University of Wrocław

The main building of the University of Wrocław stretches 171 metres along the Oder – and according to the original plans it was meant to be even longer, with three towers. The Jesuits built it between 1728 and 1739 on the site of a former Piast ducal castle, and inside they created the Aula Leopoldina, one of the finest Baroque interiors in this part of Europe. Today the most precious rooms are open through the University of Wrocław Museum.

Emperor Leopold's university

Emperor Leopold I granted permission for the Jesuit Leopoldine Academy and provided the first funds – hence the name of the university and its grandest hall; the academy was established in 1702. The foundation stone of the building was laid on 6 December 1728. The design envisaged a building more than 200 metres long with three towers, but after the outbreak of the Seven Years' War the money ran out: only the lower Mathematical Tower was built, and the main body was completed to about two-thirds of its planned length. The west wing was reserved for ceremonial halls and lecture rooms, the plainer east wing for the monks' cells.

What to see

• Aula Leopoldina – designed by Christophorus Tausch, a pupil of Andrea Pozzo, with stucco by Albrecht Siegwitz, frescoes by Johann Christoph Handke and sculptures by Krzysztof Hollandt. On the dais Emperor Leopold I sits enthroned between Prudence and Diligence, while at his feet lie the rejected allegories of Discord and Folly – the latter a young man with donkey's ears. After restoration in 2015–2018 the hall was formally reopened to visitors on 21 March 2022.
• Oratorium Marianum – a former music hall, partly destroyed in 1945 and restored around the turn of the 21st century.
• The grand staircase and the main portal with its balcony.
• The Mathematical Tower with a terrace about 42 m above the ground. Its floor still has a meridian line from 1790–1791, 15.4 m long.

Interesting facts

• Sixteen portraits hang in the Aula. In 1997 eight of them were stolen and only two were recovered – the rest were replaced with copies.
• On the ceiling of the music gallery, Silesia sits enthroned, accompanied by Viadrus (the Oder river) and Wratislavia (the city of Wrocław).
• The astronomical observatory in the tower was founded in 1791 by Longinus Anton Jungnitz. It was later run by Johann Gottfried Galle, who had earlier been the first to observe the planet Neptune, in Berlin.

Tripto tip

Allow about 1–1.5 hours for the museum route with the Aula, the Oratorium and the tower. The museum is closed on Wednesdays, on public holidays, Holy Saturday and Christmas Eve; the last tickets are sold 30 minutes before closing. Current opening hours and prices are published on muzeum.uni.wroc.pl. The Aula may close for university ceremonies such as matriculation. For the full length of the façade, look from the opposite bank of the Oder, on Słodowa Island. The Market Square is a few minutes' walk away, and Ostrów Tumski (Cathedral Island) about a quarter of an hour along the riverside.