahr, Bahr or Pario), which built the fortifications in Bolkenhain (Bolków) in 1539 and later worked in Brieg.
The oldest preserved Renaissance buildings today are house "To the golden crown" (1521–28) in Wrocław (demolished in 1906 and rebuilt after World War II) and the castle of Charles I, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels in Ząbkowice Śląskie (Frankenstein), built after 1524 by Benedikt Ried. Many buildings of that time still show the transition from Gothic to Renaissance, for instance the castle in Wojnowice (Wohnwitz) or the city halls in Bolesławiec (Bunzlau), Lwówek Śląski (Löwenberg) and Grodziec (Gröditzberg). Most of these buildings were probably built by Wendel Roskopf, a pupil of Benedikt Ried and author of a collection of exceptional Renaissance houses in Görlitz. He probably also was the constructor of Palais Rybisch in Wrocław, which was completed by an unnamed Italian artist after 1526.
The high building activity in the Middle Ages resulted in cities which were saturated with churches. Only in exceptional cases new churches were planned, for instance St. Blasius (today St. Maria) in Ohlau (Oława), carried out by Bernhard Niuron in 1587. At that time most Silesian churches became Protestant and the interest shifted to small alterations of church interiors. A great exception was the conversion of the medieval church in Rothsürben (Żórawina) by Hans Schneider, which resulted in one of the best examples of Protestant ecclesiastical architecture in Middle Europe.
Much more coherent was the development of secular buildings. The first homogeneous Renaissance building was the gate of Legnica Castle, built 1533 by Georg von Amberg. The highlight of Silesian architecture of that time however represented Brzeg Castle and its castle gate, which is deemed to be the symbol of Silesian Renaissance. It was built between 1544 and 1570 by Franziskus Parr, the figurative architectural sculptures, the biggest ensemble in Silesia, were carried out by Saxon master Andreas Walther d.Ä.. It depicts George II of Brieg, his wife Barbara von Brandenburg and his line of ancestors. It was most probably modeled after Dresden's Georgenhof, which Parr visited in 1530, and Italian designs.
Similar buildings soon followed in Falkenberg (Niemodlin), Kreppelhof (Zamek Grodztwo) in Landeshut (Kamienna Góra), Sorau (Żary) and Plagwitz (Płakowice, now a district of Lwówek Śląski). Sgraffito appeared first in 1563 in Proskau (Proszków), altogether 300 examples are preserved to this day.
Stylistically the early buildings were connected to Bohemian and Lusatian traditions, represented by Wendel Roskopf, Benedikt Ried and Hans Lindener and were still influenced by Gothic ideas. Soon afterwards the buildings of the Comasks from Italy replaced their work. After 1560 Dutch Renaissance styles, imported by pattern-books and master builders like Hans Vredeman de Vries, replaced Italian elements. These Dutch forms were first visible at Oleśnica Castle in 1542. Notable representatives of this era were Gaspare Cuneo, Gerhardt von Amsterdam and Hans Lucas. Buildings influenced by this style were the castles in Alt Warthau (Warta Bolesławiecka) or Gießmanndorf (Gościszów) and the majority of the civic architecture of that time. Sporadically, other traditions emerged too, for example Saxon portals in Liegnitz or Bohemian roofs in Grafenort (Gorzanów) castle.
The only new development of sacred architecture in Silesia which fully adopted Mannerism was the palace chapel of Siedlisko (Carolath), commissioned by Valentin von Säbisch. His son Albrecht created the famous Protestant Churches of Peace, which were constrained by political conditions. Without tower, timber framed and built in minimal time they appeared more like commercial construction, a sparse look which was intended. In their simplicity they resembled on northern European Manierism, however they already were a creation of the baroque era.
Silesian Baroque
The beginning and the end of the Baroque were marked by two wars, the Thirty Years' War and the Seven Years' War. The triumph of the Baroque architecture in Silesia was closely connected to the rise of the House of Habsburg and the Counter-Reformation, whereas its decline was marked by the import of Classicism by Prussia, the new owner of Silesia after the Seven Years' War. The religious antagonism of Protestantism and Catholicism led to a sharp contrast of a conservative Protestant Baroque which was in the defence and a vanguard and rousing Catholic Baroque which was in the offensive. The ban to build Protestant churches and the saturation of the region with secular architecture resulted in a decline of building projects. As a consequence most Baroque palaces of the 17th and 18th century were alterations of existing structures.
The destruction of the secular courtly culture by the new Polish owners after 1945 led to a widespread deterioration of palaces in Silesia, and today's remaining palaces and holdovers in museums give only a distorted impression of the Baroque era in Silesia.