Swarzędz | |
|---|---|
 Town Hall in Swarzędz | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
| Motto: Dobrze trafiłeś / Good choice | |
  Swarzędz | |
| Coordinates:52°24′30″N17°4′17″E / 52.40833°N 17.07139°E /52.40833; 17.07139 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship | Greater Poland |
| County | Poznań |
| Gmina | Swarzędz |
| Established | 14th century |
| Town rights | 1638 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Marian Szkudlarek |
| Area | |
• Total | 8.16 km2 (3.15 sq mi) |
| Population (2006) | |
• Total | 29,894 |
| • Density | 3,660/km2 (9,490/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 62-020 |
| Area code | +48 61 |
| Car plates | PZ |
| Climate | Cfb |
| Website | http://www.swarzedz.pl |
Swarzędz[ˈsfaʐɛnt͡s] (German:Schwersenz) is a town in west-centralPoland with 29,766 inhabitants.[1] It is the seat of a mixed urban-rural commune calledGmina Swarzędz with 40,166 inhabitants. The town is situated in thePoznań metropolitan area, in theGreater Poland Voivodeship.
The town lies directly on the route E92 and includes an aerosport facility run by the Poznań flying club, Wanda Modlibiowska. There are various companies based in the town, in particular carpentry and upholstering businesses. In addition a bicycle path from Poznań runs through theDębiniec nature reserve and finally through the town toPobiedziska.
Theetymology of Swarzędz is often taken as a proof for the area's importance in thepre-Christian Slavic cult ofSvarog.
The documentary evidence for a settlement on the site of modern-day Swarzędz comes from 1366. In 1377 there is mention of a rectory in the settlement.
Due to its advantageous location on the route fromPoznań toMasovia the town developed well. The settlement was formerly in private ownership. Originally the property of the Łodzianoble family, from the 15th century it passed to the Górka noble family ofŁodzia coat of arms. In 1638 the townGrzymałowo, named after theGrzymała coat of arms of its founder, voivode of KaliszZygmunt Grudziński, was founded at the site of the village, however, it remained known under the old name Swarzędz.[2] Thetown rights were confirmed by Polish KingWładysław IV Vasa. Combined Łodzia and Grzymała coats of arms are the coat of arms of Swarzędz since. Administratively it was located in thePoznań Voivodeship in theGreater Poland Province. In the 17th century,guilds for tradesmen andcraftsmen were formed.
.jpg)
In 1793 during theSecond Partition of Poland the town of some 2,508 inhabitants was annexed byPrussia. In 1798, 448 craftsmen lived in the town. Of these, 70 were cloth makers and 36 weavers. After the successfulGreater Poland uprising of 1806, it was regained by Poles and included within the short-livedDuchy of Warsaw. After the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it was re-annexed by Prussia. At the end of the 19th centurycarpentry flourished. In 1887 the town was connected to therailroad from Poznań toWrześnia and thus received another important means of transport to other parts of the country, together with the road fromWarsaw to Poznań. To resistGermanisation policies, the Polish population founded various organizations, including the"Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society.[3] In 1905 local Polish industrialist Antoni Tabaka founded a carpentry workshop.[4] In 1906–1907 local Polish school children joined the strike against Germanisation, inspired by theWrześnia children strike.
Poland regained independence afterWorld War I on November 11, 1918, and two days later local Poles founded a Polish council under leadership of Tadeusz Staniewski,[5] and began preparations to rejoin Poland. In January 1919, the first volunteers set out from Swarzędz to fight in theGreater Poland Uprising, the aim of which was to reunite the region with Poland.[5] The town was soon successfully restored to Poland. In the interbellum the workshop of Antoni Tabaka grew into a large furniture factory, the first mechanized furniture factory in Poland, and its products enjoyed great popularity also abroad.[4] In 1934 town limits were expanded.[6]
DuringWorld War II, from 1939 to 1945, the town was underGerman occupation. Poles were subjected toexpulsions, carried out in late 1939 and in 1940.[7] The local furniture factory was seized by the occupiers and handed over to Germans, while its owner was expelled toWarsaw, and later also imprisoned in theMauthausen concentration camp, where he died of exhaustion in 1945.[4] Tadeusz Staniewski, mayor of Swarzędz, was imprisoned and tortured by the Germans in the infamousFort VII in Poznań and afterwards deported to theBuchenwald concentration camp, where he was killed in August 1940.[8] Stanisław Kwaśniewski, commander of the 1919 Swarzędz insurgent unit, was killed by the Germans in Fort VII.[9] From 1941 to 1943 a Nazi Germanlabour camp forJews was located in the town.
From 1975 to 1998, it was administratively located in thePoznań Voivodeship. In 1988 Swarzędz was awarded with the Commander's Cross of theOrder of Polonia Restituta, one of Poland's highest state orders.[10]
There is a railway station in Swarzędz. The town has railway connections with major Polish cities such asPoznań,Warsaw,Łódź andSzczecin.
.JPG)
The localfootball club isUnia Swarzędz [pl]. It competes in the lower leagues.
| Town and seat | | |
|---|---|---|
| Villages | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
