Żyrardów is a town and former industrial hub in central

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 approximately 41,400 inhabitants (2006). It is the capital of

Żyrardów County __NOTOC__ Żyrardów County ( pl, powiat żyrardowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Masovian Voivodeship, east-central Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999, as a result of the Polish local governm ...

situated in the

Masovian Voivodeship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. Th ...

(since 1999); previously, it was in

Skierniewice Voivodeship Skierniewice Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998, superseded by Łódź Voivodeship and Masovian Voivodeship. Its capital city was Skierniewice. Major cities and towns (population ...

(1975–1998) west of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. Żyrardów, initially a textile settlement, was named after French engineer and inventor

Philippe de Girard Philippe Henri de Girard (February 1, 1775 – August 26, 1845aged 70) was a French engineer and inventor of the first flax spinning frame in 1810, and the person after whom the town of Żyrardów in Poland was named. He was also the uncredited i ...

, who worked in the area.

History

Founded by the Łubieński brothers as a textile factory in 1833. One of the directors of the factory was French inventor

(from

Lourmarin Lourmarin (; oc, Lormarin) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Lourmarinois''. Geography Lourmarin is located in the French region of Provence, ...

). The town developed during the 19th century into a significant

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

mill town in Poland. In honour of Girard, Ruda Guzowska was renamed ''Żyrardów'', a toponym derived of the polonised spelling of Girard's name. With the onset of dawn on September 12, 1939, the army of units of the 8th German army launched an attack on Żyrardów. After several hours of fierce defense of the city, the Polish army had to leave their positions and start delaying actions towards Wiskitki - Guzów - Szymanów and Paprotnia. In 1941 they transported Jews into

Warsaw ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...

. The town museum is nowadays located in the former palace of owner of factory K. Dittrich. A sign near the entrance to the town states that it was the only city in Europe, entirely set up for a factory. The town was named 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 January 17, 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 ...

Monuments

Most of Żyrardów's monuments are located in the manufacturing area which dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is widely believed that Żyrardów's textile settlement is the only whole urban industrial 19th-century complex to be preserved in Europe.

Education

* Szkoła Mistrzostwa Sportowego w Kolarstwie * Wyższa Szkoła Rozwoju Lokalnego * Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Stefana Żeromskiego * Zespół Szkół Publicznych nr. 7 im. Henryka Sienkiewicza w Żyrardowie

Sport

Since 1923 Żyrardów has a football club named Żyrardowianka Żyrardów (it used to be named Włókniarz Żyrardów), which in 2015/2016 was part of IV League of polish football.

Notable people

* Feliks Łubieński (1758–1848), landowner who gave the estate and his blessing to his sons to build the very first textile factory *

Henryk Łubieński Henryk Jan Nepomucen Łubieński, Pomian coat of arms, (11 July 1793, in Prague – 17 September 1883, in Wiskitki, Poland) – was the scion of a Polish magnate family, landowner, financier, lawyer, early industrialist, economic activist, an ...

(1793–1883), banker and industrialist, son of Felix * Feliks Sobański (1833–1913), philanthropist who donated land for the church * Paweł Hulka-Laskowski (1881–1946), a writer, translator and

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

Leszek Miller Leszek Cezary Miller (Polish pronunciation: ; born 3 July 1946) is a Polish politician. He has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since July 2019. From 1989 to 1990 was a member of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' P ...

(born 1946), former

Prime Minister of Poland The President of the Council of Ministers ( pl, Prezes Rady Ministrów, lit=Chairman of the Council of Ministers), colloquially referred to as the prime minister (), is the head of the cabinet and the head of government of Poland. The responsibi ...

, started his professional life as

electrician An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...

in a local textile factory *

Piotr Nowakowski Piotr Nowakowski (born 18 December 1987) is a Polish professional volleyball player, a former member of the Poland men's national volleyball team, Poland national team. A participant in the Olympic Games (2012 Summer Olympics, London 2012, 2016 S ...

(born 1987), volleyball player, double World Champion *

Gosia Rdest Małgorzata Agnieszka Łazarczyk ( née Rdest, born 14 January 1993 in Żyrardów) is a Polish female racing driver and businesswoman. She currently competes in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup. Racing career Rdest entered car racing in 2012 when she, ...

(born 1993), a racing driver who competed in the W Series

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Żyrardów is twinned with: *

Tangshan Tangshan () is a coastal, industrial prefecture-level city in the northeast of Hebei province. It is located in the eastern part of Hebei Province and the northeastern part of the North China Plain. It is located in the central area of the Boha ...

, China * Delchevo, North Macedonia *

, France *

Siero Siero is a municipality of the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northern Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus u ...

, Spain

References

External links

Official Site of Żyrardów

A web page of the history of Żyrardów (in Polish)

Current Population

Jewish Community in Żyrardów
on Virtual Shtetl {{DEFAULTSORT:Żyrardów Cities and towns in Masovian Voivodeship Żyrardów County Populated places established in 1833 Holocaust locations in Poland 1833 establishments in Poland