Wojcieszów (; german: Kauffung) is a town in

Złotoryja County __NOTOC__ Złotoryja County ( pl, powiat złotoryjski) 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 ...

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 ...

, close to the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

border. It is located in the historic region of

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 ...

. The town lies approximately south of

Złotoryja Złotoryja (; german: Goldberg, ; Latin: ''Aureus Mons'', ''Aurum'') is a historic town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwestern Poland, the administrative seat of Złotoryja County, and of the smaller Gmina Złotoryja. Having been granted ...

, and west 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 ...

. As of 2019, the town has a population of 3,668.

History

The history of Wojcieszów dates back to 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 ...

, when it was part of the

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

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 ...

. Its name comes from the Polish male name '' Wojciech''. The settlement was probably founded in the 12th century, the legend of the Polish knight Wojciesz Paszowic refers to the founding of the settlement. The oldest known mention of Wojcieszów comes from 1268. There was a castle already in the 1367, when it was still under the rule of local Polish dukes of the Piast dynasty. In later periods the settlement was also part of

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 Bo ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. The settlement suffered during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

in the 17th century and in 1740 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 ...

. It was then known under the Germanized name ''Kauffung''. In 1753 it suffered a fire and during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

, French troops were stationed there in 1806–1808. Part of Germany from 1871, 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 Germans brought

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

prisoners of war to the town as

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

. In May 1945 the town was captured by the Soviets, and afterwards it became again part of Poland. It was repopulated by

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...

, expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, and also those returning from the west. Wojcieszów 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 1973.

Sights

Among the preserved historic architecture of the town are six palaces, ranging from

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

and

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, and two churches: the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, dating back to the 14th century, and the 18th-century Church of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Notable people

Bruno Neidhardt von Gneisenau Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters *Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...

(1811-1889), Prussian general * Krystyna Pawłowicz (born 1952), Polish jurist and member of Parliament * Maciej Maleńczuk (born 1961), Polish rock singer and musician

Twin towns – sister cities

Wojcieszów is twinned with: *

Hostinné Hostinné (german: Arnau) is a town in Trutnov District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,300 inhabitants. It lies on the Elbe river. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monum ...

, Czech Republic * Rokytnice nad Jizerou, Czech Republic

Gallery

Dwór, Pałac w Wojcieszowie dolnym 10.08.2019 - Grzegorz Saczyło.jpg,

Palace in Wojcieszów Dolny Wojcieszów, ul. Miedziana 1 (pałac 03).jpg, Renaissance Revival Palace in Wojcieszów Dolny Wojcieszów Górny, pałac - Kauffung, Oberes Schloss (1).jpg,

Palace in Wojcieszów Górny Wojcieszów Wniebiowzięcia NMP (09 2008).JPG, Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wojcieszow Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Złotoryja County