Milicz (german: Militsch) is a town in

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 west-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 ...

. It is the seat of

Milicz County __NOTOC__ Milicz County ( pl, powiat milicki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government ( powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local governm ...

and of

Gmina Milicz __NOTOC__ Gmina Milicz is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Milicz County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Milicz, which lies approximately north of the regional capital Wrocław. ...

, part of the larger Wrocław metropolitan area.

Geography

The town is situated in the historic

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...

region, near the border with

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

. The centre is located on the Barycz river, about north 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 ...

. From 1975 to 1998 Milicz belonged to

Wrocław Voivodeship 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 ...

. The Milicz Ponds, an important habitat and breeding ground for water birds, are a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

established 1963 and protected under the

Ramsar convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It ...

. Since 1996 they also formed part of a larger

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

known as the Barycz Valley Landscape Park. As of 2019, the town has a population of 11,304.

History

Milicz developed as route of the ancient Amber Trade Route known as the

Amber Road The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. ...

. A settlement at the site was possibly established in the 11th century. ''Milich'' Castle was first mentioned in an 1136 deed by

Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...

as a property of the cathedral chapter of the Diocese of Wrocław. The name possibly refers to a legendary founder or is derived from pl, miły, "pleasant", "friendly". It is listed as a possession of the Polish Archdiocese of Gniezno in an 1154 deed issued by

Pope Adrian IV Pope Adrian IV ( la, Adrianus IV; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159, also Hadrian IV), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 to his death in 1159. He is the only Englishman t ...

, it is later also mentioned under the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

name ''Milicium'' in a 1249 document by Duke Przemysł I of Greater Poland. The Polish name ''Mylicz'' first appeared in the ''

Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis ( pl, Księga uposażeń biskupstwa wrocławskiego, ''Book of endowments of the Bishopric of Wrocław'') is a Latin manuscript catalog of documents compiled in the later 13th or in the early 14th centu ...

'' (''Book of endowments of the Bishopric of Wrocław'') manuscript written about 1305 at the behest of Bishop Henry of Wierzbnej. Milicz

Upon the death of Prince

Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth ( pl, Bolesław III Krzywousty; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between ...

in 1138, Milicz became part of the Polish

Duchy of Silesia The Duchy of Silesia ( pl, Księstwo śląskie, german: Herzogtum Schlesien, cs, Slezské knížectví) with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Piast ...

, ruled by Duke

Bolesław I the Tall Bolesław I the Tall ( pl, Bolesław I Wysoki) (born 1127 – died Leśnica (now part of Wrocław), 7 or 8 December 1201) was Duke of Wroclaw from 1163 until his death in 1201. Early years He was the eldest son of Władysław II the Exile by h ...

from 1163, and was the seat of a castellany. The citizens 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 1245. In 1294 the area was conquered by Duke Henry III of Głogów and from 1313 belonged to the Silesian Duchy of Oels (Oleśnica), which itself became 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 ...

fiefdom in 1329. In 1358 the Wrocław bishops finally sold their Milicz estates to the Piast duke Konrad I, whose successors had a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

castle built. The Oleśnica dukes held the town until in 1492 the line became extinct and the duchy was finally seized as an expired fief by the

Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of B ...

. In 1494 King Vladislas II of Bohemia granted Milicz to his chamberlain Sigismund Kurzbach, who installed the autonomous Silesian

state country State country (german: Freie Standesherrschaft; cs, stavovské panství; pl, państwo stanowe) was a unit of administrative and territorial division in the Bohemian crown lands of Silesia and Upper Lusatia, existing from 15th to 18th centuries. ...

of Milicz and Żmigród ''(Trachenberg)''. The Milicz part was acquired by the

Maltzan The House of Maltzahn or Maltzan is the name of an ancient German noble family of the counts and barons von Maltza(h)n which originated from Mecklenburg, Germany, whose members occupied many important positions in the Duchy of Mecklenburg and in ...

noble family in 1590. Militsch was conquered by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

upon the First Silesian War in 1742, and was part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

from 1871. After Germany's defeat in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Poland re-emerged as an independent country, and Milicz was close to the new border. After the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

's Vistula–Oder Offensive, Milicz became part of the

Republic of 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 ...

in 1945 after

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 ...

's final defeat in

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 ...

Sights

Milicz is the site of one of the six ''Churches of Grace'', which the Silesian

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

were allowed to build with the permission of

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

emperor

Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to: *Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283 * Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711) *Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696) *Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...

, also King of Bohemia, given at the Altranstädt Convention of 1707. The

half-timbered Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

house of worship finished in 1714 today serves as

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

parish church dedicated to Saint Andrew Bobola. Poland Milicz - palace

The castle of the Oleśnica Dukes erected in the 14th century was destroyed in World War II. The Maltzahn dynasty left a Late Baroque- Neoclassical palace erected in 1798 with an English garden, the first in Silesia. Since 1963 the building is the seat of a secondary forestry college.

Notable people

* Maria von Maltzan (1909–1997), resistance fighter.

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Walther von Reichenau Walter Karl Ernst August von Reichenau (8 October 1884 – 17 January 1942) was a field marshal in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Reichenau commanded the 6th Army, during the invasions of Belgium and France. During Ope ...

married her niece at the Militsch church. * Joachim Carl von Maltzan (1733–1817), Prussian

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or interna ...

as Minister Plenipotentiary in London * Oskar Obier (1876–1952), painter *

Edwin Graf von Rothkirch und Trach Edwin Graf Rothkirch und Trach (1 November 1888 - 29 July 1980) born in Militsch, was a German general during World War II who commanded Army Group Centre Rear Area and later an army corps. As a show jumper, he took part in the 1932 Summer Olym ...

(1888–1980), officer and show jumping rider * Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand Guhr (1787–1848) conductor * Damian Wojtaszek (born 1988), volleyball player * Hermann Wassertrilling ''(Hirsch Wassertrilling)'', rabbi from Boskovice, was active here in the 19th century

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Milicz.

References

External links

Local history

on Curiosities and mysteries of the township
Town site

Palace of Milicz

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Milicz County Cities in Silesia