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Wołczyn (german: Konstadt) is a
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...
in
Kluczbork County __NOTOC__ Kluczbork County ( pl, powiat kluczborski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Opole Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ...
,
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 ...
, 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 ...
, with 5,907 inhabitants . According to 2011 data, it covers , and is the seat of
Gmina Wołczyn __NOTOC__ Gmina Wołczyn is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Kluczbork County, Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Wołczyn, which lies approximately west of Kluczbork and north of the regional ca ...
. It is located within the historic region of
Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...
.


History

The name of the town is derived from the Polish word ''wół'', which means " ox". In the early 14th-century ''
Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis ( pl, Księga uposażeń biskupstwa wrocławskiego, ''Book of endowments of the Bishopric of Wrocław'') is a Latin manuscript catalog of documents compiled in the later 13th or in the early 14th centu ...
'' the town appeared under the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...
ized name ''Welczyn''. The town was probably founded on the site of a former Slavic settlement. 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 1261. It was part of various duchies of fragmented
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 ...
. Until 1294 it was part of the Duchy of Wrocław/Breslau, afterwards the Duchy of Głogów/Glogau until 1312, Duchy of Namysłów/Namslau until 1320, Duchy of Oleśnica/Oels until 1343, Duchy of Brzeg/Brieg until 1436 and afterwards the Duchy of Oleśnica again. It remained under the rule 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 ...
until 1495, and afterwards, for about 300 years, the town was owned by the magnate Posadowski family, under the suzerainty of the Bohemian Kingdom, a part of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
, until 1526, when the
Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
inherited the Bohemian Crown. The town was located on a trade route connecting
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...
and
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, r ...
. The population made a living from agriculture, crafts and trade. Five 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 were held in Wołczyn, and
crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...
s and handicrafts were sold to customers not only from
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...
, but also from neighboring
Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest cit ...
. In the 15th century the Czech
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 Huss ...
and in the 17th century
Polish Brethren The Polish Brethren (Polish: ''Bracia Polscy'') were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658. By those on the outside, they were called " Arians" or " Socinians" ( ...
settled in Wołczyn. In the 16th century, a municipal school known for its high level of education was established there, and in the 18th and early 19th centuries there was a well-known proseminar for Polish Lutherans, later moved to Kluczbork. In 1742 the town was annexed by the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
. On 1 October 1868, the town was connected to a railway line. By 1907 Wołczyn had a
water supply network A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see water purification – sou ...
. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, from 19 to 21 January 1945, fights were fought for the town between
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and 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 ...
. As a result, 40% of the town's buildings were in ruins. At the end of the war, the German population of the town was expelled leaving the region denuded, the region was then inhabited by a massive influx of Polish settlers and was annexed to Poland.https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Challenge_of_East_West_Migration_for/mD-xCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Wolczyn+German+expulsion&pg=PA174&printsec=frontcover#spf=1600154357637 pp. 174 Since 1994, the city has hosted an annual "Spotkania Młodych" (Meeting of Youth). It is organized by the
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
.


Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Wołczyn.


References


External links

* http://www.wolczyn.pl/
Jewish Community in Wołczyn
on Virtual Shtetl {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolczyn Cities and towns in Opole Voivodeship Kluczbork County Cities in Silesia