Kaława (german: Kalau) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in the administrative district of

Gmina Międzyrzecz __NOTOC__ Gmina Międzyrzecz is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Międzyrzecz County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. Its seat is the town of Międzyrzecz, which lies approximately southeast of Gorzów Wielkopolski and n ...

, within

Międzyrzecz County __NOTOC__ Międzyrzecz County ( pl, Powiat międzyrzecki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lubusz Voivodeship, western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ...

Lubusz Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship, or Lubuskie Province ( pl, województwo lubuskie ), is a voivodeship (province) in western Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra Voivodeships, pursuant to the Po ...

, in western Poland.

Geography

The village lies approximately south-west of

Międzyrzecz Międzyrzecz (; la, Meserici, german: link=no, Meseritz) is a town in western Poland, on the Obra and Paklica river, with 17,667 inhabitants (2020). The capital of Gmina Międzyrzecz and Międzyrzecz County. Since the Local Government Reorganiz ...

, south-east of Gorzów Wielkopolski, and north of Zielona Góra. It is located on National road 3, a component of

European route E65 European route E65 is a north-south Class-A European route that begins in Malmö, Sweden and ends in Chania, Greece. The road is about in length. Route * **: Malmö ( ) – Ystad *Gap (Baltic Sea) ** Ystad - Świnoujście * **: Świnou ...

, which today is upgraded as the Expressway S3 bypass road.

History

The village in Greater Poland near the border with

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

was mentioned in 1257 as a property of the Cistercian abbey of

Gościkowo Gościkowo (), formerly Paradyż (german: Paradies), is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Świebodzin, within Świebodzin County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It lies approximately north of Świebodzin, north of Zielo ...

. The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

parish church was plundered by the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

troops which Field Marshal

Arvid Wittenberg Arvid Wittenberg or Arvid Wirtenberg von Debern (1606 – 7 September 1657), Swedish count, field marshal and privy councillor. Born in Porvoo, Finland, died in prison in Zamość, Poland, 7 September 1657. Arvid Wittenberg preferred call h ...

led into

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 populou ...

during the Second Northern War in 1655 and afterwards was rebuilt in a Baroque style. In the 1793

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the Polish–Russian W ...

the whole region of Greater Poland was annexed by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

and Kalau was incorporated into

Kreis Meseritz Kreis Meseritz (''Landkreis Meseritz'' from 1939; pl, Powiat międzyrzecki) was a district in Prussia, first in the southern administrative Region of Posen within the Grand Duchy of Posen (till 1848), then the Province of Posen (till 1920), ...

in 1818. In the 1930s the central parts of the German ''

Festungsfront Oder-Warthe-Bogen The Festungsfront Oder-Warthe-Bogen (Fortified Front Oder-Warthe-Bogen), also called the Festung im Oder-Warthe-Bogen or Ostwall (East Wall), and in Polish the Międzyrzecki Rejon Umocniony, MRU (Międzyrzecz Fortification Region), was a fortifie ...

'' military defence (''Werkgruppe Scharnhorst'') were laid out west of the village, they were overcome by Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

forces during the Vistula–Oder Offensive on 29/30 January 1945. After the implementation of the

Oder–Neisse line The Oder–Neisse line (german: Oder-Neiße-Grenze, pl, granica na Odrze i Nysie Łużyckiej) is the basis of most of the international border between Germany and Poland from 1990. It runs mainly along the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers a ...

, Kaława became part of the People's Republic of Poland and the remaining German population was expelled. From 1975–98 the village belonged to

Gorzów Voivodeship Gorzów Wielkopolski Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland between 1975 and 1998 when it was superseded by Lubusz Voivodeship. Its capital city was Gorzów Wielkopolski. Major cities and towns (popul ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalawa Villages in Międzyrzecz County