Museum of Remembrances of the 1st Polish Army and the History of Mieszkowice Land in Mieszkowice - Branch in Gozdowice

History of the Museum

On April 16, 1965, on the 20th anniversary of the forcing of the Oder River, the Museum of Engineering Forces Memorabilia of the 1st Polish Army was opened in Gozdowice. The establishment of the facility is a great merit and initiative of the sappers, who worked under the leadership of Maj. Konstanty Majchajski of the Higher School of Engineering Forces Officers in Wroclaw. The building housed the staff command post of the chief of the engineering troops of the 1st Army of the Polish Army, General Jerzy Bordziłowski, and the commander of the 6th pontoon-bridge battalion, Major Alexander Kofanov.

An indispensable role in the history of the museum in Gozdowice was played by PFC Andrzej Kraska. It was thanks to his skills as a draftsman and surveyor that models of bridges, charts and terrain mock-ups were built to reflect the section of the front forcing the Oder River from Gozdowice to Siekierek from April 14-20, 1945. The further fate of Pvt. Andrzej Kraska was even more connected with the museum in Gozdowice, thanks to the decision of Maj. Machajski, who after the ceremonial opening of the museum on 31.05.1965 entrusted the function of the first museum custodian and tour guide to Andrzej Kraska.

In the building of the current museum during the forcing of the Oder River (14.04-20.04.1945) there was a command post of the chief of the engineering troops of the 1st Polish Army and the commander of the 6th Pontoon-Bridge Battalion. In the building, which was renovated in 2013, visitors can see on the second floor a reconstructed command post and exhibits related to German soldier's equipment, Soviet soldier's equipment and items found by exploration associations in West Pomerania.

On the first floor, in one of the rooms, visitors will see, among other things, documents, decorations, small arms and staff maps from 1945. Another room features mock-ups of bridge crossings, pontoon crossings, uniforms and equipment of the engineering troops, and a fragment of a boat wreck from an NLP light crossing park excavated from the bottom of the Oder River in 2016. In the third room, a glass display case shows a variety of mines, grenades and bombs from the First and Second World Wars. In the museum's display case, for example, is a German Flascheneismine 42 ice mine, this type of anti-personnel mine was used at potential crossing points for enemy troops. Another interesting specimen is a practice German anti-tank mine of the Topfmine 4531 B type, made from a mixture of sawdust and resin. The mine used a glass fuse of the SF1 type. The body was closed with a cap made of glass.

Another interesting exhibit is a restored German NSU TS 601 motorcycle with sidecar. This exhibit was lent in 2019. Machines of this type first appear in German catalogs in 1937, nevertheless it was initially ridden only by factory drivers.

Ferry in Gozdowice.

The history of ferry crossings in Gozdowice dates back to the 18th century, at which time residents could use horse-drawn carts to transport agricultural products and their animals to the other side for grazing. In subsequent years, thanks to the construction of numerous restaurants, resorts and beaches, tourists from Berlin began to arrive in increasing numbers.

With the end of the Second World War, free passage to the other side of the river ceased to function. It was not until 2007 that the side-car ferry "Without Borders" takes tourists, cyclists from April to October to the other side of the Oder.