Pleszew | |
|---|---|
 Town hall | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Pleszew | |
| Coordinates:51°53′N17°47′E / 51.883°N 17.783°E /51.883; 17.783 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship | Greater Poland |
| County | Pleszew |
| Gmina | Pleszew |
| Town rights | 1283 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Arkadiusz Ptak |
| Area | |
• Total | 13.19 km2 (5.09 sq mi) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 16,811 |
| • Density | 1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 63-300 |
| Area code | +48 62 |
| Car plates | PPL |
| Climate | Dfb |
| Website | https://pleszew.pl/ |
Pleszew ([ˈplɛʂɛf]) is a town in centralPoland, inGreater Poland Voivodeship, about 90 km southeast ofPoznań.[1] It is the capital ofPleszew County. The town's population is 16,811 (2022). The town is claimed to be a15-minute city.[2]
The oldest permanent human settlements in the present-day Pleszew and its surroundings date back to the 9th century BC.[3] The oldest known mention of Pleszew, already as a town, comes from a 1283 document of - in the document of Duke and future King of PolandPrzemysł II of thePiast dynasty.[3] In the following centuries it was aprivate town owned byPolish nobility, located in theKalisz Voivodeship in theGreater Poland Province of thePolish Crown. KingJohn I Albert in theprivilege of 1493 permitted the organization of two weekly markets and two annualfairs.[3] In the early 16th century, there were nine craftguilds in the town.[3] Pleszew was a local center ofReformation. In the 18th century, one of two main routes connectingWarsaw andDresden ran through Pleszew and KingsAugustus II the Strong andAugustus III of Poland traveled that route numerous times.[4] The 1st Polish Infantry Regiment was stationed in the town in 1792 before it was relocated toParczew.[5]
During theSecond Partition of Poland, in 1793, Pleszew was annexed byPrussia.[3] After the successfulGreater Poland uprising of 1806, it was regained by Poles and included within the short-livedDuchy of Warsaw, before it was re-annexed by Prussia in 1815. It was an important center of the unsuccessful PolishGreater Poland uprising (1848).[3] In the following decades, to resistGermanisation,Poles founded various organizations, including agricultural, industrial and educational societies, the Cooperative Bank (Bank Spółdzielczy), a printing house,scout troops and a local branch of the"Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society.[3] In the second half of the 19th century, new industrial factories were established.[3]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1910 | 8,049 | — |
| 1921 | 7,638 | −5.1% |
| 1931 | 8,591 | +12.5% |
| 1939 | 9,994 | +16.3% |
| 1950 | 8,436 | −15.6% |
| 1960 | 11,035 | +30.8% |
| 2010 | 17,530 | +58.9% |
| Source:[6][7][8] | ||
In October 1918, a few weeks before Poland regained independence, local Poles began preparations for an uprising, which aim was to reintegrate the town along with the region ofGreater Poland with soon to be reborn Poland.[9] Many inhabitants took part in theGreater Poland uprising (1918–19), and seven inhabitants were alsokilled in thePolish–Soviet War in 1919–1920.[9] The Poles took control of the town in January 1919. Within the interwarSecond Polish Republic the local insurgent unit was transformed into a full-fledged infantry regiment of the Polish Army.[9] The 70th Infantry Regiment of the Polish Army was stationed in Pleszew since 1921.[10]
On the day of the Germaninvasion of Poland (World War II), on September 1, 1939, Germany unsuccessfully air raided Polish military barracks, killing 13 civilians instead.[3]Wehrmacht troops entered the town a week later. During theGerman occupation of Poland, the Polish population was subject to mass arrests, executions andexpulsions. Shortly after capturing the town, the Germans established a prison for Polish people in the town.[11] On September 28, 1939, the Germanslooted the local museum.[12] During theIntelligenzaktion, in October 1939, the Germans executed 7 Poles in the Boreczek forest.[13] Another 68 Poles were killed in the prison, and 8 Poles were murdered at theGestapo station.[14] Nevertheless, thePolish resistance movement in Pleszew was organized already in October 1939.[3]Polish underground press issued inOstrów Wielkopolski was distributed in Pleszew, and local Polish teachers organizedsecret Polish schooling.[15] In 1940, the Germansexpelled 155 Poles, mostly owners of shops and workshops with entire families, and their enterprises were then handed over toGerman colonists as part of theLebensraum policy.[16] Poles expelled from other villages in the region were sent asslave labour to new German colonists in the town's vicinity,[17] and there was also a forced labour camp in the town in 1944–1945.[18] The Germans also destroyed the gravestone of Polish insurgents fallen in 1919.[9] Shortly before retreating, on January 21, 1945, the Germans carried out a massacre of Poles in the town.[19] The town was captured by theSoviets in January 1945, and was soon restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which then stayed in power until theFall of Communism in the 1980s. Some resistance members were persecuted by the communists in the following years.[20] The devastated gravestone of Polish insurgents was rebuilt in 1947.[9]
In August 1980, workers of the local automatic lathe factory joined the nationwide anti-communist strikes,[21] which led to the foundation of the "Solidarity" organization.
In 1983 the 700th anniversary of Pleszew was celebrated,[3] in reference to the first known historical mention of the town in 1283.
Among the historic sights of Pleszew are the Market Square (Rynek) with the Town Hall (Ratusz), theRegional Museum [pl], the churches of Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, of Saint Florian and of the Holy Savior, and other historic buildings, including headquarters of historic organizations, townhouses and schools. There also numerous memorials at the sites of killings of Poles carried out by the Germans during theoccupation of Poland.
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Pleszew istwinned with:
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