One of thePiast dynasty's chief cities, it was the first historical capital of Poland in the 10th century and early 11th century,[3] and afterwards remained one of the main cities of the historic region ofGreater Poland. Gniezno is the seat of theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno, the country's oldest archdiocese, founded in 1000, and its archbishop is theprimate of Poland, making the city the country's ecclesiastical capital. TheGniezno Cathedral is one of the most historically important churches in Poland, and as such is a designatedHistoric Monument of Poland.[4] Other sights include the Old Town and the Museum of the Origins of the Polish State.
Gniezno is one of the historic centers of theGreater Poland region, the cradle of the Polish state. LikeRome, Gniezno was founded on seven hills, including theLech Hill [pl], which is the location of theGniezno Cathedral, and the Panieńskie Hill, which is the location of theRynek (Market Square). Five lakes are located within the city limits: Winiary, Jelonek, Świętokrzyskie, Koszyk, Zacisze.
There are archaeological traces of human settlement since the latePaleolithic. Early Slavonic settlements on Lech Hill and Maiden Hill are dated to the 8th century.[5] At the beginning of the 10th century this was the site of several places sacred to theSlavic religion. The ducal stronghold was founded just before 940 on Lech Hill, and surrounded by some fortified suburbs and open settlements.
According to the Polish version of a legend, three brothers went hunting together but each of them followed a different prey and eventually they all traveled in different directions. Rus went to the east, Čech headed to the west to settle on theŘíp Mountain rising up from the Bohemian hilly countryside, while Lech traveled north. There, while hunting, he followed his arrow and suddenly found himself face-to-face with a fierce, white eagle guarding its nest from intruders. Seeing the eagle against the red of the setting sun, Lech took this as a good omen and decided to settle there. He named hissettlement Gniezno (fromPolishgniazdo – 'nest') in commemoration and adopted theWhite Eagle as hiscoat-of-arms. The white eagle remains a symbol of Poland to this day, and the colors of the eagle and the setting sun are depicted in Poland's coat of arms, as well as its flag, with a white stripe on top for the eagle, and a red stripe on the bottom for the sunset. According toWielkopolska Chronicle (13th century), Slavs are descendants ofPan, aPannonian prince. He had three sons – Lech (the youngest), Rus, and Čech (the oldest), who decided to settle west, north, and east.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
Around 940 Gniezno, being an important pagan cult center, became one of the main fortresses of the early Piast rulers, along with aforementioned fortresses atGiecz,Kruszwica,Poznań,Kalisz,Łęczyca,Ostrów Lednicki,Płock,Włocławek, and others. Archeological excavations on Lech Hill in 2010 discovered an 11th-century tomb by the foundations of St. George's church, near the remains of a pagan burial mound discovered earlier on the hill.[12] Discoveries indicate that Lech Hill could have been the burial place of rulers even before the baptism ofMieszko I of Poland. After the adoption of Christianity by Mieszko I, his sonBolesław I the Brave deposited the remains ofSaint Adalbert in a church, newly built on the Hill, to underline Gniezno's importance as the religious centre and capital of his kingdom.
12th-century ceramic tiel from Gniezno depicting an eagle
The 10th-centuryGniezno Cathedral witnessed the royal coronations of Bolesław I in 1024 and his sonMieszko II Lambert in 1025.[5] The cities of Gniezno and nearbyPoznań were captured, plundered and destroyed in 1038 by theBohemian dukeBretislav I, which pushed the next Polish rulers to move the Polish capital toKraków.[5] The archepiscopal cathedral was reconstructed by the next ruler,Bolesław II the Generous, who was crowned king here in 1076.
In the next centuries Gniezno evolved as a regional seat of the eastern part of Greater Poland, and in 1238 municipal autonomy was granted by the dukeWładysław Odonic. Gniezno was again the coronation site in 1295 and 1300.
After an administrative reform Gniezno, as aroyal city, became a county seat within theKalisz Voivodeship (since the early 14th century till 1768). It was destroyed again by theTeutonic Knights'invasion in 1331. The city was soon rebuilt during the reign of KingCasimir III the Great, while during the reign of KingWładysław II Jagiełło, in 1419, the status of "the capital of Christianity in Poland" was confirmed after the archbishops of Gniezno were given the title of Primate of Poland.[14] Trade flourished in Gniezno, four large annualfairs took place, in which merchants from various Polish cities and European countries took part.[14] Crafts also developed, and Gniezno remained one of the major cities of Poland until the mid-17th century,[3] even despite fires of 1515 and 1613.[14]
It was devastated during theSwedish invasion wars of the 17th–18th centuries and by a plague in 1708–1710. All this caused depopulation and economic decline, but the city was soon revived during the 18th century to become the capital of theGniezno Voivodeship within the largerGreater Poland Province in 1768. Gniezno remained one of the main cultural centres of the Polish Kingdom.[14] The 11th Polish Infantry Regiment and 1st Polish National Cavalry Brigade were stationed there in 1790 and 1792, respectively.[15]
Gniezno was annexed by theKingdom of Prussia in the 1793Second Partition of Poland and renamedGnesen, becoming part of the province ofSouth Prussia. During theKościuszko Uprising, the Polish army under GeneralJan Henryk Dąbrowski liberated[16] the town on 22 August 1794 and defeated aPrussian Army north of Gnesen near Labischin (Łabiszyn) on 29 September 1794. But because of Kościuszko's defeat at theBattle of Maciejowice he gave up his plan to winter in Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) and moved through Thorn (Toruń) and retreated to central Poland. Thus, the Prussians retook it on 7 December 1794. During theNapoleonic Wars there was anuprising against Prussian rule. The French appeared in Gnesen in November 1806, and following General Jan Henryk Dabrowski's order issued to all towns and cities and country property owners to provide recruits for the organizing Polish forces, Gnesen initially provided 60 recruits who participated in the battles of 1806–07.[17] The 9th Polish Infantry Regiment was formed in Gniezno in 1806.[18] Consequently, the town, once again asGniezno, was included within theDuchy of Warsaw, but upon the defeat of Napoleon in Russia in 1812 it was occupied by the Russian army and was returned to Prussia in the 1815Congress of Vienna. Gnesen was subsequently governed withinKreis Gnesen of theGrand Duchy of Posen and the laterProvince of Posen. It was an important centre ofPolish resistance againstGermanisation policies, various Polish organizations and publishing houses were located there.[3] In 1857, Jews accounted for 27 percent of the population, which number decreased by emigration to more developed towns of Germany to 14.5 percent in 1871.[19]
In 1903, amidschool strikes elsewhere in Prussian Poland, Prussian authorities arrested 50 Polish children and teachers in Gnesen on charges of high treason. They were accused of studying Polish culture and of "conspiring against the well-being of the Prussian State".[20]
Memorial at the site of a German execution of 24 Poles in November 1939 in theDalki district
During theinvasion of Poland, which startedWorld War II, Gniezno was captured by Germans troops on 11 September 1939. On 26 October 1939 it was annexed intoNazi Germany as part ofReichsgau Wartheland. During theGerman occupation, local Poles were subjected to arrests,expulsions and mass executions. The Germans murdered several hundred inhabitants, and more than 10,000 inhabitants of the city and county were expelled to theGeneral Government in the more-eastern part of German-occupied Poland or imprisoned inNazi concentration camps.[3] A transit camp for Poles expelled from the region and aforced labour subcamp of theStalag XXI-Dprisoner-of-war camp were operated in the city.[24][25] Kidnapped Polish 12-year-old children were enslaved asforced labour in the city's vicinity.[26] In late 1940 at theDziekanka (Tiegenhof in German) psychiatric institute near Gniezno, 1172 patients were evacuated and then killed. Again in late 1940 hundreds of patients were gassed ingas van by theLange Commando, a sub-unit ofEinsatzkommando 2.[27] Despite this, Gniezno remained a center ofPolish resistance,[3] including theTajna Organizacja Narodowa (Secret National Organization), which was founded in the city itself.[28] Its commander Maksymilian Sikorski was eventually imprisoned in concentration camps.[29]
After the city was seized by theRed Army on January 21, 1945, the Soviets fought the Polish underground anddeported its members deep into theSoviet Union.[3] The city itself was not seriously damaged during the war, however, in 1940, the Germans demolished the monument of KingBolesław I the Brave, which was rebuilt after the war. The city was subsequently restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until theFall of Communism in the 1980s.
In August 1980, employees of local factories joined the nationwide anti-communist strikes,[30] which led to the foundation of theSolidarity organization, which played a central role in the end of communist rule in Poland. In 1979 and 1997,Pope John Paul II visited Gniezno. During the second visit, celebrations took place on the millennial anniversary of the death ofSt. Adalbert with the participation of presidents of sevenCentral European countries and 280,000 pilgrims from Poland and the world.[14] In 2000, the millennial anniversary of theCongress of Gniezno was celebrated and on this occasion theSejm was held in Gniezno, the only one held outside ofWarsaw in recent decades.
Gniezno'sRoman Catholicarchbishop is traditionally thePrimate of Poland (Prymas Polski). After thepartitions of Poland the see was often combined with others, first with Poznań and then withWarsaw. In 1992Pope John Paul II reorganized the Polish hierarchy and the city once again had a separate bishop. CardinalJózef Glemp, who had been archbishop of Gniezno andWarsaw and retained Warsaw, was designated to remain Primate until his retirement, but afterward the Archbishop of Gniezno, at presentWojciech Polak, would again be Primate of Poland.
^ab"Local Data Bank". Statistics Poland. Retrieved15 August 2022. Data for territorial unit 3003011.
^"Główny Urząd Statystyczny" [Central Statistical Office] (in Polish). To search: Select "Miejscowości (SIMC)" tab, select "fragment (min. 3 znaki)" (minimum 3 characters), enter town name in the field below, click "WYSZUKAJ" (Search).
^abcdef"Gniezno".Encyklopedia PWN (in Polish). Retrieved28 February 2020.
^abcNeil Wilson; Tom Parkinson; Richard Watkins (2005).Poland(Google Books). Lonely Planet. p. 339.ISBN1-74059-522-X. Retrieved26 December 2010.(in English)
^Czesław Łuczak, Kazimierz Tymieniecki,Europa, Słowiańszczyzna, Polska. 1970. p. 296.
^Brygida Kurbisówna,Studia nad Kroniką wielkopolską, Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, Poznań 1952.
^Adam Fałowski, Bogdan Sendero,Biesiada słowiańska, Universitas, Kraków 1992, p. 40.
^Kultura polski średniowiecznej XIV-XV w. pod red. B. Geremka, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Semper, Warszawa 1997, p. 651.
^Kronika wielkopolska, wstęp i tłum. K. Abgarowicz, Warszawa 1965; UNIVERSITAS, Poznań 2010,ISBN978-83-242-1275-0.
^Günther Stöckl:Die Geschichte der Slavenmission. In:Die Kirche in ihrer Geschichte – Ein Handbuch (edited by Bernd Moeller). 2nd edition, vol. 2, Göttingen 1976,ISBN3-525-52318-1, p. 91 (in German,limited online preview)
^abcdef"Historia".Urząd Miejski w Gnieźnie (in Polish). Retrieved28 February 2020.
^Gembarzewski, Bronisław (1925).Rodowody pułków polskich i oddziałów równorzędnych od r. 1717 do r. 1831 (in Polish). Warszawa: Towarzystwo Wiedzy Wojskowej. pp. 7, 29.
^25.9 wyzwolono Gniezno (on 25th 9 Gniezno was liberated)(in English)Marian B. Michalik; Eugeniusz Duraczyński (1994).Kronika powstań polskich 1794–1944. "Kronika"-Marian B. Michalik. p. 44.ISBN83-86079-02-9.
^Gembarzewski, Bronisław (1925).Rodowody pułków polskich i oddziałów równorzędnych od r. 1717 do r. 1831 (in Polish). Warszawa: Towarzystwo Wiedzy Wojskowej. p. 55.
^"Gniezno".yivoencyclopedia.org. The Yivo encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Retrieved23 October 2023.
^Olszewski, Wiesław; Jastrząb, Łukasz (2008).Lista strat Powstania Wielkopolskiego od 27.12.1918 r. do 8.03.1920 r. (in Polish). Koszalin: Wydawnictwo UczelnianePolitechniki Koszalińskiej. p. 62.
^Maliszewski, Tomasz (2012). "Dziewięćdziesięciolecie powstania uniwersytetu ludowego w Dalkach".Biuletyn Historii Wychowania (in Polish). No. 27. Poznań:Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk. p. 142.ISSN1233-2224.
^Kostkiewicz, Janina (2020). "Niemiecka polityka eksterminacji i germanizacji polskich dzieci w czasie II wojny światowej". In Kostkiewicz, Janina (ed.).Zbrodnia bez kary... Eksterminacja i cierpienie polskich dzieci pod okupacją niemiecką (1939–1945) (in Polish). Kraków:Uniwersytet Jagielloński,Biblioteka Jagiellońska. p. 60.
^Friedlander, Henry (2000).The Origins of Nazi Genocide: From Euthanasia to the Final Solution. Univ of North Carolina Press. pp. 137–9.ISBN080786160X.
^Pietrowicz, Aleksandra (2011). "Konspiracja wielkopolska 1939–1945".Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej (in Polish). No. 5–6 (126–127).IPN. p. 32.ISSN1641-9561.
^Zwiernik, Przemysław (2011). "Opór społeczny i opozycja w epoce Gierka".Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej (in Polish). No. 5–6 (126–127).IPN. p. 131.ISSN1641-9561.
Gniezno homepage (English and German version also available), The official site of the Gniezno City's Administration, from which much of the above was taken and adapted.
Gniezno Poviat The official site of theGniezno County, (English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Russian version also available)
The list includes the 107 urban municipalities governed by acity mayor (prezydent miasta) instead of a town mayor (burmistrz) ·Cities with powiat rights are initalics · Voivodeship cities are inbold
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