I will be soon in Warsaw and Krakau. I wonder if anybody can tell me of WW1 related historic sites there, worthwhile a visit

Do you mean Krakow ? If so, Ive been a few times but not seen anything - there is a militaria shop called "Arsenal".

Hi Egbert,

I have been a couple of times to Krakow, the last time last July.

The only thing I can recall of possible WW1 interest was the main town cemetery about a couple of Ks walk from the centre. The cemetery contains military plots from Russia, the Commonwealth, Germany, Czech and of course Poland all together in one far corner.

Krakow is an excellent place. The Jewish quarter is well worth a visit if you get chance.

Enjoy your trip and sorry I couldn't be more help


Liam

thanks for the tip Liam, I will only be one short day in Krakow, all the rest in Warsaw; so have to concentrate on the capital city

Ahoj!
There is nothing particularly WWI related in Warsaw.

In Kraków you have some quite well preserved forts of the KuK Festung Krakau.
http://www.twierdza.art.pl/forty.htm

Near Warsaw there is Modlin, or Novogieorgievsk.

In Warsaw you can also visit the Army Museum in the cinty center, with quite a few German WWI artillery pieces, and the shells of the Moerser Karl and railroad gun Gustaw.



Borys

Great Borys, is that the famous citadel in Krakow on the linked pics ?

Modlin, Modlin what does it have to say to me? WW2?
I am quatered in Warsaw downtown, how far is Modlin and Novogiergievsk away?

Ahoj!
Novogiergievsk/Modlin is 30 minutes by car from Warsaw, some 30 km in the direction of Gdańsk. It is huge, there are residential neighborhhods there, so parts are always open.

Kraków does not have the Cytadela, that's in Warsaw. The forts on those pictures are Austrian from the late XIXth-early XXth.

The Warsaw Cytadela can be visited (apart from Mondays and Tuesday) between 9AM and 4PM. You get to see only part of the terrain (most occupied by the Polish army), but still impressive.

One of the few surviving "inner ring" forts near the Cytadela has restored kazamatten
http://fl2004.republika.pl/

Topmost map on the link below is the main part of the museum, next door to the stock exchange:
http://www.muzeumwp.pl/mapka.php

Modlin tells you that the Germans took 130,000 prisoners in 1915 ...

When are you coming? I could check for special tours - occasionally held at the Cytdaela and at Modlin - in those days.

Borys

Thanks so much for your comprehensive information. I am on a business trip to the Polish Armed Forces in Warsaw from 12-20 June

Hi Egbert,
It's a pity that you've only got one day in Kracow. There's quite a lot to see but as Liam says the only thing that seems to be WW1 related is the graves in the main cemetry a couple of km from the town centre which is very easy to find. The main organised trips from the city are to the salt mines and to Auschwitz-Birkenau. If you go on either of these trips make sure that you book directly with Kracow tours in the centre of town, not through your hotel or the tourist information office.If you book it through either it'll cost you 50% more.
Otherwise I found the people really friendly and the city well worth visiting.

regards

Ian

P.S. I don't know what it's like in Warsaw but unless you have cash or Amex travelers cheques changing money is a complete pain. I had to visit four different banks before getting my Mastercard cheques changed and even then that involved waiting at two seperate kiosks and signing several bits of paper.

Ahoj!
You lucky fellow!
If the army is inviting you, you can get them to show normally closed to public areas. Like parts of the citadel, or fort IX Czerniaków (one of the surviving forts from the 1880 era) where there is a branch of the Army musem with technical stuff. A company of T-34-85 tanks, some still in driving condition are there.

BTW - the Modlin I was talking about the are mostly the 1815-30 works, with some supossedly drawn by the hand of Napoleon himself.

But there are crap loads of 1880s forts there, mostly still with the army in them

So, not much WWI stuff, although pre-WWI fortifications are quite plentiful.

Some piccies:
Main Museum part (city centre)
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=95226

Czerniaków branch
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php...6d2afcb8cc98473

Borys

Hi Egbert

Not sure whether it will interest you but in Warsaw you can visit the tomb of the Polish Unknown Soldier. There is some info (as ever) at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_the_U...Soldier,_Warsaw

The tomb is always guarded so if nothing else it is interesting to see the marching etc going on!

Swizz

Thank you all for the wealth of information. Got to print them out now. The Krakow tour is organized by the Polish Armed Forces -so no choice of special tour operator.

Just adding my two cents, they are both interesting cities. There's a good militaria shop in Warsaw not far from the main square. Mostly WWII stuff, with a nice selection of German helmets and equipment (including a Panzerfaust, yours to own for just US$900).

Don't miss the museum on the main square that catalogues Warsaw's destruction in WWII, and also do the Jewish Ghetto walking tour in Krakow, as well as visiting the Jewish Quarter and Auschwitz, of course. The salt mines are also well worth a look.

But mostly, just enjoy the great Polish beer in a sunny cafe as you watch the beautiful Polish girls stroll by...

Cheers,

Mat

Mat, is the main square the one in the old downtown district?
The Polish Armed forces have organized a weekend trip overnight to Krakau; unfortunately they will not go to Auschwitz. So I try to seperate from the tour and hopefully sneak to Auschwitz on my own.
Please decide and advise: are the Polish girls or the Polish beer to concentrate on please?

I didn't think there were any Poles left over there, seems they've all moved to the UK.
(Only joking.)
Egbert have a great trip, sounds really interesting.

Egbert,

The journey to Auschwitz takes perhaps 90mins in the coach.

Girls or Beer first? Can't you multi task?

"Wer liebt nicht Wein, Weib und Gesang, Der bleibt ein Narr sein Leben lang" or something to that effect!

Gute Reise


Ian

Ahoj!
In Kraków the Main Square is in the middle of the Old Town, next to the Marienkirche.

I suspect the aforementioned store with military replicas - if in Warsaw - to be located in the North-East corner of the Army owned building between the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Old Town.

Girls or beer - chose your perdition yourself - life made me go off either ...

And we have a seemingly endless supply of Poles to send to UK. There are still some 30 odd million left ...

Borys

You've got no plans then Borys?

Ahoj!
I will use an Americanism as an answer - "why go West if I can make my pile here?"

Borys

Oh man that's embarrassing: of course this German rhyme is so true and an Englishman has to tell me. Boing multitasking that's the motto -yesss

@all, thanx for your inputs

stays the answer on the question "what shall I buy in the militaria shop"? = do they allow handgrenades or anti tank weapons in the airplane?

Egbert,
Have a good time, Crakow is a lovely old town.

Andy

If you do visit Auschwitz make sure you visit Auschwitz II (Birkenau). The original Auschwitz was an old army barracks, and, although the museum and the chambers are chilling there, I felt a true menace at Birkenau which is 6 km from Auschwitz I.

Thanks for the great Krakow pictures -so its all about the beautiful old town right?
And thanks for the sobering pictures of auschwitz -but after calling the polish PoC, they definitely do not go to Auschwitz on the occasion of the Krakow weekend trip. Very sad as I think this should be a must

I have an e-friend who has a fully operational (and fully licensed and legal) MG 08/15, and I know he has taken it across the US, so I assume that he flew with it, as driving with it in the trunk of your car would violate local laws in many states you passed through. I don't know if it was post "9/11". I can imagine that such a trip would involve a lot of odd conversations and raised eyebrows.

Pre "9/11" I twice flew with a handgun (no ammunition) in my luggage and the airline could not have cared less. I imagine that that has changed.

Sounds like a great trip, egbert. Have a good time!

Bob Lembke

I found Auschwitz a bit too touristy - that may sound horrible but with so many people wandering around and queuing to look at exhibits it was a strange experience and not what I expected

Belsen on the other hand I found very moving

Ian,
I would have to agree with Auschwitz I, but as you can see from the pictures of Birkenau, not a soul to be seen. The only person I saw at Birkenau was by the International Momument to the Victims, and it is a big camp to see no-one.

Andy

Visited Krakow last year with the wife, we loved the people and the square couldn't give our money away, food and drinks were A1.

We visited both the concentration camps but Birkenau was by far the more depressing, it was massive, i could not believe the scale of the place.

At Auschwitz, we walked around the rooms where all the personal belongings were kept, the wife cried the whole time we were there.

We also visited the remains of the Plaszow labor camp, its not open to the public but it can be accessed if you know where to go, i found this place very poignant as the jewish head stones were still there as they were then, used as a road to the entrance of the camp.

The memorial is around the other side to this place and its worth a visit, its very tranquil.

Don't forget the Oskar Schindler factory is still there, they were doing the place up to open as a museum while we were there, there is a short film to be seen on the landing.

Plaszow labor camp today

Trench, were exactly is Plazow labor camp please; near or in Krakow?

@ Borys and all Polish speaking forumites:
Here is a link to a Polish forum from/about the town of Gniezno. My Grandparents lived in this town until 1918 and I would like to ask whether somebody could take some 4-5 photos from identified locations in Gniezno (Gnesen) where I have either postcards or even personal photos from Granddad from ( and I do know the Polish street name equivalent). Unfortunately I do not read or speak Polish and the forum sections are not identifiable for me. Could a Polish speaking guy please ask a question for me in Polish or even ask in the forum whether I can post a question in English or German, but what sub-forum/section?????

Egbert it is in krakow my friend, its just south of the old jewish ghetto, we took a cab there and walked to the camp.
If you go to Podgórze cemetery and find the Krakus Mound its at the base of it,you can just see it in the top of the picture
The mound was used in ww11 as a flak gun station, there is evidence of trenches and bomb craters all over it,
Plaszow Nazi concentration camp functioned there between 1942-45.
this is a more detailed link

http://www.krakow.pl/en/turystyka/trasy/?i...rska/trasa.html

Alan

Thanx Alan, appreciate your explanations!!! I am almost off to...

Thanks for your tips -I am back and I've seen it all in Warsaw in Krakow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Yessssss its true and it was phantastic.

Glad you had a good time Egbert, welcome back.

Andy