Wschowa | |
|---|---|
 Town hall | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Wschowa | |
| Coordinates:51°48′N16°18′E / 51.800°N 16.300°E /51.800; 16.300 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship | Lubusz |
| County | Wschowa |
| Gmina | Wschowa |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Konrad Antkowiak |
| Area | |
• Total | 8.38 km2 (3.24 sq mi) |
| Population (2019-06-30[1]) | |
• Total | 13,875 |
| • Density | 1,700/km2 (4,300/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 67-400 |
| Car plates | FWS |
| Climate | Dfb |
| National road |  |
| Voivodeship roads |   |
| Website | https://wschowa.pl |
Wschowa (pronouncedFs-hova[ˈfsxɔva],German:Fraustadt)[citation needed] is atown in theLubusz Voivodeship in westernPoland with 13,875 inhabitants (2019).[2] It is the capital ofWschowa County and a significant tourist site containing many important historical monuments.[3] It is part of the historic region ofGreater Poland. Once an importantroyal city of Poland, due to its 18th-century history, it is sometimes called the "unofficial capital of Poland".
The territory became part of the emerging Polish state under its first historic rulerMieszko I in the 10th century. Following the fragmentation of Poland, Wschowa initially formed part of theDuchy of Greater Poland, and was mentioned in theBull of Gniezno from 1136. Later on, Wschowa was a border fortress in a region disputed by the Polish dukes ofSilesia and Greater Poland. TheOld Polish nameVeschow was first mentioned in 1248, while theMiddle High German nameFrowenstat Civitas first appeared in 1290. AfterGerman colonists had established a settlement nearby, it receivedMagdeburg rights around 1250.
From the 1290s, Wschowa was part of theDuchy of Głogów, and in 1343 it was captured by KingCasimir III the Great and reunited with Greater Poland. Since then Wschowa was aroyal town of Poland[4] and county seat within thePoznań Voivodeship in theGreater Poland Province.[5] In 1345, the town was attacked by the dukes of Głogów. In 1365, the wedding of King Casimir III andHedwig of Żagań was held in Wschowa. The coat of arms contains the double cross of theJagiellonian dynasty. A municipal school was founded in 1404. In 1456, aBernardines monastery was established.
In 1512, a conference took place in Wschowa with the participation of representatives of Poland,Bohemia,Saxony, theDuchy of Pomerania and large Polish cities such asKraków,Poznań andGdańsk over an ongoing trade conflict with the city ofWrocław.[6]
Since the mid-16th century, Wschowa was one of the centres of theProtestant Reformation in Poland. In the early 17th century, a newLatin school was founded. Wschowa was a retreat for religious refugees from adjacent Lower Silesia during theThirty Years' War. In the 1630s,starostHieronim Radomicki [pl] founded the New Town for the refugees to the north of Wschowa. In the 17th century,Italian Niccolo Bacaralli established in Wschowa the first paint manufacture in Poland.[4]
In the 18th century kingsAugustus II the Strong andAugustus III of Poland often resided in Wschowa and the town was even called the "unofficial capital of Poland".[4] The Royal Castle hosted meetings of Polish kings with foreign delegations and even sessions of the Senate of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were held in Wschowa.[4] In 1737 aconcordat between theHoly See and Poland was signed in Wschowa.
TheBattle of Fraustadt occurred on February 3, 1706, during theGreat Northern War, whenSwedish forces defeated a joint army of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,Saxony andRussia. The 6th Polish Infantry Regiment was stationed in the town.[7]
In theSecond Partition of Poland in 1793, the town was annexed by theKingdom of Prussia and incorporated into the province ofSouth Prussia. After the successfulGreater Poland uprising of 1806, it was regained by Poles and included within theDuchy of Warsaw, according to theTreaty of Tilsit.Jakob Walter, a Napoleonic soldier claimed to have passed through the town in 1806. He claims the town was used as a garrison and had 99 windmills.[8]
Re-annexed by Prussia and made part of the initially semi-autonomousGrand Duchy of Posen (Poznań) from 1815 on, the town was again incorporated into the PrussianProvince of Posen in 1848. In 1890, the town had a population of 6,873, of which 500 (7.3%) werePoles.[9] In 1894, a secret Polish student organization named after poetTomasz Zan was established, whose activities allowed the Polish language to survive in the town, despite the enforced policy ofGermanization.[10]
According to the 1919Treaty of Versailles, Fraustadt remained a part ofGermany as it had a majority of German citizens[11] and formed the southernmost district of thePosen-West Prussia border province till 1 October 1938, when the province was dissolved. It became a district center in theProvince of Silesia till 1941, from 1941 to 1945 in theProvince of Lower Silesia.
Fraustadt was one of the few areas within pre-war Germanyattacked by thePolish military during the Germaninvasion of Poland at the start ofWorld War II in 1939. The town was occupied by theRed Army in February 1945. After the capitulation of Germany, remaining inhabitants wereexpelled in accordance with thePotsdam Agreement. The town became again part of Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the 1980s. Initially the town was part of Okręg III (comprising presentWest Pomeranian andLubusz provinces) between 1945 and 1946. German monuments were removed from the town by the new authorities, including the Protestant cemetery. Also, in 1968, the remains of the former German-Jewish cemetery were destroyed.[11]
Later, Wschowa was a county (powiat) center inPoznan Voivodeship between 1946 and 1950, then inZielona Gora Voivodeship between 1950 and 1975. It was finally a commune (gmina) center inLeszno Voivodeship between 1975 and 1999 before the creation of Lubusz province. It became again a county center after 24 years.
Wschowa hosted the2010 edition of thePolish Sidecarcross Grand Prix.[12]
Seetwin towns of Gmina Wschowa.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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