Wronki (german: Wronke) is a town in the

Szamotuły County __NOTOC__ Szamotuły County ( pl, powiat szamotulski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into existence on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish lo ...

, western-central Poland, situated in the

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 ...

. It is located close to the

Warta River The river Warta ( , ; german: Warthe ; la, Varta) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly north-west to flow into the Oder, against the German border. About long, it is Poland's second-longest river within its borders after the Vistula, a ...

to the northwest 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 ...

on the edge of Noteć Forest, and has a population of approximately 11,000.

History

The town's name comes from ''wrona'', the Polish word for a

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...

, which is also reflected in the town's coat of arms. According to local rumour, in 1002 Boleslaw the Bold was once caught offside on the banks of Wronki River. The oldest known mention of Wronki comes from 1279. Trade and crafts developed in the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

, due to the town's location both on the Warta river and on the trade route which connected major cities

and

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

. At various times Wronki was either a royal town of the Polish Crown or 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 ...

Polish nobility The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...

. Administratively it was located in the Poznań County in the

Poznań Voivodeship Poznań Voivodeship was the name of several former administrative regions (''województwo'', rendered as ''voivodeship'' and usually translated as "province") in Poland, centered on the city of Poznań, although the exact boundaries changed over t ...

in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. It 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 ...

in 1793 in 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 War ...

, regained by Poles and included in 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, re-annexed by Prussia in 1815, and from 1871 to 1919 it also was 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 ...

. The name was Germanized to ''Wronke'' when it was part of Prussia and Germany. The population was subjected to

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 ...

policies, nevertheless it remained a center of Polish resistance, and

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 ...

established various educational, industrial and sporting organizations, also one of the oldest Polish

volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond t ...

s was founded in the town. At the beginning of the 20th century,

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

were 18% of the total population. 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 ...

, the number decreased because Wronki was restored to Poland after the country regained independence, and the Jews of Wronki belonged to the German culture. In 1932, the German-language journal ''Die Stimme'' published an article stating that in 933, a synagogue - the first in Poland - was constructed in Wronki, and in 1933 Jews near Wronki celebrated what they believed to be the millennium of Jewish life in Poland. 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 ...

(

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 ...

), the Polish population was subjected to mass arrests, imprisonment, massacres, deportations to

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 ...

to Germany and expulsions (see ''

Nazi crimes against the Polish nation Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occupation of Poland in World War II, consisted of the murder of ...

''). In November and December 1939, inhabitants of Wronki were among Poles murdered in mass executions in

Mędzisko Mędzisko is a settlement in the administrative district of Gmina Obrzycko, within Szamotuły County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. During the Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), German occupation of Poland (World War II), M� ...

and

Szamotuły Szamotuły (german: Samter) is a town in western Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship, about northwest of the centre of Poznań. It is the seat of Szamotuły County and of the smaller administrative district Gmina Szamotuły. The population was ...

, and in 1940 the Germans murdered 280 Poles, previously held in the local prison, in the Kobylniki forest. In December 1939, the German police and ''

Selbstschutz ''Selbstschutz'' (German for "self-protection") is the name given to different iterations of ethnic-German self-protection units formed both after the First World War and in the lead-up to the Second World War. The first incarnation of the ''Selb ...

'' expelled many Poles, mostly the

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...

, and owners of shops and workshops. Several Poles were held by the Germans in the local prison for aiding and rescuing Jews. From 1978 to 1998, it was administratively located in the former

Piła Voivodeship Piła Voivodeship () was a voivodeship (unit of administrative division and local government) in Poland from 1975 to 1998. It was superseded by the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The Voivodeship's capital city was Piła. Major cities and towns (pop ...

Economy

The town is a major hub for

white goods A major appliance, also known as a large domestic appliance or large electric appliance or simply a large appliance, large domestic, or large electric, is a non-portable or semi-portable machine used for routine housekeeping tasks such as cookin ...

, most notably the headquarters of Amica SA, who hail from the town, and is also where Samsung Electronics Manufacturing Poland who produce

washing machines A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a home appliance used to wash laundry. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning (which uses alternative cleaning fluids and ...

and fridges in the town. The town also contains Wronki Prison, the largest prison in Poland.

Main sights

* St. Catherine's church -

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 ...

church built towards the end of the 15th century * Franciscan monastery with the church of the Annunciation -

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 ...

monastery complex built in the 17th century according to a design by Krzysztof Bonadura senior * Holy Cross chapel - built in 1887 by Jadwiga Słodowicz * Historic

granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animal ...

, now housing the Regional Museum and a public library * Lapidarium of Jewish Tombstones

Sports

The town is represented by

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 ...

club Błękitni Wronki, the predecessor and successor of

Amica Wronki Amica Wronki was a Polish football club based in Wronki, Poland. The club was invariably linked to Amica, a manufacturer of white goods, predominantly stoves, which gave the club its nickname. The company's increasing profits gave the new te ...

, who were three times

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

and two times

Polish SuperCup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been pl ...

winners, and who competed in Poland's top division from 1995 to 2006, and in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

in the early 2000s. Currently the town is home to the academy of

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

and the home for their reserve team,

Lech Poznań II Lech Poznań II () is the reserve team and the senior academy team of Lech Poznań, a Polish professional football club based in Poznań. The team and its facilities are based in Wronki. They currently play in the third tier of the league pyr ...

. Wronki co-hosted the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Championship and 2014

European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship The Rugby Europe Under-18 Championship is an annual rugby union championship for Under-18 national teams, held since 2004. The championship is organised by rugby's European governing body, Rugby Europe. The Wronki railway station is located on the

Poznań–Szczecin railway The Poznań–Szczecin railway is a Polish rail transport line that connects Poznań with Krzyż Wielkopolski, Stargard and further to Szczecin. The railway is part of European TEN-T route E59 from Scandinavia to Vienna, Budapest and Prague. ...

, and the city has railway connections with major Polish cities like

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 ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

Notable people

* Wincenty Kruziński (1840–1928), Polish composer *

Adolf Pinner Adolf Pinner (August 31, 1842 – May 21, 1909) was a German chemist. Early life and education He was educated at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau, Jewish Theological Seminary at Breslau and at the University of Berlin (Phd in Chemis ...

(1842–1909), German chemist *

Hans Ferdinand Emil Julius Stichel Hans Ferdinand Emil Julius Stichel (16 February 1862 – 2 October 1936, in Berlin) was a German entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. Stichel was born in Wronke, Prussian Province of Posen (Wronki, Poland) and attended the ''Royal Realg ...

(1862–1936), German biologist *

Bernhard Zondek Bernhard Zondek ( he, ברנרד צונדק; 29 July 1891 – 8 November 1966) was a German-born Israeli gynecologist who developed the first reliable pregnancy test in 1928. Biography Bernhard Zondek was born in Wronke, Germany, now Wronki, Po ...

(1891-1966), Israeli gynaecologist * Else Koffka (1901–1994), German lawyer *

Rafał Grupiński Rafał Szymon Grupiński (born 26 September 1952, in Wronki) is a Polish politician. He was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 8,168 votes in 36 Kalisz district as a candidate from the Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platfor ...

(born 1952), Polish politician *

Leopold Treitel __NOTOC__ Leopold Jakob Jehuda Treitel (7 January 1845 – 4 March 1931) was a German Jewish Ancient philosophy, classical Scholarly method, scholar in the late 19th and early 20th century, and the last rabbi of the Judaism, Jewish community in the ...

(1845-1931) German Jewish classical scholar

Other residents

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialist, Marxist philosopher and anti-war activist. Successively, she was a member of the Proletariat party, ...

(1871–1919), Polish Marxist, imprisoned in Wronki by German authorities during World War I *

Carl Maria Splett Carl Maria Splett (17 January 1898 – 5 March 1964) was a German Roman Catholic priest and Bishop of Danzig (Gdańsk); his role during World War II, especially as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Culm, is controversial. After World War ...

(1898–1964), Catholic bishop

References

History of Jewish community in Wronki

History of Jewish community in Wronki
{{Coord, 52, 42, 00, N, 16, 23, 00, E, region:PL_type:city, display=title Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship Szamotuły County Shtetls