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Legnickie Pole (in 1945–1948 ''Dobre Pole'', german: Wahlstatt) is a village in Legnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Legnickie Pole.
It lies approximately southeast of Legnica, and west of the regional capital Wrocław. The village has a population of 780.
The village was the site of the decisive Battle of Legnica during the first Mongol invasion of Poland on 9 April 1241. In the battle, Mongols led by Kadan and Baidar defeated a Poles, Polish army aided by western volunteers under command of Duke Henry II the Pious of duchy of Silesia, Silesia. The Mongols annihilated their opponents and joined with the main army in Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary, but upon receiving the news of the death of their Grand Khan Ögedei Khan, they turned back to attend to the election of a new Khagan, or Grand Khan.
As a result of the History of Poland during the Piast dynasty#Fragmentation of the realm (1138–1320), fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies, the village was part of the Duchy of Silesia, Silesia until 1248 and the Duchy of Legnica afterwards, remaining under the rule of the Piast dynasty until its extinction in 1675. Afterwards it was incorporated into the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg-ruled Kingdom of Bohemia. During the Thirty Years' War the village was plundered by the Swedish Empire, Swedes.
The village was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia during the Silesian Wars in 1742. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince Blücher defeated a First French Empire, French army under Etienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald, Marshal MacDonald at the Kaczawa river (then ''Katzbach''), a small river running through Legnickie Pole (then ''Wahlstatt'') and Legnica (then ''Liegnitz''), in the Battle of Katzbach on 26 August 1813. In honor of this victory Blücher received the title ''Prince of Wahlstatt'' on 3 June 1814. A Baroque architecture, Baroque abbey built before the Prussian annexation, in 1727 through 1733, with its complex of attendant buildings became a Prussian training institute for cadets in 1840. Among others, future field marshal and German president Paul von Hindenburg studied here from 1859 to 1863, as did the ''Red Baron'', Manfred von Richthofen, until 1911.
As the Treaty of Versailles limited the size of the German military, the abbey was turned into a boarding school for boys in 1920. During the Nazi Germany, Nazi era, it was first a National Political Institute of Education and in the final months of the war a prisoner of war camp Oflag VIII-F for French, Yugoslav and Soviet troops was located there.
The village became part of People's Republic of Poland following the Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II, had its German-speaking population expulsion of Germans after World War II, expelled, and was given its current Polish name ''Legnickie Pole'' ("Field of Legnica", from 1945 to 1948 it was named ''Dobre Pole'' ["Good Field"]).
6 Legnickie Pole 10.jpg, Frescos of the St. Jadwiga's Basilica, Legnickie Pole, St. Jadwiga's Basilica
SM Legnickie Pole Klasztor 2017 (0) ID 593490.jpg, Former Benedictine monastery
SM Legnickie Pole Muzeum Bitwy pod Legnicą 2017 (1) ID 593504.jpg, Museum of the Battle of Legnica
Official website
Gmina website
{{Authority control Villages in Legnica County
History
The village was the site of the decisive Battle of Legnica during the first Mongol invasion of Poland on 9 April 1241. In the battle, Mongols led by Kadan and Baidar defeated a Poles, Polish army aided by western volunteers under command of Duke Henry II the Pious of duchy of Silesia, Silesia. The Mongols annihilated their opponents and joined with the main army in Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary, but upon receiving the news of the death of their Grand Khan Ögedei Khan, they turned back to attend to the election of a new Khagan, or Grand Khan.
As a result of the History of Poland during the Piast dynasty#Fragmentation of the realm (1138–1320), fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies, the village was part of the Duchy of Silesia, Silesia until 1248 and the Duchy of Legnica afterwards, remaining under the rule of the Piast dynasty until its extinction in 1675. Afterwards it was incorporated into the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg-ruled Kingdom of Bohemia. During the Thirty Years' War the village was plundered by the Swedish Empire, Swedes.
The village was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia during the Silesian Wars in 1742. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince Blücher defeated a First French Empire, French army under Etienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald, Marshal MacDonald at the Kaczawa river (then ''Katzbach''), a small river running through Legnickie Pole (then ''Wahlstatt'') and Legnica (then ''Liegnitz''), in the Battle of Katzbach on 26 August 1813. In honor of this victory Blücher received the title ''Prince of Wahlstatt'' on 3 June 1814. A Baroque architecture, Baroque abbey built before the Prussian annexation, in 1727 through 1733, with its complex of attendant buildings became a Prussian training institute for cadets in 1840. Among others, future field marshal and German president Paul von Hindenburg studied here from 1859 to 1863, as did the ''Red Baron'', Manfred von Richthofen, until 1911.
As the Treaty of Versailles limited the size of the German military, the abbey was turned into a boarding school for boys in 1920. During the Nazi Germany, Nazi era, it was first a National Political Institute of Education and in the final months of the war a prisoner of war camp Oflag VIII-F for French, Yugoslav and Soviet troops was located there.
The village became part of People's Republic of Poland following the Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II, had its German-speaking population expulsion of Germans after World War II, expelled, and was given its current Polish name ''Legnickie Pole'' ("Field of Legnica", from 1945 to 1948 it was named ''Dobre Pole'' ["Good Field"]).
Landmarks
* St. Jadwiga's Basilica, Legnickie Pole, St. Jadwiga's Basilica and the Benedictines monastery, a Baroque architecture, Baroque abbey built between 1727 and 1733 with its complex of attendant buildings. The former abbey became a hospital for emotionally disturbed women in 1957, while the church remains a Catholic parish church * Museum of the Battle of Legnica, dedicated to the 1241 Battle of Legnica, battle, one of the largest battles of medieval Poland, located in the former Holy Trinity Church The St. Jadwiga's Basilica and abbey along with the Museum of the Battle of Legnica were jointly designated one of Poland's official national List of Historical Monuments (Poland), Historic Monuments (''Pomnik historii'') on May 1, 2004, and are tracked by the Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa, National Heritage Board of Poland.References
External links
Official website
Gmina website
{{Authority control Villages in Legnica County