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Brzeg Dolny (german: Dyhernfurth) is a town in
Wołów County __NOTOC__ Wołów County (, pl, powiat wołowski ) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local go ...
,
Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province, in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałbrz ...
in south-western
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. It is located north-west of
Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
on the
Oder River The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...
, and is the site of a large chemical plant complex, PCC Rokita SA. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 12,395. It is part of the
Wrocław metropolitan area The Wrocław metropolitan area is a monocentric agglomeration in the south-western part of Poland, in the Lower Silesian Voivodship, consisting of the city of Wrocław (a global Gamma-level metropolis) and its satellite towns. The population livin ...
.


History

The oldest Slavic settlements in present-day Brzeg Dolny date back to the
early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
. In the 10th century the area became part of the emerging Polish state under its first ruler
Mieszko I of Poland Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was the first ruler of Poland and the founder of the first independent Polish state, the Duchy of Poland. His reign stretched from 960 to his death and he was a member of the Piast dynasty, a son of Siemomysł and ...
. Brzeg Dolny was first mentioned under the
Old Polish The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Old ...
name ''Brzege'' in a 1353 deed as a part of the
Duchy of Wrocław The Duchy of Silesia ( pl, Księstwo śląskie, german: Herzogtum Schlesien, cs, Slezské knížectví) with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Pia ...
, then within the Bohemian (Czech) Crown Lands. The Warzyń district is older, mentioned as a village in a 1261 document of Duke
Henry III the White Henry III the White ( pl, Henryk III Biały) ( – 3 December 1266), a member of the Silesian Piasts, was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1248 until his death, as co-ruler with his brother Władysław. Life He was the third son of the Polish hi ...
when the region was still part of medieval
Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule i ...
-ruled
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. There was a ferry crossing the Oder River in Brzeg Dolny. In 1660, it was bought by the Austrian chancellor Baron
George Abraham von Dyhrn George Abraham von Dyhrn, ''1st Baron of Dyhrn'' (1620–1671), was an Austrian Chancellor in the province of Silesia, politician and a landowner in the Habsburg monarchy. The city of Dyhrnfurth (nowadays Brzeg Dolny in Poland) was founded by ...
(1620–1671) of the Dyhrn family. In 1663, it was officially renamed from its Polish name to ''Dyhernfurth'', after the Dyhrn family, and was granted
town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
by Emperor
Leopold I of Habsburg Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...
. The baron made efforts to expand the new town, opening a Catholic school for boys and building a chapel under the patronage of St. Hedwig. The year 1668 saw the construction of a wooden pipe to draw water directly from the river into town.
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
also settled in Brzeg Dolny in the 17th century. Their arrival was connected to the printing house of Shabbatai Bass; the press personnel consisted of
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
and
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...
Jews from
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, Cracow and Wodzisław. By 1694 the number of the printing house personnel consisted of 48 people in 13 Jewish families. From 1772 onward Bass’ printing house published the ''Dyhernfurther Privilegierte Zeitung'', which was written in the
German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...
but printed using the
Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet ( he, wikt:אלפבית, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew languag ...
. The Dyhrns had built a palace for their residence, which stayed in their possession until the early 1780s, when Count Wilhelm von Dyhrn (1749–1813) sold it to the minister of
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
Karl Georg von Hoym (1739-1807), who had married Baroness Antoinette Louise von Dyhrn und Schönau (1745–1820). The new owners subsequently modernized the Baroque palace and the adjoining park according to the plans of
Carl Gotthard Langhans Carl Gotthard Langhans (15 December 1732 – 1 October 1808) was a Prussian master builder and royal architect. His churches, palaces, grand houses, interiors, city gates and theatres in Silesia (now Poland), Berlin, Potsdam and elsewhere bel ...
. Langhans also directed the construction of a large neo-classical pavilion perpendicular to the central structure, which became known as the “Little Palace.” Following these changes, the grand complex remained much the same until 1849, when it passed into the hands of Tony von Lazareff. She had it refashioned to resemble a Renaissance château overlooking the Loire. The river bank garden was also given Renaissance character. In 1742, after the
First Silesian War The First Silesian War (german: Erster Schlesischer Krieg, links=no) was a war between Prussia and Austria that lasted from 1740 to 1742 and resulted in Prussia's seizing most of the region of Silesia (now in south-western Poland) from Austria. T ...
, the duchy became part of
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
and remained in Prusso-German possession until 1945. In 1860, the first sisters of Charity of St. Charles Borromeo came to Dyhernfurth. In close proximity to the Chapel of St. Hedwig, the nuns established a small convent and a hospital, which would eventually expand into the town hospital of present day. In 1834 the printing house published its last book. After it formally closed in 1840, the Jewish community rapidly diminished as printers went elsewhere for work; by 1885 there were only 35 Jews left in the town. In 1927 the synagogue was transformed into a fire station, in 1936 the last burial was performed at the Jewish cemetery, and in November 1938, the cemetery was demolished.


World War II

During World War II, as part of the ''Grün 3'' program, a plant for the manufacture of the nerve agent tabun was established in Dyhernfurth, producing the nerve agent under the codename ''Trilon-83''. Run by the ''Anorgana GmbH'', a branch of
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, ...
, the plant began production in 1942. The Germans utilized the
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 ...
of prisoners of
Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...
to produce the chemical weapons. Two subcamps of the
Gross-Rosen concentration camp , known for = , location = , built by = , operated by = , commandant = , original use = , construction = , in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945 , gas cham ...
– Dyhernfurth I and Dyhernfurth II – were established for this purpose. While the Dyhernfurth I inmates were forced to produce the gas and fill bombs and shells with it, the prisoners of the second camp were primarily forced to work on enlarging the plant. The plant initially produced shells and aerial bombs using a 95:5 mix of tabun and
chlorobenzene Chlorobenzene is an aromatic organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5Cl. This colorless, flammable liquid is a common solvent and a widely used intermediate in the manufacture of other chemicals. Uses Historical The major use of chlorob ...
, designated "Variant A" before switching in the latter half of the war to "Variant B," an 80:20 mix of tabun and chlorobenzene designed to make the mixture disperse more easily. Large scale manufacturing of the agent resulted in problems with the product's degradation over time and only around 12,500 tons of material were manufactured before the plant was overrun by the advancing
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
forces. The Soviets, however, did not capture any tabun at Dyhernfurth. Although they occupied the area of the factory, a German raid was organized by
Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...
Max Sachsenheimer. A German unit with roughly the strength of a battalion crossed the Oder River early on February 5, 1945, seized the factory, and deployed an anti-tank screen. On that day, the Germans destroyed documentation and evidence of the camp's atrocities and pumped tabun into the Oder River, while the screening force resisted two small-scale Soviet counter-attacks. In the evening of February 5, the German force pulled back behind the Oder River.Duffy, pp. 129-132. Subsequently, the Soviet government had the plant dismantled and taken back to Russia. In January 1945, as the Soviets launched their massive offensive into eastern Germany, Count Thassilo von Saurma-Hoym, a descendant of Karl Georg von Hoym, left the Dyhernfurth palace along with his family and fled westward. In February, the palace was set on fire, probably by Soviet soldiers. When the town was handed over to Poland, its German population was expelled, in accordance to the
Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement (german: Potsdamer Abkommen) was the agreement between three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union on 1 August 1945. A product of the Potsdam Conference, it concerned th ...
. It was repopulated by
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
, expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, particularly from Stanisławów and
Sniatyn Sniatyn ( uk, Сня́тин, translit=Sniatyn; pl, Śniatyn; ro, Sneatîn, older ; yi, שניאַטין) is a town located in Kolomyia Raion of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, in western Ukraine along the Prut river. It is located at around . Sniaty ...
.


Post-war period

After the war the original Polish name ''Brzeg'' was restored, and the adjective ''Dolny'' was added to distinguish it from the more populous town of
Brzeg Brzeg (; Latin: ''Alta Ripa'', German: ''Brieg'', Silesian German: ''Brigg'', , ) is a town in southwestern Poland with 34,778 inhabitants (December 2021) and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the ...
. Considerable effort was required to adapt the contaminated and badly damaged factory buildings to production. It was not until 1946 that the plant started producing
Sodium hypochlorite Sodium hypochlorite (commonly known in a dilute solution as bleach) is an Inorganic chemistry, inorganic chemical compound with the chemical formula, formula NaOCl (or NaClO), comprising a sodium cation () and a hypochlorite anion (or ). It may ...
. The new plant was named ''Rokita'' in June 1947. The historic palace was rebuilt in the 1950s, albeit with its shape altered. The adjoining pavilion has, however, managed to survive unchanged. Today, the complex functions as a cultural center and the seat of municipal government. A new bridge over the Oder river was built in 2013.


Town's layout

Brzeg Dolny is divided into three main residential neighbourhoods: Stary Brzeg (the Old Brzeg Dolny) by the bank of the Oder, Osiedle Warzyń to the west, and Osiedle Fabryczne to the north-east. The Rokita Chemical Plant stretches east of the town. In the center of Brzeg Dolny is a large (67 hectare) Park Miejski formerly part of the palace complex. The palace faces the southern side of the park, to which it connects via a short walkway (''Al. Pałacowa'') leading directly to the largest of the three ponds found within the park. On the park's west side, at ''Aleje Jerozolimskie'' (one of the town's main streets), stands the Chapel of St. Hedwig, just north of which is the Convent of the Sisters of Charity of St. Charles Borromeo. Extending north from the convent (to which it is connected) is the town hospital; north of it, in turn, and still along ''Aleje Jerozolimskie'' is a large clinic (''Przychodnia Rejonowo-Specjalistyczna''). The town has two additional clinics (in ''Osiedle Warzyń'' and ''Osiedle Fabryczne'') and a medical center (in ''Osiedle Warzyń''). In ''Osiedle Warzyń'' can be found the KHS complex, which features a hotel and a variety of athletic facilities, including swimming pools and tennis courts. Through the town - between ''Osiedle Warzyń'' and ''Osiedle Fabryczne'' - runs a railway, with a (PKP) train station located on the eastern side of the park toward the south and ''Stary Brzeg''.


Religion

Brzeg Dolny has three Roman Catholic parishes: the Parish of Our Lady of the Scapular (''Parafia Matki Bożej Szkaplerznej''), the Parish of Christ the King (''Parafia Chrystusa Króla''), and the Parish of Our Lady Queen of Poland (''Parafia Matki Bożej Królowej Polski''). In addition to two historic churches and chapels, there are two modern parish churches in the town.


Notable people

*Tadeusz Drozda (born 1949), satirist and comic *
Aleksandra Kurzak Aleksandra Kurzak (Polish pronunciation: ; born 7 August 1977) is a Polish operatic soprano who has an international career primarily in Europe and the United States. In her earlier career she was a specialist in lyric and coloratura soprano role ...
(born 1977), operatic soprano * Cezary Żak (born 1961), actor


Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Brzeg Dolny.


References


Bibliography

* Duffy, Christopher. "Red Storm on the Reich", New York: Atheneum, 1991. .


External links


Brzeg Dolny Home Page

Jewish Community in Brzeg Dolny
on Virtual Shtetl
Google Maps link

Jewish Encyclopedia
{{Authority control Cities in Silesia Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Wołów County Diernfurt Holocaust locations in Poland