Cistercian Abbey in Henryków

"Day, ut ia pobrusa, a ti poziwai" — "let me grind now, and you take a rest" — is what, according to the chronicle, the settler Boguchwał said to his wife as she worked the hand quern. Entered around 1270 in the Latin Book of Henryków, this sentence is regarded as the earliest written sentence in the Polish language. The monastery where the book was written is today one of the most impressive Baroque complexes in Silesia, with a church full of works by Michael Willmann, Rococo choir stalls and the burial chapel of the Piast dukes of Ziębice.

History: from foundation to secularisation

In 1222 Duke Henry I the Bearded allowed Nicholas, a canon of Wrocław, to settle Cistercians on the Oława river; the formal founder was his son Henry II the Pious. On 28 May 1227 nine monks arrived from Lubiąż. The Mongol invasion of 1241 burned the first buildings, after which Abbot Peter wrote down the history of the monastery and its estates — the Liber fundationis, known as the Book of Henryków. The abbey grew in power: in 1292 it founded a daughter house at Krzeszów, and the dukes of Ziębice chose it as their burial place.

The Hussite wars (1427–1430), the Thirty Years' War and the plague of 1633 devastated the monastery several times. Its golden age came after 1650: a Baroque monastery with some 300 rooms was built (1681–1702), and in 1699 the abbey bought the monastery of Zirc in Hungary, which had been ruined by the Turks. The end came with Prussian secularisation in 1810 — after 582 years the monks had to leave, taking only their habit, breviary and food for two days. The estate was bought by Queen Frederica Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and later passed to the dukes of Saxe-Weimar. The Cistercians returned in 1949.

What to see in the church

• The high altar of 1681–1684 with Michael Willmann's painting of the Nativity as seen by St Bernard.
• The choir stalls — an oak Renaissance core from 1567 and 36 limewood reliefs with scenes from the life of Christ; one of the finest works of Silesian woodcarving.
• The organ from the mid-17th century, built by masters from Świdnica and considered the oldest in Silesia.
• The Piast mausoleum in the Chapel of St Mary Magdalene, with the Gothic tomb of Duke Bolko II and his wife Jutta — one of the oldest double tombs in Poland.
• The statue known as the "Mother of the Polish Language" in a side altar, crowned in 1952.

Interesting facts

The original Book of Henryków is kept at the Archdiocesan Museum in Wrocław and was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World register in 2015; a replica is displayed in the abbey's Oak Hall. The Oak Hall is known for its inlaid parquet and panelling, and the Purple Hall for six paintings by Willmann depicting the founders. In 2000 the abbey was visited by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI.

Tripto tip

The church and the monastery are two different experiences: you can usually enter the church on your own, while the monastery halls are shown on guided tours — confirm times and prices at the monastery gate before you travel. Allow an hour for the church, or 2–3 hours including the monastery and the abbot's garden. Henryków has a railway station on the Wrocław–Kamieniec Ząbkowicki line, and the abbey is a walk away through the park. Nearby, Ziębice and Ząbkowice Śląskie are worth a stop.