Roth Town Park in Racibórz

Roth Town Park (Park im. Miasta Roth), also called the Swan Park, lies in the Nowe Zagrody district of Racibórz, between Opawska, Bema and Kochanowskiego streets. Its centre is occupied by a pond of about a hectare with a wooded islet. The park was created partly on the site of a former Catholic-Protestant cemetery, and it was named in honour of the Bavarian town of Roth, with which Racibórz has a partnership agreement.

What is in the park

The pond is fed by an artificial stream and a fountain with three nozzles, from which water shoots to a height of about 12 metres. An extensive network of walking paths runs around it, and there is also a fenced playground for children. The park has no lighting, so it is a place for a walk in daylight.

By the pond stands a historic, renovated building of a former lavatory block, whose roof is a viewing terrace. West of the pond, remains of the 1926 monument to those killed in the First World War have survived: the side balustrades with benches. The monument itself has a separate entry: the monument to those killed in the First World War.

Four natural monuments

Four legally protected trees grow in the park: a common ivy, a swamp cypress, a common hornbeam and a European ash.

From cemetery to park

In the western part of the park, from 1807 to the 1950s, there was a Catholic-Protestant cemetery. Before the war a park called the Eichendorffpark operated nearby, named after the poet Joseph von Eichendorff. In 1914 the town bought wasteland by the municipal hospital, and in 1920 the plan of the park was drawn up by Sußmann, a landscape architect from Jelenia Góra. At the centre he planned a pond, called the gondola pond: in summer people boated on it, and in winter an ice rink was set up on it.

In the 1930s the German figure skating championships were held on the rink. By the pond there was also a brick building with a beer hall and a lavatory, with a terrace on which a brass band played on Sunday afternoons. After the war the Rybaczówka restaurant operated by the pond.

When the cemetery was liquidated, the chapel and most of the gravestones were demolished, and the paths were laid along the former cemetery alleys, not across the graves. Only a few gravestones have survived.

Nearby

From here it is not far to the centre of Racibórz: Captain Franciszek Stalo Park lies about 600 metres away, and Racibórz Castle about 1.2 km.

Practical information

• Address: between Opawska, Bema and Kochanowskiego streets, Racibórz, Nowe Zagrody district.
• The park is open to all and has walking paths, a playground and a pond with an islet. There is no lighting.