Srebrna Gora

The former Prussian fortress Silberberg in the Polish Srebrna Góra is a touristic highlight of the region Lower Silesia. Embedded in the woody mountains of the Owl Mountains, the monumental fortress system was built in the 18th century and has never been beaten by enemies ever since.
Today the fortress culture park Srebrna Góra offers a rich program with unique fortress architecture in a spectacular mountain landscape for people interested in culture, history, family holiday-makers, active tourists and even extreme athletes.
Discover interesting events, historic exhibitions and thrilling costume tours with FORTE CULTURA in Srebrna Góra. Take a guided treasure hunt with a metal detector, test the zip line down into the valley or watch numerous animal fortress residents.

Experience World

Fortress culture park Srebrna Góra

The fortress system Srebrna Góra is not only the biggest mountain fortress in Europe with an area of 150 ha, but the bastion Donjon also holds the height record.
In 1965 the fortress was entrusted to the Lower Silesian command of the Polish Boy Scout Association, also because it was vandalized by the depredations of the Russian Army. From 1966 they renovated the Donjon and the forts Hohenstein and Spitzberg initially for own use. Since 2001 the fortress system Silberberg has been renovated step by step and received the status of Historic Monument of the Republic Poland in the first Polish „fortress culture park“ in 2004.
The development plans of the culture park area include an all-season chairlift from the city to the fortress for skiers, mountain bikers and tourists. Instead of old non-preserved buildings, new buildings are planned like a guesthouse to contribute to the old appearance of the fortress area.

Donjon/ Donżon

The Donjon was developed as a reduit fortress with four cylindrical casemate artillery towers connected to each other and was part of the first construction stage of the fortress system (1765-1768). It has a shield wall with trench casemates and outer works. Altogether this three-story building on the Brandlehde mountains accommodates 151 single rooms.
You step through the Adler gate into the mighty Donjon. The viewing platform on its crown offers an impressive panorama with up to 50km view over the Owl Mountains, the Oppa Mountains, the Glatzer Snieznik Mountains and the Wartha Mountains.
From 1830 the Donjon was used as a prison for criminals and political prisoners. In 1844 the team of the fortress defended the regional Weavers' Uprising. In 1974 a museum for heavy guns.
Today, in the casemates of Donjon finds a museum for fortress artillery, uniforms and equipment of soldiers from the military times of the fortress, including handguns. Crew compartments with bunks, tiled stoves and a model which shows the original state of the fortress and the actual size, give an insight into the the fortress life.
After going down to the lower casemate you will find an exhibition about the 70 meters deep well and its mechanism.
Another exhibition is about the „fortress as test area for new military technology“. This also shows a model of the Hornfort and a description of gun powder weapons used by the Prussian army in the Napoleonic era.
The worth-seeing costume fortress tours end loudly with a musket shooting show.
In the lowest casemates a shooting range with live munitions is located for modern and historic weapons. Visitors can try those weapons and shoot for a small fee.

Upper Bastion/ Bastion Górny

The Upper Bastion, which originally looked similar to the Lower Bastion, has only been restored recently and is not accessible for visitors. Originally a bridge led from Donjon to the Upper Bastion. A tunnel allows a fortress tour through the Upper Bastion.

Lower Bastion/ Bastion Dolny

©_Jacek_Halicki_twierdza_Srebrna_Góra,_bastion_Dolny_2.jpg

The restored Lower Bastion, today, welcomes fortress visitors in the „Kantyna“ with snacks and refreshments. With metal detectors small and big visitors can go on a treasure hunt next door. Just in 2015 a silver gallery was found. An exhibitions in the Bastion Neudorf/Nowowiejska informs about this discovery.

Impressions

Fort Hohenstein/ Fort Wysoka Skała

The zigzag formed fortresses Hohenstein and Hornwerk, called Tenaille in fortress architecture, are surrounded by a deep trench cut in stone.
In Fort Hohenstein is a courtyard located, surrounded by casemates. Three resident towers for a war garrison of 70 soldiers, food and gun powder storage (the largest in the fortress with almost 95 tons gun powder), a guard house and a well room with a 69m deep well is also located here.
From 1926 – 1928 Fort Hohenstein was used as a sport accommodation of the police.
During World War II in 1940, a field office of the officer's camp OFLAG VIIIB was set up in Fort Hohenstein, in which the 20 „most dangerous“ Polish officers were kept imprisoned. More than 300, mostly Polish, officers were additionally imprisoned in the main camp Fort Spitzberg.
In the night from 5th to 6th May 1941, a spectacular escape from Fort Hohenstein happened. Costume tours and an exhibition in today's Fort Ostrog keep this chapter of history alive.

Fort Spitzberg/ Fort Ostrog

The polygonal Fort Spitzberg / Lunette Spitzberg is today called Fort Ostrog. The well in Fort Spitzberg is 84m deep.
In 1913 the youth hostel „Erholdungsheim Fort Spitzberg“ was opened. From 1939 the officer's camp VIIIB Silberberg (Oflag VIIIB) was developed with the main camp in Fort Spitzberg and the field office in Fort Hohenstein in fortress Silberberg.
Famous prisoners were among others General Tadeusz Piskor, commander of coast defense, rear admiral Józef Unrug or commander Stefan Frankowski. Costume tours and the exhibition in Fort Spitzberg tell this interesting history.
Fort Ostrog was vacated by the then Ministry of Mining (1969) and renamed to Fort „Górnik“.

Bastion Kavalier

In Bastion Kavalier, today, sheep and goats took up the quarters in fortress Silberberg.

Fort Kleine Strohhaube

Also the fort Kleine Strohhaube was built in old Prussian manner from 1765-1777 and was equipped with an own well. Today only a few rests of the wall in the mountain landscape remind of this part of fortress Silberberg.

Outwork Große Strohhaube

The outwork Große Strohhaus was located North-West of the Kleinen Strohhaube and was built from 1765-1777. Only a few fragments of this fortress have been preserved.

Hornwerk and Esplanade/ Fort Rogowy z esplanadą

Fort Hornwerk, pincer-shaped like Fort Hohenstein, is surrounded by a deep trench cut in stone.
In 1944 Fort Hornwerk was developed as a prison for Finnish soldiers, who did not survive this. The circumstances of their death are unclear.
The fortress was given to the commando of the Lower Silesian Banner of the Polish Boy Scout Association by the Polish tourism association PTTK by arrangement and Hornwerk was renamed „Harcerz“ honoring the Boy Scouts.

Tour Offers and Information

Costume tours and exhibition - Fort Ostrog

(polish, ?)

Fort Spitzberg/Ostrog

Fortress tours in Prussian uniforms

(polish, EN and ?)

Night tour through the fortress

(polish, ?)

Twierdza Srebrna Góra sp. z o.o. Night Tours

Historic shooting range

Historic shooting range / casemate Donjon with different kinds of automatic weapons, guns and pistols

Shooting Range

Singletrack Glacensis

Sudetes MTB Zone (largest cycle path network in Poland)

Singletrack Glacensis

Zip Line

Zip Line - 570 m tour with zip line Link and Information?

Map

Monument and History

History

On 15th February 1763 Frederick the Great ordered the building of a fortress at the pass of the Silberberg. The Seven Year War was ended on this day by the peace of Hubertusburg / Saxony. Fortress Silberberg was to secure the Silesian earldom Glatz the on-site fortress Glatz /Klodzko in case of a new war for Frederick II and to enable a advance to Austria. No Prussian province had as many fortresses as Silesia (see plan).
In June 1807 the Bavarian troops of the Confederation of the Rhine of the IX. French corps were defended successfully under Jerome Bonaparte before Silberberg.
Also Poland took part in the battles around Srebrna Góra. They were the Uhlans of the Polish Italian legion, later known as Legia Nadwislanska. Polish cavalryman carried out cover operations and took part in direct battles to conquer the city. The mining city Silberberg was pillaged by troops of the Confederation of the Rhine, burned down and destroyed. Fortress Silberstein under its commander Bogislaus of Schwerin withstood and Silberberg remained Prussian, also thanks to the ceasefire of the war parties in the middle of the siege.

From 1830 a state prison was established in the fortress. Political prisoners of the Pre-March era were held imprisoned, among others the publisher Wilhelm Wolf (friend of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels). From 1834 Fritz Reuter, member of student fraternity and Low German poet, who was sentenced to death and later to 30 years in prison, served part of his sentence as a barrack prisoner in the casemates of the Donjon Silberberg, described in „Ut mine Festungstid“. Later he was moved to fortress Glogau (Głogów), Magdeburg and Graudenz (Grudziądz), before he came to the Mecklenburg fortress Dömitz and was granted a reprieve in 1840.
In 1844 the crew of fortress Silberberg defended the regional Weaver's Uprising in Peterswaldau. This early industrial uprising depicted in the ballad of Heinrich Heine „The Silesian Weavers“ (1844/1847) and in „The Weavers – social drama in five acts“ by Gerart hauptmann (1892).
In 1860 fortress Silberberg was abandoned. Some works were destroyed and others were damaged by artillery training and attempts with shooting cotton. The barrack buildings at the Passstraße were taken over by the clock factory A. Eppner & Co (Prussian court clock maker).
Around the end of the 19th century the touristic use of fortress Silberberg has begun. In the Donjon a café opened its gates and the rack railway of the Eulengebirgsbahn AG has stopped at Silberberg city and Silberberg fortress since 1899. Today, only the railway viaduct reminds of those times.
World War II also affected fortress Silberberg. In fort Spitzberg and fort Hohenstein Polish officers were interned in Oflag VIIIB. Visitors will see the history of a spectacular escape very close.

Architecture

Fortress Silberberg was built in old Prussian manner. The construction after the ideas of lieutenant colonel Ludwig Wilhelm Regeler was divided in three stages from 1765 to 1777. At first the central bastion was built, the Donjon with a surrounding envelope. This polygonal reduit fortress with four cylindirical casemate artillery towers was probably built following the polygonal fortress Marquis Montalemberts and the round fortress of Albrecht Dürer.
The constructions of 2 forts followed (Hornwerk and Hohenstein) and finally fort Spitzberg, fort Klosenberg (destroyed) and fort Kleine Strohhaube were built.
Altogether 9 wells have been built in the whole fortress facilities. The deepest well was located in fort Spitzberg and was 84 meters deep. Additionally four peace gun powder magazines were built outside of the fortress. The well in the fortress courtyard was 72 m deep and had a water level of 50m.
Already in 1816/17 the fortress was again disarmed. In 1850 it was reinforced again. In 1867 the last soldiers left Silberberg. The fortress at first became the aim of shooting and explosion tests and was heavily damaged.
In 1961 the fortress was taken into the Polish monument register and was declared historical monument in 2004 by presidential order.
Further restorations, new electricity and water connections, the building of a hotel, a restaurant and new exhibitions and event rooms are planned until 2023.
The goal is to develop the diverse and cultural use of this special fortified monuments.

Quelle: Source: Bleyl, Die Passfestung Silberberg

Nature Experience

Spectacular views over mountain landscape with wide forests wait for hikers, cycle tourists and of course fortress visitors on their way through the Owl Mountains (Hóry Sowie). It reaches from the Waldenburg mountains to the pass of Silberberg in the South-East (Przełęcz Srebrna) with its mighty fortress sytsem.
The large broad-leaf forest is diverse with many prominent rocks. Many beautiful places invite to rest and stay, rustic mountain huts offer accommodation and regional kitchen. The region Owl Mountains and Glatzer Snow Mountains is a hiking paradise in summer and a fairytale like snowy landscape in winter for winter sport athletes. The restored rail way viaduct of Srebrna Góra is free for cyclists and hikers and can even be conquered by climbers. Goats and sheep, as caretakers of the green, keep the vegetation inf the fortress area low and keep the visitors happy.
The „Singletrack Glacensis“, with 210 km the longest complete system of single track Enduro-MTB- lines in Central Europe, leads to the most beautiful points of the Glatzer mountains at the Polish-Czech border. Fortress Silberberg is located in the already existing Enduro-Singletrail-Park in Srebrna Góra (Silberberg) with eleven lines and a whole length of more than 25 km.
Singletrack Glacensis

Srebrna Gora Poland

Fortress Silberberg – fortress pearl in the Silesian Owl Mountains

Prussias Silesian Gibraltar