 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Polish. (May 2025)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Starachowice | |
|---|---|
.jpg) County administration building | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Starachowice  Starachowice | |
| Coordinates:51°3′N21°4′E / 51.050°N 21.067°E /51.050; 21.067 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship | Świętokrzyskie |
| County | Starachowice County |
| Gmina | Starachowice(urban gmina) |
| Established | 15th century |
| City rights | 1624 as Wierzbnik |
| Government | |
| • City Mayor | Marek Materek (NDT) |
| Area | |
• Total | 31.85 km2 (12.30 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 252 m (827 ft) |
| Population (31.12.2017) | |
• Total | 49,513 |
| • Density | 1,555/km2 (4,026/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 27-200 |
| Area code | +48 41 |
| Vehicle registration | TST |
| Website | www |
Starachowice[staraxɔˈvʲit͡sɛ] ⓘ is a city in southeasternPoland (historicLesser Poland), with 49,513 inhabitants (31.12.2017). It is the capital ofStarachowice County in theŚwiętokrzyskie Voivodeship. It is situated upon the River Kamienna, a tributary of theVistula River, among hills and forests.
In the location of present-day Starachowice, aforge existed, which in the 16th century belonged to the Starzechowski family (most probably, the name of the town comes from this family). The oldest known mention of Starachowice comes from 1547.[1] The settlement, which was built around the forge, belonged until 1817 to theCistercians fromWąchock Abbey, located nearby. It was the monks who in 1789 initiated construction of ablast furnace (see alsoOld-Polish Industrial Region). In the meantime Polish bishopBogusław Radoszewski founded the town of Wierzbnik in 1624, which was grantedtown rights by Polish KingSigismund III Vasa.[1] Three annualfairs and three weekly markets were organized in the town, however it developed slowly, while Starachowice developed faster.[1] Both settlements were administratively located in theSandomierz Voivodeship in theLesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown.
In theThird Partition of Poland, in 1795, the area was annexed byAustria, in 1809 it passed to the short-lived PolishDuchy of Warsaw, and in 1815 it passed to so-calledCongress Poland in theRussian Partition of Poland. In 1815, the furnace was taken over by the government ofCongress Poland, and in the following years, the industrial settlement of Starachowice emerged as main center ofmetallurgy. According to a plan devised byStanisław Staszic, metal industry was developed along the Kamienna river, and the settlement of Starachowice was its center. As part ofanti-Polish repressions following the unsuccessful PolishJanuary Uprising, the Russian administration stripped Wierzbnik of its town rights in 1870, which were restored in 1916.[1]
After Poland regained independence in 1918, the government inWarsaw decided to build an arms factory in Starachowice. On October 12, 1920,The Society of Starachowice Mining Company signed a contract withMain Office of Supplying the Army. Soon afterwards, works on construction of artillery ammunition factory began.Zakłady Starachowickie (Starachowice Works), which was an industrial complex including ammunition factory, artillery equipment factory and iron works, was main Poland’s producer of such materiel. It also manufactured the75 mm Armata wz.02/26,105 mm Armata wz. 29, 120 mm Armata wz. 78/09/31,Bofors 40 mm, andBofors 37 mm guns, used by thePolish Army in 1939. The very town of Starachowice was not created until April 1, 1939, when the ancient town of Wierzbnik was merged with the settlement ofStarachowice Fabryczne and the village ofStarachowice Górne. At first, the new town was namedStarachowice-Wierzbnik, and in 1952 the name was changed into Starachowice.
During the Germaninvasion of Poland, which startedWorld War II, the arms factory was evacuated eastwards on September 6, 1939.[2] Later that same day, the suburb of Wanacja (present-day district of Starachowice) was the site of a battle between German and Polish troops, after which German troops committed a massacre of over 20 Polish civilians.[2] On September 7, German troops entered Starachowice.[2] On September 27, 1939, theEinsatzgruppe II entered the city to commit variouscrimes against Poles.[3] Afterwards it wasoccupied by Germany and in 1940 the Germans carried out mass arrests of local Polishintelligentsia.[4] Poles were used asforced labour in the local factory.[1] During theHolocaust, theghetto in Wierzbnik was liquidated on October 27, 1942, and many of its prisoners were sent to the death campTreblinka. The remainingJewish residents of Starachowice and Wierzbnik were sent to German labor camps in the vicinity. Those camps were liquidated in the summer of 1944. The remaining survivors were deported toAuschwitz where many were murdered by theSchutzstaffel. There was a munition plant there where Jewish slave labor was used. In 1944, during and following theWarsaw Uprising, the Germans deported thousands of Varsovians from theDulag 121 camp inPruszków, where they were initially imprisoned, to Starachowice.[5] Those Poles were mainly old people, ill people and women with children.[5] 10,000 Polesexpelled fromWarsaw stayed in the town, as of 1 November 1944.[5]
DuringWorld War II, Starachowice was an important center of theHome Army, where units ofJan Piwnik andAntoni Heda operated. At least three local Polish boy scouts were killed by the Germans during the war.[6]
After the war, the town prospered as an important industrial center. BesidesStarachowice Works, truck producerFSC Star was opened in 1948. A Star truck was used as the basis for the firstPopemobile forPope John Paul II's during his first visit to his home country asPope of theRoman Catholic Church (1979). When capitalist system was reintroduced in 1989, the situation in Starachowice worsened, and unemployment grew drastically. The town currently has a special economy zone with lower tax rates to help the settlement of new industry.
There is theMunicipal Stadium in the city. Local football teams are:
.JPG)
.JPG)
Starachowice istwinned with:
| Seat |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Urban-rural gmina | ||
| Rural gminas | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
