Wojcieszów (; ) is a town in

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

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 Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

border. It is located in the historic region of

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław. The first ...

. It lies approximately south of

Złotoryja Złotoryja (; , ; Latin: ''Aureus Mons'', ''Aurum'') is a historic town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwestern Poland, the administrative seat of Złotoryja County, and of the smaller Gmina Złotoryja. Złotoryja is the first town in Pola ...

, 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 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

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 Wojciech () is a Polish name, equivalent to Czech Vojtěch , Slovak Vojtech, and German Woitke. The name is formed from two Slavic roots: * ''wój'' (Slavic: ''voj''), a root pertaining to war. It also forms words like ''wojownik'' ("warrior" ...

''. 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 The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods with feudal obligations to the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of Bohemia, an electorate of the Hol ...

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 French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

prisoners of war to the town as

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 ...

. 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 Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

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 ...

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

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 Hostinné () is a town in Trutnov District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,200 inhabitants. It lies on the Elbe river. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Ety ...

, Czech Republic * Rokytnice nad Jizerou, Czech Republic

Gallery

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

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