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Brzeg

Brzeg (Latin: Alta Ripa, German: Brieg, Silesian German: Brigg, Brzeg, Brzyg, Břeh) is a town in southwestern Poland with 34,778 inhabitants (December 2021) and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the left bank of the Oder river.

The town of Brzeg was first mentioned as a trading and fishing settlement within fragmented Piast-ruled Poland in 1234. In 1248, Silesian Duke Henry III the White granted the settlement Magdeburg town rights and by the late 13th century the city became fortified. Sometimes referred to as "the garden town", the town's size greatly expanded after the construction of dwelling houses which were located on the city outskirts. From the early 14th to late 17th centuries, the town was ruled by the Piast dynasty as fiefs of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire. Later, as the result of the Silesian Wars, the town passed to Prussia, and from 1871 to 1945 it was also part of Germany, before it became again part of Poland after World War II.

Etymology
In older documents, Brzeg was referred to as Civitas Altae Ripae, meaning 'city on the high banks' of the Oder River; its name is derived from Polish brzeg 'shore'. Konstanty Damrot (1841–1895), in his book of the etymology of Silesian localities, states that in a Latin document from 1234 the settlement's name was Visoke breg (Wysokibrzeg, Wissokembreghe; literally 'high bank').

A native or resident of Brzeg is known as a brzeżan, brzeżanin (male), brzeżanka (female), brzeżanie and brzeżaninie (plural).

Prehistory
The locality in and around present-day Brzeg has been settled by people since the Mesolithic era, with the earliest signs of settlement between 8000 and 4200 BC, as concluded from archaeological findings in Myślibórz, Kościerzyce, Lubsza and Lipki. The early human populace left behind traces of lithic flakes, flint flakes and other flint related tools. The earliest signs of agriculture come around during the Neolithic Era (4200–1700 BC). The Neolithic culture developed agriculture and domesticated farm animals; this lifestyle led Nomadic cultures to settle in the locality. The era saw the development of weaving, pottery and mining in the Brzeg Plain, with archaeological finds in Brzeg, Buszyce, Prędocin, Lewin Brzeski, Małujowice, Lipki, Myśliborze, Mąkoszyce and Obórki.

The time period of 1300–700 BC bears the existence of the Lusatian culture of the late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. The culture settled in the region and in large continued to develop agriculture and the domestication of farm animals. The natural economy of the culture was based on weaving, pottery and metal works. The Lusatian culture's populace that inhabited the Brzeg Lands was identified by archaeological excavations, revealing 17 individual localities, including 3 hamlets and 8 burial sites, namely a fortified wooden settlement in Rybna and an open-pit crematory in Pisarzowice (with 30 discovered burial sites).

To follow the Lusatian culture, which witnessed its decline around 500 BC, were the Celts, around 400–300 BC in Silesia, as identified with archaeological findings in Lubsza and Pawłów (located in the eastern vicinity of Brzeg). Around 100 BC, the peoples of Silesia (Celtic and Germanic tribes) began trading with the Roman Empire, as evidenced through the findings of Roman currency in the locality. In the 7th century Slavic peoples started settling in the region. At the same time Iron tools and blacksmith-based hamlets found in Kantorowice and Pępice are evidenced for the first time in this region.

Early Middle Ages
The period of AD 500–1000 saw the establishment of the early feudal system in Silesia. The era was characteristic of the establishment of gord settlements, towns and the continued development of trade and crafts. It is believed the permanent populace around modern-day Brzeg was set up by Silesian tribes. The first mention of the Silesian tribes is made in the mid-ninth-century document known as the Bavarian Geographer (Geographus Bavarus), which included the Silesian gord of Ryczyn, located 8.3 km north-west of Brzeg, in the eastern Oława County. The Ryczyn gords became the main line of defence for the Silesians, namely to protect the river trade routes along the Oder river and the land trade route between Ryczyn (the locality's administrative centre, home to a castellan) and Brzeg (being some 10 km in length). The importance of the Ryczyn gords is demonstrated by Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire's army halting their advancement before the gords in 1109.

Between the ninth and early-tenth century, the Brzeg Lands, together with all of Silesia, were part of Great Moravia until its demise in AD 906, after which, until 990 the region was under the rule of the Premyslids.

Medieval Poland
Around 990, Silesia was incorporated into Mieszko I's Poland. During the Fragmentation of Poland (1138 – c. 1314), the area of the Brzeg Lands, along with the rest of Silesia, came under the control of King of Poland, Bolesław III Wrymouth's oldest son, Władysław II the Exile.

The most favourable area for the settlement of Brzeg is located between the Castle Square (Plac Zamkowy), with elevated ground extending south-east towards the Square of the American Polonia (Plac Polonii Amerykańskiej). Before the town's foundation, three separate settlements existed in its modern-day territory, with "Wysoki Brzeg" (Alta ripa) bearing the main administrative role in the region. Between the late-twelfth and early-thirteen century, the Dukes of Wrocław set up a curia, led by a claviger. In 1235, Henry the Bearded occupied the area around Oława, by which Walloons had to turn over a tribute of 1 scale of grain and of oat to the settlement of Brzeg, suggesting the existence of a granary and other outbuildings in the curia's established headquarters.

Some two hundred m south-west from the curia was the former location, on what was later to be called Mary's Hill (Góra Marii), of the Romanesque St. Mary's Church (Kościół Najświętszej Marii Panny). During the Reformation, the church was deconstructed, and its brickwork used for the construction of the town's fortifications. A sixteenth-century chronicle states it was "the first church", however, no more is known about the holy site. Historians believe the founder of the church may have been Bolesław I the Tall or Henry the Bearded. Around the peripheries of the settlement was the location of several hospital buildings. Towards the route to Wrocław in the town's west was the location of the Hospital of the Holy Ghost (Świętego Ducha), used both to cure the town's dwellers and as an inn for travellers along the Wrocław-Opole route the town of Brzeg was located in the middle of, with an average walking distance between each town taking one day. The area around the Holy Ghost Hospital, present-day Moniuszko Square (Plac Moniuszki), was the location of a major market, positioned by the cross roads of the Wrocław–Nysa route, east of the Wrocławska Gate. By the end of the thirteenth century, the Duke of Brzeg possessed 10 shambles. The market is believed to be characteristic of other Silesian towns, commonly selling agricultural produce, namely bread, meat and shoes. Prior to the locality receiving its town charter in 1248 or 1250, the settlement had characteristics of a town and not of an ordinary fishing village, being referred to as "civitas" in an early Latin document, as exemplified by the existence of the curia, church and a major market, allowing the settlement to develop through the exchange of produce and barter.

Prior to Brzeg receiving its town charter, the Duke of Wrocław, Henry III the White, received the settlement of Małkowice, (present-day Kępa Młyńska), in exchange of his feudal rights over Zębice (south-west from Oława). The fishermen living in Małkowice (present-day ul. Rybacka), in accordance to ancient Polish law were charged with the task of protecting the Ducal Castle along the riverside. By the turn of the thirteenth century, the defenceless populace living in the pastures of the Brzeg Plain began to relocate into the fortified Visoke breg, building up a new osiedle around the present-day streets of: Łokietka, Piastowska and Trzech Kotwic (extending south-east). The osiedle was documented as Stary Brzeg (Antiqua Brega; Alt Brieg), to be renamed Wieś Brzeska: Brygischedorf (c. 1329) and villa Bregensis in c. 1339. To the west of the fortified centre of Brzeg, the settlement of Rataje (a separate village until 1975) as the former village's etymology suggests, centered around the upkeep of the ducal pastures.

The town received German town law in 1250 from the Wrocław Duke Henry III the White. The foundation was carried out by the three lokators, Gerkinus of Złotoryja, Ortlif and Heinrich of Reichenbach (Dzierżoniów). From the emblem of Heinrich of Reichenbach the town also got its coat of arms. While in power, Henry III, granted the town (by a singular payment) the forest around the locality of Lubsza. His successor, Henryk IV the Righteous regulated the town's church affairs, as well as renouncing his patronage over St. Mary's Church (Kościół Św. Marii Panny), located west of the town's western boundary. The church was granted to the Order of Saint John, subsequently founding the Church of St. Nicholas in 1292. The town was fortified in 1297.

From 1311 to 1675 Brzeg was the capital of a Lower Silesian duchy (Duchy of Brzeg) ruled by a local line of the Polish Piast dynasty, one of whom built a castle in 1341. The Duchy became a fief of the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1329. The town was burned by the Hussites in 1428 and soon afterwards rebuilt.

Early modern period
At the beginning of the 16th century there were two schools in Brzeg, a collegiate and a municipal school, both influenced by the scientific, cultural and literary currents of the University of Kraków. In 1529 Duke Frederick II of Legnica, in attempt to establish the town as a significant learning center, merged the two schools, but the town council, wanting to maintain control over the municipal school, led to the two being split again in 1534.

The town continued to flourish under the reign of Duke George II. George II maintained close contacts with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and its nobility, and rebuilt the Ducal Castle in Renaissance style, built the Renaissance town hall, established a new mausoleum of the Piast dukes and built a new gymnasium, opened in 1569. The libraries of the old schools were merged into the newly named Piast Library. The gymnasium became popular among Polish nobility, whose children were often educated there. Among the graduates were Polish Royal secretary and poet Joachim Bielski and reformer Samuel Hartlib, co-founder of the Royal Society of London.

In 1595 Brzeg was again fortified by Joachim Frederick of Brzeg and Legnica. In the Thirty Years' War it suffered greatly; in the War of the Austrian Succession it was heavily bombarded by the Prussian forces; and in 1807 it was captured by Napoleon's army. When Bohemia fell to the Habsburg monarchy of Austria in 1526, the town fell under the overlordship of the Habsburgs in their roles of Kings of Bohemia, although it was still ruled locally by the Silesian Piasts. Upon the extinction of the last duke George William of Legnica in 1675, Brieg came under the direct rule of the Habsburgs.

Late modern and contemporary
In 1537 Duke Frederick II of Legnica concluded a treaty with Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg, whereby the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg would inherit the duchy upon the extinction of the Silesian Piasts. On the death of George William the last duke in 1675, however, Austria refused to acknowledge the validity of the treaty and annexed the duchies and Frederick the Great of the Kingdom of Prussia used this treaty to justify his claim at the invasion of Silesia during the War of the Austrian Succession in 1740. Brieg and most of Silesia were annexed by Prussia in 1741 during the First Silesian War. In 1807 the town's fortifications were pulled down by Napoleon's army. The Prussian Province of Silesia, and thus Brieg, consequently became part of the German Empire when it was proclaimed in 1871 on the unification of Germany. Despite Austrian, Prussian and German rule, the town was an important Polish printing center in the region.

During World War II, the Germans operated two Nazi prisons with three forced labour subcamps in the town and a fourth subcamp in Bielawa. In early 1945, some prisoners were sent on a death march to Kłodzko. During the war, 60% of Brieg was destroyed and many of the town's inhabitants died during the severe winter of 1944–5 as they fled from the advancing Red Army. The war had brought the most severe destruction to the town in its entire history. Some of the town's population was evacuated by the German Army who moved its population further west inside Germany for safety and declared Brieg a fortress. After the fall of the town to the Soviets the remaining German population were later expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. The town, under the historic Polish name Brzeg became again part of Poland and was repopulated by Poles whom Soviets expelled from the eastern part of interwar Poland.

Traditional Garrison Town
From the late 19th century the then German town of Brieg had expanded into a traditional military garrison town, from 1897 until 1919 it was the home town base to Infantry Regiment No. 157 designated from 1902 the 4th Silesian Infantry Regiment No. 157 (4. Schlesisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 157) of the Royal Prussian Army and respectively the Imperial German Army. In 1914 under the regiment's last peacetime commander Lieutenant General Paul Tiede the regiment began mobilizing for the Western Front at the outbreak of World War I as part of VI Army Corps (VI. Armee-Korps), 12th Division (12. Division), 78th Infantry Brigade (78. Infanterie-Brigade). At the end of World War I the garrison barracks at Brieg remained for some years after without a stationed military regiment. The Imperial German Army Air Arm (Luftstreitkräfte) military aerodrome (Fliegerhorst) found in nearby Grüningen was furthermore dismantled and destroyed as part of the Treaty of Versailles. It was not until 4 August 1930 that the 5th Squadron of Cavalry Regiment No. 8 (5. Schwadron Reiterregiments Nr. 8) of the German Reichswehr arrived in Brieg from Breslau-Carlowitz, other cavalry squadrons from Militsch and Oels followed shortly after. This resulted in the garrison's Tiede-Barracks (named after Generalleutnant Paul Tiede) located in Moltke-, Sedan-, Roon- und Bismarckstraße requiring some alterations to accommodate the new arrival of horse-cavalry residents. It was from Brieg garrison, the German Cavalry Captain (Rittmeister) Konrad Freiherr von Wangenheim became famous for securing a Gold medal win at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin for the German equestrian team whilst suffering from a broken collarbone. In 1933 an airfield located in nearby Hermsdorf was also built and thereby a much larger military aerodrome was established. The new aerodrome was occupied by Flight Reconnaissance Group 113 (Fliegeraufklärungsgruppe 113).

Towards the end of World War II, on 6 February 1945, the Soviet army captured Brzeg, which resulted in moderate destruction of the town's buildings and infrastructure. After Germany's defeat in the war, Brzeg became part of Poland. Since 1950 the reconstructed town has been a part of the Opole Voivodeship.

History of the Jewish population
As the town was situated on the commercial route to Wrocław, in which a colony of Jews had long resided, Jews settled there about 1324. The Jewish community of Brzeg had its separate place of worship from early times. In 1358 Jews lent money to local noblemen and the duke of Brzeg, Ludwig I, who granted the Jews freedom of movement in the duchy in that year. In the 14th century the Jews of Brieg were persecuted on account of their usurious practices; one outbreak of such violence occurred in 1362. In 1392 it was claimed that all debts of the duke had been discharged by the payments to a Jew of Brzeg (Jacob, the son of Moses), of a certificate of indebtedness. In 1398 the Brzeg Jews bought a letter of protection from the duke, whereby they were guaranteed the peaceful possession of their privileges. But in 1401 they were driven from the city, except Jacob and Seman von Reichenbach, who had received a patent of protection from the duke's council for six years from May 1, 1399. In 1423, duke Ludwig II granted the Jews rights of residence on payment of an annual tax of 20 gulden, but they were expelled from the duchies of Brieg and Liegnitz in 1453 as a result of the inflammatory preachings of the Franciscan John Capistrano. Solomo, a capitalist, lent large sums of money to royal houses in the 15th century. In the 16th century, one of the local Jews served as a physician to the duke of Brieg.

With the decline of Wrocław as a trade center, the Jews of Brieg became little more than an isolated community; and in modern times they shared the lot of the other Silesian Jews. They carried on insignificant trade operations as a rule. The conquest of Silesia by Frederick the Great brought but slight change in their condition.

A synagogue was built in Brieg in 1799, and a rabbi was first appointed in 1816. The Jewish population numbered 156 in 1785; 376 in 1843; 282 in 1913; 255 in 1933; and 123 in 1939. In the Kristallnacht pogroms of 1938 under Nazi Germany the interior of the synagogue was completely demolished and the Torah scrolls publicly burned; numerous shops were ransacked. During World War II, from 1940 to 1944, the Germans operated a forced labour camp for Jewish men in the town. The community was not reestablished after the Holocaust.

Status
The shape of the town, including its neighbouring osiedla, is comparable to that of a deformed rectangle, elongated 3.54 km north-south and 4.10 km west-east. The area of the town, including the village of Rataje, which was incorporated into Brzeg on January 1, 1973, is some 16 km2. In comparison to Opole, with a total area of 48 km2; Nysa's 29 km2 and Kędzierzyn-Koźle's 23 km2; Brzeg is ranked fourth in the Opole Voivodeship by both population and area.

Topography
Brzeg, as the regional capital of Brzeg County (Powiat Brzeski), is located in the west of the Opole Voivodeship, in the south-east of Poland. The settlement is located in the valley of the Oder, located between Opole 38.5 km to its east and Wrocław, 40.7 km to its north-west. The town has a predominantly flat relief (in comparison to the river scarp on the eastern bank of the river). The River Oder, at low water levels (predominantly between June and early September) forms eyots north of Jerzynowa, Kępa and Srebrna Islands. The locality is located in the Brzeg Plain (Rownina Brzeska), part of the Silesian Lowlands. The Brzeg Plain's boundaries are outlined by the Oder river to its north, the Nysa Kłodzka Valley to its south-east, the hillocks of Grodków Hills and the Wawrzyszów Hills to its south. The western boundary of the Brzeg Plain is marked by the Oława Valley, along the Oder's mid-course.

The Brzeg Plain was formed by the Riss glaciation period (347,000 to 128,000 years ago), leaving behind remnants of a ground moraine from the last glacial period. The ground moraines have left two equally small hills, bearing characteristics of kames. The kames form the Łosiów Range (Wał Łosiowski), between the confluence of the River Nysa Kłodzka and the Oława Valley. Small streams, having their sources around the range, are fed directly into the Oder in the region of Nysa Kłodzka and Oława.<ref name="Po Ziemi Brzeskiej -

Settlement and trade
The settlement of Brzeg, historically located in the regional unit of Lower Silesia as opposed to Upper Silesia, is due to the formation of a "przesieka" ("clearing"). The "clearing" was a lateral formation, extending northerly from the former Sudetes Wildland to the southern foothills of the Sudetes Mountains. The clearing's characteristics set it as a point for defence in the Lower Silesia region, lined with barrages made out of cut down woodland. The Brzeg Plain was settled due to its fertile soil, allowing for the earliest forms of agriculture to develop in the locality. The locality was first settled by Silesian tribes and in later history, until 1675, by the Piast duchies of Duchy of Brzeg, Legnica and Wołów, united under the Duchy of Legnica-Wołów-Brzeg. Presently, the region is spotted with numerous towns, including Brzeg, Grodków and Strzelin, as well as villages, with agriculture providing the major source of income. The development of agriculture is met with a lack of forested areas, apart from the Stobrawa Landscape Park, located 7.2 km to the north of Brzeg and the Oder river. The Stobrawa woodland, agriculture and the Oder (as a form of transport) provided Brzeg the necessary diversity to remain the regional trade capital in Silesia.

Brzeg's geographical position between two trade routes, running from west to east (Legnica–Opole) and north to south (Gniezno–Nysa) and further on into the Kingdom of Bohemia, additionally stimulated the town's demographic and economic expansion. Presently, Brzeg remains located between the European route E67 and E40.

Environment
Brzeg has five public parks, three of which encircle the Old Town (Stare Miasto), after the area was transformed into parkland with the deconstruction of the garrison town's fortifications during the Napoleonic Wars in 1807. The parkland, surrounding the Old Town to its south, became known as the Planty. The Planty constitute of the Central Park of J. Czajkowski (Park Centralny im. J. Czajkowskiego), with a total area of 6.1 ha. The Central Park contains an artificial lake and a stream, connecting its waters to the western portion of the Planty, the Park nad Fosą. The Park by the Moat (Park nad Fosą), with a total area of 3.7 ha, is located south of the Silesian Piasts' Castle. The third and largest by area parkland surrounding the Old Town is located by the Oder river, the Odranian Park (Park Nadodrzański), with a total area of 10.9 ha. The castle, together with the town's fortification remnants, the Odrzańska Gate is located in the park.

The largest parkland in Brzeg, located in the south-west of the town is the Park of Juliusz Peppel (Park im. Juliusza Peppela) and formerly Liberty Park (Park Wolności) having a total area of 68.8 ha. The parkland was established after donations from the owners of Skarbimierz and the landed-elite family von Lobbecke donated the area to the town's authorities, to make way for a landscape park in the area. The smallest of the five public parks in Brzeg is the Park Ptasi, located in the south of the town, west of the osiedle of Westerplatte. The park has a total area of 1 ha.

History
Since the Early Middle Ages, the territory was inhabited by Polish tribes. Later on, it experienced both German colonisation and Germanisation policies towards the indigenous Poles. According to the Prussian census of 1905, the city of Brieg had a population of 27,486, of which 93% spoke German, 6% spoke Polish, and 1% were bilingual. After World War II, the town of Brzeg was part of the population transfers of the Soviet and Polish People's Republic's campaign to resettle Poles from Kresy (annexed by the USSR) to the newly regained territories by Poland from the defeated Germany, as part of the Potsdam Agreement. Per the agreement, the German population of Brzeg was expelled to either West or East Germany. The newly arrived population in Brzeg predominantly came from the countryside, being former peasants. The integration of the residents came in phases: education, communal work, marriages and the provision of material goods and items left behind by the former populace. By 1975, 37.9% of the population of Brzeg had settled in the town after 1960.

Breakdown of population origin of Brzeg in 1950:

Breakdown of migrant population origin of Brzeg in 1950:

Population change:

Main sights

 * The Renaissance Brzeg Town Hall (Rynek), surrounded by thirteenth-century townhouses.
 * Old Castle (Zamek), with an interesting adorned façade, host of the Muzeum Piastów Śląskich. The Brzeg Castle is referred to as the Silesian Wawel. The castle-complex includes the Chapel of St. Jadwiga of Poland.
 * St. Nicholas's Church (Gothic architectural style).
 * Holy Cross Church (on old castle square), (Baroque architectural style).
 * St. Jadwiga's Church, located by the castle.
 * St. Luke's Church, a church built in the Neoclassical architectural style.
 * Saints Peter and Paul Church, a Franciscan church built in the thirteen-century.
 * Christ's Resurrection Church, a garrison church built in the Baroque architectural style.
 * Baroque figures of John of Nepomuk and Jude the Apostle from 1722, standing by the façade of the Holy Cross Church.
 * Statue of the Holy Trinity (on old castle square), raised in 1731.
 * Piast Gimnasium (Gimnazium Piastowskie) founded in 1569.
 * Odrzańska Gate, part of the former fortifications; located in the Park Odrzański (Odranian Park).
 * Water tower (Wieża ciśnień) by Rybacka Street (ul. Rybacka), from 1877.
 * Residential townhouses:
 * Rynek 19, Renaissance façade from 1621 (reconstruction).
 * Chopina 1, Renaissance from 1597.
 * Jabłkowa 5, Baroque townhouse from 1715.
 * Jabłkowa 7, Empire architectural style from 1797.
 * Old Garrison buildings (Stare Koszary) from the Frederick the Great colonisation period.
 * Planty - remaining bastion fortifications around the medieval town. The fortifications were deconstructed in 1807, with the area transformed into the Planty Park.
 * Synagogue from 1799.
 * River Boat Station (Brzeg Marina) (on the east bank of the Oder), built in 2012.

Industry
Brzeg is the centre for industry and production in the Brzeg County. The town's industries include the production of agricultural machinery, electric engines, margarine and sugar production.

The largest concentration of industry in Brzeg is located in the town's eastern quarter, south of the Oder, with numerous manufacturers, including: the German Bartling GmbH (plastic packaging company); "BESEL" (Polish electric engine company, founded in the town in 1950), and CIK car accessories plant. All three industries are located between Ciepłownicza Street (ul. Ciepłownicza) and Składowa Street (ul. Składowa).

Brzeg is also home to one of the largest confectionery companies in Poland, PWC Odra S.A. (founded in 1946). Presently, the firm is part of the joint-stock company Otmuchów Group. The production plant is located by Starobrzeska Street (ul. Starobrzeska).

Tourism
, Brzeg had the lowest number of foreign tourists in the Opole Voivodeship, with some 95% being national tourists. Per 1000 of the population, there are 1.60–3.89 available accommodations, which is behind nine of the eleven regional capitals (being at level with Kędzierzyn-Koźle) in the Opole Voivodeship, including Opole, with 3.90–5.89 tourist accommodations per 1000 of the population.

Education
Brzeg has a total of 7,826 citizens in the potential education age group (3-24 year of age). The number of city dwellers in Brzeg that have completed higher education is at 14.4% of the population, which is similar to the statistical average of the number of people obtaining higher education in the Opole Voivodeship, being at 15.1%. Data from 2015 indicates that 2.5% of the population of Brzeg have completed post-lyceum (policealne) education, with Brzeg having two post-lyceum schools (szkoły policealne): Medyczne Studium Zawodowe by Ofiar Katynia Street (medical practice institution); Policealne Studium Zawodowe – Zespół Szkół Ekonomicznych by Jan Paweł II Street (higher school of economics). The population of Brzeg that is in the age of potential further education (aged 19–24) is 26.8%, out of which 27.1% are women and 26.6% are men.

Some 22.4% of the population of the town of Brzeg has some sort of work-related further education (i.e. scholarship or college course). In 2015, 5.3% of the town's population participated in secondary education, while some 19.6% have attended primary education in that same year. The city council of Brzeg spends 33.3% of its annual budget on education, amounting to 35.2 million zlotys annually.

Post-secondary education institutions:

Public gymnasium (secondary school) institutions:

Transport
Brzeg is located at the crossroads of the National Road (northbound to Namysłów and Kępno; southbound to Wiązów and Strzelin) and the National Road  (westbound to Oława, Wrocław, Bolesławiec and Zgorzelec; eastbound to Opole, Strzelce Opolskie, Bytom, Kraków, Tarnów, Jarosław and Korczowa. The interchange to the  Motorway (Węzeł Przylesie) is located 14 km south of Brzeg.

Brzeg has well developed railway and bus transportation services. The PKP Brzeg railway station is operated by PKP Intercity and Przewozy Regionalne. The town has direct connections to Opole, Wrocław, Kraków, Warszawa, Katowice, Poznań, Szczecin, Zielona Góra, Lublin, Kielce, Przemyśl, Zamość, Nysa, and other cities. The Brzeg bus service is operated by PKS Brzeg, with ten bus lines around the town and Gmina Brzeg. The important routes are to Wrocław, Opole, Grodków, Namysłów, Nysa, Karpacz, Strzelin, Wiązów, and others. On Sunday, there is a special route to Szklarska Poręba.

In 2013, a hospital helipad was opened by Mossora Street (ul. Mossora).

Sports

 * KS Cukierki Odra Brzeg – women's basketball team, 8th place in Sharp Torell Basket Liga in 2003/2004 season

Notable people

 * C. de Bridia (born 1247), Minorite friar, wrote the  Tartar Relation (de Bridia meaning "of Brzeg")
 * Melchior Adam (ca.1575 in Grottkau – 1622), a German Calvinist literary historian.
 * Johann Heermann (1585–1647), German poet and hymnodist
 * Georg Gebel the younger (1709–1753), Prussian general
 * Leopold Wilhelm von Dobschütz (1763–1836), Prussian general
 * Karl Otfried Müller (1797–1840), a professor, scholar of classical Greek studies and philodorian.
 * Julius Müller (1801–1878), a German Protestant theologian.
 * Wilhelm Schuppe (1836–1913), German positivist philosopher
 * Max Friedlaender (1852–1934), German musician and composer
 * Oskar Moll (1875-1947), German painter
 * Max Obal (1881–1949), German actor, screenwriter and film director
 * Alfred Kurella (1895–1975), German SED functionary
 * Johannes Brockt (1901–1980), German-Austrian musicologist and conductor
 * Franciszek Gajowniczek (1901–1995), Polish Auschwitz survivor
 * Otto Thorbeck (1912–1976), German lawyer
 * Kurt Masur (1927–2015), German musician and conductor
 * Mieczysław Domaradzki (1949–1998), Polish archaeologist and thracologist
 * Adrian Tekliński (born 1989), Polish road and track cyclist
 * Kamil Bednarek (born 1991), Polish reggae and dancehall musician and composer.
 * Bartosz Białek (born 2001), Polish football player

Twin towns – sister cities
Brzeg is twinned with:
 * 🇨🇿 Beroun, Czech Republic
 * 🇫🇷 Bourg-en-Bresse, France
 * 🇩🇪 Goslar, Germany

Bibliography of Jewish Encyclopedia

 * Brann, Geschichte der Juden in Schlesien;
 * Jahrbuch des Deutsch-Israelitischen Gemeindebundes

 *
 * By : Gotthard Deutsch & A. M. Friedenberg

title: Brzeg


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Kluczbork

Kluczbork (Kreuzburg O.S., Kluczborek) is a town in southern Poland with 23,554 inhabitants (2019), situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Kluczbork County and an important railroad junction.

In Kluczbork the major rail line from Katowice splits into two directions – westwards to Wrocław and northwards to Poznań. It is also connected with Fosowskie.

History

Archaeologists have determined that a settlement existed at the location of present-day Kluczbork by 1000–800 BCE. The Germanic Sciri and Bastarnae settled in the vicinity, and were followed c. 100 BCE by Celts and various Germanic tribes, including Silingi and Vandals. The latter left Silesia c. 400 and West Slavs came to the region in the 7th century (see Silesians). In the late 10th century the Silesian territory was included in the emerging Polish state by its first historic ruler Mieszko I.

In the 13th century the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star acquired territory in Silesia, including the villages of Młodoszów, Kuniów, and Chocianowice. The Knights built a settlement on 2 November 1252. Named Cruceburg (later spelled Creutzburg, Creuzburg, Kreuzburg), it received Magdeburg rights on 26 February 1253, now accepted as the official date of the town's foundation. The Knights adjudicated in the town until 1274, when it started to be administered by a vogt of local Silesian dukes and juries were introduced. As a result of the dynastic fragmentation of Poland, Kluczbork was part of various Polish duchies ruled by the Piast dynasty: Duchy of Silesia until 1293, Duchy of Głogów until 1312, Duchy of Oleśnica until 1323 and Duchy of Legnica until 1341, when it came under direct rule of the King of Poland, Casimir III the Great. In 1356 it passed to the Czech Crown, and continued to belong to various duchies ruled by the Piast dynasty. From 1536 it was part of the Piast-ruled Duchy of Brzeg until its dissolution in 1675. Afterwards it was incorporated into the Habsburg monarchy, as part of the Habsburg-ruled Czech Kingdom.

A mint operated in Kluczbork during the reign of Duke Bolesław III the Generous, in the early 14th century. In 1426 Duke Louis II of Brzeg granted Kluczbork privileges of a salt market. For centuries the town was inhabited by a predominantly Polish-speaking populace. The textile industry began to grow in importance in 1553, but suffered a fire in 1569. Another great fire destroyed many houses on 8 December 1562. On 25 January 1588, the day after the Battle of Byczyna, Polish troops under Jan Zamoyski plundered the city. The townspeople accepted the Protestant Reformation in 1656 and converted the local Roman Catholic Church into a Lutheran one. The Polish Brethren settled in the city after 1660, and organized their synods in the city in 1663 and 1668. The town had a population of approximately 1,000 in 1681.

A fire on 23 April 1737 almost completely destroyed the town, leaving only a few houses and the castle unscathed. Several years of rebuilding passed before it reached its previous size.

In the 18th century Kreuzburg was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1741 during the Silesian Wars and became part of the Prussian Province of Silesia. Under Prussian rule the town and the region saw a large influx of German-speaking settlers.

The town became part of the German Empire upon the unification of Germany in 1871. It had a predominantly German-speaking population of 5,238 in 1875, although it was located in a Polish-dominated district. The population grew to 8,750 by 1895 and 10,236 by 1900.

Following the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, Kreuzburg was involved in the Upper Silesian referendum in 1921. 95.6% (37,957 votes out of 39,703 participants) voted to remain within Weimar Germany instead of joining the Second Polish Republic. It became part of the Province of Upper Silesia; to differentiate between other places named Kreuzburg, it was known as Kreuzburg O.S. (referring to Oberschlesien, or Upper Silesia). By 1939 the town was the seat of Landkreis Kreuzburg O.S. and had 11,693 inhabitants. After the Nazi Party took power in Germany in the 1930s, anti-Polish and anti-Jewish sentiments became more visible. In 1936, the Germans changed the Polish-sounding street names, and in 1938, during the Kristallnacht they burned down the synagogue, built in 1886. Local Polish leader Paweł Widera was arrested in May 1939.

During World War II, in 1939, the Germans established the Oflag VIII-A prisoner-of-war camp initially for Polish and later for French officers. In 1942, it was dissolved and the POWs were relocated to the Oflag VIII-F POW camp in Moravská Třebová in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. In 1943, the Germans founded the Ilag VIII/Z camp for interned citizens of the United Kingdom and the United States. The Germans evacuated the populace before the advancing Soviet army in January 1945 to then German-speaking parts of Bohemia. In January 1945, sick POWs from the Stalag Luft 7 were moved to Ilag VIII/Z, whereas the remaining POWs passed through the town in a German-perpetrated death march. The town was captured by the Soviet Union's Red Army on 20 January 1945 toward the end of the war. After German surrender, the German population returned.

Following the war in 1945, the town became part of Poland. In July 1945, the Polish administration issued a decree that all Germans are to wear on their clothing a discriminatory mark with "N" on white background. In the following, the German native population was expelled.

Between 1975–1998, the town was administratively part of the former Opole Voivodeship. A monument of Jan Dzierżon, pioneering and world-famous Polish apiarist, was unveiled in 1981.

Economy

Kluczbork's economy is dominated by the production of machinery, knitwear and construction material, alongside newly emerging industries, namely: the transport sector, trade, agriculture and the food production sector as well as being the centre for the Kluczbork County's banks and other financial institutions. The Gmina Kluczbork has some 1800 businesses (1300 of which are located within the city's boundaries). The largest factories in Kluczbork are: Fabryka Maszyn i Urządzeń „Famak” (machinery production), PV „Prefabet - Kluczbork” S.A. (concrete materials) and Wagrem sp. z o.o. Kluczbork (weighing scale repairs).

The part of the town of Kluczbork, around Ligota Dolna, is part of the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone (area of 53939 ha). The current investors in the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone are: Marcegaglia Poland, Inpol-Krak Tubes Service Center and the German Seppeler Gruppe Ocynkownia Śląsk (galvanisation company).

Sport
MKS Kluczbork is a professional association football club founded in 2003 as a result of a merger of two local clubs.

Notable people

 * Adam Gdacjusz (1615–1688), parish priest in this city
 * Samuel Crellius (1660–1747), philosopher and theologian
 * Jan Dzierżon (1811–1906), apiarist
 * Gustav Freytag (1816–1895), dramatist and novelist
 * Walther von Lüttwitz (1859, Bogacica, near this city – 1942)
 * Kurt Daluege (1897–1946), Nazi SS police chief executed for war crimes
 * Heinz Piontek (1925–2003), author
 * Edyta Górniak (born 1972), singer
 * Tomasz Garbowski (born 1979), politician
 * Wojciech Zaremba (born 1988), computer scientist, businessman; co-founder of OpenAI

Twin towns – sister cities
See twin towns of Gmina Kluczbork.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Kluczbork


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Prudnik

Prudnik (, Prudnik, Prōmnik, Neustadt in Oberschlesien, Neustadt an der Prudnik, Prudnicium) is a town in southern Poland, located in the southern part of Opole Voivodeship near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the administrative seat of Prudnik County and Gmina Prudnik. Its population numbers 21,368 inhabitants (2016). Since 2015, Prudnik is a member of the Cittaslow International.

The town was founded in the 1250s, and was historically part of the Polish-ruled Duchy of Opole, and afterwards was located within the Habsburg monarchy, Poland, Habsburg Monarchy again, Prussia, Germany, and eventually Poland again. It was once an important industrial hub known for its shoe-making traditions and more recently towel making by the ZPB "Frotex" Company, one of the largest towel manufacturers in Europe. The town also possesses numerous architectural monuments and historic buildings such as the Main Town Hall and "Wok's Tower" (Wieża Woka) from the 13th-century.

Geography
Prudnik is located in the historic Silesia (Upper Silesia) region at the confluence of the Prudnik river and its Złoty Potok tributary. The city is situated on the border of Opawskie Mountains and the Prudnik Depression (Obniżenie Prudnickie; a part of the Silesian Lowlands). Prudnik and Vrbno pod Pradědem are headquarters of the Euroregion Praděd.

Etymology
The name "Prudnik" was created after Polish word prąd (flow, stream, Czech: proud, Silesian: prōnd) and, like nearby Prężyna, means a river with a fast stream. In the Middle Ages, the city's name was written with a letter u, which was Czech counterpart of ą (1262 Pruthenos, 1331 Prudnik). Since the 17th century, the name Prudnik was used along with Neustadt.

The town's German name was also written in its Latin form Neostadium. Sometimes its Polish and Czech translations were used (Nowe Miasto, Nové Město). The town's older name also had its Latin form (Prudnicium). The town was also called Polnisch Neustadt ("Polish New Town"), but in 1708 it got replaced with Königliche Stadt Neustadt ("Royal Town New Town"). Its Polish counterpart Nowe Miasto Królewskie was used in a Polish document published in 1750 by Frederick the Great.

In the 19th century, the city's name was changed to Neustadt in Oberschlesien ("New Town in Upper Silesia"), while the Slavic name Prudnik was still used by its Polish inhabitants, which was mentioned in Upper Silesia's topographical description from 1865: "Der ursprünglische Stadtname "Prudnik" ist noch jetz bei den polnischen Landbewohnern üblich". In the alphabetic list of cities of Silesia published by Johann Knie in Wrocław in 1830, Polish name Prudnik was used along with German Neustadt ("Prudnik, polnische Benennung der Kreistadt Neustadt").

In Polish publications since the 20th century, the city's name was written as Prądnik. This name was also used formally in 1945. The city's name was changed to Prudnik on 7 May 1946.

In Polish, the city name has masculine grammatical gender.

Prehistory
The first human traces in the present town area, confirmed by archaeological excavations, are dated to the Paleolithic times. Local early Slavs maintained trade contacts with Rome, which is confirmed by Roman coins found here dating back to 700 BC–1250 AD.

Middle Ages
The area of present Prudnik was located at the border of Golensizi and Opolans. Between the years of 1255 and 1259 the Czech knight Wok of Rosenberg founded in the defensive bend of the Prudnik river a castle, and his son Jindřich obtained the city rights in 1279. In 1337 it became a part of the Duchy of Opole, and remained under the rule of local Polish dukes of the Piast dynasty until the dissolution of the duchy in 1532, when it was incorporated into the Austrian-ruled Bohemian (Czech) Crown. It was located on a trade route between Wrocław and Vienna.

The oldest known form of Prudnik's coat of arms comes from a 1399 wax seal. A knight Maćko of Prudnik participated in the Battle of Grunwald fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. Maćko fought together with the troops of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.

On 23 March 1464, Prudnik and villages around it were excommunicated by Pope Pius II for refusing to pay the debt of Duke Konrad IV the Elder. Although local historian Antoni Dudek claimed that the excommunication was lifted in 16th century, the Pope never revealed a document that lifted the curse.

Early modern era
In 1562, the Austrian-ruled Duchy of Opole and Racibórz passed a resolution that obligated Jews to sell their houses, pay their debts, and leave the duchy in a year. On the basis of this resolution, in 1564, Jews were ordered to leave Prudnik, but Krzysztof Prószkowski, who leased the land there, let them stay until 1570. The town was captured and plundered by the Swedes in 1632, during the Thirty Years' War. In 1645 along with Opole and Racibórz it returned to Poland under the House of Vasa, and in 1666 it fell to Austria again as part of Austrian Silesia.

In 1742 the town was in the large area of Silesia annexed by Prussia. During the Seven Years' War it was the scene of a bloody surprise attack on 15 March 1760 upon the Prussians as they were marching out of the city. The London Magazine of April 1760 reported "General Laudohn, who had set out from his Quarters on 14th with Palfy's Regiment of Cuirassiers, Lowenstein's Dragoons, 500 Hussars of Nadaski, 500 of Kalnocki, 2000 Croats and 14 Companies of Grenadiers, marched all Night with a View to surprise our Troops at Neustadt. The latter were scarce out of the Gates, when they were surrounded by those of the Enemy. General Jacquemin was posted with the Regiment of Lowenstein near Buchelsdorff on the road to Steinau, General Laudohn followed with the Regiment of Palfy and 2000 Croats, supported by 14 Companies of Grenadiers; a thousand of their Hussars were upon our right flank, the advanced Guard of which consisted of 100 Men under Capt. Blumenthal of the Regiment of Manteuffel. Capt. Zitzewitz commanded the Rear Guard, consisting of the same number; and the rest of the aforesaid regiment, with a Squadron of Dragoons of Bareith under Capt. Chambaud, followed with the Baggage. General Laudohn summoned out Troops twice, by Sound of Trumpet, to lay down their Arms; which they not complying with, he ordered all his Cavalry to advance: Whereupon General Jacquemin fell upon the advance Guard, while General Laudohn himself attacked the Rear, and the Hussars, in Platoons, flanked the Baggage. The Captains Blumenthal and Zittzwitz formed their small Force in a Kind of Square, from whence they kept a continual fire. The enemy's Cavalry nevertheless advanced six Times on a Gallop, to within ten Paces of our Troops; but perceiving many fall on their Side, among whom were several Officers, they retreated in great Disorder... The Loss of the Austrians however greatly exceeds ours; they buried above 300 Men, in different Places, and sent 500 Wounded to Neustadt. Besides which we have taken 25 Prisoners, amongst whom are several Officers. We had 35 men killed, and four Officers and 65 private Men wounded, in Manteuffel's Regiment, as also one Lieutenant, with three Dragoons in Bareich's... The Officers, taken Prisoners, by our Troops, commend highly the Bravery of the Regiment of Manteuffel upon this Occasion."

In the subsequent years, the area developed into a significant centre of handcraft, in particular cloth production and shoe-making. In the 19th century, the surrounding factories continued the local tradition of handicraft. The indigenous Polish population was subject to Germanisation policies. Due to the lack of Polish schools, local Poles sent their children to schools in so-called Congress Poland in the Russian Partition of Poland. Local Polish activist, publicist and teacher, was investigated by the local Prussian administration and police for writing about this practice in the Gazeta Toruńska, a major Polish newspaper in the Prussian Partition of Poland.

Interbellum and World War II
Prudnik remained part of Germany after Poland regained independence in 1918, however, Polish organizations still operated in the town in the interbellum, including the Union of Poles in Germany and the Polish-Catholic School Society. Polish Prime Minister Ignacy Jan Paderewski proposed to incorporate Prudnik into Poland in his unrealized political concept of the United States of Poland, which was presented to the US President Woodrow Wilson. In a secret Sicherheitsdienst report from 1934, Prudnik was named one of the main centers of the Polish movement in western Upper Silesia. Nazi Germany increasingly persecuted local Polish activists since 1937, and carried out mass arrests in August and September 1939. On 7 September 1938, Prudnik was visited by Adolf Hitler along with Hermann Göring, Heinrich Himmler, Gerd von Rundstedt, Erhard Milch, Hans-Jürgen Stumpff, Josef Wagner and Hellmut Körner.

During World War II the Germans established four forced labour camps and four working units for British and Soviet prisoners of war. On 26 September 1944, a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp was founded in the Schlesische Feinweberei AG textile mill (now ZPB "Frotex"). Around 400 women, mostly from German-occupied Hungary, were imprisoned in the subcamp, and some died. In January 1945, the prisoners of the subcamp were evacuated by the Germans to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in a death march. During the final months of the war, the town was also a stopping place of death marches of thousands of prisoners of several other subcamps of Auschwitz, and of Allied prisoners-of-war transferred by the Nazis from all over Europe to stalags built in occupied Poland. About 30,000 PoWs were force-marched westward across Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany in winter conditions, lasting about four months from January to April 1945. The Red Army captured Neustadt on 18 March 1945.

In modern Poland
After the end of the Second World War in 1945, Neustadt was transferred from Germany to Poland according to the Potsdam Conference, and given its original Polish name of Prądnik (changed to Prudnik in 1946). Prudnik became part of the Katowice Voivodeship from 1946 to 1950, after which it became part of the Opole Voivodeship. Unlike other parts of the so-called Recovered Territories, Prudnik and the surrounding region's indigenous population remained and was not forcibly expelled as elsewhere. Over one million Silesians who considered themselves Poles or were treated as such by the authorities due to their language and customs were allowed to stay after they were verified as Poles in a special verification process. It involved declaring Polish nationality and an oath of allegiance to the Polish nation. Many Polish settlers and refugees were transferred here from the Kresy in the former Polish eastern territories annexed by the Soviet Union.

In the later years however many of them left to West Germany to flee the communist Eastern Bloc (see Emigration from Poland to Germany after World War II). Today Prudnik, along with the surrounding region, is known as a centre of the German minority in Poland that recruits mainly from the descendants of the positively verified autochthons. In the city itself however only 1% of the inhabitants declared German nationality according to the last national census of 2002.

In September 1980, 1500 workers of ZPB "Frotex" and firefighters from Prudnik's fire brigade went on the biggest anti-communist strike in Opole Voivodeship. The strike lasted 5 days (5–10 September).

German minority
Alongside German and Polish, many citizens of Prudnik before 1945 used a strongly German-influenced Silesian language (sometimes called wasserpolnisch or wasserpolak). Because of this, the post-war Polish state administration after the annexation of Silesia in 1945 did not initiate a general expulsion of all former inhabitants of Prudnik, as was done in Lower Silesia, for instance, where the population almost exclusively spoke the German language. Because they were considered "autochthonous" (Polish), the Wasserpolak-speakers instead received the right to remain in their homeland after declaring themselves as Poles. Some German speakers took advantage of this decision, allowing them to remain in Silesia, even when they considered themselves to be of German nationality. The city surroundings currently contain the largest German and Upper Silesian minorities in Poland. However, Prudnik itself is only 1% German.

Sights
Prudnik is a town rich in historic architecture from various periods. Among its sights are:
 * medieval Wok's Tower (Wieża Woka), a remnant of the castle
 * preserved parts of the medieval town walls with the Lower Gate (Brama Dolna) and the Katowska and Mała towers which are part of the local historical museum (Muzeum Ziemi Prudnickiej)
 * Baroque-Classicist Prudnik Town Hall
 * Baroque St. Michael's Church
 * Baroque Saints Peter and Paul Church
 * Park Miejski ("Town Park") with the Diana statue, a monument to local Polish activists fallen in the Silesian Uprisings and murdered in Nazi concentration camps, a monument commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the founding of the Polish State, etc.
 * Prudnik Culture Centre (Prudnicki Ośrodek Kultury)
 * public Town Bath (Łaźnia Miejska)
 * St. Joseph Church
 * World War II memorials, including a memorial to Polish children and youth, heroes and victims of the war at the Plac Szarych Szeregów ("Gray Ranks Square"), a monument to Polish soldiers fighting on various war fronts for Poland's freedom at the Plac Wolności ("Freedom Square"), and two mass graves of prisoners of the Nazi German Auschwitz concentration camp, murdered in the town in 1945
 * Baroque Marian column and Saint John of Nepomuk statue

Preschools

 * Publiczne Przedszkole nr 1 (5 Mickiewicza Street)
 * Zespół Szkolno-Przedszkolny nr 2 (12 Szkolna Street)
 * Publiczne Przedszkole nr 3 (69 Piastowska Street)
 * Publiczne Przedszkole nr 4 (9 Mickiewicza Street)
 * Publiczne Przedszkole Specjalne nr 5 (1 Młyńska Street)
 * Publiczne Przedszkole nr 6 (9a Podgórna Street)
 * Publiczne Przedszkole nr 8 (1 Ogrodowa Street)
 * Niepubliczne Przedszkole "Skrzat" (66 Grunwaldzka Street)

Primary schools

 * Publiczna Szkoła Podstawowa nr 1 (9 Podgórna Street)
 * Zespół Szkolno-Przedszkolny nr 2 (12 Szkolna Street)
 * Publiczna Szkoła Podstawowa nr 3 (12 Szkolna Street)
 * Publiczna Szkoła Podstawowa nr 4 (2 Dąbrowskiego Street)
 * Publiczna Szkoła Podstawowa Specjalna nr 5 (1 Młyńska Street)

Secondary schools

 * Publiczne Gimnazjum nr 1 (1 Armii Krajowej Street)
 * Publiczne Gimnazjum nr 2 (2 Dąbrowskiego Street)
 * Publiczne Gimnazjum Specjalne nr 3 (1 Młyńska Street)

High schools

 * I Liceum Ogólnokształcące (2 Gimnazjalna Street)
 * II Liceum Ogólnokształcące (55 Kościuszki Street)
 * Liceum Ogólnokształcące dla dorosłych (5 Podgórna Street)
 * Zespół Szkół Medycznych (Medical School) (26 Piastowska Street)
 * Zespół Szkół Rolniczych (76 Kościuszki Street)
 * Zespół Szkół Zawodowych (5 Podgórna Street)
 * Państwowa Szkoła Muzyczna I st. (36 Traugutta Street)
 * Szkoła policealna dla dorosłych (26 Piastowska Street)

Catholic Church
Prudnik Deanery
 * Saint Michael the Archangel parish (Plac Farny 2)
 * Saint Michael the Archangel church (Plac Farny 2)
 * Saints Peter and Paul church (6 Piastowska Street)
 * Saint Joseph church (Prudnik-Las, 5 Józefa Poniatowskiego Street)
 * Divine Mercy parish (35 Skowrońskiego Street)
 * Divine Mercy church (35 Skowrońskiego Street)

Pentecostal Church

 * Zbór Syloe (40A Kolejowa Street)

Jehovah's Witnesses

 * zbór Prudnik (Kingdom Hall, 22A Piastowska Street)

Cemeteries

 * Cmentarz Komunalny (19 Kościuszki Street)
 * Jewish cemetery (40 Kolejowa Street)

Sports venues

 * Football pitch (Kolejowa 7)
 * Football pitch (Włoska 10)
 * Sports Hall "Obuwnik"
 * Orlik 2012 field
 * Summer swimming pool

Sports teams

 * KS Pogoń Prudnik (basketball)
 * MKS Pogoń Prudnik (football)
 * KS Obuwnik Prudnik (archery)
 * LKS Zarzewie Prudnik (karate, chess)
 * LKJ Olimp Prudnik (equestrianism)
 * Stowarzyszenie Sportowe "Tigers" Prudnik (football, parkour, freerunning)
 * SPPS Ro-Nat GSM Prudnik (volleyball)

Economy

The biggest corporations in Prudnik were Zakłady Przemysłu Bawełnianego "Frotex", which got closed in 2014 and Prudnickie Zakłady Obuwia "Primus", which got closed in 2007.

Currently, the major industrial plants in Prudnik are:

 * Steinpol Central Services (furniture industry)
 * Spółdzielnia "Pionier" (auto parts industry)
 * Artech Polska (printing cartridges industry)
 * Okręgowa Spółdzielnia Mleczarska (food industry)
 * Henniges Automotive (auto parts industry)

Born in Prudnik

 * Nicholas Henel (1582–1656), historian, receiver, biographer and a chronicler
 * Matthäus Apelles von Löwenstern (1594–1648), psalmist, musician and statesman
 * Shmuel of Karov (c. 1735–1820), Polish Hasidic rebbe
 * Karl Dziatzko (1842–1903), scholar
 * Karl Heinisch (1847–1923), painter
 * Eugen Fraenkel (1853–1925), pathologist and bacteriologist
 * Max Pinkus (1857–1934), industrialist and a bibliophile
 * Otto von Garnier (1858–1947), German General of the Cavalry during World War I
 * Wilhelm Siegmund Frei (1885–1943), dermatologist
 * Ludwig Hardt (1886–1947), actor
 * Felice Bauer (1887–1960), fiancée of Franz Kafka
 * Hellmuth Reymann (1892–1988), officer in the German Army during World War II
 * Dietrich von Choltitz (1894–1966), German General, the last commander of Nazi-occupied Paris
 * Kurt Wintgens (1894–1916), German World War I pilot
 * Józef Wojaczek (1901–1993), Roman Catholic Priest, member of the Mariannhill Missionaries
 * Hans Hoffmann (1902–1949), lyrical tenor and musicologist
 * Karl Streibel (1903–1986), commander of the Trawniki concentration camp
 * Bernd Scholz (1911–1969), composer
 * Margarete Müller (born 1931), politician
 * Dietrich Unkrodt (1934–2006), classical and jazz tuba player
 * Jan Góra (1948–2015), youth activist
 * Joanna Helbin (born 1960), archer
 * Tadeusz Madziarczyk (born 1961), politician
 * Bogusław Pawłowski (born 1962), biologist
 * Maria Koc (born 1964), politician
 * Aleksandra Konieczna (born 1965), actress
 * Jarosław Wasik (born 1971), singer-songwriter
 * Peter Peschel (born 1972), football player
 * Krzysztof Szafrański (born 1972), racing cyclist
 * Grzegorz Kaliciak (born 1973), Colonel of Polish Armed Forces
 * Lukasz Gadowski (born 1977), entrepreneur and investor
 * Ewa Plonka (born 1982), operatic soprano
 * Michał "Z.B.U.K.U" Buczek (born 1992), rapper
 * Tomasz Pusz (born 1997), musician

Other residents

 * Friedrich Leopold von Gessler (1688–1762), field marshal
 * Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742–1819), field marshal
 * Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788–1857), poet
 * Samuel Fränkel (1801–1881), industrialist
 * (1841–1902), local Polish activist, publisher and teacher
 * Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915), Nobel Prize-winning physician and scientist
 * Paul Robert Kollibay (1863–1919), lawyer and ornithologist
 * Kazimierz Raszewski (1864–1941), lieutenant general of the Polish Army
 * Paul Heinrich Theodor Müller (1896–c. 1945), Concentration Camp Operational Leader at Auschwitz concentration camp
 * Stefan Wyszyński (1901–1981), archbishop
 * Franz Augsberger (1905–1945), SS commander
 * Władysław Lemiszko (1911–1988), Ice Hockey player, Olympian, football manager
 * Harry Thürk (1927–2005), writer
 * Anna Myszyńska (1931–2015), writer
 * Gerard Bernacki (1942–2018), bishop
 * Jadwiga Szoszler-Wilejto (born 1949), archer
 * Stanisław Szozda (1950–2013), Olympic cyclist
 * Andrzej Zając (born 1956), Paralympian
 * Krzysztof Pieczyński (born 1957), actor
 * Janusz Zarenkiewicz (born 1959), boxer
 * Jerzy Czerwiński (born 1960), politician
 * Józef Stępkowski (born 1970), politician
 * Lukas Klemenz (born 1995), association football player

Twin towns – sister cities
See twin towns of Gmina Prudnik.

title: Prudnik


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Strzelce Opolskie

Strzelce Opolskie (Groß Strehlitz, Wielge Strzelce) is a town in southern Poland with 17,900 inhabitants (2019), situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Strzelce County.

Etymology
The name of the town is of Polish origin and comes from the old Polish word strzelec, which means "hunter" or "archer".

Demographics
Strzelce Opolskie is one of the biggest centers of German minority in Poland.

Transport
The town is located along the major rail line which joins Gliwice and Opole. Until 1999, there was a branch line connecting Strzelce Opolskie with Kędzierzyn Koźle. It closed as part of PKP's cost-cutting measures, although the rails still (2006) remain in site.

The town is located on the Polish National road No. 94, and the Voivodeship roads 409 and 426.

History
The settlement was mentioned in 13th-century documents, when it was part of Piast-ruled Poland. It received town rights probably in the 13th century. Local dukes of the Piast dynasty erected a castle in the town.

The town was annexed by Prussia in the 18th century, and then from 1871 to 1945 it was also part of Germany. In the 18th century, Strzelce Opolskie belonged to the tax inspection region of Prudnik. According to the German census of 1890, it had a population of 5,112, of which 500 (9.8%) were Poles. In the Upper Silesia plebiscite held in 1921, the residents were asked to choose between remaining in Germany and rejoining Poland, which just regained independence after World War I. In Groß Strehlitz, 85.7% of the votes were cast in favour of remaining in Germany.

In a secret Sicherheitsdienst report from 1934, the town was named one of the main centers of the Polish movement in western Upper Silesia. Polish activists were persecuted intensively since 1937. In April and May 1939, multiple German attacks on Poles took place in the town. Nazi German militants attacked the actors of the Polish theater from Katowice and the gathered Polish public, and demolished the theater hall of the Polish bank. The Hitler Youth devastated the headquarters of Polish organizations, Polish enterprises (bank and cooperative) and houses of local Polish activists. In August and September 1939, the Germans carried out arrests of prominent local Poles, including chairmen of the Polish bank, cooperative and local branch of the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society, and confiscated the assets of the Polish bank. During World War II, Nazi Germany operated a detention center where it would send prisoners to forced labour. Many died from exhaustion and/or starvation. Among the prisoners were Poles arrested for rescuing Jews from the Holocaust. The Germans also operated the E365 labour subcamp of the Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp at the local lime quarry, and a forced labour camp for Jews. After the defeat of Germany in the war in 1945, the town became again part of Poland.

Sports
The local football club is Piast Strzelce Opolskie with men and women sections. Both sections compete in the lower leagues.

Notable people

 * Gustav Meyer (1850–1900), linguist and notable Albanologist
 * Helmuth Förster (1889–1965), general
 * Heinz Kokott (1900–1976), general
 * Hermann Bix (1914–1986), officer
 * Erich Mende (1916–1998), politician
 * Piotr Domaradzki (1946–2015), journalist, essayist and historian
 * Mirosław Sekuła (born 1955), chemist and politician
 * Sławomir Szmal (born 1978), handball player

Twin towns – sister cities
See twin towns of Gmina Strzelce Opolskie.

title: Strzelce Opolskie


text:
Krapkowice

Krapkowice (Krappitz; Krapkowicy) is a town in southern Poland with 16,301 inhabitants (2019), situated in the Opole Voivodeship, straddling both banks of the Oder River at the point where it joins with the Osobłoga. It is the regional capital of Krapkowice County.

Traditionally this Upper Silesian town was a centre for leather, paper and cement manufacturing. Today only the paper and leather industries remain. For example, in Krapkowice the toilet paper brand Mola is produced by a major job provider, Metsä.

Notable people

 * Mikuláš Albert z Kaménka (c.1547–1617), Czech priest and translator
 * Wilhelm Alexander Freund (1833–1917)
 * Ottomar Rosenbach (1851–1907), German physician
 * Hertha Pohl (1889–1954), writer
 * Krzysztof Zwoliński (born 1959), Polish athlete
 * Alice Bota (born 1979), Polish-German journalist

Twin towns – sister cities
See twin towns of Gmina Krapkowice.

title: Krapkowice


text:
Talk:December 4

Moved / removed
Removed:
 * 1534 - The Turkish sultan Suleiman I captures Baghdad. false

Could not be confirmed --mav 02:19, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Removed:
 * 1644 - Peace congress in Münster starts. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) would end the Thirty Years' War.

It did happen in 1644 but I could not confirm the exact date. --mav 02:19, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Moved:
 * 1851 - Failed coup d'état in France.

First of all the coup was successful. Second of all it happened on December 2. --mav 02:19, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Removed:
 * 1864  - Romania passes law forbidding Jews to practice law
 * 1900 - The French National Assembly rejects nationalist General Auguste Mercier's proposal to plan an invasion of England.
 * 1909 - First Grey Cup game -- University of Toronto defeats Toronto Parkdale
 * 1916 - Alpha Phi Alpha, the first African-American college fraternity, is established.
 * 1930 - The Vatican approves the rhythm method for birth control.
 * 1942 - First US bombing of mainland Italy.

The December 4 date could not be confirmed outside of 'this day in history'-type websites (very bad source). --mav 02:19, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Nope - happened on December 1. --mav 02:19, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Moved:
 * 1973 - Pioneer 10 reaches Jupiter.

Nope - happened the day before (already there). --mav 02:19, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Hug Day
As I pointed out on Talk:Physical intimacy, I would love to see evidence that anybody out there consider 4 December as an International Hug Day. --Valmi[[User_talk:Valmi| ✒]] 04:14, 31 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * I don't know about hugs, but December 4 IS "National Cookie Day" and "Wear Brown Shoes Day"! Not worth adding to Wiki, but worth a chuckle!  — WylieCoyote (talk) 23:21, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

Sidon
1110 - First Crusade: The Crusaders conquer Sidon. Other than a brief reference in the History of Sidon there is no other reference in this site to this event Recommend its review for official deletion.

Crazy Horse
"1840 - Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux chief (d. 1877)" Review/delete; no basis in fact —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mt1955 (talk • contribs) 09:55, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

1777 – Juliette Récamier, French businesswoman (d. 1849)
The entry calls Juliette Récamier (born on this day in 1777) a "French businesswoman", but I can see no mention of anything supporting this in the main article about her? JezGrove (talk) 11:15, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:December 4


text:
Hugh Kenner

William Hugh Kenner (January 7, 1923 – November 24, 2003) was a Canadian literary scholar, critic and professor. He published widely on Modernist literature with particular emphasis on James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and Samuel Beckett. His major study of the period, The Pound Era, argued for Pound as the central figure of Modernism, and is considered one of the most important works on the topic.

Early years and education
Kenner was born in Peterborough, Ontario, on January 7, 1923. His father H. R. H. Kenner taught classics and his mother Mary (Williams) Kenner taught French and German at Peterborough Collegiate Institute. Kenner attributed his interest in literature to his poor hearing, caused by a bout of influenza during his childhood.

Attending the University of Toronto, Kenner studied under Marshall McLuhan, who wrote the introduction to Kenner's first book Paradox in Chesterton, about G. K. Chesterton's works. Kenner's second book, The Poetry of Ezra Pound (1951) was dedicated to McLuhan, who had introduced Kenner to Pound on June 4, 1948, during Pound's incarceration at St. Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, DC, where Kenner and McLuhan had driven as a detour from their trip from Toronto to New Haven, Connecticut. (Pound, who became a friend of Kenner's, had suggested the book be titled The Rose in the Steel Dust.) Later, Kenner said of McLuhan, "I had the advantage of being exposed to Marshall when he was at his most creative, and then of getting to the far end of the continent shortly afterward, when he couldn't get me on the phone all the time. He could be awfully controlling." Later, when McLuhan wrote that the development of cartography during the Renaissance created a geographical sense that had never previously existed, Kenner sent him a postcard reading in full: "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, Yours, Hugh."

In 1950, Kenner earned a PhD from Yale University, with a dissertation on James Joyce, James Joyce: Critique in Progress, for Cleanth Brooks. This work, which won the John Addison Porter Prize at Yale, became Dublin's Joyce in 1956.

Academic career
Kenner's first teaching post was at the University of California, Santa Barbara (1951 to 1973); he then taught at Johns Hopkins University (from 1973 to 1990) and the University of Georgia (from 1990 to 1999).

Kenner played an influential role in raising Ezra Pound's profile among critics and other readers of poetry. The publication of The Poetry of Ezra Pound in 1951 "was the beginning, and the catalyst, for a change in attitude toward Pound on the American literary and educational scenes." The Pound Era, the product of years of scholarship and considered by many to be Kenner's masterpiece, was published in 1971. This work was responsible for enshrining Pound's reputation (damaged by his wartime activities) as one of the greatest Modernists.

Though best known for his work on modernist literature, Kenner's range of interests was wide. His books include an appreciation of Chuck Jones, an introduction to geodesic math, and a user's guide for the Heathkit H100/Zenith Z-100 computer; in his later years he was a columnist for both Art & Antiques and Byte magazine. Kenner was a friend of William F. Buckley, Jr., to whom Kenner introduced word processing, and a contributor to National Review. He also shared a close correspondence with Guy Davenport, the noted scholar and fiction writer.

Personal life
Kenner was married twice: his first wife, Mary Waite, died in 1964; the couple had three daughters and two sons. His second wife, whom he married in 1965, was Mary-Anne Bittner; they had a son and a daughter.

Death
Hugh Kenner died at his home in Athens, Georgia, on November 24, 2003.

Selected bibliography

 * Paradox in Chesterton (1947)
 * The Poetry of Ezra Pound (New Directions, 1951)
 * Wyndham Lewis: A Critical Guidebook (1954)
 * Dublin's Joyce (Indiana University Press, 1956; rpt., Columbia University Press, 1987)
 * Gnomon: Essays in Contemporary Literature (1959)
 * The Art of Poetry (1959)
 * The Invisible Poet: T. S. Eliot (1959; rev. ed, 1969)
 * Samuel Beckett: A Critical Study (Grove Press, 1961; rev. ed., 1968)
 * T. S. Eliot: A Collection of Critical Essays (editor) (Prentice-Hall, 1962)
 * The Stoic Comedians: Flaubert, Joyce, and Beckett (1962) (illustrated by Guy Davenport)
 * Seventeenth Century Poetry: The Schools of Donne & Jonson (editor) (1964)
 * Studies in Change: A Book of the Short Story (editor) (1965)
 * The Counterfeiters: An Historical Comedy (Indiana University Press, 1968; The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985) (illustrated by Guy Davenport)
 * The Pound Era (University of California Press, 1971)
 * Bucky: A Guided Tour of Buckminster Fuller (William Morrow, 1973)
 * A Reader's Guide to Samuel Beckett (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1973)
 * A Homemade World: The American Modernist Writers (Alfred A. Knopf, 1975)
 * Geodesic Math and How to Use It (1976)
 * Joyce's Voices (University of California Press, 1978)
 * Ulysses (George Allen & Unwin, 1980; rev. ed., The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987)
 * A Colder Eye: The Modern Irish Writers (Alfred A. Knopf, 1983)
 * The Mechanic Muse (Oxford University Press, 1987)
 * A Sinking Island: The Modern English Writers (1988)
 * Mazes: Essays (North Point Press, 1989)
 * Historical Fictions: Essays (University of Georgia Press, 1995)
 * Chuck Jones: A Flurry of Drawings (1994)
 * The Elsewhere Community, CBC Massey Lectures (1998)
 *  A Passion for Joyce: The Letters of Hugh Kenner and Adaline Glasheen ed. Edward M. Burns (University College Dublin Press, 2008)
 * Questioning Minds: The Letters of Guy Davenport and Hugh Kenner, ed. Edward M. Burns (Counterpoint Press, 2018)

title: Hugh Kenner


text:
Mrągowo

Mrągowo (until 1947 Ządźbork ; ) is a resort town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of northeastern Poland, with 21,889 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Mrągowo County and the seat (though not part of) the Gmina Mrągowo. The town is located in the historical region of Masuria, within the Masurian Lake District, about 60 km east of Olsztyn.

It is situated on the shores of lakes Czos, Sutapie Małe, Sołtysko, Czarne, Juno and Piecuch.

Middle Ages
About 1348 the Teutonic Knights constructed a wooden fortress near present-day Mrągowo named Sensburg, derived from Old Prussian senas meaning "old", therefore maybe at the site of a former Prussian castle. The settlement that began to develop nearby was first mentioned in a 1397 deed and probably had already received Kulm town rights between 1404 and 1407, although it is verified that Grand Master Konrad von Erlichshausen affirmed town rights in 1444. In 1454 it was incorporated to Poland by King Casimir IV Jagiellon upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation, and after the subsequent Thirteen Years’ War (1454–1466) it was a part of Poland as a fief. To the town's Polish population it was known as Ządźbork.

Modern era
Ządźbork became part of the Duchy of Prussia, a vassal state of Poland, in 1525. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the town suffered through fires and plagues.

Part of the Kingdom of Prussia since 1701, the town was incorporated into the Province of East Prussia after its creation in 1773. It was heavily devastated during the Napoleonic Wars. It remained mostly a small hamlet in the largely rural area around it. Agriculture, fishing and the richness of the surrounding forests provided the sources of income for the local population. Just like all of Masuria the district was inhabited mainly by Poles, and town itself had majority Polish population in 1816 however in the 19th century their percentage began to decrease due to Germanisation, removal of the Polish language from schools and the pressure of the local German administration (from 86% in 1825 to 59% in 1890). The town became the county seat in 1818, with its first Landrat (country executive) being August von Lyśniewski. The Polish secret resistance was active and smuggled weapons through the town to the Russian Partition of Poland during the January Uprising. In August 1863, the Prussians discovered the activity, carried out arrests of local resistance members and seized a shipment of weapons headed to the town. In 1871 Sensburg became part of the German Empire during the Prussian-led unification of Germany. In 1897 the town became connected to the railway system, which went from Bischofsburg (Biskupiec) to Rastenburg (Kętrzyn/Rastembork). In 1903 the city received a donation from Edward Pałasz to acquire its own forest, where it then built recreational facilities.

Following World War I, as a condition of the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations held the East Prussian plebiscite on 11 July 1920 to determine if the people in the southern districts of East Prussia wanted to remain within the Free State of Prussia and Germany or to join the Second Polish Republic. Before the vote German nationalists engaged in brutal excesses, which remained unhindered by meagre presence of Allied forces; a Scottish regiment only once visited the city, and only to demonstrate a music orchestra. The plebiscite resulted in 3,660 votes for Germany and none for Poland.

At the end of World War II the town was overrun by the Red Army during the East Prussian Offensive and lost almost 20% of its buildings.

From 1945 to 1947 the city was known by the historic Polish name Ządzbork. The city's name was changed to the current Mrągowo in 1947, in honor of Polish pastor, writer and translator Krzysztof Celestyn Mrongovius (1764–1855), a noted defender of the Polish language in Masuria.

After the war, Mrągowo remained a rural town with approximately 10,000 inhabitants; this number stayed almost constant until the late 1980s. In the following decade, mostly due to economic and political changes, the town gained some influence in the region and grew quickly into a regional center for economic business and tourism. Recently Mrągowo has tried to regain some of its former beauty and to represent the region.

Coat of arms
The town's coat of arms derives from a local story of the 15th century. It claims that when a group of local farmers was being threatened by predators, the townspeople tracked down a fearsome bear. They were only able to shoot it in its paw, and it managed to flee to Rastembork. Only upon its arrival there did the bear succumb to its injuries. The bear's paw was brought back to Ządźbork and is honored in the coat of arms.

Twin towns — Sister cities
Mrągowo is twinned with:
 * 🇩🇪 Grünberg, Germany – since 1993
 * 🇵🇱 Limanowa, Poland – since 2006
 * 🇵🇱 Łańcut, Poland – since 2020
 * 🇷🇺 Zelenogradsk, Russia

Notable people

 * Przemysław Kulig (b. 1980), Polish footballer
 * Natalia Nykiel (b. 1995), Polish singer
 * Joachim Philipkowski (b. 1961), soccer player
 * Radosław Pindiur (b. 1988), Canadian-Polish footballer
 * Georg Riedel (1676–1738), German composer

title: Mrągowo


text:
Bartoszyce

Bartoszyce ( pronounced ; Bartenstein, ) is a town on the Łyna River in northern Poland, with 22,597 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Bartoszyce County within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.

Geographical location
Bartoszyce lies on the left shore of river Łyna River in a valley, approximately 90 km east of Elbląg and 55 km south of Kaliningrad, at an altitude of 3 m above sea level.

Middle Ages
Around 1241 the Teutonic Knights (the monastic German Order) constructed a castle on the left shore of the Łyna River on the border between the Old Prussian regions of Natangia and Bartia. The castle was part of the district (Komturei) of Balga. It was first composed of stone houses, palisades, and earthworks and later built of bricks.

Besieged by the native Old Prussians for four years during an uprising beginning in 1260, the castle was destroyed in 1264. The Order rebuilt it shortly afterward, but it was besieged by another Baltic group, the Sudovians, in 1273. After the Old Prussian uprisings ended, the Knights rebuilt the Ordensburg out of stone from 1274–80. During the 14th and 15th centuries, the castle was managed by the Komtur (administrator) of Balga.

Thereafter, a settlement developed near the castle on the right shore of the Alle River opposite the castle. First documented in 1326 under the name Rosenthal, it received town privileges from the Teutonic Grand Master Luther von Braunschweig in 1332. After that the name was changed to Bartenstein and the settlement of Rosenthal below the castle on the left shore of the river was relocated, as the left side had become too endangered by warfare. Poles settled in sizeable numbers in Bartenstein from the 14th to the 17th century. The town's Polish residents used the Polish names Bartoszyce and Barsztyn. The town's Teutonic Order administrator (German: Komtur), Henning Schindekopf of Balga, began construction of a wall around the town in 1353.

In 1440, the town joined the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation, upon the request of which Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region and town to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454. At the beginning of the subsequent Thirteen Years' War, the Teutonic castle was destroyed and was not rebuilt afterward. However, the residents of Bartenstein became reconciled with the Teutonic Knights in 1460. After the peace treaty signed in Toruń in 1466, the town became part of Poland as a fief held by the State of the Teutonic Order. To stabilize the Order's financial situation, the Order sold the ruined castle's farmyard and meadows to Wend von Eulenburg in 1469; the entire manor of Bartenstein was sold in 1513 to Heinrich Reuß von Plauen (not the Grand Master).

Modern era
With the secularization of the Teutonic Order's Prussian territories in 1525, the town became part of the Duchy of Prussia, established with the consent of the Polish king Sigismund I the Old, as a vassal state of the Polish Crown. The town converted to Protestantism in the same year during the Protestant Reformation.

Bartenstein became part of the secular Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and the Prussian Province of East Prussia in 1773. During the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia and the Russian Empire signed a treaty of alliance in the town on 26 April 1807, the Treaty of Bartenstein. Administrative reform following the Napoleonic Wars placed Bartenstein within East Prussia's Landkreis Friedland in 1818. The town was subjected to Germanisation policies, and although the post of a Polish preacher still existed in 1829, the appointed preacher did not speak Polish.

The Lyck-Bartenstein (Ełk–Bartoszyce) train line ran through the town in 1868, leading to the establishment of industries, including an iron foundry, a machine factory, and a train-car factory. It was also noted for its oak trade. A garrison town for the Prussian Army, Bartenstein was the seat of the district court. Because it had grown to become the largest town in Landkreis Friedland during the 19th century, the town was made the district capital in 1902. Landkreis Friedland was renamed Landkreis Bartenstein in 1927. The foundations of the old castle were used in the construction of the administrative seat; this building was destroyed in 1945.

In January 1945 during World War II, the town was 50% destroyed in fighting between German forces and the Soviet Red Army. As a result of border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference (July–August 1945), the town and the area was assigned to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime which stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s. Remaining German residents who had survived were either evacuated or later expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, and the town was repopulated with Poles.

As part of the repressions against the Catholic Church, the communists created a special military unit in Bartoszyce, to which they forcibly conscripted students of theological seminaries. The future priest Jerzy Popiełuszko did his military service there in 1966–1968. He initiated resistance, for which he was repeatedly punished, affecting his health for the rest of his life. There is a memorial to Jerzy Popiełuszko in Bartoszyce.

Bartoszyce was administratively located in Olsztyn Voivodeship from 1946 to 1998. It became part of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in 1999.

Popular culture
The town is the location of a scene in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.

Twin towns - sister cities
Bartoszyce is twinned with:

 * 🇺🇦 Berezne, Ukraine
 * 🇸🇪 Emmaboda, Sweden
 * 🇵🇱 Mława, Poland
 * 🇩🇪 Nienburg, Germany
 * 🇱🇹 Varėna, Lithuania

Former twin towns
On 25 March 2022, Bartoszyce County decided to terminate its cooperation with Russian city of Bagrationovsk as a response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
 * 🇷🇺 Bagrationovsk, Russia

Notable residents

 * Matthäus Waissel (1540–1602), German theologian, lutist, author
 * Max Baginski (1864–1943), German–American anarchist
 * Hans Koch (1893–1945), German anti–Nazi resistance fighter
 * Erwin Geschonneck (1906–2008), German actor
 * Günther Schack (1917–2003), German fighter pilot
 * Hans-Joachim Reske (born 1940), German athlete
 * Zbigniew Lubiejewski (born 1949), Polish volleyball player
 * Marek Daćko (born 1991), Polish handball player
 * Mateusz Czunkiewicz (born 1996), Polish volleyball player

title: Bartoszyce


text:
Szczytno

Szczytno (Ortelsburg) is a town in northeastern Poland with 27,970 inhabitants (2004). It is the seat of Szczytno County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodship, within the historic region of Masuria.

Olsztyn-Mazury Regional Airport, located nearby, is the most important airport of the Masurian region. Szczytno, which is located on the Olsztyn – Ełk line, and used to be a railroad junction until Polish Railways closed minor connections stemming from the town towards Czerwonka and Wielbark.

Two lakes, Domowe Małe and Długie (also known as Domowe Duże), are located within the town limits.

Middle Ages
Near today's Szczytno are the only known megalithic tombs in Warmia-Masuria. The town was originally a settlement of Old Prussians.

Between 1350 and 1360 Ortolf von Trier, a knight of the Teutonic Order and the Komtur of Elbing (Elbląg), founded a fort in the Old Prussian region of Galindia, probably near an Old Prussian settlement. The first mention of the fort, eponymously named Ortulfsburg, was a document from September 1360, after Ortolf invited Polish colonists from nearby Masovia, among whom the settlement became known as Szczytno. The first custodian of the settlement was Heinrich Murer. In 1370 the wooden fort was destroyed by Lithuanians led by Kęstutis, after which it was rebuilt using stone. In German, the name Ortulfsburg gradually morphed into Ortelsburg. The settlement grew in size owing to its location on a trade route from Warsaw to Königsberg (now Kaliningrad).

In the wake of the Polish-Lithuanian victory over the Order at Grunwald in 1410, the castle was occupied by Polish troops. In 1454 King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the town and region to the Kingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation. After the Second Peace of Toruń of 1466 it became part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic state. In the 15th century, a Catholic church was built, whose first parish priest became Mikołaj of Rzekwuj from the Płock land in Masovia.

Modern era
With its inclusion in the Ducal Prussia in 1525, which remained under Polish suzerainty, it lost its importance as a border fortress and began to decline. It was a overwhelmingly Polish town, and, according to Gerard Labuda, in 1538 only four townsmen did not speak Polish. Margrave and regent George Frederick, who enjoyed hunting nearby, began the redevelopment of the area. Among his projects was the rebuilding of the castle into a hunting lodge. King Władysław IV Vasa of Poland visited the town from 1628–29 and in 1639. Ortelsburg suffered from 17th century fires and the plague in 1656.

The town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. King Frederick William I of Prussia granted Ortelsburg its town charter in 1723. In 1773 it was included in the newly formed province of East Prussia. Prussian King Frederick William III and Queen Louise arrived in the town on 23 November 1806 while fleeing French troops during the Fourth Coalition. The town was briefly the seat of the Prussian government, and Frederick William released his Ortelsburger Publicandum — a series of constitutional, administrative, social and economic reforms — there on 1 December 1806. Later that month, French troops occupied and plundered Ortelsburg. Six years later the town was forced to host numerous troops of the Napoleon's Grande Armée, which invaded Russia.

In 1818, after the Prussian administrative reforms, Ortelsburg became the seat of Landkreis Ortelsburg, one of the largest in East Prussia. The town became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the unification of Germany. It became an important center of the Polish movement in Masuria and resistance to Germanisation. In 1849-1851 a bilingual folk magazine Der masurische Hahn/Kurek Mazurski was issued in the town. The Masurian People's Party (Mazurska Partia Ludowa), founded in 1896 in Lyck (Ełk), had one of its main branches here. From 1906 the Polish newspaper Mazur was published here, and in 1910, Bogumił Labusz and Gustaw Leyding founded the Masurian People's Bank (Mazurski Bank Ludowy). In 1908 Polish writer and Nobel Prize laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz, who popularized the small town through his historical novel The Knights of the Cross and whose works were published in Mazur, visited the town. In post-World War II Poland, a monument to Sienkiewicz was unveiled in the town center, next to the town hall and the ruins of the castle.

World War I and interbellum
Ortelsburg was almost completely destroyed at the beginning of World War I by troops of the Russian Empire, 160 houses and 321 commercial buildings burned down between 27 and 30 August 1914. The town's recovery was supported by contributions raised in Berlin and Vienna. In 1916 the Viennese modernist Josef Hoffmann visited Ortelsburg, his plans for a new town hall were not carried out. A new town hall, an example of Nazi architecture in East Prussia, was finally built in 1938 and listed as a historical monument in 1991. The initial plans for the reconstruction of the town were based on Bruno Möhring's work but carried out by several local architects.

The East Prussian plebiscite of 11 July 1920, which was held according to the Versailles treaty under the supervision of Allied troops, resulted in 5,336 votes for Germany and 15 for Poland. It was preceded by persecution of local Polish activists by the Germans, pro-Polish rallies and meetings were dispersed. On January 21, 1920 ("Bloody Wednesday") a German militia armed with crowbars, metal rods, and shovels, attacked the gathering of local Polish activists and severely beat local Polish leaders Bogumił Linka and Bogumił Leyk, all at the instigation of the local German authorities. Even after the plebiscite pro-Polish voters and activists were still persecuted.

During the interwar period, Polish-speaking residents of the region organized Samopomoc Mazurska ("Masurian Self-Help"), an organisation for the protection of Poles in southern East Prussia. A Polish activist Jerzy Lanc was killed during his attempt to establish a Polish school. Ortelsburg was the location of the Polish House, in which meetings of Polish journalists and activists were held. The Polish House was the headquarters of such organisations as "Zjednoczenie Mazurskie", "Samopomoc Mazurska" and the Union of Poles in Germany. Today the building is dedicated to the memory of the people and institutions that were engaged in Polish movement in Masuria. The Polish newspaper Mazurski Przyjaciel Ludu was published in the town in the 1920s. Even before the invasion of Poland, the German authorities expelled two local Polish activists in January 1939, and later in 1939 more activists were arrested, including the Polish editor Robert Kraszewski, who was then imprisoned in the and later beheaded in the Moabit prison in Berlin. Some Polish activists managed to flee in the 1930s.

In the March 1933 German federal election, after the Nazi seizure of power and suppression of anti-Nazi political factions, the Nazi Party polled 76.6% of vote in Ortelsburg, compared to the national German average of only 43.9%.

World War II and post-war Poland
In October 1943, Polish partisans of the Home Army sabotaged a railroad turnout, causing two trains to collide. Near the end of World War II, most of the town's German population fled before the Red Army. Those who remained behind were either killed in the final months of the war or expelled after its end in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. The town was placed under Polish administration in 1945 under border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference, renamed to the historic Polish Szczytno and gradually repopulated with Poles. The first group of Poles expelled from former Eastern Poland, which was annexed by the Soviet Union, arrived to Szczytno in June 1945 from Volhynia.

After the war, the town's life was organized anew. In 1946-1948 new schools were founded, including a pedagogical school, a vocational school and a school for kindergarten teachers. In 1947 a public library was founded and in 1954 a culture center was established. Since 1948, the town hall, besides the local administration, also houses the Masurian Museum in Szczytno (Muzeum Mazurskie w Szczytnie).

The nearby Szczytno-Szymany International Airport, as well as Stare Kiejkuty, a military intelligence training base, came under scrutiny in late 2005 as one of the suspected "black sites" (secret prisons or transfer stations) used in the CIA's program of so-called extraordinary rendition of accused terrorists. The existence of the nearby training base and the record of CIA-registered affiliated aircraft having landing at Szczytno-Szymany have been unequivocally confirmed, but the Polish government has repeatedly denied any involvement of these facilities in extraordinary renditions.

To commemorate old Masurian folk traditions, a number of Pofajdok sculptures were placed in Szczytno.

Sights
Among the historic sights of Szczytno are the ruins of the castle, the pre-war town hall, which houses the municipal and county authorities, as well as the Masurian Museum (Muzeum Mazurskie), dedicated to the history, ethnology and culture of Masuria and Szczytno, a Baroque Evangelical church, the pre-war Polish House (Dom Polski), which was the center of social and cultural life of the local Polish community during the times of Germanisation and the well-preserved old wooden Masurian House (Chata Mazurska). Also are located there the Gothic Revival Catholic Church of the Assumption and Baptist Church, the historic buildings of the district court, nursing home, tax office, police school, post office and former brewery.

Sports
Football club SKS Szczytno (formerly Gwardia Szczytno) is based in the town. It played in the Polish second division in the 1980s.

Notable residents

 * Julie Salinger (1863–1942), politician
 * Rose Scooler, née Guttfeld, (1882–1985), survivor of Theresienstadt concentration camp
 * Hans Jürgen von der Wense (1894–1966) was a German poet, composer, photographer, aphorist and hiker
 * Wolfgang Koeppen (1906–1996), German author, whose autobiographical film evoking a lost rural idyll, Es war einmal in Masuren, was set here
 * Horst Kopkow (1910–1996), Nazi spy who cooperated with British intelligence after World War II
 * Hansjoachim Linde (1926–2020), German general
 * Hans-Peter Reinecke (1926–2003), German musicologist
 * Christine Laszar (1931–2021), German actress
 * Klaus Kilimann (1938–2024) is a physicist who became an SPD politician after 1989
 * Krzysztof Klenczon (1942–1981), Polish musician
 * Waldemar Kobus (born 1966), German actor
 * Maurycy Stefanowicz (born 1976), Polish musician and guitarist
 * Jakub Żulczyk (born 1983), Polish writer and journalist
 * Konrad Bukowiecki (born 1997), Polish athlete competing primarily in the shot put

title: Szczytno