# Anders Square

The General Władysław Anders Square (Polish: Plac gen. Władysława Andersa), also known as the General Władysław Anders Park (Polish: Park gen. Władysława Andersa), is a garden square in Szczecin, Poland, in the neighbourhood of Centrum, within the Downtown district. It is located between Więckowskiego, Śląska, Bałuki, Św. Wojciecha Streets, and the Victory Square. The area was originally founded in 1846 as a military cemetery, which was eventually closed for burials in the 1900s, and torn down and turned in a garden square in 1945.

## History

On 25 March 1846, on the premises of the Fort William, was founded a cemetery for its soldiers. It was originally referred to as the Garnison Churchyard (German: Garnison Kirchhof), and later became known as the Old Military Cemetery (German: Alter Militärfriedhof, Alter Militär Kirchhof). Originally it reached to the Victory Square to the north, and was later additionally expanded to the northwest.
In 1871, there were buried 104 soldiers the French Army, that died in the local prisoner-of-war camp during the Franco-Prussian War. In 1877, Friedrich Graf von Wrangel (1784–1877), a general field marshal of the Prussian Army, became the most notable person to be buried at the cemetery.
Following the deconstruction of the Fort William in 1886, the city had planed new road layout in the area. Bogurodzicy Street was extended to Św. Wojciecha Street, while it in turn was extended to the Victory Square. To accommodate those changes, the eastern part of the cemetery was demolished. In 1890, nearby was opened the St. John the Baptist Basilica, and in 1893, the Obstetrics Institute (now a children's hospital).
The cemetery was closed for new burials around the year 1900. In 1906, the southern portion of the cemetery was removed, to make room for the construction of the Church of the Holiest Heart of Our Lord, which lasted from 1913 to 1919. Over 500 graves were relocated to the remaining part of the cemetery. By 1914, most graves were removed altogether, with only the those in central portion, including the ones belonging to the Wrangel family, remaining. Currently, the memorial to the prisoners of war is the only remaining part of the cemetery.
In 1945, the remaining gravestones were removed, without conducting exhumations, and the area was turned into a garden square. It became known as the Ledóchowski Street Square (Polish: Plac przy Ledóchowskiego), which in turn was named after Mieczysław Halka-Ledóchowski, a 19th-century Catholic cleric who was an archbishop of Gdniezno and Poznań, and the primate of Poland. On 20 December 1949, it was renamed to the 22 July Square (Polish: Plac 22 Lipca), after the National Day of the Rebirth of Poland, an annual state holiday held on that day. It was renamed to its current name on 27 May 1991, after Władysław Anders, a 20th-century military officer and general in the Polish Armed Forces and the commander of the Anders' Army.
In October 1972, at Anders Square was placed a sculpture by Leonia Chmielnik, titled Children.
On 19 May 2012, there was unveiled a bench monument with statue of Jan Czekanowski, anthropologist, a statistician, ethnographer, traveller, and linguist, who was one of the first persons to use quantitative methods in linguistics. It was designed by Yossouf Toure "Derme", and made in his workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

## Characteristics

The garden square is placed between Więckowskiego, Śląska, Bałuki, Św. Wojciecha Streets, and the Victory Square, and surrounded by tenements. At its western end stands the Church of the Holiest Heart of Our Lord. Among tree species growing there are Japanese cherry, Canadian serviceberry, black locust, and horse chestnut. Near the church is placed a memorial dedicated to the soldiers of the French Army, who died between 1870 and 1871, in the local prisoner-of-war camp during the Franco-Prussian War. It has form of a commemorative plaque mounted on a large rock. The Anders Square also features a brass bench monument with statue of Jan Czekanowski, anthropologist, a statistician, ethnographer, traveller, and linguist, who was one of the first persons to use quantitative methods in linguistics. It was designed by Yossouf Toure "Derme". Additionally, there is also a sculpture made from an artificial stone by Leonia Chmielnik, titled Children (Polish: Dzieci), that depicts boy and girl turned to each other's backs.

## Gallery

* Jan Czekanowski Monument.
* Sculpture Children by Leonia Chmielnik.