Wrocław's Islands and Waterways

from Wroclaw In Your Pocket - May - August 2018

Boasting Poland’s largest metropolitan system of waterways and over 100 bridges, Wrocław is a city very much on the water. In this issue we take a look at its islands and riverside attractions.

The history of Wrocław is firmly tied to the water that gives it life: the mighty Oder and its many tributaries. Used for transportation, defence, and a source of power harnessed by numerous watermills, the capricious river would also wreak regular havoc on the city - just see our text about the Millennium Flood (p.8) - and attempts to tame it resulted in a multi-century engineering saga. The current Wrocław Water Node, a complex hydrotechnical system of floodgates, barrages, canals, dams, and other contraptions, is Poland’s largest metropolitan hydro node. Spanning the waterways are over 100 bridges (the exact count varies depending on whom you ask), earning Wrocław the nickname ‘Venice of the North’, a title shared with so many other cities (a good forty) that it has lost practically all meaning.

All this water is not just strategically useful, it also provides ample opportunities for recreation and merriment - in the summer, sun-loving locals flock to the city’s numerous beach bars (p.48), hop into kayaks, and barbecue on Słodowa Island, while the tourists dutifully queue up for river cruises (p.80). Among Wrocław’s H2O-related oddities are Polinka, a gondola lift ferrying University of Science and Technology students across the river between the main campus and the university’s GeoCentrum, and Hydropolis (p.68), a centre of knowledge about water located in a converted fresh water tank. Many of the city’s main sights are along the river, including the Wrocław University (p.61), Hala Targowa (p.62) and Ostrów Tumski (p.70), once an island before Odra’s course was altered due to flooding concerns. Just northwest of the university sits a large island called ‘Burgher Meadow’ (Kępa Mieszczańska), which houses a marina with a few high-end restaurants (OK Wine Bar, p.51; Restauracja Marina p.32; and Restauracja Przystań, p.33) and two of Wrocław’s hydroelectric power plants. Dating to the 1920s, the ‘Neues Bauen’ style plants were designed by none other than Max Berg, also responsible for the UNESCO-listed Centennial Hall (p.74). At the easternmost point of the island is the ‘Flood Girl’ (Powodzianka) sculpture, commemorating volunteers who helped out during the Millennium Flood (F-4). Created by Stanisław Wysocki and unveiled a year after the flood, the monument portrays a woman carrying books rescued from the Wrocław University library.

Meanwhile, east of the Hala Targowa sits Bulwar Dunikowskiego (Dunikowski Embankment, H-4/5), beautifully revitalized with the addition of seating and softly swaying grasses. A wonderful place to sit and watch the river flow by (and get pics of Ostrów Tumski),

THE MILLENIUM FLOOD

Nature’s blind indifference to civilization was amply demonstrated in 1997 when the city was hit by the biggest flood in its history. Starting on July 3, 1997 six days of torrential rain battered Poland, Austria, and the Czech Republic. By July 6 the first towns and villages were under water, though worse was to come on July 11 when the Odra and Oława rivers burst their banks by the town of Siechnice. The torrent that was unleashed rushed in the direction of Wrocław, hitting the city the following evening. By morning much of the city resembled a lake, with some parts of Wrocław submerged in up to three metres of water. Electricity was cut, transport paralysed, and telephone lines destroyed. The two water plants had also been hit, leaving over 650,000 habitants without water for the following three weeks. As affected sewage plants were overwhelmed the threat of an epidemic loomed. With a third of the city covered by water Wrocław presented an apocalyptic nightmare.

**The flood of 1997.**
Photo by Piotr Hawałej

it also functions as the harbour of restaurant boat Wratislavia (p.35), which does regular cruises along the Oder. At the far of the embankment is Bastion Ceglarski (Bricklayers’ Bastion, H-5), one of the few remaining bits of Wrocław’s fortifications, and past that you’ll find Zatoka Gondoli (Gondola Bay), where you can rent kayaks.

The heart of Wrocław’s waterways, however, surrounds a cluster of six small islands nestled between the city centre, Ostrów Tumski, Kępa Mieszczańska, and the Nadodrze district. Acting as an extension of the Old Town, the islands provide Wroclavians with some much needed lebensraum to picnic, BBQ, and stretch out in the sun. And so, roll call:

**Bulwar Dunikowskiego**
Courtesy of the Municipality of Wrocław

WYSPA SŁODOWA (SŁODOWA ISLAND)

The greenest of the six, Słodowa (Malt Island) a favourite for outdoor lounging and summertime concerts, and there’s even an assortment of bar barges, including Barbarka (p.47). The island’s development started in the 13th century with the founding of two watermills collectively known as St. Clare’s Mills, named after the owner, the Order of St. Claire. The mills went through several iterations due to burning down in fires, and were eventually purchased by city authorities in 1939, who converted them to youth hostels. After the war the buildings stood empty until they were blown up in 1975 by a bomb disposal unit doing their communist ‘social deed’, a voluntary-compulsive task which was done on days off without pay. Vigorous protests did nothing to stop the mills’ demise, and the fact that 1975 was deemed ‘Year of Landmark Conservation’ added a heaping dose of irony to the whole ordeal. In the 1990s the mostly empty island was cleaned up and turned into parkland.QG‐3.

**Al fresco drinking on Barbarka (p.47)**

WYSPA BIELARSKA (BIELARSKA ISLAND)

Kids run amok on this playground-filled island, once home to the younger of St. Clara’s mills and an 18th-century liqueur manufacture which was destroyed during WWII. Bielarska (Bleachers’ Island) was left empty following the 1975 demolition of the mill ruins and eventually turned into a recreation ground. The island is also home to Socrates, a 1993 sculpture by Ukrainian-Estonian artist Stanislav Netšvolodov.QG‐3.

WYSPA MŁYŃSKA (MŁYŃSKA ISLAND)

The Mill Island is known for two things: the Barka Tumska riverboat restaurant (p.30) and the crumbling Maria Mill. The latter is an iteration of Wrocław’s oldest mill, built in 1242 and functioning under various names - Arnold, Klara, Matthias, Corpus Christi, Phoenix, and others - through the ages. Changings hands mostly between various religious orders and burning down occasionally in fires, the mill (or two mills, actually) became the property of the Prussian state in 1810, ushering in an era of prosperity. Under the Prussians, the mill complex was modernized, spruced up in classicist style, and expanded to include a granary, becoming one of the most modern and effective in the region. The buildings survived the war, but in the 1960s the era of watermills came to an end in Wrocław, giving way to electrical solutions. Maria was converted to a residential building, with the mechanical fixtures sadly removed and destroyed, then very nearly met its demise during the Millennium Flood in 1997, when debris built up dangerously around its pillars. Luckily the historical landmark avoided being blown up, but 20+ years on it’s still unclear how best to preserve it. Recently Maria has been purchased by an investor, possibly to be converted to retail and improved residential space, but for now the building simply continues to erode.QG‐3.

WYSPA PIASEK (PIASEK ISLAND)

The architecturally interesting island, Wyspa Piasek (Sand Island) is populated by no less than three churches: the imposing Church of Our Lady on the Sand, once built on the remains of a (sandy) circus ground, the Gothic St. Anna’s Church (now a residential building), and the Eastern Orthodox Church of St. Cyril and St. Methodius. Other buildings of note include the Wrocław University Library on the Sand (ul. Św. Jadwigi 3/4), once an Augustine Monastery, and Maria Mill, which straddles Wyspa Piasek and Wyspa Młyńska. In 2005 a memorial to Cardinal Bolesław Kominek was unveiled next to the church, commemorating the clergyman’s 1965 Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops, one of the first attempts at Polish-German reconciliation after WWII. QG‐4.

WYSPA DALIOWA (DALIOWA ISLAND)

The smallest but prettiest of the bunch, thanks to recent revitalisation works. The focal point of Daliowa (Dahlia Island) is a unique, op-artish metal sculpture by Oskar Zięta. The artist created Nawa (the Nave) using the socalled FiDU method, a process he invented himself: the 35 ribs were made from thin steel sheets and inflated with compressed air to form slightly imperfect and highly durable shapes. Its ‘nave’ design is meant to mimic the architecture of the nearby Hala Targowa and St. Mary’s Church on Piasek Island, and - from what we’ve seen - is treated as a perfect photo shoot location by tourists and locals alike. At 15 metres long and 6-7 metres high, the Nave is officially the city’s biggest sculpture and arguably the most visually striking one.QG‐4.

**Nave sculpture**
Courtesy of the Municipality of Wrocław

TAMKA And finally, the pariah of the bunch: a desolate, windswept patch of land dominated by two disintegrating structures: the former Medical Academy Faculty of Medicinal Chemistry and the former Wrocław University Faculty of Biotechnology. Far from its glory days as property of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, who built a mill here back in 1254, Tamka is now waiting for revitalisation after its buildings were abandoned due to poor technical condition and insufficient funds. An investor supposedly purchased the land in 2015, but so far the only development has been the opening of a small seasonal club, Wyspa Tamka.QG‐4.