JOSEPH VON EICHENDORFF'S TRAIL IN NYSA

The Joseph von Eichendorff Trail in Nysa was established in 2006. This biographical trail leads through places associated with the eminent German poet. Joseph von Eichendorff was born on 10 of March 1788 in Łubowice near Racibórz. He studied at the universities of Halle, Haidelberg and Vienna. In 1814, he married Louisa von Larisch of Pogrzebień. In 1816, he entered the Prussian civil service. From 1821 to 1844, he worked as a clerk in the Ministry of Religious Affairs. In 1885, after retirement, he moved to Nysa. He died on 26 of November 1857.

He was buried in the cemetery in Nysa, next to his wife, who had died two years earlier.

Joseph von Eichendorff left behind an enormous literary legacy, including

poems, epics, novellas, short stories, plays and political essays. His poems served as a canvas for numerous composers, including Robert Schumann, Richard Strauss and Felix Mendelssohn.

The Joseph von Eichendorff Trail traces the places the poet most frequently visited during his time in Nysa. The 3-kilometer trail begins in front of the Economic School Complex in Nysa. Here, you'll find a monument (a bust) of the poet. The first monument, funded by the residents of Nysa on the centenary of the poet's birth, was destroyed in March 1945. The surviving bronze bust currently resides in the Minor Basilica of St. James and Agnes in Nysa. A new bust was erected in 2002. The next stop on the trail is the Jerusalem Cemetery – one of the oldest and largest necropolises in Nysa, home to over 17,000 graves. Many famous and distinguished residents of the city are buried here, including Joseph von Eichendorff, writer Wanda Pawlik, painter Lukas Mrzygłod, father of the Silesian firefighters Johannes Hellmann as well as painter and museum curator Franciszek Pikuła. Maria Luiza Merkert was also originally laid to rest here.