Lwówek is a town in

Nowy Tomyśl County __NOTOC__ Nowy Tomyśl County () 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 government reforms pas ...

Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. The province is named after the region called Greater Poland (''Wielkopolska'' ). The modern province includes most of this historic re ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, with 2,961 inhabitants (2010).

History

Town rights were granted by King

Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło (),Other names include (; ) (see also Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło) was Grand Duke of Lithuania beginning in 1377 and starting in 1386, becoming King of Poland as well. ...

. The town was known as Lwów, before the name was changed to the current Lwówek in the mid-15th century for distinction from the larger city of

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. Lwówek was a

private town Private towns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were privately owned towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights and princes, among others. Amongst the most well-known former private magnate towns are Białystok, Zamość, R ...

, administratively located in the Poznań 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 Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. 540 Jews lived in the town in 1871. Following the joint German-Soviet

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, which started

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in September 1939, Lwówek was occupied by Germany until 1945. The first expulsions of Poles were carried out in December 1939. The Poles were sent to a transit camp in Młyniewo, and afterwards deported to the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

in the more-eastern part of German-occupied Poland, while their houses, workshops, etc. were handed over to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

colonists as part of the ''

Lebensraum (, ) is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch movement, ''Völkisch'' nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' beca ...

'' policy. The Polish resistance was active in Lwówek. The commander of the Lwówek-

Pniewy Pniewy is a town in Szamotuły County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 7,747 inhabitants as of 2020. There is a lake and a beach with access to a playground, stage and a softball pitch. History Pniewy was founded in the 12th century a ...

unit of the

Union of Armed Struggle The Union of Armed StruggleThus rendered in Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'', vol. II, p. 464. (; ZWZ), also translated as the Union for Armed Struggle, Association of Armed Struggle, and Association for Armed Struggle ...

, was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

on 14 October 1942 and subjected to brutal interrogations during which he died a week later. Under German occupation, the town was renamed to ''Neustadt bei Pinne'' in 1939 and then to ''Kirschneustadt'' in 1943.

Sights

Landmarks of Lwówek include the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

palace, the Gothic Church of the Assumption, the Baroque Holy Cross church and the ''Rynek'' (Market Square) filled with colourful historic townhouses.

Demographics

Twin towns – sister cities

Kazlų Rūda Kazlų Rūda () is a city in the Marijampole County in southern Lithuania. It is located north from Marijampolė. The city is surrounded by forests, but a railway line crosses the city and divides it into almost equal parts. The former Soviet ...

, Lithuania

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship Nowy Tomyśl County