Nowa Ruda ( cs, Nová Ruda, german: Neurode, szl, Nowŏ Ruda) is a town in south-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 populou ...

near the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

border, lying on the Włodzica river in the central Sudetes mountain range. it had 22,067 inhabitants. The town is located in

Kłodzko County __NOTOC__ Kłodzko County ( pl, powiat kłodzki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local govern ...

, Lower Silesian Voivodeship (in 1975–1998 it was in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship). It is the seat of the rural district of

Gmina Nowa Ruda __NOTOC__ Gmina Nowa Ruda is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Kłodzko County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Nowa Ruda, although the town is not part of the territory of the gmina. The gmin ...

, but is not part of its territory (the town is a separate urban gmina in its own right).

History

Under Polish and Bohemian rule

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

village situated in the rich

Kłodzko Valley The Kłodzko Valley ( pl, Kotlina Kłodzka, cs, Kladská kotlina, german: Glatzer Kessel) a valley in the Sudetes mountain range, that covers the central part of Kłodzko County in south-western Poland, with the southern tip extending to the Cz ...

, Nowa Ruda developed in the mid-13th century as part of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

. German-speaking immigrants settled there as part of the '' Ostsiedlung''. The oldest known mention of the settlement comes from 1337 from a document issued in nearby

Kłodzko Kłodzko (; cz, Kladsko; german: Glatz; la, Glacio) is a historic town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Eastern Neisse river. Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzko ...

, when it was part of the Polish-ruled Duchy of Ziębice/Münsterberg under the suzerainty of the Bohemian (Czech) Crown of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. It passed directly to Bohemia in the next decades. Officially, the settlement was granted a

city charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document ('' charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charte ...

in 1363 and received the name of ''Newenrode''. In the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

, clothmaking and shoemaking developed in the town. In the years 1427-1429 the town was invaded by 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 Huss ...

. The city was rechartered under a local variant of the

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 ...

in 1434 and then again in 1596. From 1459 it was part of the Bohemian-ruled

County of Kladsko The County of Kladsko ( cs, Kladské hrabství, german: Grafschaft Glatz, pl, Hrabstwo kłodzkie) was a historical administrative unit within Bohemia as a part of the Kingdom of Bohemia and later in the Kingdom of Prussia with its capital at Kł ...

. The city was invaded and devastated again 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 battle ...

in 1622.

Under Prussia and Germany

In 1742 it passed to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

, and from 1871 to 1945 it was also part of Germany. In the second half of the 19th century the town developed due to coal mining and the textile industry. In 1884 it suffered a great fire. 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 ...

, it suffered an economic crisis. The town was no longer a district seat after 1932, when it was reincorporated into the ''Landkreis Glatz'' (Kłodzko district). 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 opposing ...

, the Germans established three labour units for French, Belgian and Soviet prisoners of war, as well as two forced labour camps. Also during the war, the largest mining disaster in the town's history took place; 187 miners were killed.

After World War II

Following the defeat of

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 ...

the region became part of Poland, and the town took on its present name, with the German population being expelled in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement. It was repopulated by

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 C ...

, expellees from former eastern Poland annexed by the

Soviet Union 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, ...

, settlers from central Poland and miners returning from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. In 1973 the settlement of Słupiec was included within the town limits as a new district. In 1976 and 1979 mining disasters occurred, in which 17 and 7 miners respectively died. After the adoption of

Ostpolitik ''Neue Ostpolitik'' (German for "new eastern policy"), or ''Ostpolitik'' for short, was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republ ...

by the German Chancellor

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

, the former German inhabitants were allowed to travel to their hometowns and tried to establish relations with the current population and the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

redrew the boundaries of the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

s along the post-war borders. On 28 June 1972 the Catholic parishes of Nowa Ruda were transferred from the traditional Hradec Králové diocese (est. 1664; Ecclesiastical Province of Bohemia) to the

Archdiocese of Wrocław In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. The area was notable in the Middle Ages as a source of rich iron ore deposits. Until 2000 there was also a coal mine and a

gabbro Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is ch ...

mine in Nowa Ruda's borough of Słupiec.

Transport

There is a train station in Nowa Ruda. The

Voivodeship road According to classes and categories of public roads in Poland, a voivodeship road ( pl, droga wojewódzka) is a category of roads one step below national roads in importance. The roads are numbered from 100 to 993. Total length of voivodeship r ...

s 381, 384 and 385 pass through the town.

Sport

Piast Nowa Ruda is the local

multi-sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

Literary Heights Festival

The

Literary Heights Festival The Literary Heights Festival ( pl, Festiwal Góry Literatury) is a Polish literary festival founded in 2015 which takes place in the vicinity of Nowa Ruda at the foot of the Owl Mountains in the Kłodzko Valley. The event's organizers include t ...

, a Polish

literary festival A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of writers and readers, typically on an annual basis in a particular city. A literary festival usually features a variety of presentations and readings ...

founded in 2015 which takes place in the vicinity of

at the foot of the

Owl Mountains The Owl Mountains ( pl, Góry Sowie, cs, Soví hory, german: Eulengebirge) are a mountain range of the Central Sudetes in southwestern Poland. It includes a protected area called Owl Mountains Landscape Park. Geography The Owl Mountains cover ...

in the

. The event's organizers include the Mount Babel Cultural Association, the city and commune of Nowa Ruda, while the hosts are Karol Maliszewski and

Olga Tokarczuk Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk (; born 29 January 1962) is a Polish writer, activist, and public intellectual. She is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland; in 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize ...

. The festival's program includes educational sessions, debates, concerts, panels, shows, meetings, poetry, literary workshops, film screenings, culinary workshops and various exhibitions.

Notable people

Franz Eckert Franz Eckert (5 April 1852 – 6 August 1916) was a German composer and musician who composed the harmony for Japan's national anthem, "Kimigayo" and the national anthem of the Korean Empire, " Aegukga". Early life and education Eckert was ...

(1852–1916), composer * Joachim von Pfeil (1857–1924), German explorer * Friedrich Kayßler (1874–1945), actor and writer * Joseph Wittig (1879–1949), German theologian and writer * (1892–1953), politician * Friedrich-Wilhelm Otte (1898–1944),

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 previo ...

general * (1913–1992), writer * Gero Trauth (born 1942), painter, graphic artist, porcelain illustrator and designer *

Edyta Geppert Edyta Geppert (born 27 November 1953 in Nowa Ruda, Poland) is a popular Polish singer. Geppert was born to a Polish father and Hungarian mother. She is married to Piotr Loretz. They have one son Mieczysław (born in 1988). Awards *1984 – Gr ...

(born 1953), singer * (born 1956), actor * (born 1960), poet *

(born 1962), writer, Nobel laureate * Robert Więckiewicz (born 1967), actor

Twin towns – sister cities

Nowa Ruda is twinned with: * Broumov, Czech Republic *

Castrop-Rauxel Castrop-Rauxel (), often simply referred to as Castrop by locals, is a former coal mining city in the eastern part of the Ruhr Area in Germany. Geography Castrop-Rauxel is located in Germany between Dortmund to the southeast, Bochum to the sou ...

, Germany * Wallers, France

References

External links

*
Online radio and hottest news website
*
Private Internet Wortal of Nowa Ruda
*
Nowa Ruda online – citizens' site
{{Authority control Cities in Silesia Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Kłodzko County