Korfantów (, ), formerly known in Polish as Fryląd, is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the

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 ...

of southwestern

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 ...

, with 1,808 inhabitants (2019). In 1946 the town was renamed in honour of politician and activist

Wojciech Korfanty Wojciech Korfanty (; born Adalbert Korfanty; 20 April 1873 – 17 August 1939) was a Polish activist, journalist and politician, who served as a member of the German parliaments, the Reichstag and the Prussian Landtag, and later, in the Poli ...

, however, the previous name ''Fryląd'' is still in use.

Geography

Korfantów is located in the

Niemodlin Niemodlin (; ) is a town in Opole County, Opole Voivodeship, Poland, with 6,315 inhabitants (2019). History The community was first mentioned as ''Nemodlin'' in a 1224 deed and received town privileges in 1283. The German place-name ''Falkenberg ...

Plain (''Równina Niemodlińska''), in the historical region of

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. The total area inside the town's boundary is .

Etymology

The former name of the settlement was ''Hurtlanth'' or ''Hurthland''. Other documents refer to the town as: ''Fredland'', ''Fredelant'', ''Fredlandt'', ''Fridland'', ''Freijland'', and ''Friedland''. The locality's

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

name was based on the

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 ...

name, and had various forms: ''Ferląd'', ''Ferlondt'', ''Frydląd'', ''Fyrląd'', and ''Fryląd'', officially adopted in 1945. In 1946, in the aftermath 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 ...

, due to the German origin of the name, the town was renamed after

History

Until 1532 the area was in the possession of Polish princes of the Silesian Piast Dynasty. Simultaneously, an influx of German settlers caused the town to develop; it became the property of wealthy German and Silesian nobles. In 1632, the

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

plundered Friedland and surrounding villages during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. Over the next decades the town also suffered due to plagues and fires. At that time, Friedland was part of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

within the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. In 1645 it returned to Poland under the

House of Vasa The House of Vasa or Wasa was a Dynasty, royal house that was founded in 1523 in Sweden. Its members ruled the Kingdom of Sweden from 1523 to 1654 and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1668. Its agnatic line became extinct with t ...

, and in 1666 it fell to Bohemia again, however, it was ceded to

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, ...

after

Frederick II the Great Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself ''King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prussia ...

emerged victorious in the mid-18th century

Silesian Wars The Silesian Wars () were three wars fought in the mid-18th century between Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia (under King Frederick the Great) and Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg Austria (under Empress Maria Theresa) for control of the Central European ...

. In the 19th century, despite Prussian and German rule, Catholic services were still held in Polish alongside German. It was part of Germany from 1871 until the end of

in 1945, when, under the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

, it was reassigned to Poland. During

, the '' Polenlager 85'' Nazi German concentration camp for

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

was based in the town in 1942–1943. A mass grave of its prisoners is located at the local parish cemetery.

Economy

In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, there were 152 registered businesses in Korfantów, namely in the

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

and

food production The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the World population, world's population. The food industry today has become highly diversified, with manufacturing ranging from sm ...

sectors. After

, the town lost its former importance as the

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

centre in the

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

. This was largely the effect of war losses, requisitioning,

plunder Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

and the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

war commissar A war commissary or armed forces commissary (German: ''Kriegskommissar'', French:''commissaire des armées'') is a military official responsible for supplying military arms and provisions, and sometimes in charge of the military budget and conscr ...

's rule over the locality in 1945, as well as poor political decisions. Later, the regime of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

caused much impoverishment and financial instability, therefore, it was not until the reintroduction of the

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

in 1989 that economic growth began to return. As of 2015, 52% of the

Gmina Korfantów __NOTOC__ Gmina Korfantów is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Nysa County, Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Korfantów, which lies approximately east of Nysa and south-west of the regional ca ...

populace lives off the

sector.

Notable people

* Carl Friedrich von Pückler-Burghauss (1886–1945),

Waffen SS The (; ) was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. ...

General * Maria Kornek (born 1960), Polish Olympic

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player * Lucyna Siejka (born 1962), Polish Olympic field hockey player

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Korfantów.

References

External links

Jewish Community in Korfantów
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities in Silesia Cities and towns in Opole Voivodeship Nysa County