Otmuchów (pronounced: ; german: Ottmachau) is a town in

Nysa County __NOTOC__ Nysa County ( pl, powiat nyski) 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 ...

Opole Voivodeship Opole Voivodeship, or Opole Province ( pl, województwo opolskie ), is the smallest and least populated voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province's name derives from that of the region's capital and largest city, Opole. It is part of Upper S ...

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 ...

, 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 ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) 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 ...

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

Book of Henryków The ''Book of Henryków'' ( pl, Księga henrykowska, la, Liber fundationis claustri Sanctae Mariae Virginis in Heinrichow) is a Latin chronicle of the Cistercian abbey in Henryków in Lower Silesia, Poland. Originally created as a registry of ...

''. 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 histor ...

and the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

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 fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

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

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

y within medieval Poland ruled by the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branch ...

. It was a property of the

Diocese 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 ...

and a result of the fragmentation of Poland, it formed part of the

Duchy of Nysa The Duchy of Nysa ( pl, Księstwo Nyskie, cs, Niské knížectví) or Duchy of Neisse (german: Herzogtum 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 eccle ...

. 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 Nysa may refer to: Greek Mythology * Nysa (mythology) or Nyseion, the mountainous region or mount (various traditional locations), where nymphs raised the young god Dionysus * Nysiads, nymphs of Mount Nysa who cared for and taught the infant ...

, which was the capital of the principality of the bishop. In 1428, 1430 and 1443 the town was captured 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 Hussit ...

. In the 15th century conflicts occurred between indigenous

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 Ce ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

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. 2014 Otmuchów, zamek 15

The town was plundered during 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 ...

. After the war the town was revived thanks to Polish prince and Bishop of Wrocław

Karol Ferdynand Vasa Prince Charles Ferdinand Vasa ( pl, Karol Ferdynand Waza; 13 October 1613 in Warsaw – 9 May 1655 in Wyszków), was a Polish prince, priest, Bishop of Wrocław from 1625, bishop of Płock from 1640 and Duke of Opole from 1648 to 1655. Biograph ...

, 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 (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 ...

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 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 ...

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

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 by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

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

Trzebinia Trzebinia (; yi, טשעבין ''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 p ...

(E738). The Germans also established and operated the '' Polenlager 86'' forced labour camp for

in the town. Following the defeat of Germany in the war, the town became again part of Poland. The town holds the headquarters for the 1952 founded

confectionary Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlappi ...

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

Otmuchów Group.

Sights

Among the historic sights of Otmuchów are the medieval Otmuchów Castle, the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

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 of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...

46 also passes through the town.

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 . 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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Otmuchow Cities and towns in Opole Voivodeship Nysa County Cities in Silesia