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Drohobych ( uk, Дрого́бич, ; pl, Drohobycz; yi, דראָהאָביטש;) is a
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...
of regional significance in
Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast ( uk, Льві́вська о́бласть, translit=Lvivska oblast, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna ( uk, Льві́вщина, ), ). The name of each oblast is a relational adjective—in English translating to a noun adjunct w ...
,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. In 1939–1941 and 1944–1959 it was the center of Drohobych Oblast. The city was founded at the end of eleventh century as an important trading post and transport node between Kyiv Rus' and the lands to the West of Rus'. After extinction of the local Ruthenian dynasty and subsequent incorporation of the
Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia , conventional_long_name = Principality of Galicia–VolhyniaKingdom of Galicia–Volhynia , common_name = Galicia–Volhynia , status = Vassal state of the Golden Horde (from 1246) , era = Middle Ages , year_start = 1199 , year_end = 1349 , ...
into the
Polish Kingdom The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exist ...
by 1349, from the fifteenth century the city was developing as a mercantile and saltworks centre. Drohobych became part of the Habsburg Empire in 1772 after the first partition of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the mid-nineteenth century it became Europe's largest oil extraction center, which significantly contributed to its rapid development. In the renascent, interwar Poland it was the center of a county within the Lwów Voivodeship. In the outcome of World War II the city was incorporated into the Ukrainian part of the Soviet Union, which in 1991 became the independent
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
. The city was the birthplace of such well-known personalities like Elisabeth Bergner, Yuriy Drohobych (Kotermak), Ivan Franko and Bruno Schulz. The city has several oil refineries. The Drohobych saltworks are considered to be the oldest in Europe. The estimated population of the city is


Administrative status

As the
administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, L ...
of Drohobych Raion (
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
), Drohobych itself is a city of oblast significance, subordinate directly to the ''oblast'' authorities, rather than to the ''raion'' administration located in the city itself.


History

While there are only legendary accounts of it, Drohobych probably existed in the
Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
period. According to a legend, there was a settlement, called ''Bych'', of
salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...
-traders. When Bych was destroyed in a
Cumanian The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many sough ...
raid, survivors rebuilt the settlement in a nearby location under its current name which means a ''Second Bych''. In the time of Kievan Rus', the Tustan fortress was built near Drohobych. However, scholars perceive this legend with skepticism, pointing out that Drohobych is a Polish pronunciation of Dorogobuzh, a common East Slavic toponym applied to three different towns in Kievan Rus'. The city was first mentioned in 1387 in the municipal records of Lviv, in connection with a man named Martin (or Marcin) of ''Drohobych''. Furthermore, the same chronicler's ''List of all Ruthenian cities, the farther and the near ones''А СЕ ИМЕНА ГРАДОМЪ ВСЂМЪ РУССКЫМЪ, ДАЛНИМЪ И БЛИЖНИМЪ
in PSRL, Т. VII. Летопись по Воскресенскому списку. — СПб, 1856. — с. 240–41.
in
Voskresensky Chronicle Voskresensky (russian: Воскресенский; masculine), Voskresenskaya (; feminine), or Voskresenskoye (; neuter) may refer to: People *Alexander Voskresensky (1809–1880), Russian chemist *Vasily Voskresensky (1880–1951), Russian ballet ...
(dated 1377–82) mentions "Другабець" ''(Druhabets')'' among other cities in Volhynia that existed at the same time such as Холмъ ('' Kholm''), Лвовъ Великій ('' Lviv the Great''). In 1392 Polish king Vladislav II ordered the construction of the first
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
municipal
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activitie ...
(Polish: ''Kosciół farny''), using the foundations of older Ruthenian buildings. In the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ...
, the city was the center of large rural starostvo (county within the Ruthenian Voivodeship). Drohobych received
Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...
some time in the 15th century (sources differ as to the exact year, some giving 1422 or 1460, or 1496 but in 1506 the rights were confirmed by King Alexander the Jagiellonian). The salt industry was significant in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. From the early seventeenth century, a
Ukrainian Catholic Ukrainian Catholic Church may refer to: * Latin Church in Ukraine * Greek Catholic Churches (Eastern Catholic communities of the Byzantine Rite, centered in Ukraine, in communion with the Church of Rome) ** Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church **Ukrai ...
brotherhood existed in the city. In 1648, during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the Cossacks stormed the city and its cathedral. Most of the local Poles, as well as the Greek Catholics and the Jews, were murdered at the time, while some managed to survive in the Bell tower not taken in the raid. The 1772 partition of Poland gave the city to the Habsburg monarchy. In the 19th century, significant oil resources were discovered in the area, making the city an important center of the oil and natural gas industries. After the
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, the area became part of the short-lived independent West Ukrainian People's Republic (''Zakhidnoukrayins’ka Narodna Respublika''; ZUNR). The ZUNR was taken over by the
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...
in the event of
Polish–Ukrainian War The Polish–Ukrainian War, from November 1918 to July 1919, was a conflict between the Second Polish Republic and Ukrainian forces (both the West Ukrainian People's Republic and Ukrainian People's Republic). The conflict had its roots in eth ...
and Drohobych became part of the Lwów Voivodeship in 1919. In 1928 the still extant Ukrainian private gymnasium (academically oriented secondary school) opened in the center of the city. The population reached some 40,000 in the late 1920s, and its oil refinery at Polmin became one of the biggest in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
, employing 800 people. Numerous visitors came there to view the wooden Greek Catholic churches, among them the Church of St. Yur, which was regarded as the most beautiful such construction in the Second Polish Republic, with frescoes from 1691. Drohobych was also a major sports center (see: Junak Drohobycz). In September 1939, as a result of German and Soviet invasion of Poland the city was annexed to Soviet Ukraine when the territory of the interwar Poland was divided between the
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and the
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
according to the Ribbentrop-Molotov agreement. After the invasion Nazi Germany wanted to incorporate the city into its General Government as the result of its oil fields, but the USSR refused and annexed it. In Soviet Ukraine, Drohobych became the center of the Drohobych Oblast (
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
). Its local Polish
boy scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are t ...
created the White Couriers organization, which in late 1939 and early 1940 smuggled hundreds of people from the Soviet Union to
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...
, across the Soviet-Hungarian border in the Carpathian Mountains. In early July 1941, during the first weeks of the Nazi invasion of the USSR, the city was occupied by Nazi Germany. Pre-war Drohobych had a significant Jewish community of about 15,000 people, 40 % of the total population. Immediately after the Germans entered the city, Ukrainian nationalists started a pogrom, lasting for three days, supported by the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previou ...
. During 1942 there were several selections, deportations, and murders in the streets, again led out by German troops and Ukrainian Auxiliary Police. In October 1942,
Drohobych ghetto Drohobycz Ghetto or Drohobych Ghetto was a Nazi ghetto in the city of Drohobych in Western Ukraine during World War II. The ghetto was liquidated mainly between February and November 1942, when most Jews were deported to the Belzec exterminati ...
with approximately 10,000 people imprisoned was established, also with Jews brought from neighboring localities. In June 1943, the German administration and troops liquidated the ghetto, only 800 Jews from Drohobych survived.Israel Gutman u. a. (Hrsg.): ''Enzyklopädie des Holocaust''. München und Zürich 1995, , vol. 1, p. 371. On 6 August 1944, the German occupation ended with the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
entering the city. Despite the large Jewish population prior to the war, a current resident stated that he was one of only two Jews who came back to his village to live after the war. After the war, the city remained an
oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom ...
center until the Drohobych Oblast was incorporated into the
Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast ( uk, Льві́вська о́бласть, translit=Lvivska oblast, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna ( uk, Льві́вщина, ), ). The name of each oblast is a relational adjective—in English translating to a noun adjunct w ...
in 1959. In Soviet times, Drohobych became an important industrial center of
Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austri ...
with highly developed oil-refining, machine building, woodworking, food, and light industries. Until 18 July 2020, Drohobych was designated as a city of oblast significance and belonged to
Drohobych Municipality Drohobych ( uk, Дрого́бич, ; pl, Drohobycz; yi, דראָהאָביטש;) is a city of regional significance in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban hro ...
but not to Drohobych Raion even though it was the center of the raion. As part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Lviv Oblast to seven, Drohobych Municipality was merged into Drohobych Raion.


Demographics

The population of Drohobych over the years was: *1931 – 32,300 *1959 – 42,000 *1978 – 65,998 *1989 – 77,571 *2001 – 79,119 *2010 – 78,368 *2022 – 73,682


Drohobych district

In 1931, the total population of the Drohobych district was 194,456, distributed among various languages: *Polish: 91,935 (47.3%) *Ukrainian: 79,214 (40.7%) *Yiddish: 20,484 (10.5%) In January 2007, the total population of the metropolitan area was over 103,000 inhabitants.


Climate


Economy

Industries currently based in the city include oil-refineries, chemicals, machinery,
metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sci ...
, and
food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...
.


Sights

*
St. George's Church, Drohobych St. George's Church in Drohobych is one of the oldest and best preserved timber churches of Galicia. The church is a monument of Galician wooden architecture of the late 15th – early 16th centuries, one of the best preserved and one of the bes ...
(c. 1500) *
St. Bartholomew Church, Drohobych ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...
(1392–16th century) *its bell tower, former castle tower (late 13th century and 15th century) *
Ascension Church, Drohobych Ascension or ascending may refer to: Religion * "Ascension", "Assumption", or "Translation", the belief in some religions that some individuals have Entering heaven alive, ascended into Heaven without dying first * Ascension of Jesus * Feast o ...
(late 15th century) *
Holy Cross Church, Drohobych Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
(early 16th century) * Choral Synagogue (1842–1865) *
Progressive Synagogue, Drohobych Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
*
City Hall, Drohobych A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
(1920s) *
St. Peter's and Paul's Monastery, Drohobych ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...
*
Drohobych Museum Museum Drohobychchyna (officially known as Drohobych Museum of Local Studies or The Drohobych Museum of Local Lore, commonly called the Drohobych Museum) is a museum in Drohobych, Ukraine, is a major cultural and educational centre of the Lviv ...
File:Drohobych - church.jpg, St. George's Church, 16th–17th centuries Дрогобыч. Церковь Воздвижения Честного Креста..jpg, Church of the Holy Cross, 1613–1661 File:Костел Вознесіння Господнього, вул.Т.Шевченка,1, м.Дрогобич.JPG, Brick Gothic St-Bartholomew Church (14th–16th centuries) and its bell tower File:Дрогобич - Ратуша-1.jpg, Town Hall Drohobych2.JPG, Basilian monastery of Saints Peter and Paul, 1825–1828 Pohribets.jpg, A historic building in Drohobych Drohobycz ulica stryjska 2008.jpg, Mazepy Street in Drohobych 4 Osmomysla Street, Drohobych (1).jpg, Osmomysla Street, Drohobych Палац з парком 2.jpg, Villa of Raymond Jarosz Палац з парком м. Дрогобич.JPG, Bianchi Palace Дрогобыч. Фрагмент центра города..jpg, Shevska Street, Drohobych 46-106-5003 Drohobych Park RB 18.jpg, Drohobych City Park ХІХ st. Drohobych_Synagogue2018.jpg, Until 1918, Choral Synagogue had been the central synagogue of Galicia and Lodomeria Церква Пресвятої Трійці в Дрогобичі.jpg, Holy Trinity Cathedral Дрогобыч. Перекрёсток..jpg, A historic building in Drohobych


Notable people


Politics

* Zenon Kossak, Ukrainian military and political leader (born here) * Andriy Melnyk, Ukrainian military and political leader (born near Drohobych) * David Horowitz (economist), Israeli economist and the first Governor of the Bank of Israel. * Leon Reich (1879–1929), lawyer and member of the Sejm of Poland (born here)


Arts

* Ivan Franko, Ukrainian poet and writer, born in Nahuievychi, near Drohobych * Irene Frisch, Jewish-Polish writer and memoirist * Leopold Gottlieb, Jewish-Polish painter *
Maurycy Gottlieb Maurycy Gottlieb ; 21/28 February 1856 – 17 July 1879) was a Polish realist painter of the Romantic period. Considered one of the most talented students of Jan Matejko, Gottllieb died at the age of 23. Career Gottlieb was born in Drohobycz ...
, Jewish-Polish painter * Diana Reiter, Jewish-Polish architect, victim of Holocaust * Ephraim Moses Lilien, Jewish-Zionist painter *
Alfred Schreyer Alfred Schreyer (Yiddish אַלפֿרÀעד שרייער; born 8 May 1922 in Drohobych, Ukraine died 25 April 2015 in Warsaw) was a Polish-Ukrainian fiddler and singer, a pupil of Bruno Schulz and survivor of the Holocaust. Early life Alfred Schr ...
, Jewish-Polish vocalist and violinist * Bruno Schulz, Polish-Jewish writer, graphic artist, and literary critic * Kazimierz Wierzyński, Polish poet and writer David Grunschlag, violinist, founding member and concertmaster of Israel philharmonic orchestra (1936-1959) first violinist Philadelphia Orchestra (1960-1984)


Other fields

*
Tadeusz Chciuk-Celt Tadeusz Chciuk-Celt (17 October 1916 – 10 April 2001) was a Polish "Silent-unseen" special forces fighter during World War II, later journalist, and published author. He did two parachute missions into German occupied Poland and for his braver ...
, Polish war hero * Yuriy Drohobych, first doctor of medicine in Ukraine, 1481–1482 rector of the
University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...
* Yaroslav Popovych, cyclist (born here) * Józef Schreier, Polish-Jewish mathematician * Viktor Vekselberg, Russian oligarch


Twin towns and sister cities

Drohobych is
twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...
with:


References


External links


Drohobych Info - biggest news site

Drohobych - city portal

Drohobych.com - Drohobych city administration website

Drohobych
in
Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
of Ukraine database
Drohobych the King's city

Drohobych.Net

Stories by Irene Frisch, a Drohobych-born Holocaust Survivor
i
Encyclopedia of Ukraine
of
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church ( sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's ...
, in Drohobych
Drohobych during the period of Nazism (PHOTOS)
* {{Authority control Cities in Lviv Oblast Lwów Voivodeship Ruthenian Voivodeship Shtetls Cities of regional significance in Ukraine Holocaust locations in Ukraine Populated places on the Dniester River in Ukraine