Leszno (german: Lissa, 1800–1918 ''Lissa in Posen'') is a historic city in 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 ...
, within the
Greater Poland Voivodeship
Greater Poland Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo wielkopolskie; ), also known as Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Wielkopolska Province, or Greater Poland Province, is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 ...
. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021.
Previously, it was the capital of the
Leszno Voivodeship
Leszno Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998, superseded by Greater Poland Voivodeship. Its capital city was Leszno.
Major cities and towns (population in 1995)
* Leszno (61,300)
* ...
(1975–1998) and is now the seat of
Leszno County
__NOTOC__
Leszno County ( pl, powiat leszczyński) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local gove ...
.
History
Early history
The city's unrecorded history dates to the 13th century. It was first mentioned in historical documents in 1393, when the estate was the property of a noble named Stefan Karnin-
Wieniawa. The family eventually adopted the name
Leszczyński
The House of Leszczyński ( , ; plural: Leszczyńscy, feminine form: Leszczyńska) was a prominent Polish noble family. They were magnates in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and later became royal family of Poland.
History
The Leszczyński ...
(literal meaning "of Leszno"), derived from the name of their estate, as was the custom among the
Polish nobility.
16th–18th centuries
![20160127 1250 leszno st nicolaus church 083-pah-3e-mk-a-pp-cr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/20160127_1250_leszno_st_nicolaus_church_083-pah-3e-mk-a-pp-cr.jpg)
In around 1516, a community of Protestants known as the
Unity of the Brethren Unity of the Brethren (Latin ''Unitas Fratrum'') may refer to:
*Unity of the Brethren (Czech Republic), the province of the Moravian Church in the Czech Republic
*Unity of the Brethren (Texas), a Protestant church formed in the 1800s by Czech immig ...
(''Unitas fratrum'') were expelled from the
Bohemian lands by King
Vladislaus II and settled in Leszno. They were invited by the
Leszczyński family
The House of Leszczyński ( , ; plural: Leszczyńscy, feminine form: Leszczyńska) was a prominent Poland, Polish szlachta, noble family. They were magnates in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and later became royal family of Poland.
History
...
,
imperial counts since 1473 and who had converted to
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
. The arrival of the Bohemian Protestants, in addition to weavers from nearby
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 ...
, helped the settlement to grow.
In 1547 it became a town by a privilege according to
Magdeburg Law
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 ...
granted by King
Sigismund I of Poland
Sigismund I the Old ( pl, Zygmunt I Stary, lt, Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the ...
. Leszno was a
private town
A private town is a town owned by a private person or a family.
History of Private Towns in Poland
In the history of Poland, private towns (''miasta prywatne'') were towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights, princes, etc.
...
, administratively located in the Wschowa County in the
Poznań Voivodeship
Poznań Voivodeship was the name of several former administrative regions (''województwo'', rendered as ''voivodeship'' and usually translated as "province") in Poland, centered on the city of Poznań, although the exact boundaries changed over t ...
in the
. Leszno became the largest printing center in Greater Poland thanks to the activity of the Protestant community. Their numbers grew with the inflow of refugees from Silesia,
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
, and
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The me ...
during the
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...
.
In 1631, Leszno was vested with further privileges by King
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632
N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...
, who made it equal with the most important cities of Poland such as
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
,
Gdańsk
Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
and
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. By the 17th century, the town had a renowned
Gymnasium (school), which was headed by
Jan Amos Komenský
John Amos Comenius (; cs, Jan Amos Komenský; pl, Jan Amos Komeński; german: Johann Amos Comenius; Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considere ...
(known in English as Comenius), an educator and the last bishop of the Unity of the Brethren.
Johann Heermann
Johann Heermann (11 October 158517 February 1647) was a German poet and hymnodist. He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 26 October with Philipp Nicolai and Paul Gerhardt.
Life
Heermann was born in Raudten (m ...
, a German-speaking poet, lived in Leszno from 1638 until his death in 1647. Between 1636 and 1639, the town became fortified and its area increased.
[
The era of Leszno's prosperity and cultural prominence ended during the Second Northern War, when the town was burnt down on 28 April 1656 by Swedish forces. Quickly rebuilt afterwards, it was set on fire again during the ]Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...
by Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
forces in 1707 and was ravaged by plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pe ...
in 1709.
The Leszczyński family owned the city until 1738, when King Stanislaus I Leszczynski sold it to Alexander Joseph Sulkowski following his abdication.[ One of two main routes connecting ]Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
and Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
ran through Leszno in the 18th century and Kings Augustus II the Strong
Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as K ...
and Augustus III of Poland
Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Aug ...
often traveled that route.
19th–20th centuries
In the 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 ...
in 1793, Leszno 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''. Re ...
, within which it was referred to as ''Lissa''. In 1807 it was taken by Napoleon's ''Grand Armee'' and included within the newly established but short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...
.
Following Napoleon's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, in 1815 the town was reannexed by Prussia, initially as part of the semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Posen
The Grand Duchy of Posen (german: Großherzogtum Posen; pl, Wielkie Księstwo Poznańskie) was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following the ...
. The town was subjected to Germanisation
Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationa ...
policies. Nevertheless, Polish press was issued in the town ('' Przyjaciel Ludu'') and in the 1840s, Polish historian, geographer and former officer published the ' ("Little Polish Encyclopedia"), one of the pioneering 19th-century Polish encyclopedias, in the town. In 1871 it became part of Germany, and in 1887, it became the administrative seat of the Prussian '' Kreis Lissa''.
After World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, in November 1918, Poland regained independence. Shortly after the Greater Poland Uprising of 1918–19 broke out, attempting to reintegrate Greater Poland and Leszno with Poland. The first local battles of the uprising took place in the area on December 28, 1918. Afterward the city became part of the newly established Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
under the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
, with effect from 17 January 1920. The local populace had to acquire Polish citizenship. In the interbellum, Leszno was a county seat within the Polish Poznań Voivodeship
Poznań Voivodeship was the name of several former administrative regions (''województwo'', rendered as ''voivodeship'' and usually translated as "province") in Poland, centered on the city of Poznań, although the exact boundaries changed over t ...
. In 1924, a monument dedicated to the Polish insurgents of 1918–19 was erected.[
]
World War II
During the joint German-Soviet 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 ...
in September 1939, the town was annexed by 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 incorporated into ''Reichsgau Wartheland
The ''Reichsgau Wartheland'' (initially ''Reichsgau Posen'', also: ''Warthegau'') was a Nazi German ''Reichsgau'' formed from parts of Polish territory annexed in 1939 during World War II. It comprised the region of Greater Poland and adjacent ...
''. The Germans carried out mass arrests of Poles accused of "anti-German activities". Attending church services and having private meetings in Polish households were considered suspect activities. A prison for Poles was established in the local monastery, where more than 200 people had already been imprisoned in September 1939 during the ''Intelligenzaktion
The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders which was committed against the Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) early in the ...
''. The Polish population was expelled to the '' General Government'' (German-occupied central Poland).
Most of the town's Jewish
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 ...
population (which had included such notable rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
s as Leo Baeck
Leo Baeck (23 May 1873 – 2 November 1956) was a 20th-century German rabbi, scholar, and theologian. He served as leader of Reform Judaism in his native country and internationally, and later represented all German Jews during the Nazi er ...
and Jacob of Lissa
Yaakov ben Yaakov Moshe Lorberbaum of Lissa (1760-1832) (known in English as Jacob ben Jacob Moses of Lissa, Jacob Lorberbaum or Jacob Lisser, Hebrew: יעקב בן יעקב משה מליסא) was a rabbi and posek. He is most commonly known as the ...
, as well as the writer Ludwig Kalisch) and the remaining Poles were massacred by the Nazi ''Einsatzgruppen
(, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the im ...
'', which entered the town in September 1939. A notable public execution of 20 Poles, members of the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society, former Polish insurgents of 1918–19, a local teacher, and a lawyer, was carried out in Leszno by the ''Einsatzgruppe VI'' on October 21, 1939. Poles who were initially imprisoned in Leszno were also murdered in nearby towns and villages of Poniec
Poniec (german: Punitz) is a town in western Poland, situated in the southern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The town has about 3,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of Gmina Poniec (commune) in Gostyń County.
History
Poniec dates ba ...
, Osieczna
Osieczna (german: Storchnest) is a town in Leszno County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,106 inhabitants (2007).
Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship
Leszno County
{{Leszno-geo-stub ...
, Włoszakowice
Włoszakowice is a village in Leszno County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Włoszakowice. It lies approximately north-west of Leszno and south-west of th ...
and Rydzyna
Rydzyna (pronounced , german: Reisen) is a historic town in western Poland, located in the southern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, 10 km south of Leszno, in the Leszno County, close to the main Poznań - Wrocław highway S5.
The ...
. Poles from Leszno were also among the victims of the large Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...
committed by the Russians in April–May 1940.
Already in late 1939, the Germans expelled over 1,000 Poles, including families of Poles murdered in various massacres, in addition also teachers, local officials, activists, former insurgents, and owners of shops and workshops, which were then handed over to German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
colonists as part of the ''Lebensraum
(, ''living space'') is a German concept of settler colonialism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' became a geopolitical goal of Imper ...
'' policy. A transit camp for Poles expelled from various nearby settlements was established in the local school.[ Poles were held there several days, their money, valuables and food were confiscated, and then they were either deported to ]Tomaszów Mazowiecki
Tomaszów Mazowiecki (, yi, טאָמעשעוו or ''Tomashuv'') is a city in central Poland with 60,529 inhabitants (2021). The fourth most populous city in the Łódź Voivodeship and the second with free public transport. In Tomaszów Mazowi ...
or Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
in German-occupied central Poland or sent to local German colonists or to Germany as slave labour
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
.
Despite such circumstances, local Poles organized an underground resistance movement, which included the ''Ogniwo'' and ''Świt'' organizations, the secret youth organization ''Tajna Siódemka'' and structures of the Polish Underground State. The German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
ended in 1945, and the town returned to Poland.
Post-war history
The pre-war monument of the Greater Poland insurgents was restored in 1957.[ The town underwent a period of fast development especially between 1975 and 1998 when it was a seat of a '']voivodeship
A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieval ...
'' administrative area. In 1991, a monument to the Constitution of 3 May 1791
The Constitution of 3 May 1791,; lt, Gegužės trečiosios konstitucija titled the Governance Act, was a constitution adopted by the Great Sejm ("Four-Year Sejm", meeting in 1788–1792) for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a dual mo ...
and the heroes of the fights for Poland's independence was unveiled,[ and in 1995, a memorial to the victims of the ]Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...
was unveiled. In 2000, the city was awarded "The Golden Star of Town Twinning" prize by the European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
.
Climate
Leszno has an oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Cfb'') although notably with warm summer continental characteristics (''Dfb''), typical of inland west and south polish.
Sport
* Unia Leszno
Unia Leszno are a motorcycle speedway team established in 1938 and based in Leszno, Poland. They compete in the Polish Ekstraliga and are the league champions from the 2018 Speedway Ekstraliga season. The team's home track is at the Stadion Alfr ...
speedway club
The Leszno motorcycle club was founded on May 8, 1938. The club was re-established May 2, 1946 after World War II. On July 28, 1949 the Leszno motorcycle club changed its name to Unia Leszno Speedway Club. Some rules and regulations were revised as well. The Unia Leszno has been a very successful club that has won many awards and medals throughout the years. The Unia Leszno Speedway Club has won over 78 different medals since the formation of the club.
* Leszno Aero Club
Leszno (german: Lissa, 1800–1918 ''Lissa in Posen'') is a historic city in western Poland, within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Previously, it ...
The Leszno Aero Club is the largest airfield in the Wielkopolska area. The Aero Club belongs to the Polish Aero Club
Aeroklub Polski (AP; ''Polish Aero Club'') is the Polish central association of persons practising air sports or recreational flying. It was founded in 1921 and is a member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. It has a headquarters in ...
central gliding school. The Aero Club in Leszno hosted the world gliding championship in 1958, 1969, and 2003. It is the only place that has done so. The Aero Club also has a pilot school called the Central Gliding school. The school has been around for over 50 years and was managed by pilot Irena Kempówna in the 1950s and 1960s.
* KS Polonia Leszno
The Klub Sportowy Polonia Leszno was formed in 1912 in Leszno. It is an indoor soccer field. The first President of the club was Marcin Giera. The club did not gain much popularity until after World War II when official teams started playing there. Prior to World War I most of the people that played there were locals.
Education
Primary schools
* Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 1
* Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 2
* Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 3
* Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 4
* Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 5
* Zespół Szkół Specjalnych Nr 6
* Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 7
* Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 8
* Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 9
* Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 10
* Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 12
* Szkoła Podstawowa Nr 13
Secondary schools
* Liceum Ogólnokształcące Nr 1 (http://lo1.leszno.edu.pl/)
* Liceum Ogólnokształcące Nr 2 (http://www.iilo.leszno.pl/)
* Liceum Ogólnokształcące Nr 3
* Liceum Ogólnokształcące Nr 4
* Prywatne Liceum Ogólnokształcące
* Pierwsze Prywatne Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Lesznie
Technical schools
* Zespół Szkół Rolniczo-Budowlanych im. Synów Pułku
* Zespół Szkół Ekonomicznych im. Jana Amosa Komeńskiego (http://www.zse.leszno.pl)
* Zespół Szkół Technicznych im. 55 Poznańskiego Pułku Piechoty (http://www.zst-leszno.pl)
* Zespół Szkół Elektroniczno-Telekomunikacyjnych
* Zespół Szkół Ochrony Środowiska
* Zespół Szkół Specjalnych
Colleges
* Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa (https://web.archive.org/web/20040612150245/http://www.pwsz.edu.pl/)
* Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczna
* Wyższa Szkoła Marketingu i Zarządzania (https://web.archive.org/web/20040609155530/http://www.wsmiz.edu.pl/)
* Nauczycielskie Kolegium Języków Obcych (http://www.nkjoleszno.pl/)
* AE w Poznaniu Ośrodek Studiów Wyższych w Lesznie
Notable people
* Stephan Born (1824–1898), German revolutionary
* Rafał Dobrucki
Rafał Dobrucki (born 27 December 1976 Poland) is a Polish former speedway rider.
Career
On 25 July 1999 he won the Continental Final, which formed part of the 2000 Speedway Grand Prix Qualification. He went on to qualify as a permanent rider ...
(born 1976), Polish speedway rider
* Stanisław Grochowiak
Stanisław Antoni Grochowiak, pen-name "Kain" (24 January 1934 – 2 September 1976) was a Polish poet and dramatist. His is often classified as a representative of turpism ( Polish: turpizm), because of his interest in the physical, ugly and b ...
(1934–1976), Polish poet and dramatist
* Ludwig Kalisch (1814–1882), German-Jewish novelist
* Zvi Hirsch Kalischer
Zvi (Zwi) Hirsch Kalischer (24 March 1795 – 16 October 1874) was an Orthodox German rabbi who expressed views, from a religious perspective, in favour of the Jewish re-settlement of the Land of Israel, which predate Theodor Herzl and the Zionist ...
(1795–1874); German Orthodox rabbi
* Jan Jonston (1603–1675), Reformed teacher and scholar, physician
* Leser Landshuth
Leser Landshuth (15 January 1817 – 23 March 1887) was a German Jewish liturgiologist.
He went to Berlin as a youth to study Jewish theology, and there he became acquainted with Leopold Zunz and Abraham Geiger, the latter of whom was then stayin ...
(1817–1887), German Jewish liturgiologist
* Jacob of Lissa
Yaakov ben Yaakov Moshe Lorberbaum of Lissa (1760-1832) (known in English as Jacob ben Jacob Moses of Lissa, Jacob Lorberbaum or Jacob Lisser, Hebrew: יעקב בן יעקב משה מליסא) was a rabbi and posek. He is most commonly known as the ...
(1760–1832), a rabbi
* Albert Mosse (1846–1925), German judge and legal schola
* Carl Friedrich Richard Förster
Carl Friedrich Richard Förster (15 November 1825 – 7 July 1902) was a German ophthalmologist born in the town of Lissa (today Leszno, Poland).
He received his medical doctorate in 1849, and for most of his career was associated with the Univer ...
(1825–1902), German ophthalmologist
* Otto Schultzen (1837–1875), German physician
* Ottomar Anschütz
Ottomar Anschütz (16 May 1846, in Lissa – 30 May 1907, in Berlin) was a German inventor, photographer, and chronophotographer
Career
Anschütz studied photography between 1864 and 1868 under the well-known photographers Ferdinand Beyrich ( ...
(1846–1907), German inventor, photographer and chronophotographer
* Paul Cinquevalli
Paul Cinquevalli (30 June 1859 – 14 July 1918) was a German music hall entertainer whose speciality juggling act made him popular in the English music halls during the 19th and early 20th century.
Cinquevalli first appeared in England in 1885 ...
(1859–1918), German-British artist
* Albert Moll (1862–1939) German psychiatrist
* Leo Baeck
Leo Baeck (23 May 1873 – 2 November 1956) was a 20th-century German rabbi, scholar, and theologian. He served as leader of Reform Judaism in his native country and internationally, and later represented all German Jews during the Nazi er ...
(1873–1956), German-Jewish rabbi, scholar, and theologian
* Rudolf Leonhard
Rudolf Leonhard (27 October 1889, in Lissa, German Empire (today Leszno, Poland) – 19 December 1953, in East Berlin) was a German author and communist activist.
Life
Leonhard came from a family of lawyers and studied law and Philology in Berli ...
(1889–1953), German author and communist activist
* Wolfgang Martini
''Wolfgang Martini'' (September 20, 1891 – January 6, 1963) was a Career Officer in the German Air Force and largely responsible for promoting early radar development and utilization in that country.
Early career
While attending the Gymnasium ...
(1891–1963), German general
* Ludwig Schulz __NOTOC__
Ludwig Schulz (4 August 1896 – 10 December 1966) was a German general during World War II, and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
Awards
* Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (14 May 1940) 1st Cl ...
(1896–1966), Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
general
* Gerhard Weisser
Gerhard Weisser (9 February 1898 - 25 October 1989) was a social scientist, university teacher, Social Democrat and expert policy advisor. He was one of the founding fathers of the Godesberg Program which in 1959 relaunched the political centre ...
(1898–1989) German social scientist
* Johannes Eisermann (1900–1976), 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 previous ...
officer
* Wolfgang Thomale (1900–1978), German general
* Antoni Janusz (1902–2000), Polish sportsman and pilot
* Peter Lindbergh
Peter Lindbergh (born Peter Brodbeck; 23 November 1944 – 3 September 2019) was a German fashion photographer and film director.
He had studied arts in Berlin and Krefeld, and exhibited his works before graduation. In 1971, he turned to photo ...
(1944–2019), German photographer and director
* Tomasz Parzy (born 1979), Polish footballer
* Krzysztof Kasprzak
Krzysztof Kasprzak (; born 18 July 1984 in Leszno, Poland) is an international speedway rider who became World Under-21 Champion in 2005 and won the silver medal during the 2014 Speedway Grand Prix. He also won five World team titles. He is a so ...
(born 1984), Polish speedway rider
* Alexandria Riordan
Alexandria "Zsa Zsa" Riordan-Niechcielska (born August 14, 1990) is an American former figure skater. She most recently competed internationally on the Junior National level for Poland and won first place to get the Gold Medal. She is of Polish a ...
(born 1990), Polish-American figure skater
* Ilse Schwidetzky (1907–1997), German anthropologist
* Haym Solomon
Haym Salomon (also Solomon; anglicized from Chaim Salomon; April 7, 1740 – January 6, 1785) was a Polish-born Jewish businessman and political financial broker who assisted the Superintendent of Finance, English-born Robert Morris, as the prim ...
(1740–1785), an important figure in the American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
* Daniel Strejc-Vetterus Daniel Strejc treytz(Autumn of 1592 - probably 1669) was a Czech priest of the Unity of the Brethren. He is known for the travelogue ''Islandia'', about the journey to Iceland in 1613, first published in 1638. Strejc was also known under surnames V ...
, Reformed printer and author of the oldest Polish guidebook of Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
[ (1638)
* ]Carl Gottfried Woide
Carl Gottfried Woide (german: Karl Gottfried Woide) (4 July 1725 – 9 May 1790), also known in England as Charles Godfrey Woide, was an Orientalist, a biblical scholar and a pastor.
Career
Woide began his career as a pastor at the Reformed chur ...
(1725–1790), Reformed pastor, Orientalist and fellow of the British Royal Society
International relations
Twin towns – Sister cities
Leszno is twinned with:
* Montluçon, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
* Deurne, Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
* Suhl
Suhl () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located SW of Erfurt, NE of Würzburg and N of Nuremberg. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town Zella- ...
, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
* Dunaújváros
Dunaújváros (; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is an industrial city in Fejér County, Central Hungary. It is a city with county rights. Situated 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Budapest on the Danube, the city i ...
, 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, Croatia a ...
References
External links
Official website of the City
English guide to Leszno
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship
Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)
City counties of Poland
Holocaust locations in Poland
Nazi war crimes in Poland