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52-739: Over the centuries, the square has been named successively as Saxon Square ( Plac Saski ) after Poland's Saxon kings, with the Saxon Palace standing adjacent to the square, but destroyed in World War II; then Piłsudski Square (after Józef Piłsudski ) during the Second Polish Republic ; then briefly, Adolf-Hitler-Platz during Germany's World War II occupation of Warsaw; and, after 1946, Victory Square ( Polish : plac Zwycięstwa ) in honour of Poland's and her allies' victory in World War II . Since

104-691: A brilliant strategist who attained the highest military ranks in the Kingdom of France . In the War of the Polish Succession he remained loyal to his employer Louis XV , who was married to the daughter of Augustus's rival Stanisław I Leszczyński . Augustus' granddaughter, Maria Josepha of Saxony , later became Dauphine of France through her marriage to the Dauphin Louis , and the mother of three Kings of France ( Louis XVI , Louis XVIII and Charles X ). Augustus

156-570: A certain feeling for art, the king began to transform Dresden into a renowned cultural center with one of Germany's finest art collections, though most of the city's famous sights and landmarks were completed during the reign of his son Augustus III. The most famous building started under Augustus the Strong was the Zwinger . Also known are Pillnitz Castle , his summer residence, Moritzburg Castle and Hubertusburg Castle, his hunting lodges. He greatly expanded

208-574: A large gathering of his countrymen at an open-air Holy Mass during his first visit to Poland soon after his 1978 elevation to the papacy . This event marked a more confrontational approach to the Soviet Union by the papacy and contributed to the eventual fall of communism in Poland . In April 2005, his death was mourned there also. Pope Benedict XVI celebrated an open-air Mass on the square on 26 May 2006, during his first pastoral visit to Poland. The square

260-597: A manor houses ( dwór ) belonging to Tobiasz Morsztyn  [ pl ] . After 1661 his brother and heir Jan Andrzej Morsztyn had replaced the manor with a baroque palace with four towers, known as the Morsztyn Palace ( Polish : Pałac Morsztynów ). In 1713 the Morsztyn Palace was purchased by the first of Poland's two Saxon kings, Augustus II (reigned in Poland 1697–1706 and 1709–33), who had it expanded and remodeled as part of his architectural concept of

312-606: A patron of the arts and architecture. He transformed the Saxon capital of Dresden into a major cultural centre, attracting artists from across Europe to his court. Augustus also amassed an impressive art collection and built lavish baroque palaces in Dresden and Warsaw. In 1711 he served as the Imperial vicar of the Holy Roman Empire . His reigns brought Poland some troubled times. He led

364-426: A series of mistresses: Some contemporary sources, including Wilhelmine of Bayreuth , claimed that Augustus had as many as 365 or 382 children. The number is extremely difficult to verify. Perhaps the number refers not to the king's children but to the nights that he spent with his mistresses. Augustus officially recognised only a tiny fraction of that number as his bastards (the mothers of these "chosen ones", with

416-576: A son, Frederick Augustus II (1696–1763), who succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony and King of Poland as Augustus III. While in Venice during the carnival season, his older brother, the Elector John George IV, contracted smallpox from his mistress Magdalena Sibylla of Neidschutz . On 27 April 1694, Johann Georg died without legitimate issue and Augustus became elector of Saxony , as Friedrich Augustus I. To be eligible for election to

468-691: Is also notable for fathering a very large number of children . In order to be elected king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Augustus converted to Roman Catholicism . As a Catholic, he received the Order of the Golden Fleece from the Holy Roman Emperor and established the Order of the White Eagle , Poland's highest distinction. As elector of Saxony , he is perhaps best remembered as

520-662: Is now a location of some luxury shops, such as Italian Valentino and others. The square is located in front of the 15–hectare Saxon Gardens extending south-west, close to the Zachęta and the Holy Trinity Church . The nearest metro station is Nowy Świat-Uniwersytet , a seven-minute walk away. 52°14′28.41″N 21°0′45.94″E  /  52.2412250°N 21.0127611°E  / 52.2412250; 21.0127611 Saxon Palace The Saxon Palace ( Polish : pałac Saski w Warszawie ) was, before World War II , one of

572-558: The Albertine branch of the House of Wettin . Augustus' great physical strength earned him the nicknames "the Strong", "the Saxon Hercules" and "Iron-Hand". He liked to show that he lived up to his name by breaking horseshoes with his bare hands and engaging in fox tossing by holding the end of his sling with just one finger while two of the strongest men in his court held the other end. He

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624-460: The Battle of Kliszów (July 1702), and took Kraków . He defeated another of Augustus' armies under the command of Generalfeldmarschall Adam Heinrich von Steinau at the Battle of Pułtusk in spring 1703, and besieged and captured Toruń . By this time, Augustus was certainly ready for peace, but Charles felt that he would be more secure if he could establish someone with whom he had more influence on

676-588: The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister . From 1687 to 1689, Augustus toured France and Italy. The extravagant court in Versailles —perfectly tailored to fit the needs of an absolute monarch —impressed him deeply. In accordance with the spirit of the baroque age, Augustus invested heavily in the representative splendor of Dresden Castle , his major residence, to advertise his wealth and power. With strict building regulations, major urban development plans, and

728-515: The Großsedlitz estate near Dresden, and after expanding the palace and garden complex, in 1727 he organized there the first ever festivities of the Order of the White Eagle. Augustus II was called "the Strong" for his bear-like physical strength and for his numerous offspring (only one of them his legitimate child and heir). The most famous of the king's children born out of wedlock was Maurice de Saxe ,

780-635: The Saxon Axis . Work on the palace was completed in 1748 by his son, King Augustus III . In the early 19th century, the Saxon Palace housed the Warsaw Lyceum in which Frédéric Chopin 's father Nicolas Chopin taught French , living with his family on the palace grounds. The Palace was remodeled in 1842. After World War I , the Saxon Palace was the seat of the Polish General Staff . In 1925,

832-736: The Saxon Palace in Warsaw with the adjacent Saxon Garden , which became the city's oldest public park and one of the first publicly accessible parks in the world. Following the devastation of the Great Northern War he also had the Royal Castle, Warsaw restored and enlarged. He also expanded the Wilanów Palace . He granted composer Johann Adolph Hasse the title of the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon Kapellmeister in 1731. A man of pleasure,

884-876: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was established within the colonnade -topped arcade that joined the Palace's two symmetric wings. The Palace continued to be sandwiched between the Saxon Garden , to its rear, and the Saxon Square in front (which would be renamed Piłsudski Square after the Marshal 's death in 1935). In this building, the German Enigma machine cipher was first broken in December 1932 and then read for several years before

936-590: The Commonwealth. Faced with both internal and foreign opposition, however, he achieved little. In 1729 he established the Grand Musketeers Company in Dresden, one of the oldest Polish officers' schools, which in 1730 was relocated to Warsaw. Augustus died at Warsaw in 1733. Although he had failed to make the Polish throne hereditary in his house, his eldest son, Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, succeeded him to

988-635: The General Staff Cipher Bureau German section's 1937 move to new, specially designed quarters near Pyry in the Kabaty Woods south of Warsaw. During World War II, two months after the German suppression of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising , the Saxon Palace was blown up by the Germans as part of their planned destruction of Warsaw . Only parts of the central arcade remained, housing the Tomb of

1040-596: The Great seized on the opportunity to pose as mediator, threatened the Commonwealth militarily, and in 1717 forced Augustus and the nobility to sign an accommodation favorable to Russian interests, at the Silent Sejm ( Sejm Niemy ). For the remainder of his reign, in an uneasy relationship, Augustus was more or less dependent on Russia (and to a lesser extent, on Austria) to maintain his Polish throne. He gave up his dynastic ambitions and concentrated instead on attempts to strengthen

1092-657: The Polish throne as Augustus III of Poland although he had to be installed by the Imperial Russian Army during the War of the Polish Succession . Augustus is perhaps best remembered as a patron of the arts and architecture. He had beautiful palaces built in Dresden , a city that became renowned for extraordinary cultural brilliance. He introduced the first public museums, such as the Green Vault in 1723, and started systematic collection of paintings that are now on display in

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1144-652: The Polish throne to Leszczyński by the Treaty of Altranstädt (October 1706). Meanwhile, Russia's Tsar Peter had reformed his army, and he dealt a crippling defeat to the Swedes at the Battle of Poltava (1709). This spelled the end of the Swedish Empire and the rise of the Russian Empire . The weakened Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth soon came to be regarded as almost a protectorate of Russia. In 1709 Augustus II returned to

1196-626: The Polish throne under Russian auspices . Once again he attempted to establish an absolute monarchy in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but was faced with opposition from the nobility ( szlachta , see Tarnogród Confederation ). He was handicapped by the mutual jealousy of the Saxons and the Poles, and a struggle broke out in Poland which was only ended when the king promised to limit the number of his army in that country to 18,000 men. Peter

1248-572: The Polish throne. In 1704 the Swedes installed Stanisław Leszczyński and tied the commonwealth to Sweden , which compelled Augustus to initiate military operations in Poland alongside Russia ( an alliance was concluded in Narva in summer 1704). The resulting civil war in Poland (1704–1706) and the Grodno campaign (1705–1706) did not go well for Augustus. Following the Battle of Fraustadt , on 1 September 1706, Charles invaded Saxony , forcing Augustus to yield

1300-544: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Great Northern War , which allowed the Russian Empire to strengthen its influence in Europe, especially within Poland. His main pursuit was bolstering royal power in the Commonwealth, characterized by broad decentralization in comparison with other European monarchies. In order to reduce the autonomy of the Commonwealth's subjects he was using foreign powers leading to destabilization of

1352-562: The Russians at Narva in 1700, thereby allowing him to focus on the struggle with Augustus. However, this war ultimately proved as disastrous for Sweden as for Poland. Charles defeated Augustus' army at Riga in July 1701, forcing the Polish-Saxon army to withdraw from Livonia, and followed this up with an invasion of Poland. He captured Warsaw on 14 May 1702, defeated the Polish-Saxon army again at

1404-475: The Unknown Soldier , which escaped destruction. There are plans to reconstruct the Saxon Palace. The palace cellars were excavated in 2006, uncovering some 20,000 objects. The palace's reconstruction was formerly scheduled for completion by 2010. The reconstructed building was planned to house Warsaw's city hall, but due to Warsaw's budget problems caused by the Great Recession (2000s) , and subsequent cuts,

1456-565: The breakthrough that had eluded European potters for a century. By the king's decree, the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon Porcelain Manufactory was established in Meissen in 1709. The manufacture of fine porcelain continues at the Meissen porcelain factory. In November 1705 in Tykocin , Augustus founded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's first and preeminent order of chivalry . In 1723 he bought

1508-563: The country. Augustus ruled Poland with an interval; in 1704 the Swedes installed nobleman Stanisław Leszczyński as king, who officially reigned from 1706 to 1709 and after Augustus' death in 1733 which sparked the War of the Polish Succession . Augustus' body was buried in Poland's royal Wawel Cathedral in Kraków , but his heart rests in the Dresden Cathedral . His only legitimate son, Augustus III of Poland , became king in 1733. Augustus

1560-457: The death of Polish King John III Sobieski and having converted to Catholicism, Augustus won election as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1697 with the backing of Russia and Austria , which financed him through the banker Issachar Berend Lehmann . At the time, some questioned the legality of Augustus' elevation, since another candidate, François Louis, Prince of Conti , had received more votes. Each candidate, Conti and Augustus,

1612-550: The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, despite the fact that all remaining Electors of Saxony were Catholic. The wife of Augustus, the Electress Christiane Eberhardine, refused to follow her husband's example and remained a staunch Protestant. She did not attend her husband's coronation in Poland and led a rather quiet life outside Dresden, gaining some popularity for her stubbornness. Following

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1664-511: The electorate faced a hereditary Catholic succession instead of a return to a Protestant Elector upon Augustus's death. When the conversion became public in 1717, Brandenburg-Prussia and Hanover attempted to oust Saxony from the directorship and appoint themselves as joint directors, but they gave up the attempt in 1720. Saxony would retain the directorship of the Protestant body in the Reichstag until

1716-512: The empire and the two remaining Protestant electors (of Hanover and Prussia ) were anxious to keep Saxony well-integrated in their camp. According to the Peace of Augsburg , Augustus theoretically had the right to re-introduce Roman Catholicism (see Cuius regio, eius religio ), or at least grant full religious freedom to his fellow Catholics in Saxony, but this never happened. Saxony remained Lutheran and

1768-540: The end of his sling by just one finger, with two of the strongest men in his court on the other end. From 1 to 26 June 1730 he held the Zeithain Encampment after reorganizing and reequipping his army. The Prussian king Frederick William I was present, as well as 48 invited European princes with their military officers and envoys of the European powers. It was not only the largest troop show in Europe but also one of

1820-483: The fall of communism in Poland, it is again called Piłsudski Square. Piłsudski Square is the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier , erected on top of the underground foundations of the Saxon Palace , destroyed by the Nazis in World War II. The square has been the scene of many historic events over the centuries. Important guests of Warsaw and Poland have been officially welcomed there. Military parades have been held at

1872-468: The few Roman Catholics residing in Saxony lacked any political or civil rights. In 1717, it became clear just how awkward the situation was: to realize his ambitious dynastic plans in Poland and Germany, it was necessary for Augustus' heirs to become Roman Catholic. After five years as a convert, his son—the future Augustus III—publicly avowed his Roman Catholicism. The Saxon Estates were outraged and revolted as it became clear that his conversion to Catholicism

1924-594: The imperial troops against the Ottoman Empire in 1695 and 1696 without very much success, Augustus continued the war of the Holy League against Turkey, and during a campaign against the Ottomans, his Polish army defeated a Tatar expedition in the Battle of Podhajce in 1698. Unfortunately on 22 September a conflict between Polish and Saxon troops was narrowly avoided, causing the campaign to end. Victory at Podhajce had

1976-427: The king sponsored lavish court balls, Venetian-style balli in maschera , and luxurious court gatherings, games, and garden festivities. His court acquired a reputation for extravagance throughout Europe. He held a famous animal-tossing contest in Dresden at which 647 foxes, 533 hares , 34 badgers and 21 wildcats were tossed and killed. Augustus himself participated, reportedly demonstrating his strength by holding

2028-459: The most distinctive buildings in Warsaw , Poland. After the suppression of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising , the palace was destroyed by German armed forces as part of their deliberate destruction of Warsaw . After the Polish government announced plans to reconstruct the building, ground work commenced in August 2022. Rebuilding is expected to be completed by 2030. The Saxon Palace had been preceded by

2080-467: The most gigantic baroque festivals of its time, showcasing the high level of Saxon art and culture. Augustus II successfully sponsored efforts to discover the secret of manufacturing porcelain . In 1701 he rescued the young alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger , who had fled from the court of King Frederick I of Prussia , who had expected that he produce gold for him as he had boasted he could. Augustus imprisoned Böttger and tried to force him to reveal

2132-464: The political impact of forcing the Ottoman Empire to return Podolia and Kamieniec Podolski in Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. An ambitious ruler, Augustus hoped to make the Polish throne hereditary within his family, and to use his resources as elector of Saxony to impose some order on the chaotic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was, however, soon distracted from his internal reform projects by

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2184-462: The possibility of external conquest. He formed an alliance with Frederick IV of Denmark and Peter I of Russia to strip the young King Charles XII of Sweden (Augustus' cousin) of his possessions. Poland's reward for participation in the Great Northern War was to have been Swedish Livonia . Charles proved an able military commander, however, quickly forcing the Danes out of the war and then driving back

2236-511: The prince-elector guaranteed Saxony's religious status quo, Augustus' conversion alienated many of his Protestant subjects. As a result of the enormous expenditure of money used to bribe the Polish nobility and clergy, Augustus' contemporaries derisively referred to the Saxon elector's royal ambitions as his "Polish adventure". His church policy within the Holy Roman Empire followed orthodox Lutheranism and ran counter to his new-found religious and absolutist convictions. The Protestant princes of

2288-470: The reconstruction has been on hold. On 11 November 2018, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Poland's post- World War I independence, President Andrzej Duda reaffirmed the intent to rebuild the palace. August II of Poland Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to

2340-521: The secret of manufacturing gold. Böttger's transition from alchemist to potter was orchestrated as an attempt to avoid the impossible demands of the king. Being an alchemist by profession rather than a potter, gave Böttger an advantage. He realised that the current approaches, which involved mixing fine white substances like crushed egg shells into clay, would not work. Rather, his approach was to attempt to bake clay at higher temperatures than had ever before been attained in European kilns. That approach yielded

2392-616: The square since the 19th century Polish partitions . From the 1890s to the 1920s, the Russian Orthodox Church Alexander Nevsky Cathedral stood there. As with most of the other Moscow Patriarchate churches in Warsaw, it was demolished in mid-1920s by the Polish authorities, less than 15 years after its construction, and in 1928, the square was renamed after Józef Piłsudski. It was on Piłsudski Square (then Victory Square) in 1979 that Pope John Paul II addressed

2444-414: The throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1697, Augustus had to convert to Roman Catholicism . The Saxon electors had traditionally been called "champions of the Reformation ". Christian August of Saxe-Zeitz baptized him and announced his conversion. Saxony had been a stronghold of German Protestantism and Augustus' conversion was therefore considered shocking in Protestant Europe . Although

2496-429: Was 1.76 meters (5 ft 9 in) tall, above average height for that time, but despite his extraordinary physical strength, he did not look big. In his final years he suffered from diabetes mellitus and became obese , at his death weighing some 110 kilograms (240 lb). Augustus II's body was interred in the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków —all but his heart, which rests at the Dresden Cathedral . In 1936 Augustus

2548-524: Was born in Dresden on 12 May 1670, the younger son of John George III, Elector of Saxony and Princess Anna Sophie of Denmark . As the second son, Augustus had no expectation of inheriting the electorate, since his older brother, John George IV , assumed the post after the death of their father on 12 September 1691. Augustus was well educated, and spent some years in travel and in fighting against France. Augustus married Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth in Bayreuth on 20 January 1693. They had

2600-417: Was not only a matter of form, but of substance as well. Since the Peace of Westphalia , the elector of Saxony had been the director of the Protestant body in the Reichstag . To placate the other Protestant states in the Empire, Augustus nominally delegated the directorship of the Protestant body to Johann Adolf II , Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels . However, when the Elector's son also converted to Catholicism,

2652-416: Was proclaimed as king by a different ecclesiastical authority: (the Primate Michał Stefan Radziejowski proclaimed Conti and the bishop of Kujawy, Stanisław Dąmbski proclaimed Augustus, with Jacob Heinrich von Flemming swearing to the pacta conventa as Augustus's proxy). However, Augustus hurried to the Commonwealth with a Saxon army, while Conti stayed in France for two months. Although he had led

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2704-415: Was the subject of a Polish-German film Augustus the Strong directed by Paul Wegener . Augustus was portrayed by the actor Michael Bohnen . The Electress Christiane, who remained Protestant and refused to move to Poland with her husband, preferred to spend her time in the mansion in Pretzsch on the Elbe , where she died. Augustus, a voracious womanizer, never missed his wife, spending his time with

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