Lubiąż (; german: Leubus) is a village (former
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 def ...
) on the east bank of the
Odra (Oder) River, in the administrative district of
Gmina Wołów
__NOTOC__
Gmina Wołów is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Wołów County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Wołów, which lies approximately north-west of the regional capital Wrocła ...
, within
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. It lies approximately south-west of
Wołów
Wołów (german: Wohlau, cz, Volov) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Wołów County and Gmina Wołów. It lies approximately north-west of the regional capital Wrocław. , the town has a popul ...
, and west of the regional capital
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 ...
. The village has a population of 2,300.
The village is mainly known for its
large abbey. The Abbey was built by the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
s in 1150, and occupied by
Cistercians
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
in 1163 until 1810. Built over centuries, the abbey – the largest Cistercian abbey in the world – is rated in the highest class ("0") of landmarks of world's cultural heritage.
Lubiąż is also known in
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 ...
for its regional psychiatric hospital.
History
The village is located on one of the oldest river crossings in Silesia. This crossing was protected by a castle, which was probably destroyed in 1108, and populated by Poles, who lived in a market named ''Lubies'', which was documented in 1175. According to legend, the settlement was founded in 1053 by Polish monarch
Casimir I the Restorer
Casimir I the Restorer (; 25 July 1016 – 28 November 1058), a member of the Piast dynasty, was the duke of Poland from 1040 until his death. Casimir was the son of Mieszko II Lambert and Richeza of Lotharingia. He is known as the Restorer becau ...
.
Since its establishment, the settlement along with the region, was part of
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 ...
, and following Poland's fragmentation it belonged to various
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 ...
n duchies of Poland, ruled by dukes of the
Silesian branch of the Piast dynasty. The name of the settlement is of Polish origin, although there are different interpretations of its exact meaning.
[
In the middle of the 12th century an abbey was founded on the place of the former castle. Sources disagree on the exact date and nature of the foundation. While some sources claim the monastery was founded around 1150 by Benedictines and soon after passed to the Cistercians, other sources argue the monastery was founded by Cistercians around 1163. The deed of foundation was ratified in 1175 by ]Bolesław I the Tall
Bolesław I the Tall ( pl, Bolesław I Wysoki) (born 1127 – died Leśnica (now part of Wrocław), 7 or 8 December 1201) was Duke of Wroclaw from 1163 until his death in 1201.
Early years
He was the eldest son of Władysław II the Exile by ...
, who chose the abbey as the burial place for him and his dynasty. The monastery was settled with Cistercian monks from Pforta
Pforta, or Schulpforta, is a school located in Pforta monastery, a former Cistercian monastery (1137–1540), near Naumburg on the Saale River in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The site has been a school since the 16th century. Notable past ...
in the Margraviate of Meissen
The Margravate of Meissen (german: Markgrafschaft Meißen) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march
In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of bor ...
, Bolesław refuge during his stay in Germany. In the same document the duke allowed the monastery to settle their territory with Germans and to exclude them from Polish law, making it the first place of the Ostsiedlung
(, literally "East-settling") is the term for the Early Medieval and High Medieval migration-period when ethnic Germans moved into the territories in the eastern part of Francia, East Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire (that Germans had al ...
in Silesia. The small town ''Leubus'' was founded on the place of the former Polish market, the place Germanized, and received Środa town rights
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 ...
(town rights modeled on the town of Środa Śląska
Środa Śląska (german: Neumarkt in Schlesien) is a town in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Środa Śląska County, and of the smaller administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Środa Śląska. The ...
) in 1249 from Duke Bolesław II the Horned
Bolesław II the Horned ( pl, Bolesław II Rogatka), known also as Bolesław II the Bald ( pl, Bolesław II Łysy) (c. 1220/5 – 26/31 December 1278), a member of the Silesian Piasts, was High Duke of Poland briefly in 1241 and Duke of Silesia at ...
.
In 1317, the town passed from the Duchy of Głogów
The Duchy of Głogów ( pl, Księstwo głogowskie, cs, Hlohovské knížectví) or Duchy of Glogau (german: Herzogtum Glogau) was one of the Duchies of Silesia ruled by the Silesian Piasts. Its capital was Głogów in Lower Silesia.
History
In ...
to the Duchy of Legnica
The Duchy of Legnica ( pl, Księstwo Legnickie, cs, Lehnické knížectví) or Duchy of Liegnitz (german: Herzogtum Liegnitz) was one of the Duchies of Silesia. Its capital was Legnica (''Liegnitz'') in Lower Silesia.
Legnica Castle had become ...
, and remained ruled by the Piast dynasty until 1675, although since 1329 under the suzerainty of the Crown of Bohemia
The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of Bo ...
(Czechia), which was part of the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
. On 30 June 1432 the Hussites
The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation.
The Hussit ...
invaded the town, devastating and burning the monastery. The area was heavily affected by the Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
. In 1632 it was plundered by the Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
, and in 1639 was occupied by 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 ...
forces. Following the extinction of the Piast dynasty and the dissolution of the Duchy of Legnica in 1675, the town was incorporated into the Bohemian Crown, then ruled by the House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
. In the second half of the 17th century the famous painter Michael Willmann
Michael Leopold Lukas Willmann (27 September 1630 – 26 August 1706) was a German painter. The Baroque artist became known as the "Silesian Rembrandt", "Silesian Apelles" or "Silesian Raphael" and has been called the greatest Silesian paint ...
resided in the local abbey.
In 1740 Silesia (and so Leubus) was taken from Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
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 ...
. Municipal law was lost in 1740, and irrevocably in 1844. In 1810, the abbey was secularized
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
and closed down by the Prussian administration, and in 1830 a psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
was placed there.[ From 1871 until 1945 Leubus belonged to the ]German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
and finally 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 ...
. During 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 ...
, it was the location of a 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 ...
subcamp of the Nazi prison for youth in Wołów
Wołów (german: Wohlau, cz, Volov) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Wołów County and Gmina Wołów. It lies approximately north-west of the regional capital Wrocław. , the town has a popul ...
, and in 1942–1943, also a forced labour camp for hundreds of Luxembourgers
Luxembourgers ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerger ) are a Germanic ethnic group and nation native to their nation state of Luxembourg, where they make up around half of the population. They share the culture of Luxembourg and speak Luxembourgish.
Luxembourg ...
deported from German-occupied Luxembourg. The Luxembourgish prisoners were then either sent to other concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
or murdered by the Germans in the village.[ In January 1945, the settlement was seized by the ]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, after ...
without resistance.[ Afterwards, it passed again to Poland, although with a ]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, ...
-installed communist regime, which remained in power until the Fall of Communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
in the 1980s. Soviet troops occupied parts of the village until 1948,[ and the remaining German inhabitants who were not evacuated, were expelled in accordance with 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 ...
. The first enterprise launched after the war was the distillery, launched in May 1945 with the help of former Polish forced labourers who still remained in the settlement.[ In 1945–1947, the settlement was repopulated by Poles displaced from Żydaczów and Poznanka in former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union and Polish repatriates from ]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 ...
.[
In 2016, Lubiąż was visited by ]Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg (''Guillaume Jean Joseph Marie''; born 11 November 1981), is the heir apparent to the crown of Luxembourg since his father's accession in 2000.
Early life and education
Prince Guillaume was ...
and his wife Stéphanie.[
]
Sports
The local football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team is Odra Lubiąż. It competes in the lower leagues.
References
External links
Lubiąż Foundation (in Polish)
Lubiaz on old postcards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubiaz
Villages in Wołów County
11th-century establishments in Poland
Populated places established in the 11th century
Nazi war crimes in Poland
Former populated places in Lower Silesian Voivodeship