Plac Grunwaldzki is a large square and important transit point in Wrocław, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. The nearby Wrocław University of Technology and dormitories also make it one of the centers of student life in Wrocław.

History

During the Siege and Battle of Breslau

Battle of Breslau (1945)

The Battle of Breslau, also known as the Siege of Breslau, was a three month long siege of the city of Breslau in Lower Silesia, Germany , lasting to the end of World War II in Europe. From 13 February-6 May 1945, German troops in Breslau were besieged by the Soviet forces which encircled the city...

 in 1945, the entire residential district along the Kaiserstraße (now Plac Grunwaldzki) was razed to construct a military airfield intended for use in resupplying the fortress ("Festung Breslau"). Most buildings alongside the street were demolished on purpose by the Germans, and Russian airstrikes killed thousands of civilians working at the airstrip. Only one plane took off from it, in which Karl Hanke

Karl Hanke

Karl August Hanke was an official of the National Socialist German Workers Party . He served as governor of Lower Silesia from 1941 to 1945 and as the final Reichsführer-SS for a few days in 1945.- Early life :Hanke was born in Lauban in Silesia, on 24 August 1903, the son of a locomotive...

escaped from the besieged city.

Redevelopment

In March 2006, Plac Grunwaldzki was closed and undergoing total reconstruction. It was due to be opened again for traffic in December 2006, but the renovation works were to continue until August 2007. In January 2008, only the bus and tram stop in the center of Plac Grunwaldzki and the underground passage to it not yet completed. Because of this, Plac Grunwaldzki became a center of city-wide traffic congestion in rush hours. As of May 2008, most of the work has been completed and traffic is normal.