Ujazd (german: Ujest) is a town in Strzelce County in the

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 Si ...

in southern

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 ...

. Population 1,647. The town lies on bank of the river

Kłodnica Kłodnica () is a river in the Upper Silesia region. It is about 75 km long and a right tributary of the Odra river. Along Kłodnica's shore are Polish cities of Katowice, Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Ruda Śląska, Gliwice, and Zabrze. There ...

. Tourist attractions in the town include the Ujazd Castle (formerly used by

bishops of Wrocław A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

) and two churches: 17th-century Baroque Saint Andrew church and 19th-century Gothic Revival Visitation church.

History

The oldest known mention of Ujazd dates back to a document of Pope Adrian IV from 1155, when it was part of the

Piast 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. Branche ...

-ruled

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

. It 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 ...

in 1223 by Bishop of Wrocław Wawrzyniec. Already in the 13th century, a Catholic parish and municipal council existed in the town. Its name is of Polish origin. The town suffered during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

(1618–1648) and the

Silesian Wars The Silesian Wars (german: Schlesische Kriege, links=no) were three wars fought in the mid-18th century between Prussia (under King Frederick the Great) and Habsburg Austria (under Archduchess Maria Theresa) for control of the Central European ...

(1740–1763) and in 1666, 1676, 1770 it was hit by fires. It was captured 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 1740 and annexed afterwards. In 1838 the town passed to the family of

Hohenlohe The House of Hohenlohe () is a German princely dynasty. It ruled an immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire which was divided between several branches. The Hohenlohes became imperial counts in 1450. The county was divided numerous tim ...

–

Öhringen Öhringen ( East Franconian: ''Ähringe'') is the largest town in Hohenlohe (district) in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany, near Heilbronn. Öhringen is on the railline to Schwäbisch Hall and Crailsheim. With a population o ...

, a branch (1823) of that of

Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen was a German County of the House of Hohenlohe, located in northeastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, around Ingelfingen. Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen was a scion of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. It was raised from a County to a Principality i ...

. Prince Hugo of Hohenlohe-Öhringen was the first to take the title of duke of Ujest in 1861, and in 1897 was succeeded by his son Christian Kraft (born 1848). The duke was an hereditary member of the upper houses of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

and

. Since 1871, it was also part of

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 ...

. Until the end of the 18th century the town's population was overwhelmingly

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

, however, as a result of German colonization and Germanisation, in 1900, 75% of the populace was German-speaking. In the 1921

Upper Silesia plebiscite The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out on 20 March 1921 to determine ownership of the province of Upper Silesia between Weimar Germany and Poland. The region was ethnically mixed with ...

, 1,384 (89.6%) residents of the town voted to remain in

and 161 (10.4%) voted to join

. The town was captured by Polish insurgents during the

Silesian Uprisings The Silesian Uprisings (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...

in 1921, however it remained part of Germany in the interwar period. In 1937, during a massive

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

campaign of renaming of placenames, it was renamed ''Bischofstal'' to remove traces of Polish origin. In the final stages of

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 ...

, on January 22, 1945, the Germans executed several dozen of prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp in the town. 70% of the town infrastructure was destroyed in the war. After the war the town became again part of Poland and its original name was restored.

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Ujazd.

References

;Attribution *

External links

* http://www.ujazd.pl/ * http://bip.ujazd.pl/
Jewish Community in Ujazd
on Virtual Shtetl Cities and towns in Opole Voivodeship Strzelce County Cities in Silesia {{Opole-geo-stub