Krzyżowa (Kreisau) Estate

On 12 November 1989, in the farmyard at Krzyżowa, Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl exchanged the sign of peace during the Mass of Reconciliation. The gesture symbolically closed the darkest chapter in Polish-German relations. Half a century earlier, the same von Moltke estate was the meeting place of the Kreisau Circle, a German resistance group that planned a democratic Germany after Hitler's fall. Today it is home to the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe and its International Youth Meeting Centre.

History: from the Zedlitz family to the Moltkes

The village near Świdnica, known in German as Kreisau, was first recorded in 1335. The present palace was built in 1712–1726 for the von Zedlitz family, most likely to a design by Felix Anton Hammerschmidt of Świdnica. In 1867 the estate was bought by Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke, the victor of the wars of German unification, who remodelled the palace in 1868–1869. His great-grandnephew Helmuth James von Moltke lived with his wife Freya and their sons not in the palace, which was too expensive to run, but in the more modest Berghaus (House on the Hill).

The Kreisau Circle

In 1942–1943, disguised as weekend gatherings of friends, three main meetings of the opposition group took place at the Berghaus. They discussed law, foreign policy, the economy, the Church and education in a future democratic Germany. The name "Kreisau Circle" was only given to the group later, by the Gestapo. After the failed attempt on Hitler's life, several members were sentenced to death – Helmuth James von Moltke was executed on 23 January 1945. After the war the estate became a state farm and the palace fell into ruin until rebuilding began in 1990.

What to see

• The palace – neo-Baroque, with a mansard roof and a portal bearing the coats of arms of Helmuth von Moltke and his wife Mary von Burt. On the ground floor is the permanent exhibition "Rejecting the Lie" about people in resistance and opposition movements.
• The farmyard, with a plaque marking the spot where the altar stood for the Mass of Reconciliation.
• "Courage and Reconciliation" – an open-air exhibition laid out as a labyrinth behind the Stable building, created with the Museum of Polish History and opened by Ewa Kopacz and Angela Merkel for the 25th anniversary of the Mass. Since 2024 the grounds have also had a second open-air exhibition, on the Second World War.
• The Berghaus, with a veranda looking towards the Owl Mountains, the Kreisau Circle memorial stone, the remains of a prisoner-of-war camp and the Cemetery Hill with the Moltke mausoleum.

Tripto tip

The memorial sites on the Foundation's grounds are open to visitors; the exception is the Berghaus, which you can only enter on a tour led by Foundation staff – ask about dates in advance. Allow 1.5–2 hours for the palace, the farmyard and the open-air exhibitions, and add the walk up Cemetery Hill if the weather is good. The visit combines easily with nearby Świdnica and its Church of Peace.