Kargowa (german: Unruhstadt) 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 ori ...

Zielona Góra County __NOTOC__ Zielona Góra County ( pl, powiat zielonogórski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lubusz Voivodeship, western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local governme ...

Lubusz Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship, or Lubuskie Province ( pl, województwo lubuskie ), is a voivodeship (province) in western Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra Voivodeships, pursuant to the Po ...

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 populous ...

, with 3,769 inhabitants (2019). Though located in the Lubusz Voivodeship, Kargowa is part of the

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...

historic region.

History

Kargowa was first mentioned in the 14th century. It was granted town rights by King

John II Casimir Vasa John II Casimir ( pl, Jan II Kazimierz Waza; lt, Jonas Kazimieras Vaza; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 until his abdication in 1668 as well as titular King of Sweden from 1648 ...

in 1661.''Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich'', Tom III, Warsaw, 1882, p. 839 (in Polish) In the 18th century Kings

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as Ki ...

and

Augustus III of Poland Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Aug ...

often visited the town during their travels between

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 ...

and

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. In the 18th century the town was the site of two battles. During the

War of the Polish Succession The War of the Polish Succession ( pl, Wojna o sukcesję polską; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II of Poland, which the other regional power, European powers widened in p ...

, in 1735, a battle was fought between Poles and Saxons. During the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the Polish–Russian War ...

in 1793, Kargowa was one of the places of Polish resistance against

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

and a defensive battle took place. In 1807 Kargowa became part of the short-lived Polish

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

and in 1815 was annexed by Prussia for the second time. After Poland regained independence Kargowa was captured by Polish insurgents in 1919, however, the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

granted the town to Germany. The town finally returned to Poland after the defeat of

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 ...

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 opposin ...

in 1945.

Notable people

Karl von Hänisch Karl Heinrich Eduard von Hänisch (25 April 1861 – 27 March 1921), was a Prussian general who served in World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in h ...

, military general *

Maciej Kozłowski Maciej Kozlowski (8 September 1957 – 11 May 2010) was a Polish actor, mostly known for his roles in ''Kingsajz'', ''Psy'', ''Kiler'', ''With Fire and Sword'' and ''Schindler's List'' and the TV series ''M jak miłość''. Kozlowski was b ...

, actor *Carl Gottfried Drange, one of

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

's maternal ancestors was a master miller here

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Kargowa.

Gallery

Kargowa, widok z ratusza na kamieniczki.jpg, Town center Kargowa, Pomnik Bohaterów Powstania Wielkopolskiego - fotopolska.eu (131440).jpg, Monument to the Heroes of the Greater Poland uprising Kargowa, Kościół św. Maksymiliana Kolbe (4).jpg, Maximilian Kolbe church Kargowa, Urząd Pocztowy - fotopolska.eu (131439).jpg, Post office

References

External links

Jewish Community in Kargowa
on Virtual Shtetl Cities and towns in Lubusz Voivodeship Zielona Góra County {{ZielonaGóra-geo-stub