Zieten’s Crypt – new discoveries!

Behind the Orle housing estate in Jelenia Góra, between the ROD allotments and the Kamienna River, are the remains of the tomb of Field Marshal Hans Ernst von Zieten. His granddaughter Maria, a member of the Schaffgotsch family on her mother’s side, is also buried here alongside her husband, the renowned general and military theorist Sigismund von Schlichting.

Graves currently, in November 2024 / Photo by Marta Maćkowiak

In collaboration with the Association for the Preservation of Silesian Art and Culture – Verein zur Pflege schlesischer Kunst und Kultur (VSK) e.V., along with Christopher Schmidt-Münzberg and Łukasz Hajduk, we have completed another phase of the project (with just one final stage to go). We cleared the area of trash that had accumulated over the years, removed overgrown vegetation, and created a new set of steps (the original steps were on a different side, but an ROD allotment now occupies that space). Most importantly, we uncovered two additional steles:

one belonging to General Schlichting’s wife and the other to her grandmother, Josephine Klementine von Berlo-Suys, who was born in Luxembourg and passed away in Breslau (now Wrocław) in 1814.

Tombstones / Photos by Marta Maćkowiak

Although the location may seem random and forgotten today, the grave is clearly marked on pre-war maps. In an article titled Bekannte und berühmte Grabstätten im Riesengebirge, published on October 1, 1892, in the magazine Gebirgsfreund, August von Kruht attempted to speculate on the reasons for choosing this site, which even then seemed unfortunate:

“Solitarily located to the northwest, near the road from Warmbrunn to Hermsdorf, lies the grave of Field Marshal Hans Ernst Karl Graf von Zieten, born on March 5, 1770, and died on May 3, 1848. Count Zieten was the nephew of the ‘Old Zieten’ and came from the Dechtow family. During the 1806 campaign, he served as a brigade commander and fought as a lieutenant general at Ligny, also commanding occupying forces in Paris.

He later lived in Warmbrunn until his death. Veteran soldiers often have their own views on life, and perhaps that is why Count Zieten wished to be laid to rest away from the bustle of the streets, near the banks of the Zacken River. He hailed from an era when people were enchanted by so-called ‘sacred groves.’ Unfortunately, Count Zieten underestimated the changes that would come. His resting place, once remote and idyllic beneath the trees and behind an iron fence, has long since become a site of disturbance. Nearby was the Januschka steam brewery with its smoking chimneys, and now the Hirschberg-Petersdorf railway runs close by.”

Before the works, 2023 / Photos by Marta Maćkowiak

We still have a few final touches to complete: restoring the inscriptions, marking the path, preparing the plantings, and creating a plaque to commemorate this historically significant site. I can’t wait to see the final result!

This year’s gravesite cleanup / Photos by Marta Maćkowiak

The work was made possible through funding from VSK (Verein zur Pflege schlesischer Kunst und Kultur – Association for the Preservation of Silesian Art and Culture).

Sources:

private archives

Zieten’s Crypt – new discoveries!

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