Missed Opportunity – Reszel’s Place In History (Northern Poland & Berlin #48)

One of my favorite things to do after I return from a trip is to read about the places I visited. This approach may seem counterintuitive, but I find it to be much more satisfying than reading about a place before I arrive. To be sure, I do read about the places I will visit when planning a trip. The difference is that I do not go into that much depth with my reading ahead of time. This allows me to experience a place without too many pre-conceived notions. I have found that a place comes more alive when I read about it after a visit. I have a visual for exactly what the text is describing. Most importantly, I have a personal experience that provides a framework for the information. Nevertheless, there are still times when I wish that I had read more widely in advance. This was the case with Reszel, a small town in northern Poland that proved to be one of the most memorable places I visited in northern Poland.

A First Kiss – The Romance of Reszel

I had never heard of Reszel prior to the night before visiting the town. My travel companion and I were planning on visiting the Wolf’s Lair (Wolfsschanze) the next day and we wanted to see what else there was in the nearby area. I figured that the Wolf’s Lair would only take up about half of the day. The Wolf’s Lair is in an extremely rural area, but in Poland there is always something of interest to discover. Reszel soon came to the rescue. On a webpage dedicated to tourism in the Masurian Lakes region, there was a webpage detailing a castle and several churches worth visiting in Reszel. There was also a beautiful aerial photo of Reszel, showing an elegant town of red roofs surrounded by picturesque countryside. Looking on the map, I found a route to the Wolf’s Lair that went right through Reszel.

The town turned out to be even better than advertised. Evocative, quaint, redolent with charm, I found Reszel so inviting it did not take me long to imagine I could spend a day or a lifetime here. The idea of being hidden away from the rest of the world amid the rolling hills and glistening lakes of the countryside in provincial Poland was an enchanting fantasy. My affinity for Reszel probably had something to do with the fact that I grew up in a small town of similar size in western North Carolina. A town that is sadly now filled with abandoned textile mills and furniture factories. It did finally get a McDonald’s, only for the police to discover drugs were being dealt from the drive-thru. I would not ever want to live there again, but towns of similar size appeal to me. One halfway around the world, with a castle, towering churches, and streets lined with homes painted in a wide array of pastel colors is the stuff a lifelong romance is made of, even if that romance only lasts a few hours. Reszel was like a first kiss. You will never forget it.?

Close Quarters – A Commanding Presence

My only regret with Reszel would come after visiting it. Many weeks after returning home I began to do research for background information that would inform future posts about Reszel. This was when I came across a historical tidbit that caught my notice and made me long to return to Reszel, as if I needed another reason. ?Anyone who has followed my travels in northern Poland knows that I am obsessed with the Battle of Tannenberg that took place at the beginning of World War I on the Eastern Front. On this trip, my obsession manifested itself in a search for sites associated with the battle. One of these was the headquarters of the German commanding General Paul von Hindenburg and his Chief of Staff Erich Ludendorff.

Another battle closely related to Tannenberg that occurred a week later was the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. I knew that the region not far from the Wolf’s Lair was where much of the fighting in that battle occurred. Because we were staying further west in Olsztyn and had much of our itinerary already planned, looking for sites associated with the First Battle of Masurian Lakes was not on the agenda. Now I regret that decision because the historical tidbit I discovered said that the headquarters of Hindenburg and Ludendorff during the battle was in Reszel. That is one building I would have loved to visit. I have no idea whether it still exists, but there is a good chance it does. Reszel has many historic buildings which do not look as if they were reconstructed. Reszel was not the setting for any major battles during the Second World War. There are advantages for a small town in a provincial area. Getting caught in the crossfire of a war is one thing, but being in the line of fire is much worse. Reszel did not incur major damage during World War II.?

Course of Actions – Defeat & Disaster

Of course, Reszel was touched by World War I as Hindenburg and Ludendorff oversaw their second victory over Russians forces from the town. This was quite an accomplishment. The First Battle of the Masurian Lakes pushed the Russians out of East Prussia, but it was not nearly as decisive as the Battle of Tannenberg. Because of that, the battle lacks name recognition. Nevertheless, the careers of Hindenburg and Ludendorff were propelled into the stratosphere. A direct line can be drawn from their victories at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes to then becoming a dictatorial duo that led Germany to defeat during the war and disaster after it. At Reszel, Hindenburg and Ludendorff were filled with confidence. It would not last. I would have loved to stand in the same rooms where they poured over battle maps, plotted the course of actions, and further developed the strategies that would lead them all the way to the top and Germany to the bottom. I never saw their headquarters or even knew it existed while I was there. This was a missed opportunity, but one that I hope to rectify on a return trip to Reszel.