Chodzież | |
|---|---|
 View of Chodzież | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Chodzież | |
| Coordinates:52°59′N16°54′E / 52.983°N 16.900°E /52.983; 16.900 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship | Greater Poland |
| County | Chodzież |
| Gmina | Chodzież(urban gmina) |
| First mentioned | 1403 |
| Town rights | 1434 |
| Area | |
• Total | 12.77 km2 (4.93 sq mi) |
| Population (31 December 2021[1]) | |
• Total | 17,976 |
| • Density | 1,408/km2 (3,646/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 64-800 |
| Area code | +48 67 |
| Vehicle registration | PCH |
| National roads |  |
| Voivodeship roads |  |
| Website | http://www.chodziez.pl |
Chodzież[ˈxɔd͡ʑɛʂ] (German:Kolmar in Posen) is atown in west-centralPoland with 17,976 inhabitants as of December 2021,[1] seat of theChodzież County in theGreater Poland Voivodeship.[2]
Chodzież is located in the northern part ofGreater Poland (western Poland), in the Chodzieskie lakelands. The most important characteristics of this lakeland area are its typical postglacial landforms, forests of pines and mixed woodlands, andlakes. For this reason, the city's surroundings are known as "the Switzerland of Chodzież".
Five kilometers west of Chodzież, at the edge of the Chodzieskie lakelands, Mt. Gontyniec rises 192 metersabove sea level as the highest peak in a chain ofmorainehills; at the same time it has the highestelevation in northern Poland. Deep valleys and ridges covered with a 100-year-oldbeechforest ensure diversified surroundings.
Within the five square miles (13 km2) ofcity area, there are three lakes: Miejskie, 1 km2 (English:Town lake, 0.4 mile²), Karczewnik, 0.25 km2 (0.097 sq mi), and Strzeleckie, 0.18 km2 (0.069 sq mi), which make up about 13% of the total townarea.
Detailed data as of 31 December 2021:[1]
| Description | All | Women | Men | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit | person | percentage | person | percentage | person | percentage |
| Population | 17976 | 100 | 9425 | 52.4% | 8551 | 47.6% |
| Population density | 1407.7 | 738.1 | 669.6 | |||
Number of inhabitants by year:
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| Source:[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A burial mound, estimated to date from 2000 B.C., is located in the area of the town where today's Słoneczna street lies. From about 1500 BC, tribes belonging to theLusatian culture dominated the area for ten centuries. In 1904–1914 two burial grounds were discovered in the area of old Rzeźnicka street, that date to those times. In the early Middle Ages (400–700 AD), a little settlement existed on the south part of Lake Miejskie. Chodzież's beginnings go back at least to the 15th century. First written mention is from 1403. The name Chodzies is mentioned with that of the priest of the localCatholic parish. Researchers believe however, that town roots go back to the 13th century, when it already had its first church.
On 3 March 1434, KingWładysław II Jagiello issued aprivilege that vested Chodzież withMagdeburgtown rights forTrojan of Łękno. For many centuries it was aprivately owned city, located within theKalisz Voivodeship (from 1768 in theGniezno Voivodeship) in theGreater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. The LÍkiscy–Granowski family were the first owners, then from the mid of the 15th century, Chodzież belonged to the Potulicki family. From 1648 to 1830 the Grudziński family were the owners of Chodzież. The family'sGrzymała coat of arms has been the town's crest since that time.
St. Florian's church situated at the Market Square, is the oldest monument in Chodzież. Its probable founder was the first owner of the settlement, Trojan of Lekno.
During the 17th century, various parts of Poland were invaded bySwedishtroops. The arrival of a group of German clothmakers fromLeszno, which had suffered a fire, around 1656, influenced the development of Chodzież. A new town was erected in the mid 18th century, next to the old medieval site in the city, which contained the Market, as the home of weavers and clothmakers. Today, this part of the city (Kościuszki Street) is marked by the characteristic gables of houses situated on narrow, rectangular plots of land. Each lot formerly had wooden sheds in the rear to store wool and cloth.
As the result of theFirst Partition of Poland in 1772, the town was annexed by theKingdom of Prussia and became a part of the newly established Netze River District.
In 1805, Chodzież's weavers imported a weaving machine fromBerlin. Shortly after,Napoleon defeated Prussia (1807) and out of theTreaty of Tilsit, this part of Poland became part of theDuchy of Warsaw.
In 1815, Prussia and its allies defeated Napoleon, and this area became Prussian again as theGrand Duchy of Posen. It was supposed to be a Polish province within Prussian Kingdom. In reality, it was essentially a Prussian province. In theGerman language, it hastraditionally been known asChodziesen, after 1879Kolmar in Posen. This name may be falling into disuse over time, though it can still be found in current use in Germany in some cases.
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The local weaving industry declined about 1812–1815, when a frontier customs post between theDuchy of Warsaw and theKingdom of Prussia was demarcated. The tariff priced the Posen weavers out of their major eastern markets, so they either migrated to other textile producing areas (e.g. Łódź) or turned to other types of work, like farming.
In 1818, Chodzież became the administrative center of a county-like district (German:Kreis) (seeKreis Kolmar in Posen) that was formed from parts of the following these Kreise: Wirsitz, Wongrowitz, Obornik and Czarnikau (Polish:Wyrzysk, Wągrowiec, Oborniki andCzarnków). Over the years, it gained the character of a local administrative center, which it remained until 1975, when the division of Poland was reorganized into larger units.
In 1849, the Duchy was formalized as the Prussianprovince of Posen.
Chodzież's important place in the ceramics industry began when two German businessmen, Ludwig Schnorr and Hermann Müller from Frankfurt an der Oder, purchased the ruins of the burned out manor house from Otto Königsmarck in 1855 and built the firstfaience factory. In 1897 the merchant Hein, a former faience factory owner, built aporcelain factory. Since then, Chodzież has always been an important and significant center of pottery industry.
TheGerman Empire was created in 1871, and in October 1874 a system of civil registration offices were created. Chodziesen was chosen for its area. (SeeStandesamt Kolmar).
In 1879, the railroad linePoznań — Chodzież —Piła was opened and the name of Chodzież was changed from "Chodzeisen" to "Kolmar in Posen". This name was in honor of Axel von Colmar — Meyenburg, who was extremely influential in the building of the railway, which was beneficial to the town's economy.
AfterWorld War I, Poland regained independence and theGreater Poland Uprising, the aim of which was to reintegrate the region with Poland, spread to Chodzież. Polish insurgents captured the town on January 6, 1919, and then, despite prior agreements, the Germans recaptured it the next day.[3]After bloody fighting the insurgents again captured the town on January 8, 1919.[3] TheVersailles Treaty in 1919 eventually confirmed the restoration of Chodzież to Poland. On 19 January 1920, Polish military and political authorities marched into the city and a Polish administration was established. Unemployment and living conditions deteriorated, leading to a wave of strikes, starting in 1921. In the 1930s, the years of the great world economic crisis, workers from Chodzież porcelain factory started a new series of protests. In the period between the two world wars, Chodzież was considered as an important administrative center in the border area between Poland and Germany. It had a working class character, which was related to the development of the faience factory. Since the town was located near the border, 16% of the population wasGerman, while 83% wasPolish, as of 1939.[4]
In the 1920s, a tuberculosis sanatorium was established here because of the special climate. It was converted recently into a hospital for railroadmen. In 1921 Stanisław Mańczak bought the porcelain fabric from the Annaburger Steinguttfabrik firm.
In September 1939 the town wasinvaded byNazi Germany. Early on, theSS-Totenkopf-Standarte Brandenburg entered the town to commit variousatrocities against the Polish population.[5] TheGerman occupation, both in Chodzież and the whole country, was a period of terror directed against Polish citizens. In one notable example, on 7 November 1939, 44 Polish men, including the town's mayor Tadeusz Koppe and the gmina'swójt Marian Weyhan,[6] were killed on the Morzewskie Hills near the village ofMorzewo. Germans carried out mass arrests of Poles as part of theIntelligenzaktion, who were then imprisoned in the local prison.[6] Local Poles were also subjected toexpulsions and deportations toforced labour in Germany,[4] and a transit camp for Poles expelled from the region was located in the town.[7] Hundreds of Poles wereexpelled already in December 1939.[8] Houses of expelled Poles were handed over toGerman colonists as part of theLebensraum policy, and as a result, Germans formed 56% of the town's populace in 1943.[4] Under Nazi German occupation, the town under the Germanized nameKolmar was made part ofReichsgau Wartheland, and the seat of the county (kreis) of Kolmar. TheRynek (Market Square) was renamed theAdolf Hitler Square.[4]
Despite such circumstances, thePolish resistance movement was still formed and operated in the town and area. Among its local leaders were Marcel Krzycki and pre-war Polish mayor Bronisław Maron. In August 1944, the Germans carried out mass arrests of local members of theHome Army, the leading Polish underground resistance organization.[9] Local Polish resistance leaders were imprisoned and tortured in the local prison and in theGestapo station inPoznań.[9] Bronisław Maron, his wife, daughter, and Marcel Krzycki were then imprisoned in the Nazi prison camp in Żabikowo (present-day district ofLuboń).[10] Bronisław Maron, tortured, died there in 1944, while his wife and daughter were deported to theRavensbrück concentration camp, where his wife was also murdered.[10] Krzycki's fate is unknown, although he probably also died in Żabikowo.[10] The population of Chodzież during the war years was reduced by almost half.
Liberation came on the night of 22/23 January 1945, whenSoviettroops captured the town.
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The first years afterWorld War II were a period of restoration and an intensive development of thepottery industry.
In 1946 Chodzież had a population of 7,694.[11] From 1975 to 1998, it was administratively located in thePiła Voivodeship.
The city administration has received prizes and awards on several occasions to recognize the city's cleanliness and aesthetics. In 1974, the city was awarded the title of "the Polish Master of Economics." Later, in 1979, it was awarded the Labor Medal, 1st Class, by the Council of State for the city's achievements in production. The current construction of an urban purification plant will help transform Chodzież into an ecologically clean center fortourism and relaxation. In recent years, the rate of economic development in the city have decreased somewhat, with industry playing a smaller role and the economic development of Chodzież and the region becoming more associated withrecreation. Chodzież's natural environment attracts tourists.[citation needed]
The localfootball club isPolonia Chodzież, and theathletics club is Gontyniec Chodzież.
The town's sports facilities include an indoorswimming pool, afootballstadium andtennis courts.Sailing andmotorboat contests take place each year on the municipal lakes. These lakes have European and world-class rank: in 1993, motorboat contests took place in the class 0..350. In addition, every May, the Grzmylita Run promotes sport for the masses.
Abrassorchestra was founded right after the end of the German occupation. First it was connected to theceramics factory, but currently it works with the Chodzież cultural institute. In the 1970s, the annualjazz workshops began, which allowed new talents to be discovered through encounters between young people and artists from Poland and abroad.[12]
The annual National Children's Song Festivals began in 1991. In 1995, Chodzież was the co-organizer of the XIII National Voluntary Fire Department Brass Orchestra Festival.
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