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Krzyżowa | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 Thevon Moltke estate | |
  Krzyżowa | |
| Coordinates:50°47′58″N16°32′04″E / 50.79944°N 16.53444°E /50.79944; 16.53444 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship |  Lower Silesian |
| County | Świdnica |
| Gmina | Gmina Świdnica |
| First mentioned | 1250 |
| Elevation | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Population (approx.) | 220 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Vehicle registration | DSW |
Krzyżowa[kʂɨˈʐɔva] (German: Kreisau, until 1930: Creisau) is a village in the administrative district ofGmina Świdnica, withinŚwidnica County,Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwesternPoland.[1]
The village is the site of an International Youth Meeting Centre, which primarily brings Polish and German young people together for dialogue and educational programs.[2]
The settlement was first mentioned in 1250 asKrzyzovo, when it was part of fragmentedPiast-ruled Poland.[3] Its name is of Polish origin and comes from the wordkrzyż, which means "cross".[3] In a 1335 deed, when located in the Piast-ruledDuchy of Jawor-Świdnica, it was mentioned under theLatinized nameCrissovo.[3]
Like most of Silesia, the Krzyżowa area had been annexed by thePrussian kingFrederick the Great after theFirst Silesian War in 1742. The manor was purchased by the Prussian field marshalHelmuth von Moltke the Elder after theAustro-Prussian War of 1866, and from that time on this extensive property was the family seat of the Moltke noble family until 1945.[4] The members of the anti-Naziresistance groupKreisau Circle met on the property, hosted by Helmuth von Moltke's great-grandnephewHelmuth James Graf von Moltke, who was executed for treason against Germany in January 1945.
AfterWorld War II the property was used as a farm, and still today the single houses carry names like cowshed or stable. On 12 November 1989, the Polish Prime MinisterTadeusz Mazowiecki and the German Federal ChancellorHelmut Kohl held a reconciliation meeting there and decided to redevelop the property as an International Youth Meeting Centre. The renovation was predominantly financed by the "Endowment for German-Polish Understanding". In 1998 the centre was officially opened. Those attending the opening ceremony included the widow of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke,Freya von Moltke, and the initiator Helmut Kohl. The center is known as theMiędzynarodowe Centrum Spotkań Młodzieży in Polish, and as theInternationale Jugendbegegnungsstätte Kreisau in German.
The property has several hectares of grounds, many comfortable guestrooms for youth groups as well as for private guests, a dining room (in a former cowshed), a cafeteria, sports rooms and sports fields, conference rooms (with simultaneous translation arrangement) as well as party rooms (with table tennis and pool). A restored castle containing an exhibition on the Kreisau Circle is also located there.
| International | |
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| National | |
