Powidz (pronounced ) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in Słupca County,

Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo wielkopolskie; ), also known as Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Wielkopolska Province, or Greater Poland Province, is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 ...

, in west-central Poland. It is the seat of the

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 ...

(administrative district) called Gmina Powidz. It lies approximately north of

Słupca Słupca is a town in Greater Poland Voivodeship, central Poland, and the seat of Słupca County. It has 13,773 inhabitants (2018). History History of Słupca dates back to the Middle Ages. On November 15, 1290 Polish Duke Przemysł II granted ...

and east of the regional capital

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

. Powidz gives its name to the

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 ...

called Powidz Landscape Park. From the summer of 2019, Powidz’ nearby

33rd Air Base The 33rd Air Base ( pl, 33. Baza Lotnicza) is a Polish Air Force base, located near Powidz. The base functions within the structure of the Polish Air Force and is part of the three wings of Powidz air transport command. It was officially constitut ...

will be the site of a depot and storage site for

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

combat vehicles in Poland. It will be mostly funded by

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

’s Security Investment Program, and cost around US$210m, with the USA’s component capped at around 20-25%. The

US Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

has made an industry solicitation in 2018 requesting tree-cutting services for around the base. Two US investments could be sacrificed to pay for President Trump’s border wall with Mexico: A bulk fuel storage facility at US$21m, and a “rail extension and railhead” project budgeted at US$14m.NATO foots bill for massive US combat depot in Poland
Sebastian Sprenger,

Defense News ''Defense News'' is a website and newspaper about the politics, business, and technology of national security published by Sightline Media Group. Founded in 1986, ''Defense News'' serves an audience of senior military, government, and industry d ...

, 2019-03-29

History

Powidz was granted

town rights 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 tradition ...

in 1243 by Duke

Bolesław the Pious Bolesław the Pious (1224/27 – 14 April 1279) was a Duke of Greater Poland during 1239–1247 (according to some historians during 1239–1241 sole Duke of Ujście), Duke of Kalisz during 1247–1249, Duke of Gniezno during 1249–1250, Du ...

. It was then part of the

Duchy of Greater Poland The Duchy of Greater Poland was a district principality in Greater Poland that was a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Poland. It was formed in 1138 from the territories of the Kingdom of Poland, following its fragmentation started by the testament of ...

of fragmented

Piast 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. Branche ...

-ruled

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 ...

. Powidz was a royal town of the Polish Crown, administratively located in the Kalisz Voivodeship in the

Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown Greater Poland Province ( pl, Prowincja Wielkopolska) was an administrative division of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1569 until 1795. The name of the province comes from the historic land of Greater Poland. The Greater Poland Province c ...

. The town repelled Teutonic attacks in 1331 and 1454, and received numerous privileges from Polish kings. From the 15th century, Powidz was the seat of local starosts. In the 15th century, a school was created in Powidz, which was subordinate to the Kraków Academy (present-day

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University ( Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

), the oldest and leading university of Poland. The town suffered in the 17th century as a result of the epidemic and the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

invasion. In 1793, as a result of 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 W ...

, it was annexed by

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 e ...

, in 1807 it 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 it was re-annexed by Prussia. Many residents took part in the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794 and the Second Polish War, was an uprising against the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the P ...

(1794),

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

(1830), Greater Poland uprising (1848) and

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

(1863), and actively opposed

Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In lin ...

attempts. In 1918 local Poles joined the Greater Poland uprising (1918–19), in an successful attempt to re-join Poland, which just regained independence. 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 ...

, Powidz was under

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

from 1939 to 1945. In late 1939 the Germans expelled 80 Poles, farm owners and activists along with their families, to the so-called

General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...

, and their houses were handed over to German colonists as part of the ''

Heim ins Reich The ''Heim ins Reich'' (; meaning "back home to the Reich") was a foreign policy pursued by Adolf Hitler before and during World War II, beginning in 1938. The aim of Hitler's initiative was to convince all ''Volksdeutsche'' (ethnic Germans) w ...

'' policy.Maria Wardzyńska, ''Wysiedlenia ludności polskiej z okupowanych ziem polskich włączonych do III Rzeszy w latach 1939-1945'', IPN, Warszawa, 2017, p. 173 (in Polish) A

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force ( pl, Siły Powietrzne, , Air Forces) is the aerial warfare branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 16,425 mi ...

base was built in Powidz after 1953.

Notable people

* , Polish military officer, victim of the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

* , Polish painter * , Polish military officer during the

, Franciscan

References

Powidz {{Słupca-geo-stub