Kruszyna 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 to ...

in Częstochowa County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern 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 Kruszyna __NOTOC__ Gmina Kruszyna is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Częstochowa County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the village of Kruszyna, which lies approximately north-east of Częstochowa and north of the reg ...

. It lies approximately north-east of

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...

and north of the regional capital

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

History

Kruszyna is one of the oldest villages of the region. It was first mentioned in 1337, as the seat of a Roman Catholic parish, with its own church. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the village belonged to the noble

Koniecpolski family The House of Koniecpolski (plural: Koniecpolscy) is the name of the Polish noble family. History The Koniecpolski was a magnate family. The family appears in the historical annals beginning in the 15th century. The family originated from the v ...

. In the early 17th century, it was property of Aleksandra Koniecpolska and her husband Kasper Doenhoff, a courtier of King Zygmunt III Waza, and

Voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

Dorpat Voivodeship The Dorpat Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo dorpackie or ''województwo derpskie'') was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Duchy of Livonia, part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1598 until the Swedish conque ...

. After annexation of northern Livonia by the Swedish Empire (1620s), Doenhoff left his native province and settled in Kruszyna. He was one of favourite courtiers of the king, who named him Voivode of

Sieradz Voivodeship Sieradz Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by Łódź Voivodeship. A Voivodeship is an area administered by a voivode (Governor), and the Sieradz Voivodeshi ...

and

Starosta The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. Th ...

of both Wieluń and

Radomsko Radomsko is a city in southern Poland with 44,700 inhabitants (2021). It is situated on the Radomka river in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been in Piotrków Trybunalski Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the county seat ...

. In 1630, Kasper Doenhoff commissioned Italian architect Tomasz Poncino to build a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

palace, in which in 1633, the wedding of Denhoff's daughter took place. King Władysław IV Vasa visited Kruszyna several times. Furthermore, in February 1670, wedding reception of King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki and his wife

Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Poland Eleonore Maria Josefa of Austria (21 May 1653 – 17 December 1697) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania by marriage to King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, and subsequently Duchess of Lorraine by her second marriage to Charles ...

took place at the Kruszyna Palace. Later on, the palace passed to the

Lubomirski The House of Lubomirski is a Polish princely family. The Lubomirski family's coat of arms is the Drużyna coat of arms, which is similar to the Szreniawa coat of arms but without a cross. Origin and the coat of arms The Lubomirski fa ...

family. In the 19th century, the complex was remodelled. In 1827, the village had a population of 603. On September 4, 1939, during the German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

which started

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, German troops carried out a massacre of dozens of

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 ...

in the village (see ''

Nazi crimes against the Polish nation Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occupation of Poland in World War II, consisted of the murder of ...

''). After World War II, the palace for a while housed an orphanage. By 1980, it was abandoned and neglected, together with adjacent park.

References

{{Authority control Villages in Częstochowa County Nazi war crimes in Poland