Jelcz-Laskowice is a town in

Oława County __NOTOC__ Oława County ( pl, powiat oławski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999 as a result of the Polish local government r ...

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province, in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałbr ...

, in south-western

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 ...

. It is the seat of the administrative district (

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...

) called

Gmina Jelcz-Laskowice __NOTOC__ Gmina Jelcz-Laskowice is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Oława County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Jelcz-Laskowice, which lies approximately north of Oława, and south ...

. It lies on the Odra (Oder) river, approximately north of

Oława Oława (pronounced , , szl, Oława) is a historic town in south-western Poland with 33,029 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975–1998 it was in the former Wrocław Voivodeship), within the Wrocław m ...

, and south-east of the regional capital

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 ...

, within its

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...

. As of 2019, the town has a population of 15,803.

History

The town was created on January 1, 1987, as a union of the former municipalities of Jelcz (german: Jeltsch) and Laskowice (''Laskowitz''). It was best known for its large

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

factory, owned by the company Jelcz S.A., though since the bankruptcy of that company the largest employers have been

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

and the Mechanical Institute. Ruiny zamku w Jelczu

The oldest traces of human settlement in present-day Jelcz-Laskowice date back to the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

period. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

both Jelcz and Laskowice were part of 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 ...

ruled by 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 ...

. The first known mentions of both villages come from the 13th century, although they probably already existed in the 12th century. Laskowice was first mentioned in 1203, when it was granted by Duke

Henry the Bearded Henry the Bearded ( pl, Henryk (Jędrzych) Brodaty, german: Heinrich der Bärtige; c. 1165/70 – 19 March 1238) was a Polish duke from the Piast dynasty. He was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1201, Duke of Kraków and High Duke of all P ...

to Polish noble Leonard Włostowic, the grandson of

Piotr Włostowic Herb ŁabędźPiotr Włostowic ( 1080 – 1153), also known as Peter Wlast or ''Włost'') was a Polish noble, castellan of Wrocław, and a ruler (''możnowładca'') of part of Silesia. From 1117 he was voivode (''palatyn'') of the Duke of Polan ...

. Jelcz was first mentioned as ''Jalche'' in a 1245 deed, when

Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...

assigned it to the

Archdiocese of Wrocław In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. In 1277 Duke

Bolesław II the Bald Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to: In people: * Boleslaw (given name) In geography: * Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, ...

Legnica Legnica (Polish: ; german: Liegnitz, szl, Lignica, cz, Lehnice, la, Lignitium) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River (left tributary of the Oder) and the Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 197 ...

here captured and arrested his nephew Duke Henryk IV Probus of Wrocław. Bolesław's grandson, Duke

Bolesław III the Generous Boleslaw III the Wasteful ( pl, Bolesław III Rozrzutny; 23 September 1291 – Brieg, 21 April 1352), was a Duke of Legnica, Brzeg (Brieg) from 1296 until 1342, and Duke of Wrocław from 1296 until 1311. He was the eldest son of Henry V the Fa ...

had a castle erected on an island in the

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows ...

river about 1331. The village of Laskowice, on the other hand, was reestablished in 1293 in a slightly different location by Duke

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

. From 1871 to 1945 the area was part of Germany, and between 1943 and 1945, during

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 ...

, the nearby hamlet of

Miłoszyce Miłoszyce (german: Meleschwitz) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Jelcz-Laskowice, within Oława County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Jelcz-Laskowice, north of Oła ...

was the site of the ''Fünfteichen'' subcamp of the Nazi German

Gross-Rosen concentration camp , known for = , location = , built by = , operated by = , commandant = , original use = , construction = , in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945 , gas cham ...

, where forced labourers built howitzers for the ''Berthawerke'', a branch of the German

Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krupp ...

company. Testing grounds still feature concrete installations east of the village of Nowy Dwór. Howitzers were hauled on rails from the branch Berthakrupp via Laskowice, Piekary and north of Nowy Dwór. Since 1945

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 ...

sent over 160 railway sorties, presumably to

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

leaving very little behind them. In 1945 the area according to the results of the

Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris P ...

became again part of

. In 1949 Polish Ministry of Defense began the production of Mobile Repair Vehicles and Ambulances for military purpose. Bus production by Jelcz S.A. started in 1952.

Sports

Since 2015 a futsal club Orzeł Futsal Jelcz-Laskowice Sport Club created from initiative of Futsal Lovers from Wrocław and surroundings, has the headquarter in Centrum of Sport and Recreation (CSIR) in Jelcz-Laskowice and arrives in the first division of Polish Futsal League.

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Jelcz-Laskowice.

References

External links

Official town websiteTown information portalPanoramic Photos of Jelcz-Laskowice
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Jelcz Laskowice Cities in Silesia