Słubice () is a border town in the

Lubusz Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in western Poland with a population of 972,140. Its regional capitals are Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra. The region is characterized by a landscape of forests, lake ...

, in western

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 ...

. Located on 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, it lies directly opposite the city of

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With around 58,000 inh ...

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 ...

, which it was a part of as ''Dammvorstadt'' until 1945. As of 2019, the town had a population of 16,705, with an urban agglomeration of Słubice-Frankfurt counting 85,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of Słubice County and the administrative seat of the Gmina Słubice. It is part of the historical region of

Lubusz Land Lubusz Land (; ) is a historical region and cultural landscape in Poland and Germany on both sides of the Oder river. Originally the settlement area of the Lechites, the swampy area was located east of Margraviate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and ...

History

The name is a modern Polish version of ''Zliwitz'', a West Slavic settlement east of the Brandendamm causeway across the

, mentioned in Frankfurt's city charter of 1253. Until 1249 it was part of the Polish

, which since 1138 in different periods formed part of the Greater Polish or Silesian provinces of then fragmented

. In 1225 ''Zliwitz'' was granted staple rights by Henry the Bearded. The Ascanian margraves of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

had purchased the Lubusz Land from the Silesian Duke Bolesław II the Bald in 1249. After a war broke out over control of the region in 1319, the area came under the control of the

Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (; ; Latin: ''Ducatus Pomeraniae'') was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania (''Griffins''). The country existed in the Middle Ages between years 1121–11 ...

. In 1319 Wartislaw IV, Duke of Pomerania granted new privileges to the town of

, which today's Słubice was already part of. The area fell again to Brandenburg in 1324. Between 1373 and 1415 it was part of the

Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval and early modern periods with feudalism, feudal obligations to the List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted o ...

(or the ''Czech Lands''), ruled by the Luxembourg dynasty. In early 1945, a German-perpetrated death march of prisoners of various nationalities from the dissolved camp in Świecko to the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

passed through the town. Słubice is closely linked to its German sister city Frankfurt (Oder), of which it was a part until 1945. The two cities have been forced apart by the drawing of the Oder–Neisse line, which drew the Polish-German border through the city. The two cities share many urban amenities and collaborate on various projects, such as a wastewater treatment plant in Słubice that serves both towns, as well as the Collegium Polonicum extension of some of the Viadrina European University's departments on the Polish side of the border. Furthermore, Słubice is part of a special Słubice-Kostrzyn Economic Zone.

Climate

Słubice has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Cfb'').

Culture

Słubice was the setting for the 2003 film '' Distant Lights'' (''Lichter'') as well as for scenes in the 2002 film '' Grill Point''. On October 22, 2014, a monument to Wikipedia editors by Mihran Hakobyan was unveiled in the town, the first such honoring of the worldwide Wikipedian community.

Transport

The National roads 29 and 31, and 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 ...

137 run through the town, and the A2 motorway, part of the

European route E30 European route E30 is an A-Class European route from the port of Cork (city), Cork in Republic of Ireland, Ireland in the west to the Russian city of Omsk, near the border with Kazakhstan in the east. For much of the Russian stretch, it follow ...

, runs nearby, south of the town.

Cuisine

The officially protected

traditional food Traditional foods are foods and Dish (food), dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national ...

of Słubice and the county is ''schab tradycyjny słubicki'', a local type of smoked ''schab'' (

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

loin The loins, or lumbus, are the sides between the lower ribs and pelvis, and the lower part of the back. The term is used to describe the anatomy of humans and quadrupeds, such as horses, pigs, or cattle. The anatomical reference also applies to p ...

), a popular traditional

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

dish in the area (as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland).

Sports

Polonia Słubice football club is based in Słubice. Polonia's home ground is the OSiR Stadium.

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Słubice.

Notable people

* Sara James (born 2008), singer-songwriter * Tomasz Kułkiewicz (born 1978), footballer

Gallery

File:Collegium Polonicum - od strony Odry.jpg, Collegium Polonicum File:FFO 04-13 Slubice Holy Spirit Church.jpg, Holy Spirit Church File:Biblioteka-CP.jpg, Library of the Collegium Polonicum

References

External links

*
slubice24.plJewish Community in Słubice
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in Lubusz Voivodeship Słubice County Divided cities Germany–Poland border crossings Populated riverside places in Poland