American Corner – Wroclaw’s English Language Library

Overlooking the main square, the City of Wroclaw’s English language library may be small but it bursts with variety.  Called American Corner (beware, you are greeted by a life-size cardboard cutout of Obama as you enter), it is actually only a part of the larger Lower Silesian Public Library.  The majority of items available are donations from expatriates or social and library programs in the US.  As such, a person can find a light but healthy selection, including novels, biographies, poetry, language learning materials, reference books, young adult, children’s, history, magazines, and more.  Non-paper media available includes a nice selection of DVDs, as well as a computer area which features approximately ten consoles, a printer, and internet access. 

The selection of books on hand small but quality, it would be impossible for any reader not to find something to enjoy.  Library staff all speak excellent English and are most helpful in locating what you need.  The card catalog is digital and can be accessed either in the library or online. (www.dzb.pl)  The comfortable reading area with soft, plush chairs available while you peruse a book you’d like to borrow is a nice touch, the sounds of the main city square drifting in from the window.  (As a side note, the Lower Silesian Public Library also features the Goethe Institute - a German library - and Romanian and Korean libraries alongside its Polish collection.) 

Though I have not (yet) been to the British Council Library located nearby, I can say I’m more than pleased to have American Corner as part of my city.  To be a foreigner living in Poland, yet have access to public books in my language is a small blessing I’m appreciative of.  As such, I recommend stopping by 58 Rynek in the heart of Wroclaw (between Literatka and Jazzda as in the photo in the upper left) to have a look around and support the library.  If you have English language material in good condition but want to throw it away, by all means donate it to American Corner instead.  Perhaps someone else might gain some enjoyment from it?  

American Corner is a luxury which mostly depends on its community for survival.  Even if paling in size to many American libraries, I’m proud to support it.  So if you’re a foreigner spending time in Wroclaw, I guarantee it’s worth a look.

Click here for library website (note: website only in Polish, so it's better to visit the library in person).

Culture Corner: Wroclaw

A couple of years ago I promised you a culture corner from Poland.  That ship never sailed, and probably so did your confidence in me.  Well, better late than never, I come limping into the harbor, hopefully with goods intact.  

The following is a photo introduction to the city I’ve lived in for more than two years now, Wroclaw.  Pronounced like ‘vrots-luv’, it’s located at the geographical center of Europe and home to nearly 750,000.  Though probably never to be known amongst the other giants of culture in Europe, Paris, Rome, London, and the like, Wroclaw nevertheless has its own charm and is certainly cosmopolitan.  There are regular theater and opera events, several museums and galleries, a historical city center to wander, and a host of cafes, bars, and restaurants to while away the hours.  German or Prussian for almost the entirety of the past millennium, the city and entire Lower Silesian region were part of Poland’s post WWII reparations.  As such, you’ll see a lot of German influence in the architecture and cityscape in the following photos.  Neither too big or too small, Wroclaw is a city I enjoy living in and hope the photos indicate as much.

  First the overview , literally.  This is Wroclaw’s city center.  In the foreground is the river Odra, along its banks are the city’s main university (on the right) and the city market (on the left), and in the background are numerous spires, red clay tile roofs, and towers representing the remaining influence of the Catholic church.  In fact, taking this photo I’m standing in the towers of the city’s cathedral.

Strangely enough, one of the things I like most about Wroclaw are its dwarves.  Each uniquely prepared by an artisan, these small cast iron fellows (no ladies, yet) appear in the oddest of places around the city.  Walking past a spot as you’ve done a hundred times, suddenly out pops a dwarf you’d simple never noticed.  Each performing some activity – usually associated with the building they are located near - they add character to a city that, in the wake of communism, needs a little color.  Each dwarf has its own name (these two are Grajek - like “Player” - and Spiewek -“Singer”) and if you want, you can buy a children’s map that will take you on a tour of the city’s famous places, dwarf by dwarf.

Part of the main city square, this is Plac Solny (Salt Plaza).  All of the building facades in this areas have one vibrant color or another, lime greens, sky blues, creamy yellows, and as you see, sometimes in cadmium pink.

This is the exact heart of Wroclaw, it’s old City Hall.  Gothic to the max, laws have been enacted, proclamations decreed, and people defenestrated from this building over the centuries of its existence.  Just slightly to the right of this photo is the old stone whipping post where criminals were once publicly punished.

In the hands of many over the years, the Jesuits to the Prussians, this is currently the University of Wroclaw, a place I attended for two years.  

 A street scene from the old city center, the Wroclaw Opera House on the right, the moon on the left.

There are things for the young to do as well, such as attending “black music” parties (despite that Poland is 97% Polish, the remaining three percent occupied by Gypsies and Ukrainians).  I guess that’s what allows them to be so vague in their advertising.  Oh, and in case you were unaware, the Europeans adore Michael Jackson.   …and Bon Jovi.

Sitting in the window of what was formerly the city jail, this is a sad dwarf, now watching as people enter the premises to enjoy the galleries, museum pieces, and café.  

Wroclaw has a botanical garden as well, this particular section being the backside of the Japanese Garden in early, early spring.

This is the interior of the market you saw in the first photo.  It has the freshest fruits and vegetables, flowers, candies, cold cuts, fish, and just about anything else you can think of can be found here, one of my favorite places in Wroclaw.

Not only on the ground or tucked in windows, dwarves are sometimes flying overhead attached to lampposts!

And lastly is Wroclaw’s cathedral, St. John’s.  Named after the city’s patron saint (his severed head part of the city’s sigil), the Gothic church is a relaxing sight in the evening when walking the quiet cobblestone streets of its island home.

That’s all I have from Poland for now.  Will post more in the near future.

Review of "Microcosm: A Portrait of a Central European City" by Norman Davies & Roger Moorehouse

Another work featuring the second place he calls home, Norman Davies returns to Poland with Microcosm:Portrait of a Central European City, this time bringing the expertise of Roger Moorehouse along with.  Not always known by the name we currently use, Davies and Moorhouse explore the evolution of Wroclaw through the ages, from small river village in European no-man’s land to modern day Polish metropolitan city. 

What makes the history of Wroclaw’s development interesting is its location.  Set nearly at the geographic heart of Europe, the city has had many claimants over the centuries, the modern day Polish occupation of the city mere decades in age.  Prussians, Germans, Piasts, Bohemians and Russians, Habsburgs and Napoleons, and a host of other dynasties and noble families have at one time or another called Wroclaw their own, signs in Germany often still using the name ‘Breslau’ from when the city was their own.  Readers of Davies other tomes, like Europe or The Isles, will find this work not only lighter in weight, but in tone.  Information is still delivered both prosaically and technically, but at the same time in more manageable pieces, closer to general overview than detailed exposition.  The duo’s (and their respective team’s) research is extensive and (as far as I, a non-scholar) can determine, comprehensive. 

Though focusing on German, Polish, and Jewish interests, the stories of the afore-mentioned groups and their roles in shaping the city are well defined, rendering Wroclaw's history a multi-cultural skein.  And despite being sponsored by the city, Davies and Moorhouse include enough negative reports of Polish occupation to lend the work credence.  Certainly not as fascinating as the histories of Paris or Rome, that Wroclaw has constantly been a footnote in the major events of European history has not done anything to prevent it from being an integral part of events as a whole, and by writing Microcosm, Davies and Moorhouse have proved just that.  Recommended for anyone interested in the Central Europe has played in the larger European arena, or someone who has interest in knowing how one city could have been called so many names over the years, Vratislavia, Presslau, Wroclaw, Breslau, Vretslav…