The original duchy was located in the south-western part of Lower Silesia on the current lands of Lwowek Sląski County with the southern part of the duchy covering most of the modern Jelenia Gora County. Lwowek Slaski was the biggest town and also the capital of the duchy. The town of Lwowek had its own mint and coin. The town had double walls and two big churches. Some other important towns located within the lands of the duchy were: Wlen, Gryfow Sląski and Jelenia Gora. The main factor of the rapid development of the area was gold surrounding Lwowek Slaski and the trade road Via Regia. Some sources say that a few tons of gold were excavated in the Middle Ages from the mines around Lwowek. After the exhaustion of the gold mines the citizens started to earn from cloth producing, weaving, crafts, trade and sandstone processing.
History
was the only ruler of the duchy of Lwowek. He was the youngest son of the Silesian prince Boleslaw II Rogatka and Hedwig, daughter of Henry I, Count of Anhalt. He became the ruler 3 years after his father died, in 1281 when Bernards' brother Bolko I the Strict partitioned the Duchy of Jawor and granted him western part of the duchy with its capital in Lwowek Slaski. The Duchy of Jawor and the duchy of Lwowek cooperated as brothers ruled in the two duchies. Bernard died unmarried and childless in 1286 and because of a lack of heirs the duchy of Lwowek was annexed and ruled by the Duchy of Jawor again by Bernard's brother Bolko I.
Castles
There were several castles guarding the lands of the duchy. The most important were those located in Wlen, Gryfow and Lwowek.
Lwowek Castle
Lwowek Castle was a medieval castle in Lwowek built to protect the inhabitants of the town. It was built at the beginning of the 13th century as a seat of Silesian princes. It was located in the southern part of the town, along the town walls. The founder of the castle was probably Henry I the Bearded. The castle was often visited by princes of Jawor and Swidnica-Jawor. The castle was partly destroyed during a fire in 1381 but the town council decided to rebuild the castle and in 1389 the renovation was complete. Since 1444 the castle was no longer a public property. The castle was destroyed again in 1475 after a huge fire and has never been rebuilt again. Now in the place of the castle stands the oldest brewery in Poland which started producing beer in 1209. The only remains of the castle are the sandstone foundations in the brewery's basement.
