Strzegom (german: Striegau) is a town in
Świdnica County
__NOTOC__
Świdnica County ( pl, powiat świdnicki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local ...
,
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province, in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałbrz ...
, 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 populous ...
. It is the seat of the
Gmina Strzegom
__NOTOC__
Gmina Strzegom is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Świdnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Strzegom (German: ''Striegau''), which lies approximately north-west of ...
administrative district (
gmina
The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...
). It lies approximately north-west of
Świdnica
Świdnica (; german: Schweidnitz; cs, Svídnice; szl, Świdńica) is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. As of 2019, it has a population of 57,014 inhabitants. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh larges ...
, and west of the regional capital
Wrocław
Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
.
As of 2019, the town had a population of 16,106.
History
Middle Ages
Traces of settlement on the site during the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
period have been found. In the
Middle Ages
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 a ...
it was a fortified settlement under the rule 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 ...
, founded in the 10th century, as part of
Piast Poland
The period of rule by the Piast dynasty between the 10th and 14th centuries is the first major stage of the history of Poland, history of the Polish state. The dynasty was founded by a series of dukes listed by the chronicler Gall Anonymous in t ...
, first mentioned in a deed issued by
Pope Hadrian IV
Pope Adrian IV ( la, Adrianus IV; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159, also Hadrian IV), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 to his death in 1159. He is the only Englishman t ...
in 1155, confirming the boundaries of the
Wrocław diocese.
Its name is of Polish origin and comes either from the words ''strzec'' ("guard"), ''strzyc głowy'' ("cut hair") or ''trzy góry'' ("three mountains").
As a result of the fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies, Strzegom became part of the
Duchy of Silesia
The Duchy of Silesia ( pl, Księstwo śląskie, german: Herzogtum Schlesien, cs, Slezské knížectví) with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Pia ...
in the 12th century. The Piast Castle was built at that time. At the same time the building of the
St. Peter and Paul parish church began, from 1203 under the
patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
of the
Order of Saint John
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
. To help rebuild the devastated region after the
first Mongol invasion of Poland
The Mongol Invasion of Poland from late 1240 to 1241 culminated in the Battle of Legnica, where the Mongols defeated an alliance which included forces from fragmented Poland and their allies, led by Henry II the Pious, the Duke of Silesia. ...
(1241), Strzegom town granted
town privileges
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 ...
by
Anne of Bohemia
Anne of Bohemia (11 May 1366 – 7 June 1394), also known as Anne of Luxembourg, was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the eldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and ...
, widow of the
Silesian duke
Henry II the Pious
Henry II the Pious ( pl, Henryk II Pobożny; 1196 – 9 April 1241) was Duke of Silesia and High Duke of Poland as well as Duke of South-Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. Between 1238 and 1239 he also served as regent of Sandomierz and ...
.
[ In 1248 it passed to the Silesian ]Duchy of Legnica
The Duchy of Legnica ( pl, Księstwo Legnickie, cs, Lehnické knížectví) or Duchy of Liegnitz (german: Herzogtum Liegnitz) was one of the Duchies of Silesia. Its capital was Legnica (''Liegnitz'') in Lower Silesia.
Legnica Castle had become ...
under Henry's son Bolesław II the Bald Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to:
In people:
* Boleslaw (given name)
In geography:
* Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
* Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
* Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, ...
, contested by his nephew Henryk IV Probus
Henryk IV Probus (Latin for ''the Righteous'') ( pl, Henryk IV Probus or ''Prawy''; german: Heinrich IV. der Gerechte) ( – 23 June 1290) was a member of the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. He was Duke of Silesia at Wro ...
, who, imprisoned by his uncle at Jelcz
Jelcz (pronounced like ''Yelch'' after the town of the same name) is a Polish brand of trucks, military vehicles, buses and trolley buses produced by ''Zakłady Samochodowe Jelcz''/''Jelczańskie Zakłady Samochodowe'', with both names roughly ...
, finally had to renounce Strzegom in 1277. Since the 13th century Strzegom was a center of clothmaking. In the 1290s the defensive walls were erected.[ In 1307 a Benedictine monastery was established.][ In 1318 a ]bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
was placed in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, it remains the oldest bell still operating in Poland.[
From the late 13th century the town of Strzegom belonged to the Duchy of Jawor and Świdnica under ]Bolko I the Strict
Bolko (Bolesław) I the Strict also known as the Raw or of Jawor ( pl, Bolko I Surowy or ''Srogi'' or ''Jaworski''; german: Bolko I. von Schweidnitz; 1252/56 – 9 November 1301), was a Duke of Lwówek (Löwenberg) 1278–81 (with his brother as co ...
, and until 1392 was ruled by his descendants of the Silesian Piasts
The Silesian Piasts were the elder of four lines of the Polish Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile (1105–1159), eldest son of Duke Bolesław III of Poland. By Bolesław's testament, Władysław was granted Silesia as his h ...
. Though they initially withstood the vassalisation attempts by King John of Bohemia
John the Blind or John of Luxembourg ( lb, Jang de Blannen; german: link=no, Johann der Blinde; cz, Jan Lucemburský; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of ...
, Strzegom subsequently shared the political fortunes of Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
, and passed from Polish to Imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Imperial, Texa ...
Bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Beer
* National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst
* Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
rule, Hungarian in 1469, again Bohemian in 1490, then under the Jagiellonian dynasty
The Jagiellonian dynasty (, pl, dynastia jagiellońska), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty ( pl, dynastia Jagiellonów), the House of Jagiellon ( pl, Dom Jagiellonów), or simply the Jagiellons ( pl, Jagiellonowie), was the name assumed by a cad ...
until 1526 and within under Austrian Habsburg sovereignty afterwards.
Modern era
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 ...
the city suffered almost complete destruction, also the medieval Piast Castle was ruined, and in 1718 and 1719 fires struck the city.[
In 1742 the town, under the Germanized name ''Striegau'', became part of ]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 ...
. On 4 June 1745 the Battle of Hohenfriedberg
The Battle of Hohenfriedberg or Hohenfriedeberg, now Dobromierz, also known as the Battle of Striegau, now Strzegom, was one of Frederick the Great's most admired victories. Frederick's Prussian army decisively defeated an Austrian army unde ...
, an important victory for King Frederick II against joint Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
-Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
-Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
forces[ during the ]War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...
, took place near the town. During the Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
, Austrian and Russian troops occupied the city from 1760 to 1762, causing great suffering to the civilian population. During the Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
and Polish national liberation fights, Napoleonic troops occupied the town on 23 December 1806. In the ensuing three years, the city was forced to make total contributions of 100,000 talers. Polish troops were stationed in the town in 1807, and later also Prussian and Russian troops.[ During the German Campaign of 1813, Striegau suffered further financial losses and had to feed 5400 officers and 92,400 soldiers from both the Prussian and the French army.
The industrialization of Striegau began around 1860. Small factories produced steam boilers, steam engines, and agricultural machines. Five quarries produced ]granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, which became the most important source of revenue and employment for the city. The first rail link to the town was opened in 1856. In 1861, a gasworks opened. From 1871 the town part of Germany. The remains of the medieval Piast Castle were dismantled in 1888. In 1905 the town of Striegau had 13,427 inhabitants. The majority was Lutheran, with 4,783 Catholics and 100 Jews. By 1939, the population increased to 15,155. Despite 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 ...
, the Polish newspaper ''Dla Wszystkich'' was published in the town from 1901 to 1918. 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 ...
ended in 1918, the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
left the town within Germany. The economic crisis of the following years has led to an increase in unemployment, inflation, poverty and crime.[
]
World War II
German troops stationed in the town took part in the 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 opposin ...
in 1939.[ During the war, Nazi Germany used an area close to the town as a ]subcamp
Subcamps (german: KZ-Außenlager), also translated as satellite camps, were outlying detention centres (''Haftstätten'') that came under the command of a main concentration camp run by the SS in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The Nazi ...
of the nearby Gross-Rosen concentration camp
, known for =
, location =
, built by =
, operated by =
, commandant =
, original use =
, construction =
, in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945
, gas cham ...
. The Germans also established four labour units of the Stalag VIII-A
Stalag VIII-A was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp, located just to the south of the town of Görlitz in Lower Silesia, east of the River Neisse. The location of the camp lies in today's Polish town of Zgorzelec, which lies over the river ...
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 ...
.[ The Red Army captured the city on 13 February 1945; since German authorities had delayed permission to evacuate, a large population remained in the city at the time. The Soviet troops engaged in an orgy of gang-rape, torture, and murder against the civilian population, and numerous citizens took their own lives. The Wehrmacht recaptured the city on 11 March. The official German press widely circulated reports of Soviet atrocities in the city.] On 7 May, the Red Army captured Striegau a second time.
At the end of June, the Soviets put the city under Polish administration. Its historic Polish name ''Strzegom'' was restored. As a result of the Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Pe ...
in 1945, Strzegom became again a part of 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 ...
, and its German inhabitants were expelled in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement
The Potsdam Agreement (german: Potsdamer Abkommen) was the agreement between three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union on 1 August 1945. A product of the Potsdam Conference, it concerned th ...
. The town was repopulated with 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 ...
, who in turn were expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union as a result of the Hitler-Stalin Pact of 1939.
Post-war period
In 1945, a still operating agricultural machinery factory was launched, and in 1946 also a shoe factory was founded, it was closed in the 1990s.[ In 1962, the Culture Center was founded, and in 1997 a monument to ]Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
was unveiled.[
In 2012 the Jewish Cemetery of Strzegom was fully restored and renovated. Over 80 gravestones (]Matzevah
''Matzevah'' or ''masseba'' ( he, מַצֵּבָה ''maṣṣēḇā''; "pillar") is a term used in the Hebrew Bible for a sacred pillar, a type of standing stone. The term has been adopted by archaeologists for Israelite contexts, seldom for re ...
s) were repaired and returned to their original place. The project was jointly funded by Poland and the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, simultaneously introducing Jewish culture and history to the local townspeople.
Sights
The Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
Saints Peter and Paul Basilica
Saints Peter and Paul Basilica is a historic Roman Catholic church at 214 E. 8th Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It is one of the oldest continuing parishes in ...
is one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (''Pomnik historii
Historic Monument ( pl, pomnik historii) is one of several categories of objects of cultural heritage (in the singular, '' zabytek'') in Poland.
To be recognized as a Polish historic monument, an object must be declared such by the President ...
''), as designated 22 October 2012. Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland
The National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Poland ( pl, Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa NID) is a Polish governmental institution responsible for documenting cultural property and the intangible cultural heritage, as well as for supporting and ...
. Other historic sights include churches, townhouses, medieval town walls with towers, and other historic buildings and structures.
Bazylika-strzegom.jpg, Saints Peter and Paul Basilica
Saints Peter and Paul Basilica is a historic Roman Catholic church at 214 E. 8th Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It is one of the oldest continuing parishes in ...
Strzegom (0036).jpg, Saints Peter and Paul Basilica
Saints Peter and Paul Basilica is a historic Roman Catholic church at 214 E. 8th Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It is one of the oldest continuing parishes in ...
Kościół Zbawiciela Świata w Strzegomiu.JPG, 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 ...
Salvator Church
Ratusz w Strzegomiu - fotopolska.eu.jpg, Town Hall
PL - Strzegom - dom, Rynek 1 - Kroton 001.jpg, Typical preserved townhouse at the Market Square
STRZEGOM-Klasztor ss.elżbietanek 1891.jpg, Monastery of the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth
Strzegom (0072).jpg, Saint Anthony chapel
Notable people
* Othmar Daniel Zinke (1664–1738), Benedictine abbot
* Johann Christian Günther
Johann Christian Günther (8 April 1695 – 15 March 1723) was a German poet from Striegau in Lower Silesia. After attending the gymnasium at Schweidnitz, he was sent in 1715 by his father, a country doctor, to study medicine at Wittenberg; b ...
(1695–1723), Baroque poet
* Friedrich Wilhelm Lange (1788–1839), Lutheran pastor and educator
* Rudolf von Seydlitz-Kurzbach (1812–1870), estate owner and court official
* Raffael Schuster-Woldan (1870–1951), painter and professor at the Prussian Academy of Fine Arts
* Kurt Hielscher (1881–1948), photographer and writer
* August Scharnke (1885–1931), professor of psychiatry at Marburg and Rostock
* Hans Christoph Kaergel (1889–1946), writer
* Werner Krusche (1917–2009), Lutheran theologian and bishop of Magdeburg studied at the Gymnasium.
* Peter Zvi Malkin (1927–2005), Mossad agent who arrested Adolf Eichmann
* Domitilla Veith (1928–2014), abbess of the Benedictine Abbey at Frauenchiemsee (Bavaria)
* Jutta Klamt (1890–1970), dancer and choreographer
* Roger Loewig (1930–1997), artist and poet
* Hans-Georg Koitz (born 1935), Roman Catholic bishop of Hildesheim
Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...
(1992–2010)
* Herbert Obst
Herbert Obst (born 26 June 1936) is a Canadian fencer. He competed in the individual and team foil and épée events at the 1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly k ...
(born 1936), Olympic fencer
* Krzysztof Szwagrzyk (born 1964), Polish historian and publicist
* Andrzej Stelmach (born 1972), Polish former Olympic volleyball player
* Paul Slowinski
Paul "The Sting" Slowinski (born 24 September 1980) is a Polish kickboxer, a four-time World Muay Thai Council (WMC) Muay Thai World champion and two-time K-1 World GP 2006 in Auckland and K-1 World GP 2007 in Amsterdam champion. After two y ...
(born 1980), Polish-Australian kickboxer
Twin towns – sister cities
See twin towns of Gmina Strzegom.
References
External links
Jewish Community in Strzegom
on Virtual Shtetl
*
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Świdnica County