European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 19, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Eastern Europe Beauty of Poland air of ancient majesty still crowns Scenic Krakow by Stephen Williams new Day the ancient Royal capital of Poland exists in a historical time Warp. Located deep within what used to be the East bloc it is not populated with grim faced labourers nor is it marked by ugly towers of Concrete Flats nor does it share the somber mood of Warsaw. Tucked North of the grand Tara mountains Krakow and its old town bounded by Vest pocket Parks and Lush gardens survived world War ii nearly undamaged so the monuments and Royal residences of Warwel Hill stand As they have for centuries. Krakow is culturally significant revolving around the Jagiel Lonian University founded in the 14th Century. One of the better european theater groups is there the View of Krakow from across the Vistula River. Bial Wieza National Park is a veritable Eden by Charles t. Powers los Angeles times i lie most striking feature of the Forest on first glimpse is not the living Trees but the dead ones. They lie where they have fallen grown thickly Over with Lichen and Moss Liverwort and Fern and sink slowly Back into the Earth. It is an arboreal version of an elephant s graveyard suggesting the passage of massive living things. It is a place where a respectful hush seems appropriate. But this is not a dying Forest or an environmental disaster so common in much of Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe where 40 years of communist heavy Industry and its noxious fumes have stunted and maimed millions of acres of it crested land. Instead Bial Wieza National Park with its striking View of fallen Trees among hundreds of thousands of living ones a represents an environmental Success Story. It is even More rare than tales of tourists congregate in krak6w s Rynek Glowny Market Square. Plus cabarets and cozy student clubs and pubs. The Nowa Huta one of the largest Steelworks in Europe is nearby. It was the workers uprising there a along with the agitation by the Independent Union Solidarity at Gdansk a that led to the end of the communist government. Although the old City is remarkably compact visitors tend to focus on the City Center which spreads out from the Rynek Glowny marketplace Square and its Suk Ennice medieval cloth Hallwhich still houses souvenir vendors and Market stalls. The Square girded by gothic mansions old burghers houses cafes and travel environmental restoration for Bial Wieza has never had to undergo restoration. It is today what it has always been. It is the last truly primeval Forest in Europe a uncut untended and perfectly natural. According to those who watch Over its fortunes and those who come to study its characteristics Bial Wieza looks now As it did 2,000 years ago. Which is in a word awesome. Here Are Oak Trees in their wild and natural settings 500 years old 140 feet tall Majestic and magnificent lords of the Forest. There Are Pine and Spruce Trees half that age towering 160 feet Lindens to Dwarf the coddled specimens lining the boulevards of Berlin and other european capitals Ash Trees that would Supply a major league baseball team with bats into the next Century even a few towering elms survivors in their isolation of the dutch Elm disease that has ravaged those Trees across Europe and North America. Once the private Hunting grounds of polish Kings russian princes and lithuanian Dukes Bial Wieza has been protected against encroachments by Farmers and woodcutters ancient and modern. Since 1921, the polish government has recognized the treasure the Forest represents and has guarded it closely. In 1977, it was recognized As a Quot biosphere preserve Quot by the . Educational scientific and cultural organization and in 1979 it was included As the Only natural site on the . World i Lerit Aee list. Berlin r Germa it a \ Krakow y Prague a Czechoslovakia a 7 s l Austria Hungary j \ agencies sets a refined tone for Krakow it s not quite Chic but close to it. The shops display a wider selection of foreign goods than even those in Prague Czechoslovakia. The hotels a especially the elegant Francuski recently refurbished a Are understated yet Plush. And Krakow features a world class restaurant in the Wierz Ynek which is solidly pretentious dependably expensive and ultimately satisfying. Krak6w in t much of a museum town so plan your Quot serious Quot Day around the Castle and Cathedral on Warwel Hill above the Vistula River. Warwel was Home to Poland s Kings for centuries but it suffered a marked decline when the Kings and the capital moved to Warsaw. It served As an army Barracks and during world War ii As a base for the nazis. Despite years of renovation the Castle today Bial Wieza National Park is nearly 20 Square Miles. The Park itself lies at the Center of a larger Forest covering 482 Square Miles and straddling the Border with Poland and Belarus which is the former soviet Republic of byelorussian. Before the end of world War ii the land was All polish. Now the former soviet Union claims slightly More than half or 259 Square Miles. During the 19th-Century partition of Poland the russians had it All the National Park that forms the Core of the Forest in Poland is in the parlance of the Park officials Quot strictly controlled Quot meaning that it is not controlled at All but rather strictly protected. Quot we Don t introduce Trees and we Don t intervene Quot said curator Czeslaw Okolow who has worked in the Park for 31 years. Quot in nature each element has its function and in the Park the idea is to allow that process to go on  it Means that when a tree Falls in the Forest it Falls because of the forces of nature a sometimes wind Winter storms or Spring lightning sometimes disease or old age. But never because us the a or the Chain saw. In 1960, Okolow said a Quot Long and hot Quot debate went on among the Forest s managers Over the Fate of an Oak tree believed to be about 600 years old and obviously diseased which had become known to visitors As the Quot King Jagiello Oak Quot after one of Poland s most famous monarchs. Quot it was known that Jagiello did Hunt in Bial Wieza at least twice Quot Okolow said Quot in 1409 and 1426, and the legend grew up that he had camped underneath this particular Oak tree. Of course no one really knows if he did or not but that was the attractive legend and people accepted  the argument was Over whether to Send in the tree surgeons to intervene and prolong the Oak s life or let nature take its course. Eventually the latter argument prevailed. The tree fell 14 years later 12u feet of ancient Oak crashing to the ground Quot we organized a press conference Okolow remembers Quot and officially said goodbye to  it is still on the Forest guides route through the Park. Even after hav ing Lam a the Forest floor for 1 7 years covered 8 stripes Magazine november 19, 1992