A settlement in the forest that existed on no map

Pstrąże lies in the Lower Silesian Forests, in an extensive woodland complex between Bolesławiec and Żagań, off the region's main roads. The village's name appears in documents as early as 1305, as Pstransee, and from the early 20th century the place began to serve military functions: in 1901 expansion began here for the needs of the German army, with barracks, stables and a branch railway line from Leszno Górne being built. This exact combination - isolation among forests, a good rail link and existing military infrastructure - meant the place fell into the hands of a new master for the next half-century after the war.

Takeover by the Red Army and disappearance from the maps

On 10 February 1945, Soviet troops occupied Pstrąże. From that moment the village stopped being officially marked on maps - because of the garrison's military significance and its status as a closed zone. Access to it was physically guarded: the road section of the bridge leading towards the settlement was not rebuilt specifically to make it harder for the Polish civilian population to get in. The Russian name for the place at the time was Strakhov. For the residents of the surrounding towns, Pstrąże was therefore a place that existed but formally didn't - similar to Legnica, already covered on the portal, which for decades carried the nickname Little Moscow, though for an entirely different reason: there the army shared the town with civilians, here the whole settlement was a closed garrison with no Polish residents.

A small town for over ten thousand people

For nearly half a century, several Soviet units stationed in Pstrąże one after another, among them the 510th Independent Tank Training Regiment, the 76th Orsha Tank Regiment, the 255th Guards Mechanised Regiment, the 144th Mechanised Regiment and the 27th Mobile Missile Technical Base. According to some sources, at its peak the garrison and its surroundings were home to as many as 15 thousand people - soldiers together with their families. A fully functioning garrison settlement grew up here: eight residential blocks, a kindergarten, an eight-year school numbered 53, a café called "Bajka" ("Fairy Tale"), plus sports facilities, a stadium, an outdoor swimming pool and an officers' club with a library. There was also its own railway yard and an airfield. Everyday life for military families thus unfolded in a place that from the outside looked like an ordinary small town, except that it was invisible to its surroundings and inaccessible to Poles.

Withdrawal of troops and rapid decay

Soviet troops finally left Pstrąże in 1992, as part of the wider withdrawal of the Russian army from Central Europe after the end of the Cold War. From April 1993 the Polish army tried to secure the area, but in 1995 the decision was made to stop maintaining the settlement, and the place was turned into a military training ground. Abandoned buildings - unguarded and with no new residents - began to decay very quickly: it's the standard scenario for post-Soviet garrison estates in the region, where decay is sped up by looters and scrap metal collectors carrying off everything that can be salvaged before the ruins are swallowed by forest.

The site today and access restrictions

In October 2016, formal demolition of the remains of the settlement began. Today the site is mostly rubble and ruins, used occasionally by the Polish army for exercises and by emergency services for training - Pstrąże has the status of a military training ground, not a publicly accessible place. This means entry to the site isn't free: it's a closed military area, and the remains of the buildings being demolished are at risk of collapse, so entering the ruins on your own carries real risk. Further development of the area is planned, among other things for new military investments.

A magnet for photographers and explorers

Despite the access restrictions, and partly because of them, Pstrąże has for years attracted photographers and enthusiasts of exploring abandoned places, for whom the empty blocks, the remains of the stadium and the overgrown estate roads are one of the most recognisable examples in Poland of what's known as urban exploration - photographing and visiting abandoned architecture. Photos from Pstrąże circulate online as an illustration of how quickly an entire small town can disappear once it loses its keeper, but it's worth remembering that for the portal and for visitors it's above all a military area with a genuine no-entry ban, not a publicly accessible tourist attraction.