Kluczbork | |
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 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Kluczbork | |
| Coordinates:50°59′N18°13′E / 50.983°N 18.217°E /50.983; 18.217 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship | Opole |
| County | Kluczbork |
| Gmina | Kluczbork |
| Established | 13th century |
| Town rights | 1252 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jarosław Kielar (OKS) |
| Area | |
• Total | 12.35 km2 (4.77 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 190 m (620 ft) |
| Population (2019-06-30[1]) | |
• Total | 23,554 |
| • Density | 1,952.3/km2 (5,056/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 46–200, 46–203 |
| Area code | +48 77 |
| Car plates | OKL |
| National roads |   |
| Website | https://www.kluczbork.eu |
Kluczbork[ˈklud͡ʐbɔrk] ⓘ (German:Kreuzburg O.S.,Silesian:Kluczborek) is atown in southernPoland with 23,554 inhabitants (2019), situated in theOpole Voivodeship. It is the capital ofKluczbork County and an important railroad junction.
In Kluczbork the major rail line fromKatowice splits into two directions – westwards toWrocław and northwards toPoznań. It is also connected withFosowskie.
Archaeologists have determined that a settlement existed at the location of present-day Kluczbork by 1000–800 BCE. The GermanicSciri andBastarnae settled in the vicinity, and were followed c. 100 BCE byCelts and various Germanic tribes, includingSilingi andVandals. The latter leftSilesia c. 400 andWest Slavs came to the region in the 7th century (seeSilesians). In the late 10th century the Silesian territory was included in the emerging Polish state by its first historic rulerMieszko I.
In the 13th century theKnights of the Cross with the Red Star acquired territory in Silesia, including the villages ofMłodoszów,Kuniów, andChocianowice. The Knights built a settlement on 2 November 1252[citation needed]. Named Cruceburg (later spelled Creutzburg, Creuzburg, Kreuzburg), it receivedMagdeburg rights on 26 February 1253, now accepted as the official date of the town's foundation. The Knightsadjudicated in the town until 1274, when it started to be administered by avogt of local Silesian dukes andjuries were introduced. As a result of thedynastic fragmentation of Poland, Kluczbork was part of various Polish duchies ruled by thePiast dynasty:Duchy of Silesia until 1293,Duchy of Głogów until 1312,Duchy of Oleśnica until 1323 andDuchy of Legnica until 1341, when it came under direct rule of the King of Poland,Casimir III the Great.[2] In 1356 it passed to theCzech Crown,[2] and continued to belong to various duchies ruled by thePiast dynasty. From 1536 it was part of the Piast-ruledDuchy of Brzeg until its dissolution in 1675.[2] Afterwards it was incorporated into theHabsburg monarchy, as part of the Habsburg-ruled Czech Kingdom.
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Amint operated in Kluczbork during the reign of DukeBolesław III the Generous, in the early 14th century.[2] In 1426 DukeLouis II of Brzeg granted Kluczborkprivileges of a salt market.[2] For centuries the town was inhabited by a predominantlyPolish-speaking populace. Thetextile 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 theBattle of Byczyna, Polish troops underJan Zamoyski plundered the city. The townspeople accepted theProtestant Reformation in 1656 and converted the localRoman Catholic Church into aLutheran one. ThePolish Brethren settled in the city after 1660, and organized theirsynods in the city in 1663 and 1668.[2] 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 theKingdom of Prussia in 1741 during theSilesian Wars and became part of the PrussianProvince of Silesia. Under Prussian rule the town and the region saw a large influx of German-speaking settlers.
The town became part of theGerman Empire upon theunification of Germany in 1871. It had a predominantlyGerman-speaking population of 5,238 in 1875, although it was located in a Polish-dominated district.[3] The population grew to 8,750 by 1895 and 10,236 by 1900.
Following theTreaty of Versailles afterWorld War I, Kreuzburg was involved in theUpper Silesianreferendum in 1921. 95.6% (37,957 votes out of 39,703 participants) voted to remain withinWeimar Germany instead of joining theSecond Polish Republic. It became part of theProvince of Upper Silesia; to differentiate between other places namedKreuzburg, it was known asKreuzburg O.S. (referring toOberschlesien, orUpper Silesia). By 1939 the town was the seat ofLandkreis Kreuzburg O.S. and had 11,693 inhabitants. After theNazi Party took power in Germany in the 1930s,anti-Polish andanti-Jewish sentiments became more visible. In 1936, the Germans changed the Polish-sounding street names, and in 1938, during theKristallnacht they burned down the synagogue, built in 1886.[2] Local Polish leader Paweł Widera was arrested in May 1939.[4]
DuringWorld War II, in 1939, the Germans established the Oflag VIII-Aprisoner-of-war camp initially for Polish and later forFrench officers.[5] In 1942, it was dissolved and the POWs were relocated to theOflag VIII-F POW camp inMoravská Třebová in German-occupied Czechoslovakia.[5] In 1943, the Germans founded theIlag VIII/Z camp for interned citizens of theUnited Kingdom and theUnited States.[2] The Germans evacuated the populace before the advancingSoviet army in January 1945 to then German-speaking parts of Bohemia.[6][2] In January 1945, sick POWs from theStalag Luft 7 were moved to Ilag VIII/Z, whereas the remaining POWs passed through the town in a German-perpetrateddeath march.[7] The town was captured by theSoviet Union'sRed Army on 20 January 1945 toward the end of the war. After German surrender, the German population returned.[6]
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.[8] In the following, the German native population wasexpelled.
Between 1975–1998, the town was administratively part of the former Opole Voivodeship. A monument ofJan Dzierżon, pioneering and world-famous Polishapiarist, was unveiled in 1981.[9]
Kluczbork's economy is dominated by the production ofmachinery,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 theKluczbork County's banks and other financial institutions. TheGmina 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 theWałbrzych Special Economic Zone (area of 53939ha). The current investors in the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone are:Marcegaglia Poland,[10] Inpol-Krak Tubes Service Center and theGerman Seppeler Gruppe Ocynkownia Śląsk (galvanisation company).[11]
MKS Kluczbork is a professionalassociation football club founded in 2003 as a result of a merger of two local clubs.
Seetwin towns of Gmina Kluczbork.
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Seat:Kluczbork | ||
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