Wojcieszów (; ) is a town in Złotoryja County,

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship (, ) in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of and has a total population of 2,899,986. It is one of the wealthiest ...

, in south-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 ...

, close to the Czech border. It is located in the historic region of Lower Silesia. It lies approximately south of Złotoryja, and west of the regional capital

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

. 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 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, when it was part of the Piast-ruled

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

. 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,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. The settlement suffered 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 ...

in the 17th century and in 1740 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, ...

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

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, 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 (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 ...

the Germans brought

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and French prisoners of war to the town as forced labour. In May 1945 the town was captured by the Soviets, and afterwards it became again part of Poland. It was repopulated by

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 ...

, expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, and also those returning from the west. Wojcieszów was granted town rights in 1973.

Sights

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

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

to Renaissance Revival and

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

, 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 (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, Czech Republic * Rokytnice nad Jizerou, Czech Republic

Gallery

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

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Złotoryja County