Koszęcin is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Lubliniec County __NOTOC__ Lubliniec County () 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 reforms passed in 1998. ...

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...

(administrative district) called

Gmina Koszęcin __NOTOC__ Gmina Koszęcin is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Lubliniec County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the village of Koszęcin, which lies approximately south-east of Lubliniec and north of the regional ...

. It lies approximately south-east of

Lubliniec Lubliniec (, ; Silesian language, Silesian: ''Lublini'c'') is a town in southern Poland with 23,784 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Lubliniec County, part of Silesian Voivodeship. Geography Lubliniec is situated in the north of the his ...

and north of the regional capital

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1277, when it was part of fragmented

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of King Casimir III the Great. Branches of ...

-ruled Poland. Later on it passed to Bohemia (Czechia). In 1640, Koszęcin was bought by Fryderyk Blacha. It was annexed by

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, ...

in the 18th century, and from 1871 it was also 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 ...

. It was the site of fights during the Polish

Third Silesian Uprising The Silesian Uprisings (; ; ) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic at the time. Ethnic Polish and Polish-Silesian insurrectionists, seeking to have the area tra ...

against Germany in 1921, and afterwards it was reintegrated with Poland, which just regained independence following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It was occupied by Germany following the joint German-Soviet

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, which started

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 September 1939. The occupiers operated the E416

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, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

subcamp of the Stalag VIII-B/344

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

in the village. After Germany's defeat in the war, in 1945, the village was restored to Poland. It was previously in

Częstochowa Voivodeship Częstochowa Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998, superseded mainly by Silesian Voivodeship, with a few gminas attached to surrounding voivodeships. Though most of the current ter ...

(1975–1998). Palac w Koszecinie ante 1931 (41304986) (cropped).jpg,

Koszęcin palace Koszęcin Palace (; ) is a Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical palace in Koszęcin in Lubliniec County, in the Silesian Voivodeship. It is one of the largest palace complexes from the neoclassical period in Poland. Originally a wooden castle ...

, before 1931 Koszecin - kosciol post 1932 (42161558) (cropped).jpg, The church, ca 1932

Sights and culture

There is a historic

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

, former residence of the princes of

Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen was a German County of the House of Hohenlohe, located in northeastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, around Ingelfingen. Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen was a scion of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. It was raised from a County to a Principality i ...

, and two heritage churches (Holy Trinity church and Sacred Heart church) in the village. A Culture Center is located in Koszęcin. The Koszęcin radio transmitter is located nearby.

Transport

Koszęcin is located at the intersection of the

Voivodeship road According to classes and categories of public roads in Poland, a voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed sinc ...

s 906 and 907, and there is also a train station.

Gallery

Palace in Koszęcin, Poland, April 2021 01.jpg, Palace Koszęcin, kościół parafialny pw. Najświętszego Serca Pana Jezusa.JPG, Sacred Heart church Forest inspectorate in Koszęcin, Poland, April 2021.jpg, Forestry SM Koszęcin Kościół Świętej Trójcy (3) ID 640588.jpg, Holy Trinity church Koszęcin, urząd gminy.jpg, Municipal office

References

External links

www.koszecin.pl
{{Authority control Villages in Lubliniec County