Oborniki (german: Obornik) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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 ...

, in

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 ...

, about 30 km north of

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

. It is the capital of

Oborniki County __NOTOC__ Oborniki County ( pl, powiat obornicki) 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 gover ...

and of Gmina Oborniki. Its population is 18,176 (2005).

History

Oborniki was granted

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 ...

before 1292. Duke Bolesław the Pious founded a

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

monastery in Oborniki in the 13th century. It was a royal town of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, 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 Polish Crown , subdivision = Province , nation = Poland , year_start = , event_end = Third Partition of Poland , year_end = , image_map = Prowincje I RP.svg , image_map_capt ...

. It was frequently visited by King

Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło ()He is known under a number of names: lt, Jogaila Algirdaitis; pl, Władysław II Jagiełło; be, Jahajła (Ягайла). See also: Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło. ...

. As a result of 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, it was annexed by

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 ...

. In 1807 it became part of the 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 ...

. In 1815 it was annexed by Prussia for the second time. The townspeople fought in the struggles for liberation of Poland, including the November Uprising, Greater Poland uprising (1848), January Uprising and the victorious post-

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 ...

Greater Poland Uprising, as a result of which the town was integrated with the reestablished

Polish state 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 ...

in 1919. After 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 opposing ...

in September 1939, the town was occupied by Germany until 1945. The first expelled Poles were former insurgents of the Greater Poland Uprising, and the expulsions were carried out in early December 1939. The expellees were held for several days in a transit camp in the nearby village of Kowanówko, where they were robbed of money and valuables, and then they were deported in

freight trains Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

to Sokołów Podlaski in the General Government (German-occupied central Poland). In 1940, a transit camp for Poles expelled from various villages in the county was operated in the town. Some of the Poles expelled in 1940 from the nearby

Chodzież Chodzież (german: Kolmar in Posen) is a town in northwestern Poland with 17,976 inhabitants as of December 2021. Situated in the Chodzież County, Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Piła Voivodeship (1975–1998). Geograp ...

and Szamotuły counties were enslaved as forced labour in the town's vicinity. In August 1944, the Germans carried out mass arrests of local members of the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) est ...

, the leading Polish underground resistance organization.

Sights

Among the historic landmarks of Oborniki are: * the Market Square filled with historic townhouses * the Church of the Assumption, dating back to the 15th century * the

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

Holy Cross church * the Gothic Revival Saint Joseph Church

Cuisine

Oborniki is one of the production sites of the Greater Poland liliput cheese (''ser liliput wielkopolski''), a traditional regional Polish cheese, protected as a

traditional food Traditional foods are foods and dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national dish, regio ...

by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland.

Sports

The local football team is . It competes in the lower leagues.

International relations

Oborniki is twinned with: *

Herk-de-Stad Herk-de-Stad (; french: Herck-la-Ville, ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On 1 January 2018, Herk-de-Stad had a total population of 12,661. The total area is 42.83 km² which gives a population density of ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Kobuleti Kobuleti ( ka, ქობულეთი ) is a town in Adjara, western Georgia, situated on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. It is the seat of Kobuleti Municipality and a seaside resort, visited annually by Georgians and many former Soviet Union ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Lüchow Lüchow (Wendland) () is a city in northeastern Lower Saxony, in Germany. It is the seat of the ''Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Lüchow (Wendland), and is the capital of the district Lüchow-Dannenberg. Situated approximately 13&nb ...

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 ...

Gallery

Oborniki Wlkp. Holy Cross Church south 2010-10b.jpg, Holy Cross Church Oborniki, Poland - panoramio.jpg, Church of the Assumption Oborniki - kościół św. Jozefa. - panoramio.jpg, Saint Joseph church MOs810, WG 2014 48, powiat obornicki (Oborniki water power station) (5).JPG, Hydroelectric power plant Oborniki Pan01-05

References

External links

Official town website
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship Oborniki County Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)