Pleszew
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Pleszew (; german: Pleschen) is a town in central
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 ...
, 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 o ...
, about 90 km southeast 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 John ...
. It is the capital of
Pleszew County __NOTOC__ Pleszew County ( pl, powiat pleszewski) 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 ...
(''powiat pleszewski''). Population is 17,892 (2004).


History

The oldest permanent human settlements in the present-day Pleszew and its surroundings date back to the 9th century BC. The oldest known mention of Pleszew, already as a town, comes from a 1283 document of - in the document of Duke and future King of Poland
Przemysł II Przemysł II ( also given in English and Latin as ''Premyslas'' or ''Premislaus'' or in Polish as '; 14 October 1257 – 8 February 1296) was the Duke of Poznań from 1257–1279, of Greater Poland from 1279 to 1296, of Kraków from 1290 to 1291 ...
of 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 ...
. In the following centuries it was a
private town A private town is a town owned by a private person or a family. History of Private Towns in Poland In the history of Poland, private towns (''miasta prywatne'') were towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights, princes, etc. A ...
owned by Polish nobility, located in the
Kalisz Voivodeship Kalisz Voivodeship may also refer to: *Kalisz Voivodeship (1314–1793) *Kalisz Voivodeship (1816–1837) The Kalisz Voivodeship was a voivodeship of the Congress Poland, that existed from 1816 to 1837. Its capital was Kalisz. It was established o ...
in the Greater Poland Province of the
Polish Crown The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Latin: ''Corona Regni Poloniae''), known also as the Polish Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, includ ...
. King
John I Albert John I Albert ( pl, Jan I Olbracht; 27 December 1459 – 17 June 1501) was King of Poland from 1492 until his death in 1501 and Duke of Głogów (Glogau) from 1491 to 1498. He was the fourth Polish sovereign from the Jagiellonian dynasty, the s ...
in the privilege of 1493 permitted the organization of two weekly markets and two annual
fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...
s. In the early 16th century, there were nine craft
guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
s in the town. Pleszew was a local center of
Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
. In the 18th century, one of two main routes connecting
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
and
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
ran through Pleszew and Kings
Augustus II the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as K ...
and
Augustus III of Poland Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Aug ...
traveled that route numerous times. During 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, Pleszew 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 em ...
. It was regained by Poles as part of the short-lived
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 1807, before it was re-annexed by Prussia in 1815. It was an important center of the unsuccessful Polish Greater Poland uprising (1848). In the following decades, to resist
Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationa ...
,
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 ...
founded various organizations, including agricultural, industrial and educational societies, the Cooperative Bank (''Bank Spółdzielczy''), a printing house,
scout troop A Scout troop is a term adopted into use with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Scout Movement to describe their basic units. The term troop echoes a group of mounted scouts in the military or an expedition and follows the terms cavalry, mounted inf ...
s and a local branch of the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society. In the second half of the 19th century, new industrial factories were established. In October 1918, a few weeks before Poland regained independence, local Poles began preparations for an uprising, which aim was to reintegrate the town along with the region of
Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...
with soon to be reborn Poland. Many inhabitants took part in the
Greater Poland uprising (1918–19) Greater Poland Uprising (also Wielkopolska Uprising or Great Poland Uprising) may refer to a number of armed rebellions in the region of Greater Poland: * Greater Poland Uprising (1794) * Greater Poland Uprising (1806) * Greater Poland Uprising (1 ...
, and seven inhabitants were also killed in the
Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...
in 1919-1920. The Poles took control of the town in January 1919. Within the interwar
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
the local insurgent unit was transformed into a full-fledged infantry regiment of the Polish Army. On the day of the German
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 ...
(
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 opposin ...
), on September 1, 1939, Germany unsuccessfully air raided Polish military barracks, killing 13 civilians instead.
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 previous ...
troops entered the town a week later. During the
German occupation of Poland 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 ...
, the Polish population was subject to mass arrests, executions and expulsions. Shortly after capturing the town, the Germans established a prison for Polish people in the town. On September 28, 1939, the Germans
looted Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
the local museum. During the ''
Intelligenzaktion The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders which was committed against the Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) early in the ...
'', in October 1939, the Germans executed 7 Poles in the Boreczek forest. Another 68 Poles were killed in the prison, and 8 Poles were murdered at the
Gestapo The (), 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 Prussia into one organi ...
station. Nevertheless, the Polish resistance movement in Pleszew was organized already in October 1939. In 1940, the Germans expelled 155 Poles, mostly owners of shops and workshops with entire families, and their enterprises were then handed over to
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 **Ge ...
colonists as part of the ''
Lebensraum (, ''living space'') is a German concept of settler colonialism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' became a geopolitical goal of Imperi ...
'' policy. Poles expelled from other villages in the region were sent as
slave labour Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
to new German colonists in the town's vicinity, and there was also a forced labour camp in the town in 1944–1945. The Germans also destroyed the gravestone of Polish insurgents fallen in 1919. The town was captured by the
Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...
in January 1945, and was soon restored to Poland. The devastated gravestone of Polish insurgents was rebuilt in 1947. In 1983 the 700th anniversary of Pleszew was celebrated, in reference to the first known historical mention of the town in 1283.


Sights

Among the historic sights of Pleszew are the Market Square (''Rynek'') with the Town Hall (''
Ratusz A ''Ratusz'' () (german: Rathaus; russian: Ратуша, ''Ratusha''; lt, Rotušė) is a historic administrative building in countries that adopted the Magdeburg rights such as the Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and others ...
''), the , the churches of Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, of Saint Florian and of the Holy Savior, and other historic buildings, including headquarters of historic organizations, townhouses and schools. There also numerous memorials at the sites of killings of Poles carried out by the Germans during the
occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: * Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, t ...
. Budynek liceum ogólnokształcącego z 1910 r..jpg, High school Kościół parafialny pw. Ścięcia św. Jana z XIV w., 1816, 1873.jpg, Church of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist Pomnik w Boreczku (Pleszew).jpg, Memorial stone in the Boreczek forest at the site of a German execution of 7 Poles in 1939 Pleszew, Greater Poland, Narrow-gauge railway station.jpg, Narrow-gauge railway station Galeria Zamkowa Pleszew.jpg, Shopping mall


Notable people

* Agnieszka (Lipska) Baranowska (1819–1890), Polish playwright and poet, wrote several plays for this town's local theater *
Moses Samuel Zuckermandl Rabbi Moses Samuel Zuckermandl, also Zuckermandel (24 April 1836, Uherský Brod, Moravia 27 January 1917, Breslau (now Wrocław), Silesia) was a Czech-German rabbi, Talmudist, and Jewish theologian. Biography Zuckermandl was a student of Samson ...
(1836–1917), Czech-German rabbi, lived here * Stefan Pawlicki (1839–1916), Polish Catholic priest, philosopher, historian of philosophy; lived here * Teodor Jeske-Choiński (1854–1920), Polish intellectual, writer and historian, literature critic *
Hugo Leichtentritt Hugo Leichtentritt (1 January 1874, Pleschen, , nearby Posen, Province of Posen13 November 1951, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was a German-Jewish musicologist and composer who spent much of his life in the USA. His pupils include composers Leroy ...
(1874–1951), German-Jewish musicologist and composer, born here *
Emil Jarrow Emil Jarrow (April 8, 1876 – March 4, 1959) was a sleight of hand magician. He sometimes referred to himself humorously as a "prestidigitator." Jarrow (also spelled Jaro & Jarow) was perhaps best known for creating the “lemon trick,” in whic ...
(Javorzynski) (1876–1959), world touring vaudeville magician and comedian, born here *
Hanna Suchocka Hanna Stanisława Suchocka (; born 3 April 1946) is a Polish political figure, lawyer, professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and Chair of the Constitutional Law Department, former First Vice-President and Honorary President of the ...
(born 1946), first female
Prime Minister of Poland The President of the Council of Ministers ( pl, Prezes Rady Ministrów, lit=Chairman of the Council of Ministers), colloquially referred to as the prime minister (), is the head of the cabinet and the head of government of Poland. The responsibi ...
, born here * Sergiusz Prusak (born 1979), Polish footballer, born here *
Maciej Piaszczyński Maciej Piaszczyński (born 28 May 1989 in Pleszew, Poland) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider from Poland. Craeer Piaszczyński has represented Poland U-21 national team. Results World Championships * Individual U-21 Wo ...
(born 1989), Polish international speedway rider, born here


International relations


Twin towns — Sister cities

Pleszew is twinned with: *
Morlanwelz Morlanwelz (; wa, Marlanwé) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km2 which gives a population density of 918 inhab ...
*
Spangenberg Spangenberg is a small town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Spangenberg lies in the Schwalm-Eder district some southeast of Kassel, west of the Stölzinger Gebirge, a low mountain range. Spangenberg is the demographic centrepoint o ...
(1997) *
Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron (, ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Charente-Maritime, southwestern France. It is located on the island of Oléron Island, Oléron. As the largest city on the island, it ...


See also

*
Gmina Pleszew __NOTOC__ Gmina Pleszew is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Pleszew County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. Its seat is the town of Pleszew, which lies approximately south-east of the regional capital Poznań. ...
*
Pleszew County __NOTOC__ Pleszew County ( pl, powiat pleszewski) 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 ...
* Kreis Pleschen, Posen * Pleszówka


References


External links


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