Bierawa (german: Birawa, 1936-45: Reigersfeld) is a
village in
Kędzierzyn-Koźle County,
Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the
gmina
The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...
(administrative district) called
Gmina Bierawa.
It lies approximately south-east of
Kędzierzyn-Koźle and south-east of the regional capital
Opole
Opole (; german: Oppeln ; szl, Ôpole) ;
* Silesian:
** Silesian PLS alphabet: ''Ôpole''
** Steuer's Silesian alphabet: ''Uopole''
* Silesian German: ''Uppeln''
* Czech: ''Opolí''
* Latin: ''Oppelia'', ''Oppolia'', ''Opulia'' is a city loc ...
.
The village has a population of 1,370.
History
The name of the village probably comes from the Polish verb ''brać'', which means "to take". In the
Middle Ages it was part of
Piast-ruled
Poland, and afterwards it was also part of
Bohemia (Czechia),
Prussia and
Germany. In 1936, the German administration changed the name to ''Reigersfeld'' in attempt to erase traces of Polish origin. During
World War II the Germans operated two
forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
subcamps (E711, E769) of the
Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp in the local
IG Farben
Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG (), commonly known as IG Farben (German for 'IG Dyestuffs'), was a German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Formed in 1925 from a merger of six chemical companies—BASF, ...
factory.
The village became again part of Poland after the defeat of
Nazi Germany in World War II in 1945, and its historic Polish name was restored.
Bierawa suffered from the
1997 Central European flood.
Transport
There is a train station, located on the Polish Railway Line No. 151 which connects
Kędzierzyn-Koźle and the
Polish-Czech border at
Chałupki.
Gallery
File:SM Bierawa Kościół Trójcy Świętej (2) ID 610454.jpg, Holy Trinity Church
File:X-Bierawa, křižovatka.jpg, Crossroads with the primary school on the left and the post office on the right
File:Bierawa, kaple.jpg, Chapel
File:Bierawa, stacja kolejowa (5).jpg, Train station
References
Bierawa
{{Kędzierzyn-Koźle-geo-stub