Otmuchów (pronounced: ; ) is a town in

Nysa County __NOTOC__ Nysa County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Opole Voivodeship, south-western Poland, on the Czech border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reform ...

Opole Voivodeship Opole Voivodeship ( , , ), is the smallest and least populated voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province's name derives from that of the region's capital and largest city, Opole. It is part of Silesia. A relatively lar ...

, in southern

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 6,581 inhabitants (2019).

Etymology

The city was mentioned for the first time as ''Otemochow'' in 1155. It was named in its

Old Polish The Old Polish language () was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Old Polish language are the data of the co ...

form ''Othmuchow'' in the 13th-century ''

Book of Henryków The ''Book of Henryków'' (, ) is a Latin chronicle of the Cistercian abbey in Henryków in Lower Silesia, Poland. Originally created as a registry of belongings looted during the first Mongol invasion of Poland of 1241, with time it was ext ...

''. The name ''Othmuchow'' was also listed in the Chronicles of the Kingdom of Poland written in the years 1455-1480 by

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...

and the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

ized name ''Othmuchouie'' appeared in the '' Statuta synodalia episcoporum Wratislaviensium'' from 1475. In 1613 the Silesian regionalist and historian Nicholas Henkel stated in his own work entitled ''Fri Silesiographia'' two names in Latin, Otmuchovia and Othmuchaw. The Germanized form was ''Ottmachau'', and the Polish name in the modern Polish spelling was restored in 1945.

History

The first known mentioning of Otmuchów comes from 1155, however, it certainly existed, along with the

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, already in the 11th century. It was a seat of a

castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

y within medieval Poland ruled by the

Piast dynasty 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 (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...

. It was a property of the Diocese of Wrocław and a result of the fragmentation of Poland, it formed part of the

Duchy of Nysa The Duchy of Nysa (, ) or Duchy of Neisse () was one of the duchies of Silesia with its capital at Nysa in Lower Silesia. Alongside the Duchy of Siewierz, it was the only ecclesiastical duchy in the Silesian region, as it was ruled by a bis ...

. In the 14th century the city was surrounded by defensive walls. Establishment of the coat of arms of the city dates back to 1347, when Bishop of Wrocław Przecław of Pogorzela vested Otmuchów with

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 ...

. The coat of arms is an open city gate in white on a blue field. From the 14th century it was used as the town seal. Destroyed by many wars throughout history, the town lost its importance due to a nearby developing city of Nysa, which was the capital of the principality of the bishop. In 1428, 1430 and 1443 the town was captured by the

Hussites upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...

. In the 15th century conflicts occurred between indigenous

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

and

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 ...

settlers. Germans tried to oust the Polish language from local churches. Local Polish church superior lodged a complaint against a German priest who threatened to expel Poles from the church. The town was plundered during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. After the war the town was revived thanks to Polish prince and Bishop of Wrocław Karol Ferdynand Vasa, who turned the castle into an episcopal seat. In 1741 the town was captured and plundered by the Prussians, who annexed it afterwards. The town declined, and after

secularization In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

in 1810 it passed from episcopal authority under Prussian administration. Between 1871 and 1945 the area was part of Germany. During the Second World War, the Germans operated two

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, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

subcamps (E276, E282) of the Stalag VIII-B/344

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

for English-speaking POWs in the town. In 1944 the men were transferred to the oil refinery at

Trzebinia Trzebinia (; ''Tchebin'') is a town in Chrzanów County, Lesser Poland, Poland with an Orlen oil refinery and a major rail junction of the Kraków - Katowice line, with connections to Oświęcim and Spytkowice. The town became part of Lesser Pola ...

(E738). The Germans also established and operated the '' Polenlager 86'' forced labour camp for Poles in the town. 36 Polish citizens were murdered by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in the town during the war. Following the defeat of Germany in the war, the town became again part of Poland.

Economy

The town holds the headquarters for the 1952 founded

confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...

joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...

Otmuchów Group.

Sights

Among the historic sights of Otmuchów are the medieval Otmuchów Castle, 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, now housing the municipal government, medieval town walls, the Church of St. Nicholas and St. Francis, and numerous historic townhouses. File:Otmuchów - Kościół pw. św. Mikołaja i Franciszka Ksawerego 01.JPG, Church. St. Nicholas and St. Francis File:2014 Otmuchów, zespół zamkowy, pałac 02.JPG, Municipal Office File:Otmuchow1 (js).jpg, Otmuchów Castle File:Otmuchów Rynek 17.JPG, Market Square File:Otmuchów, kościół par. p.w. śś. Mikołaja i Franciszka Ksawerego, 1690-1701.JPG, Panorama File:Otmuchów Krakowska 6 1.JPG, Post Office File:Otmuchów Nyska wieża Wróbla.JPG, ''Nyska Wieża Wróbla'' (Defensive tower, part of the city walls) Otmuchow 13.jpg,

St. Mary column

Transport

There is a train station in Otmuchów, and the Polish

National road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

46 also passes through the town.

Sports

The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team is . It competes in the lower leagues.

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Otmuchów.

References

External links

Jewish Community in Otmuchów
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in Opole Voivodeship Nysa County Cities in Silesia Sites of Nazi war crimes in Poland