The distance pole of the Saxon post office and the path of the poets

Tourist attractions

Description

The postal milepost in Guben is a copy of the stone four-sided distance pole of the Polish-Saxon post office, which is 4.50 m high. It consists of three parts, ending in a truncated pyramid at the top, resting on a four-sided pedestal. On one side there is the coat of arms of Saxony, on the other of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The initials of Augustus II the Strong (AR - Augustus Rex) indicate that the monument was made during the reign of the Saxon Elector and King of Poland. Below the coats of arms the description of the postal routes used in the past is placed. The golden crown of the electors of the Holy Roman Empire is visible at the top. The remaining sides are uninscribed.

The whole has been integrated into a small square, surrounded by greenery, from which there is a view of the Promenade am Dreieck and the path of poets.

Historical background

The creation of the network of distance poles of the Saxon post office dates back to the order of August II the Strong, established in the 18th century, whose aim was to measure and mark the distance of all important postal and trade routes within the Saxon electorate. This system was based on the Roman model, which was based on measuring distances in hours (1 hour = 4.53 km).

The original Guben postal pole was built either shortly before the death of Augustus the Strong or, as some sources state, in 1736. At that time, the pole was also next to the monastery mill. In 1883, the column was moved to Dreieck, located in the monastery suburb (Ger. Klostervorstadt). In 1938 it was moved again, this time near Egelneiß bridge (Ger. Egelneißbrücke), where 8 years later, on April 19, 1945, it was completely destroyed after the bridge was blown up. A fragment of the original Saxon column can still be found on the grounds of the local history museum "Sprucker Mühle". The column, which can be seen today at the descent to the Poet's Path (Ger. Poetensteig), is a replica created for the Workers' Day in 1989 by the Dresden sculptor Ralf Börnerow.