Myszków is a town in

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 31,650 inhabitants (2019). Situated on the

Warta The river Warta ( , ; german: Warthe ; la, Varta) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly north-west to flow into the Oder, against the German border. About long, it is Poland's second-longest river within its borders after the Vistula, a ...

river in the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite the Silesian V ...

(since 1999), previously in

Częstochowa Voivodeship Częstochowa Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in years 1975–1998, superseded mainly by Silesian Voivodeship, with a few eastern gminas attached to the freshly created Świętokrzyskie Voivodesh ...

(1975–1998), it is the capital of

Myszków County __NOTOC__ Myszków County ( pl, powiat myszkowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ref ...

. Myszków historically belongs to

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...

, and the area where the town is now located, until the Partitions of Poland was part of Kraków Voivodeship’s County of Lelów. Myszków is located along one of the oldest Polish rail lines – the

Warsaw–Vienna railway The Warsaw-Vienna Railway ( pl, Kolej Warszawsko-Wiedeńska, german: Warschau-Wiener Eisenbahn) was a railway system which operated since 1845 in Congress Poland, then part of the Russian Empire. The main component of its network was a line 327.6 ...

, also, near the town goes another important rail line – the Central Rail Line

Coat of arms

Myszków has for years been a center of heavy industry, which is reflected in the town's coat of arms. Created in 1969, it shows four black smokestacks, with fumes coming from the two in the middle. Above the smokestacks is the White Eagle, on the sides are two heads of corn, and the blue ribbon symbolizes the

river.

History

The history of the town called Myszków is very short, and goes back to 1925, when the commune ( gmina) of Myszków was created, part of

Kielce Voivodeship Kielce Voivodeship ( pl, województwo kieleckie) is a former unit of administrative division and the local government in Poland. It was originally formed during Poland's return to independence in the aftermath of World War One, and recreated within ...

. It was incorporated as a town in 1950, and the Myszków County was created in 1956. After

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 opposing ...

(August 1945), Lesser Poland's Myszków was transferred to ''Silesian – Dąbrowa Voivodeship'', which in 1950 changed name to

Katowice Voivodeship Katowice Voivodeship () can refer to one of two political entities in Poland: Katowice Voivodeship (1), initially "Silesian-Dabrowa Voivodeship" ( pl, województwo śląsko-dąbrowskie), was a unit of administrative division and local government ...

. In 1975 Myszków became part of Częstochowa Voivodeship, and in 1983 the town expanded, when the villages of Potasznia, Mrzygłód, Mrzygłódka, Nierada, Krwciwilk, Ręby, Łabry' and Smudzówka were annexed. As a result, currently Myszków covers a large area – it is the 139th most populated town of Poland, but the 50th in terms of territory.

Geography

Myszków occupies the area of , of which 56% is arable land, and 22% forests. Since 1925 it has been the seat of a gmina, but Myszków officially remained a village until 1950, when it received town charter. Today's Myszków is made of a number of former villages, towns and settlements (''Mrzygłód, Nowa Wieś, Pohulanka, Będusz, Helenówka, Myszków, Mijaczów, Ciszówka''), which had existed here for centuries. The town is located on the elevation of 280 meters above sea level, in a valley between Silesian Highlands and Polish Jura, and some of its districts are part of the Jura Landscape Parks. Myszków is characteristic for its settlement type of architecture, which is the result of mergers of numerous villages into its borders.

Sights

Among points of interest are the 19th-century rail station, the Palace of August Schmelzer (1880s), and neogothic Church of St. Stanislaus (1908–1936).

Sports

Myszków is home to a sports club ''MKS Myszków'', which was founded in 1947, and whose name changed several times (''Jedność'', ''Stal'', ''Papiernik'', ''Krisbut'', ''MŻKS'').

Twin towns – sister cities

Myszków is twinned with: * Los Alcázares, Spain * Békés, Hungary *

Kopřivnice Kopřivnice (; german: Nesselsdorf) is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 21,000 inhabitants. It is an industrial town, known especially for the vehicle manufacturer Tatra. Administrative parts Villages o ...

, Czech Republic * Námestovo, Slovakia * Zwönitz, Germany

References

External links

Official website

Myszków Info
– Independent regional informer
Jewish Community in Myszków
on Virtual Shtetl {{DEFAULTSORT:Myszkow Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Myszków County Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) Piotrków Governorate Kielce Voivodeship (1919–1939)