An expert in our region, last year ranked second in the Great Test of Knowledge about Lower Silesia. A graduate from Wrocław University of Science and Technology, an engineering and technical support employee at the Faculty, and after work also a guide in the Sudety mountains. Witold Papierniak is our guest in the #JestemzPWr (I am from WUST) series.

„A panorama of the Sudety mountains, prepared to my description, can be seen hanging on the wall in the mountain shelter on Śnieżnik. This is one of my favourite places to take tourists. For many years, I have been most fascinated by Zalesie near Bystrzyca Kłodzka, Kamieńczyk or Rybnica Leśna and their beautiful, little-known churches. I take other guides there, and I even gave a lecture on the forgotten wooden churches of the Sudety mountains for young adepts from the Sudety Guides Student Club. I also like Krzeszów" – says an employee of our Faculty for the next talk in the #JestemzPWr series.

A mountain guide must have comprehensive knowledge, e.g. about geology, architecture or nature. Studies of these topics and a passion of our protagonist began in the 1980s, when Witold Papierniak was in his second year of studies at the then Faculty of Electronics. Over time, he gained the qualifications of a tourist organizer, a Sudety guide to Wrocław, Lower Silesia and Jaskinia Niedźwiedzia.

– I haven't been able to frequently organize guided tours for several years now, but I teach and examine candidates for guides and share my knowledge through publications. The reviewer of my master's thesis, Dr. Jerzy Huchla used to work with RTV stations. Inspired by his stories, I wrote the book Radio and Television Stations in Lower Silesia, published in 1998. It gave me the first, highest class of guiding qualifications – says Witold Papierniak.

– Last year my son persuaded me to test my skills and take part in the Great Test of Knowledge about Lower Silesia. As part of the preparation, I was looking for interesting facts about people born in our region. Did you know that Emil Krebs – a self-taught man who spoke 68 languages fluently – was born in Świebodzice?"

– During the final, which was organised in the hall of the Voivodship Parliament, I fought for the first place with another guide from Wrocław – Marek Kuchciak. The winner was declared after two overtimes. If I were to prepare the questions for the competition one day, I would add more issues related to nature protection, e.g. where is the Głazy Krasnoludków nature reserve? – he recalls the backstage of his success in the Great Test of Knowledge about Lower Silesia in an interview for Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

Our employee eventually ranked 2nd in the Great Test of Knowledge about Lower Silesia on 17 December, 2022. In the last phase of the competition, Witold Papierniak competed with 23 other participants, and at the end he fought for the first place together with the guide Marek Kuchciak. The test contained 60 closed-test questions, and participants had 60 minutes to provide their answers.