Dobrzeń Wielki (, ) is a village in

Opole County __NOTOC__ Opole County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Opole Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. ...

Opole Voivodeship Opole Voivodeship ( , , ), is the smallest and least populated voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province's name derives from that of the region's capital and largest city, Opole. It is part of Silesia. A relatively lar ...

, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Dobrzeń Wielki (rural community) which has been officially

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

in Polish and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

since 2009. It is situated approximately north-west of the regional capital

Opole Opole (; ; ; ) is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River and the historical capital of Upper Silesia. With a population of approximately 127,387 as of the 2021 census, it is the capital of Opole Voivodeship (province) and the seat of ...

. It is bordered by the Popielów municipality to the west; the Pokój municipality to the north, the Murów and Łubniany districts to the east, in addition to Opole city and the Dąbrowa and

Lewin Brzeski Lewin Brzeski (; ) is a historic town situated in Brzeg County, Opole Voivodeship, south-western Poland. The total population of Lewin Brzeski was estimated at 5,736 inhabitants in 2019. History Located along the medieval trade routes from Silesi ...

municipalities to the south.

Geography

The climate is characteristical for that of the country, with a temperature variation slightly below average. January sees temperatures between -1 and 9 degrees Celsius, in comparison to an average of 17.8 in July. The

Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...

River flows from the southeast to the northwest of the district, and is the area's main watercourse. This stretch is navigable and is frequently used for water transport. The river's water levels reach their highest state from February - March and July - August, whereas they are lowest from September - October. Several other waterways, such as the Mala Panew, Żydówka, Brynica, Jemielnica, Swornica, and Brzeziczanka form a vast river network in the area, in addition to numerous streams. Several ponds, oxbow lakes, and a network of canals and drainage ditches are also situated in the town's vicinity. The Brynica and Odra rivers are characterized by relatively flat surrounds, thus the Dobrzen Wielki area is susceptible to flooding. One of the town's most catastrophic floods occurred in 1997, when water submerged land on both sides of the

History

The town's first written mentions of the town, cited as Dobren, can be derived from a document dated 1228, concerning the transfer of the Norbertine Monastery from Rybnik to the nearby village of Czarnowąs. A later document, however, dated 1279, provides the name of the town as Dobrzeń, and mentions that it is part of the province of Dobrzeń. The village itself was under the possession of Kazimierz, Duke of Opole, and in 1279, was granted

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

. In 1658, the Church of St. Roch (Kosciol Sw. Rocha) was constructed, following the invasion of the Norbertine monastery by Protestant armies in 1643. The history of Dobrzeń Wielki was always linked to the

Duchy of Opole The Duchy of Opole (; ) or Duchy of Oppeln () was one of the duchies of Silesia ruled by the branch of Polish Piast dynasty, formed during the medieval fragmentation of Poland into provincial duchies. Its capital was Opole () in Upper Silesia. S ...

which broke away from Poland and came under the rule of Bohemia in 1327, fell to the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

in 1526, became

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n after the

First Silesian War The First Silesian War () was a war between Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia and Habsburg monarchy, Austria that lasted from 1740 to 1742 and resulted in Prussia's seizing most of the region of Silesia (now in south-western Poland) from Austria. The ...

in 1742 and had been part of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

since 1871. In the

Upper Silesia plebiscite The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out on 20 March 1921 to determine ownership of the province of Upper Silesia between Weimar Germany and the Second Polish Republic. The region was ethni ...

held on March 20, 1921, in Groß Döbern, 1,216 votes (67.9%) were cast in favor of remaining with

and 576 votes (32.1%) were cast in favor of joining

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The village therefore remained in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

. With the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1945, the village became part of Poland.

Education

*Publiczne Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Dobrzeniu Wielkim

People

*Jan Ficek (1790–1862), born in Groß Döbern (Dobrzeń Wielki), after studies in Breslau priest in Deutsch Piekar (Piekary Śląskie) *Adolf Paul Ledwolorz (1892–1973), born in Groß Döbern (Dobrzeń Wielki), priest, author (ecclesiastical law, 1924) *Friedrich Nippert (1864–1930), teacher in Linsen (Lędzina) near Festenberg (Twardogóra), owner of the Cross of Merit for war aid in the First World War, married in Groß Döbern (Dobrzeń Wielki) * Lorenz Schwietz (1850–1925), executioner, born in Groß Döbern (Dobrzeń Wielki)Blazek, Matthias, Scharfrichter in Preußen und im Deutschen Reich 1866-1945, Stuttgart: ibidem 2010. .

References

{{Authority control Villages in Opole County