Zator (german: Neuenstadt an der Schaue, Wymysorys: ''Naojśtaod'') is an old town on the

Skawa Skawa (german: Schaue) is a river in southern Poland, a right tributary of the Vistula. It originates in the Western Carpathians (Beskids), is long and drains . It passes several towns: Jordanów, Maków Podhalański, Sucha Beskidzka, Wadowice ...

river within

Oświęcim County __NOTOC__ Oświęcim County ( pl, powiat oświęcimski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government ( powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local g ...

, Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999) 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 ...

. From 1975 to 1998 it belonged to the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship. It is the administrative seat of the Gmina Zator. According to data from December 31, 2008, Zator was inhabited by 4779 people.

Description

The city, located on the

river, is well known for pisciculture, especially carp, and periodic event called Zatorskie Dni Karpia. Zator is the main city of the Carp Valley.

History

Originally a part of

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...

, the area was acquired by the

Silesian Piast 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 her ...

Duke Władysław of Opole by a 1274 agreement with the Polish Princeps

Bolesław V the Chaste Bolesław V the Chaste ( pl, Bolesław Wstydliwy; 21 June 1226 – 7 December 1279) was Duke of Sandomierz in Lesser Poland from 1232 and High Duke of Poland from 1243 until his death, as the last male representative of the Lesser Polish branch o ...

. Zator then belonged to the Upper Silesian

Duchy of Opole Duchy of Opole ( pl, Księstwo opolskie; german: Herzogtum Oppeln; cs, Opolské knížectví) was one of the duchies of Silesia ruled by the Piast dynasty. Its capital was Opole (Oppeln, Opolí) in Upper Silesia. Duke Boleslaw III 'the Wrymo ...

and after Władysław's death in 1281 fell to the

Duchy of Cieszyn The Duchy of Teschen (german: Herzogtum Teschen), also Duchy of Cieszyn ( pl, Księstwo Cieszyńskie) or Duchy of Těšín ( cs, Těšínské knížectví), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn () in Upper Silesia. It was spli ...

. It received

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 traditio ...

in 1292. From 1315 on Zator belonged to the Duchy of Oświęcim split off Cieszyn and in 1445 even became the capital of a Piast duchy in its own right, the

Duchy of Zator The Duchy of Zator was one of many Duchies of Silesia. It was split off the Duchy of Oświęcim, when after eleven years of joint rule the sons of Duke Casimir I in 1445 finally divided the lands among themselves, whereby his eldest son Wenc ...

under Duke Wenceslaus I, a

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 ...

vassal. It finally fell back to the

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 ...

, when in 1494 Wenceslaus' son

Jan V Jan V of Zator ( pl, Jan V zatorski; before 1455 – 17 September 1513), was a Duke of Zator during 1468–1474 (with his three brothers as co-rulers), ruler over the western half of Zator from 1474 to 1494 (with his brother Władysław as his co- ...

sold his lands to 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 ...

. From 1564 Zator had been incorporated into the Kraków Voivodeship of Lesser Poland; in the course of the 1772 First Partition of Poland it was annexed by the Habsburg monarchy under Empress

Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...

and incorporated into the Austrian

Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,, ; pl, Królestwo Galicji i Lodomerii, ; uk, Королівство Галичини та Володимирії, Korolivstvo Halychyny ta Volodymyrii; la, Rēgnum Galiciae et Lodomeriae also known as ...

. After the dissolution of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

by the 1919

Treaty of Saint-Germain A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

Zator again fell to Poland. During the

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 ...

, Zator was incorporated to

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 ...

as a part of the

Province of Upper Silesia The Province of Upper Silesia (german: Provinz Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ''Provinz Oberschläsing''; szl, Prowincyjŏ Gōrny Ślōnsk; pl, Prowincja Górny Śląsk) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Free State of Prussia from 191 ...

, and was liberated on January 26, 1945. Several hundred Jews lived in Zator. Most of them were murdered in the Holocaust.

Places of interest

* The Zator castle, actually a palace, originally of defensive purposes. The castle is from 1445 year. It is classified as The First Class Monument. In 1836, it was completely renovated by The

Potocki family The House of Potocki (; plural: Potoccy, male: Potocki, feminine: Potocka) was a prominent Polish noble family in the Kingdom of Poland and magnates of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Potocki family is one of the wealthiest and ...

according to the project of F. M. Lanci. * The Jewish cemetery, founded in the middle of the 19th century. There are about 50 preserved headstones, most of which with an inscription in

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. * The

Energylandia Energylandia is an amusement park in Poland. It is located in Zator in Lesser Poland, which is in southern Poland. It is approximately away from Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland ...

amusement park is located in Zator.

Notable people

* Roman Rybarski (1887–1942), economist and politician * Rose Meth (1925-2013), surviving participant of the October 7, 1944 Sonderkommando uprising at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Zator is twinned with: * Berekfürdő, Hungary *

Bojnice Bojnice (german: Weinitz; hu, Bajmóc) is a historical town in central Slovakia located on the Nitra river, near the city of Prievidza. The town is situated just below the Bojnice Castle. It has a population of around 5,000. Bojnice is best k ...

, Slovakia

References

External links

*
Serwis Internetowy Miasta i Gminy Zator
*
Stowarzyszenie Dolina Karpia
*
The illustrated article about the castle in Zator

Jewish Community in Zator
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Oświęcim County Lesser Poland Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust