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Wrocław is a
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
in 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 ...
, and the capital of the
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 ...
. It is the largest city and historical capital of the 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, ...
. It lies on the banks of the
Oder River 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 west ...
in the
Silesian Lowlands Silesian Lowlands (or Silesian Plains, , , ) are lowlands located in Silesia, Poland in Central Europe. A small part is located in the Czech Republic. The Silesian ridge runs through northern Silesia from west-northwest to east-southeast and adjo ...
of
Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...
, roughly from the Sudeten Mountains to the north. In 2023, the official population of Wrocław was 674,132, making it the third-largest city in Poland. The population of the Wrocław metropolitan area is around 1.25 million. Wrocław is the historical capital of Silesia and Lower Silesia. The history of the city dates back over 1,000 years; at various times, it has been part of the
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 ...
, 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 ...
, the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
, 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 ...
of Austria, the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
and
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 ...
, until it became again part of Poland in 1945 immediately after
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 ...
. Wrocław is a university city with a student population of over 130,000, making it one of the most youth-oriented cities in the country. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the
University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...
, previously the German Breslau University, has produced nine Nobel Prize laureates and is renowned for its high quality of teaching. Wrocław has numerous historical landmarks, including the Main Market Square, Cathedral Island, Bridge of Love, Wrocław Opera, the
National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...
and the Centennial Hall, which is listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
. The Wrocław's dwarfs are a major tourist attraction and have become a symbol of Wrocław. The city is home to the Wrocław Zoo, the oldest zoological garden in Poland. Wrocław is classified as a Sufficiency global city by
GaWC The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a British think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leice ...
. It is often featured in lists of the most livable places in the world, and was ranked 1st among all medium and small cities by
fDi Intelligence ''fDi Intelligence'' is an English-language bi-monthly news and foreign direct investment (FDI) publication, providing an up-to-date review of global investment activity. The A4 glossy pages reach a circulation of 15,488 ABC audited, active corp ...
in 2021. The city is home to
Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław (), is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Wrocław that plays in , the second level of the Polish football leagu ...
football club and hosted the 2012 European Football Championship. In 2016, the city was a
European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...
and the World Book Capital, and hosted the Theatre Olympics and the
European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mos ...
. In 2017, the city was host to the World Games. In 2019, it was named a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
City of Literature UNESCO's City of Literature programme is part of the wider Creative Cities Network. The ''Network'' was launched in 2004, and now has member cities in seven creative fields. The other creative fields are: Crafts and Folk Arts, Design, Film ...
.


Etymology

The origin of the city's name is disputed. The city was believed to be named after Duke Vratislav I of Bohemia from 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 ...
Přemyslid dynasty The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemysl (, , ) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–1306), as well as in parts of Poland (including Silesia ...
, who supposedly ruled the region between 915 and 921. Modern scholars and historians dispute this theory. Recent archeological studies prove that even if Vratislav once ruled over the area, the city was not founded until at least 20 years after his death. They suggest that the founder of the city might have simply been a local prince who only shared the popular West Slavic name with the
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
n Duke. Further evidence against Czech origin is that the oldest surviving documents containing the recorded name, such as the chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg from the early 11th century, records the city's name as ''Wrotizlava'' and ''Wrotizlaensem'', characteristic of
Old Polish The Old Polish language () was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Old Polish language are the data of the co ...
''-ro-,'' unlike
Old Czech The Czech language developed at the close of the 1st millennium from common West Slavic languages, West Slavic. Until the early 20th century, it was known as ''Bohemian''. Early West Slavic Among the innovations in common West Slavic languag ...
''-ra-''. In the
Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...
, the city's name ''Wrocław'' derives from the given name Wrocisław, which is the Polish equivalent of the Czech Vratislav. Also, the earliest variations of this name in the Old Polish language would have used the letter ''l'' instead of the modern Polish ''ł''. The
Old Czech The Czech language developed at the close of the 1st millennium from common West Slavic languages, West Slavic. Until the early 20th century, it was known as ''Bohemian''. Early West Slavic Among the innovations in common West Slavic languag ...
language version of the name was used in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
documents, as ''Vratislavia'' or ''Wratislavia''. The city's first municipal seal was inscribed with ''Sigillum civitatis Wratislavie''. By the 15th century, the
Early New High German Early New High German (ENHG) is a term for the period in the history of the German language generally defined, following Wilhelm Scherer, as the period 1350 to 1650, developing from Middle High German and into New High German. The term is the ...
variations of the name, ''Breslau'', first began to be used. Despite the noticeable differences in spelling, the numerous German forms were still based on the original West Slavic name of the city, with the ''-Vr-'' sound being replaced over time by ''-Br-'', and the suffix ''-slav-'' replaced with ''-slau-''. These variations included ''Wrotizla'', ''Vratizlau'', ''Wratislau'', ''Wrezlau'', ''Breßlau'' or ''Bresslau'' among others. A Prussian description from 1819 mentions two names of the city – Polish and German – stating ''"Breslau (polnisch Wraclaw)".'' In other languages, the city's name is: ; ; ; ; modern ; ; ; and or . People born or resident in the city are known as " Wrocławians" or "Vratislavians" (). The now little-used German equivalent is " Breslauer".


History

In
ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...
times, there was a place called Budorigum at or near the site of Wrocław. It was already mapped on
Claudius Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and ...
's map of AD 142–147. Settlements in the area existed from the 6th century onward during the
migration period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...
. The Ślężans, a West Slavic tribe, settled on the
Oder river 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 west ...
and erected a fortified gord on Ostrów Tumski. Wrocław originated at the intersection of two
trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over land or water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a singl ...
s, the
Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the Historic roads, historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History ...
and the
Amber Road The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. ...
. Archeological research conducted in the city indicates that it was founded around 940. In 985, Duke
Mieszko I of Poland Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...
conquered Silesia, and constructed new fortifcations on Ostrów. The town was mentioned by Thietmar explicitly in the year 1000 AD in connection with its promotion to an
episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...
during the Congress of Gniezno.


Middle Ages

During Wrocław's early history, control over it changed hands between the
Duchy of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia, also later referred to in English as the Czech Duchy, (Old Czech: ) was a monarchy and a Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire in Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages, Early and High M ...
(1038–1054), the
Duchy of Poland Civitas Schinesghe (; ), also known as the Duchy of Poland or the Principality of Poland, is the historiographical name given to a polity in Central Europe, which existed during the medieval period and was the predecessor state of the Kingdom of ...
and the
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 ...
(985–1038 and 1054–1320). Following the fragmentation of the Kingdom of Poland, the
Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...
ruled the
Duchy of Silesia The Duchy of Silesia (, ) with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval provincial duchy of Poland located in the region of Silesia. Soon after it was formed under the Piast dynasty in 1138, it fragmented into various Silesian duchies. In 1327, t ...
. One of the most important events during this period was the foundation of the Diocese of Wrocław in 1000. Along with the
Bishoprics In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...
of
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
and
Kołobrzeg Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section ...
, Wrocław was placed under the Archbishopric of Gniezno in
Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...
, founded by
Pope Sylvester II Pope Sylvester II (; – 12 May 1003), originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac, was a scholar and teacher who served as the bishop of Rome and ruled the Papal States from 999 to his death. He endorsed and promoted study of Science in the medieva ...
through the intercession of Polish duke (and later king)
Bolesław I the Brave Bolesław I the Brave (17 June 1025), less often List of people known as the Great, known as Bolesław the Great, was Duke of Poland from 992 to 1025 and the first King of Poland in 1025. He was also Duke of Bohemia between 1003 and 1004 as Boles ...
and Emperor
Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was c ...
, during the Gniezno Congress. In the years 1034–1038 the city was affected by the
pagan reaction in Poland The pagan reaction in Poland () was a series of events in the Kingdom of Poland (1025–1138), Kingdom of Poland in the 1030s that culminated in a popular uprising or rebellion, or possibly a series of these, that destabilized the Kingdom of Polan ...
. The city became a commercial centre and expanded to Wyspa Piasek (Sand Island), and then onto the left bank of the River Oder. Around 1000, the town had about 1,000 inhabitants. In 1109 during the Polish-German war, Prince
Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth (; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between 1107 and 1138. He was the onl ...
defeated the King of Germany
Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...
at the Battle of Hundsfeld, stopping the German advance into Poland. The medieval chronicle, '' Gesta principum Polonorum'' (1112–1116) by Gallus Anonymus, named Wrocław, along with
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
and
Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...
, as one of three capitals of the Polish Kingdom. Also, the '' Tabula Rogeriana'', a book written by the Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi in 1154, describes Wrocław as one of the Polish cities, alongside Kraków,
Gniezno Gniezno (; ; ) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The city is the administrative seat of Gniezno County (''powiat'') ...
, Sieradz,
Łęczyca Łęczyca (; in full the Royal Town of Łęczyca, ; ; ) is a town of inhabitants in central Poland. Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the county seat of the Łęczyca County. Łęczyca is a capital of the historical Łęczyca Land. Or ...
and
Santok Santok (German : ''Zantoch'') is a village in Gorzów County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Santok. Geography Santok is located at the confluence of the Noteć and W ...
. By 1139, a settlement belonging to Governor Piotr Włostowic (also known as Piotr Włast Dunin) was built, and another on the left bank of the River Oder, near the present site of the university. While the city was largely Polish, it also had communities of Bohemians (Czechs),
Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
,
Walloons Walloons ( ; ; ) are a Gallo-Romance languages, Gallo-Romance ethnic group native to Wallonia and the immediate adjacent regions of Flanders, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Walloons primarily speak ''langues d'oïl'' such as B ...
and
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
. In the 13th century, Wrocław was the political centre of the divided Polish kingdom. In April 1241, during the
first Mongol invasion of Poland The Mongol invasion of Poland from late 1240 to 1241 culminated in the Battle of Legnica, where the Mongols defeated an alliance which included forces from Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth, fragmented Poland and their allies, led by Henry ...
, the city was abandoned by its inhabitants and burnt down for strategic reasons. During the battles with the Mongols Wrocław Castle was successfully defended by
Henry II the Pious Henry II the Pious (; 1196 – 9 April 1241) was Duke of Silesia and High Duke of Poland as well as Duke of South-Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. Between 1238 and 1239 he also served as regent of Sandomierz and Opole– Racibórz. He ...
. In 1245, in Wrocław,
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
friar Benedict of Poland, considered one of the first Polish explorers, joined Italian diplomat
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine Giovanni da Pian del Carpine (or Carpini; anglicised as ''John of Plano Carpini'';  – 1 August 1252) was a medieval Italian diplomat, Catholic archbishop, explorer and one of the first Europeans to enter the court of the Great Khan of t ...
, on his journey to the seat of the Mongol Khan near
Karakorum Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian script:, ''Qaraqorum'') was the capital city, capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan, Northern Yuan dynasty in the late 14th and 1 ...
, the capital of the
Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...
, in what is considered the first such journey by Europeans. After the Mongol invasion, the town was partly populated by German settlers who, in the ensuing centuries, gradually became its dominant population. The city, however, retained its multi-ethnic character, a reflection of its importance as a trading post on the junction of the Via Regia and the Amber Road. With the influx of settlers, the town expanded and in 1242 came under
German town law The German town law () or German municipal concerns (''Deutsches Städtewesen'') was a set of early town privileges based on the Magdeburg rights developed by Otto I. The Magdeburg law became the inspiration for regional town charters not only i ...
. The
city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
used both Latin and German, and the early forms of the name ''Breslau'', the German name of the city, appeared for the first time in its written records. Polish gradually ceased to be used in the town books, while it survived in the courts until 1337, when it was banned by the new rulers, the German-speaking
House of Luxembourg The House of Luxembourg (; ; ) or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as kings of Germany and Holy Roman emperors as well as kings of Bohemia, List of r ...
. The enlarged town covered around , and the new main market square, surrounded by timber-frame houses, became the trade centre of the town. The original foundation, Ostrów Tumski, became its religious centre. The city gained
Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...
in 1261. While the Polish Piast dynasty remained in control of the region, the city council's ability to govern independently had increased. In 1274 prince Henry IV Probus gave the city its
staple right The staple right, also translated stacking right or storage right, both from the Dutch , was a medieval right accorded to certain ports, the staple ports. It required merchant barges or ships to unload their goods at the port and to display them f ...
. In the 13th century, two Polish monarchs were buried in Wrocław churches founded by them, Henry II the Pious in the St. Vincent church and Henryk IV Probus in the Holy Cross church. Wrocław, which for 350 years had been mostly under Polish
hegemony Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states, either regional or global. In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of ...
, fell in 1335, after the death of
Henry VI the Good Henry VI the Good (also known as of Wrocław or of Breslau) (; ) (18 March 1294 – 24 November 1335) was a Duke of Wrocław from 1296 (with his brothers as co-rulers until 1311). He was the second son of Henry V the Fat, Duke of Legnica and W ...
, to John of Luxembourg. His son Emperor Charles IV in 1348 formally incorporated the city into the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. Between 1342 and 1344, two fires destroyed large parts of the city. In 1387 the city joined the
Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...
. On 5 June 1443, the city was rocked by an earthquake, estimated at magnitude 6, which destroyed or seriously damaged many of its buildings. Between 1469 and 1490, Wrocław was part of the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
, and king
Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...
was said to have had a Vratislavian mistress who bore him a son. In 1474, after almost a century, the city left the Hanseatic League. Also in 1474, the city was besieged by combined Polish-Czech forces. However, in November 1474, Kings Casimir IV of Poland, his son Vladislaus II of Bohemia, and Matthias Corvinus of Hungary met in the nearby village of Muchobór Wielki (present-day a district of Wrocław), and in December 1474 a
ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...
was signed according to which the city remained under Hungarian rule. The following year was marked by the publication in Wrocław of the ''Statuta Synodalia Episcoporum Wratislaviensium'' (1475) by Kasper Elyan, the first ever
incunable An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentially arbitrary, but the ...
in Polish, containing the proceedings and prayers of the Wrocław bishops.


Renaissance and the Reformation

In the 16th century, the Breslauer Schöps
beer style Beer styles differentiate and categorise beers by colour, flavour, strength, ingredients, production method, recipe, history, or origin. The modern concept of beer styles is largely based on the work of writer Michael Jackson in his 1977 book ...
was created in Breslau. The
Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
reached the city in 1518 and it converted to the new rite. However, starting in 1526
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, ...
was ruled by the Catholic
House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...
. In 1618, it supported the
Bohemian Revolt The Bohemian Revolt (; ; 1618–1620) was an uprising of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemian Estates of the realm, estates against the rule of the Habsburg dynasty that began the Thirty Years' War. It was caused by both religious and power dispu ...
out of fear of losing the right to
religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...
. During the ensuing
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 ...
, the city was occupied by
Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
and Swedish troops and lost thousands of inhabitants to the plague. The
Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
brought in the
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...
by encouraging Catholic orders to settle in the city, starting in 1610 with the
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
s, followed by the
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
s, then Capuchins, and finally Ursuline nuns in 1687. These orders erected buildings that shaped the city's appearance until 1945. At the end of the Thirty Years' War, however, it was one of only a few Silesian cities to stay Protestant. The Polish Municipal school opened in 1666 and lasted until 1766. Precise record-keeping of births and deaths by the city fathers led to the use of their data for analysis of mortality, first by John Graunt and then, based on data provided to him by Breslau professor Caspar Neumann, by
Edmond Halley Edmond (or Edmund) Halley (; – ) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720. From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, Hal ...
. Halley's tables and analysis, published in 1693, are considered to be the first true actuarial tables, and thus the foundation of modern
actuarial science Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematics, mathematical and statistics, statistical methods to Risk assessment, assess risk in insurance, pension, finance, investment and other industries and professions. Actuary, Actuaries a ...
. During the Counter-Reformation, the intellectual life of the city flourished, as the Protestant
bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...
ie lost some of its dominance to the Catholic orders as patrons of the arts.


Enlightenment period

One of two main routes connecting
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
and
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
ran through the city in the 18th century and Kings
Augustus II the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...
and
Augustus III of Poland Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as List of rulers of Saxony, Elector of Saxony i ...
often traveled that route. The city became the centre of German
Baroque literature The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo ( ...
and was home to the First and Second Silesian school of poets. In 1742, the Schlesische Zeitung was founded in Breslau. In the 1740s the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
annexed the city and most of Silesia during the
War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...
.
Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
Empress
Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...
ceded most of the territory in the Treaty of Breslau in 1742 to Prussia. Austria attempted to recover Silesia during the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
at the Battle of Breslau, but they were unsuccessful. The Venetian Italian adventurer,
Giacomo Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (; ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer who was born in the Republic of Venice and travelled extensively throughout Europe. He is chiefly remembered for his autobiography, written in French and pu ...
, stayed in Breslau in 1766.


Napoleonic Wars

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 ...
, it was occupied by the
Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austrian Empire, Austria ...
army. The fortifications of the city were levelled, and monasteries and cloisters were seized. The Protestant
Viadrina European University European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) () is a university located at Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg, Germany. It is also known as the University of Frankfurt (Oder). The city is on the Oder River, which marks the border between Germany ...
at
Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, 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 a ...
was relocated to Breslau in 1811, and united with the local Jesuit University to create the new Silesian Frederick-William University (, now the
University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...
). The city became a centre of the German Liberation movement against Napoleon, and a gathering place for volunteers from all over Germany. The city was the centre of Prussian mobilisation for the campaign which ended at the
Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and G ...
.


Industrial age

The Confederation of the Rhine had increased prosperity in Silesia and in the city. The removal of fortifications opened room for the city to expand beyond its former limits. Breslau became an important railway hub and industrial centre, notably for linen and
cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
manufacture and the metal industry. The reconstructed university served as a major centre of science;
Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...
later wrote his
Academic Festival Overture ''Academic Festival Overture'' (), Op. 80, by Johannes Brahms, was one of a pair of contrasting concert overtures — the other being the ''Tragic Overture'', Op. 81. Brahms composed the work during the summer of 1880 as a tribute to the ...
to thank the university for an honorary doctorate awarded in 1879. In 1821, the (Arch)Diocese of Breslau withdrew from dependence on the Polish archbishopric of Gniezno, and Breslau became an exempt see. In 1822, the Prussian police discovered the ''Polonia'' Polish youth resistance organisation and carried out arrests of its members and searches of their homes. In 1848, many local Polish students joined the Greater Poland uprising against Prussia. On 5 May 1848, a convention of Polish activists from the Prussian and Austrian partitions of Poland was held in the city. On 10 October 1854, the Jewish Theological Seminary opened. The institution was the first modern rabbinical seminary in Central Europe. In 1863 the brothers Karl and Louis Stangen founded the travel agency Stangen, the second travel agency in the world. The city was an important centre of the Polish secret resistance movement and the seat of a Polish uprising committee before and during the
January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...
of 1863–1864 in the
Russian Partition The Russian Partition (), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Poland. The Russian ac ...
of Poland. Local Poles took part in Polish national mourning after the Russian massacre of Polish protesters in
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
in February 1861, and also organised several patriotic Polish church services throughout 1861. Secret Polish correspondence, weapons, and insurgents were transported through the city. After the outbreak of the uprising in 1863, the Prussian police carried out mass searches of Polish homes, especially those of Poles who had recently come to the city. The city's inhabitants, both Poles and Germans, excluding the German aristocracy, largely sympathised with the uprising, and some Germans even joined local Poles in their secret activities. In June 1863 the city was officially confirmed as the seat of secret Polish insurgent authorities. In January 1864, the Prussian police arrested a number of members of the Polish insurgent movement. The
Unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). I ...
in 1871 turned Breslau into the sixth-largest city in the
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
. Its population more than tripled to over half a million between 1860 and 1910. The 1900 census listed 422,709 residents. In 1890, construction began of Breslau Fortress as the city's defences. Important landmarks were inaugurated in 1910, the ''Kaiser bridge'' (today Grunwald Bridge) and the ''Technical University'', which now houses the Wrocław University of Technology. The 1910 census listed 95.7% of the population as German-speakers, with 15,107 Polish-speakers (3%), and 3,431 (0.7%) as bilingual in Polish and German, although some estimates put the number of
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 ...
in the city at the time at 20,000 to 30,000. The population was 58% Protestant, 37% Catholic (including at least 2% Polish) and 5% Jewish (totaling 20,536 in the 1905 census). The Jewish community of Breslau was among the most important in Germany, producing several distinguished artists and scientists. From 1912, the head of the university's Department of Psychiatry and director of the Clinic of Psychiatry (''Königlich Psychiatrischen und Nervenklinik'') was
Alois Alzheimer Alois Alzheimer ( , , ; 14 June 1864 – 19 December 1915) was a German psychiatrist, neuropathologist and colleague of Emil Kraepelin. He is credited with identifying the first published case of "presenile dementia", which Kraepelin later ide ...
and, that same year, professor William Stern introduced the concept of IQ. In 1913, the newly built Centennial Hall housed an exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the historical German Wars of Liberation against
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
and the first award of the
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
. The Centennial Hall was built by Max Berg (1870–1947), since 2006 it is part of the world heritage of UNESCO. The central station (by Wilhelm Grapow, 1857) was one of the biggest in Germany and one of the first stations with electrified railway services. Since 1900 modern department stores like Barasch (today "Feniks") or Petersdorff (built by architect Erich Mendelsohn) were erected. During
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 ...
, in 1914, a branch of the ''Organizacja Pomocy Legionom'' ("Legion Assistance Organisation") operated in the city with the goal of gaining support and recruiting volunteers for the Polish Legion, but three Legions' envoys were arrested by the Germans in November 1914 and deported to Austria, and the organisation soon ended its activities in the city. During the war, the Germans operated seven forced labour camps for Allied
prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
in the city. Following the war, Breslau became the capital of the newly created Prussian
Province of Lower Silesia The Province of Lower Silesia (; Silesian German: ''Provinz Niederschläsing''; ; ) was a province of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Between 1938 and 1941 it was reunited with Upper Silesia as the Province of Silesia. The capita ...
of the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
in 1919. After the war the Polish community began holding masses in Polish at the Church of Saint Anne, and, as of 1921, at St. Martin's and a Polish School was founded by Helena Adamczewska.Microcosm, p. 361 In 1920 a Polish
consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...
was opened on the Main Square. In August 1920, during the Polish Silesian Uprising in
Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...
, the Polish Consulate and School were destroyed, while the Polish Library was burned down by a mob. The number of Poles as a percentage of the total population fell to just 0.5% after the re-emergence of
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 ...
as a state in 1918, when many moved to Poland.
Antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
riots occurred in 1923. The city boundaries were expanded between 1925 and 1930 to include an area of with a population of 600,000. In 1929, the Werkbund opened '' WuWa'' () in Breslau-Scheitnig, an international showcase of
modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...
by architects of the Silesian branch of the Werkbund. In June 1930, Breslau hosted the '' Deutsche Kampfspiele'', a
sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...
ing event for German athletes after Germany was excluded from the Olympic Games after World War I. The number of Jews remaining in Breslau fell from 23,240 in 1925 to 10,659 in 1933. Up to the beginning of World War II, Breslau was the largest city in Germany east of Berlin. Known as a stronghold of Left-wing politics, left wing liberalism during the German Empire, Breslau eventually became one of the strongest support bases of the Nazi Party, which in the 1932 elections received 44% of the city's vote, their third-highest total in all Germany. After Adolf Hitler, Hitler's NSDAP#In power: 1933–1945, appointment as German Chancellor in 1933, political enemies of the Nazis were persecuted, and their institutions closed or destroyed. KZ Dürrgoy, one of the first concentration camps in Nazi Germany, was set up in the city in 1933. The Gestapo began actions against Polish and Jewish students (see: Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau), KPD, Communists, Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democrats, and trade unionists. Arrests were made for speaking Polish in public, and in 1938 the Nazi-controlled police destroyed the Polish cultural centre. In June 1939, Polish students were expelled from the university. Also many other people seen as "undesirable" by Nazi Germany were sent to Nazi concentration camps, concentration camps. A network of Internment, concentration camps and Arbeitslager, forced labour camps was established around Breslau to serve industrial concerns, including FAMO, Junkers, and Krupp. Tens of thousands of forced labourers were imprisoned there. The last big event organised by the National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise, called Deutsches Turn- und Sportfest 1938, Deutsches Turn-und-Sportfest (Gym and Sports Festivities), took place in Breslau from 26 to 31 July 1938. The Sportsfest was held to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the German Wars of Liberation against Napoleon's invasion.


Second World War

During the invasion of Poland, 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 Germans carried out mass arrests of local Polish activists and banned Polish organisations, and the city was made the headquarters of the southern district of the ''Selbstschutz'', whose task was to Nazi crimes against the Polish nation, persecute Poles. For most of the war, the fighting did not affect the city. During the war, the Germans opened the graves of medieval Polish monarchs and local dukes to carry out Anthropology, anthropological research for Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propaganda purposes, wanting to demonstrate German "Racial policy of Nazi Germany, racial purity". The remains were transported to other places by the Germans, and they have not been found to this day. In 1941, the remnants of the pre-war Polish minority in the city, as well as Polish slave labourers, organised a resistance group called Olimp (organization), Olimp. The organisation gathered intelligence, carrying out sabotage and organising aid for Polish slave workers. In September 1941 the city's 10,000 Jews were expelled from their homes and soon deported to concentration camps. Few survived the The Holocaust, Holocaust. As the war continued, refugees from bombed-out German cities, and later refugees from farther east, swelled the population to nearly one million, including 51,000 forced labourers in 1944, and 9,876 Allied PoWs. At the end of 1944 an additional 30,000–60,000 Poles were moved into the city after the Germans crushed the Warsaw Uprising. During the war the Germans operated four List of subcamps of Gross-Rosen, subcamps of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in the city. Approximately 3,400–3,800 men were imprisoned in three subcamps, among them Poles, Russians, Italians, French people, Frenchmen, Ukrainians, Czechs, Belgians, Yugoslavs, Dutch people, Dutchmen, Chinese people, Chinese, and about 1,500 Jews, Jewish women were imprisoned in the fourth camp. Many prisoners died, and the remaining were evacuated to the main camp of Gross-Rosen in January 1945. There were also three subcamps of the Stalag VIII-B, Stalag VIII-B/344 German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II, prisoner-of-war camp, three subcamps of the Stalag VIII-C POW camp, and two Nazi prisons in the city, including a youth prison, with multiple forced labour subcamps. In 1945, the city became part of the front lines and was the site of the brutal Siege of Breslau. Adolf Hitler had in 1944 declared Breslau to be a fortress (Festung), to be held at all costs. An attempted evacuation of the city took place in January 1945, with 18,000 people freezing to death in icy snowstorms of weather. In February 1945, the Soviet Union, Soviet Red Army, Army approached the city and the German Luftwaffe began an airlift to the besieged garrison. A large area of the city centre was demolished and turned into an airfield by the defenders. By the end of the three-month siege in May 1945, half the city had been destroyed. Breslau was the last major city in Germany to surrender, capitulating only two days before the end of the war in Europe. Civilian deaths amounted to as many as 80,000. In August the Soviets placed the city under the control of German communists.Mazower, M(2008) Hitler's Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe, Penguin Press p. 544 Following the Yalta Conference held in February 1945, where the new geopolitics of
Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...
were decided, the terms of the Potsdam Conference decreed that along with almost all of Lower Silesia, the city would again become part of Polish People's Republic, Poland in exchange for Poland's loss of the city of Lwów along with the massive territory of Kresy in the east, which was annexed by the Soviet Union. The Polish name of Wrocław was declared official. There had been discussion among the Allies of World War II, Western Allies to place the southern Polish-German boundary on the Eastern Neisse, which meant post-war Germany would have been allowed to retain approximately half of Silesia, including those parts of Breslau that lay on the west bank of the Oder. However, the Soviet government insisted the border be drawn at the Lusatian Neisse farther west.


1945–present

The city's German inhabitants who had not fled, or who had returned to their home city after the war had ended, Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II, were expelled between 1945 and 1949 in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement and were settled in the Soviet occupation zone or in the Allied-occupied Germany, Allied Occupation Zones in the remainder of Germany. The city's last pre-war German school was closed in 1963. The Polish population was dramatically increased by the resettlement of Poles, partly due to postwar Polish population transfers (1944–1946), population transfers during the forced deportations from Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, Polish lands annexed by the Soviet Union in Kresy, the east region, some of whom came from Lviv (''Lwów''), Volhynia, and the Vilnius Region. However, despite the prime role given to re-settlers from the Kresy, in 1949, only 20% of the new Polish population actually were refugees themselves. A small German minority (about 1,000 people, or 2% of the population) remains in the city, so that today the proportion of the Polish population compared to that of the Germans is the reverse of what it was a hundred years ago. Traces of the German past, such as inscriptions and signs, were removed. In 1948, Wrocław organised the Recovered Territories Exhibition and the World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace, World Congress of Intellectuals in Defence of Peace. Picasso's lithograph, ''La Colombe'' (The Dove), a traditional, realistic picture of a pigeon, without an olive branch, was created on a napkin at the Monopol Hotel in Wrocław during the World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace, World Congress of Intellectuals in Defence of Peace. In 1963, Wrocław was declared a closed city because of 1963 smallpox epidemic in Wrocław, a smallpox epidemic. In 1982, during martial law in Poland, the Anti-communism, anti-communist underground organisations Fighting Solidarity and Orange Alternative were founded in Wrocław. Wrocław's dwarfs, Wrocław's dwarves, made of bronze, famously grew out of and commemorate Orange Alternative. In 1983 and 1997, Pope John Paul II visited the city. PTV Echo, the first non-state television station in Poland and in the post-communist countries, began to broadcast in Wrocław on 6 February 1990. In May 1997, Wrocław hosted the 46th International Eucharistic Congress. In July 1997, the city was heavily affected by the 1997 Central European flood in Wrocław, Millennium Flood, the worst flooding in post-war Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. About one-third of the area of the city was flooded. The smaller Widawa, Widawa River also flooded the city simultaneously, worsening the damage. An earlier, equally devastating flood of the Oder river had taken place in 1903. A small part of the city was also flooded during the 2010 Central European floods, flood of 2010. From 2012 to 2015, the :pl:Wrocławski węzeł wodny, Wrocław water node was renovated and redeveloped to prevent further flooding. Municipal Stadium (Wrocław), Municipal Stadium in Wrocław, opened in 2011, hosted three matches in Group A of the UEFA Euro 2012 championship. In 2016, Wrocław was declared the
European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...
. In 2017, Wrocław hosted the 2017 World Games. Wrocław won the ''European Best Destination'' title in 2018. Wrocław is now a unique European city of mixed heritage, with architecture influenced by Polish,
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
n, Habsburg monarchy, Austrian, and Prussian traditions, such as Silesian Gothic architecture, Gothic and its Baroque style of court builders of Habsburg Austria (Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Fischer von Erlach). Wrocław has a number of notable buildings by German modernism, modernist architects including the famous Centennial Hall (1911–1913) designed by Max Berg.


Geography

Wrocław is located in the three Mesoregion (geomorphology), mesoregions of the
Silesian Lowlands Silesian Lowlands (or Silesian Plains, , , ) are lowlands located in Silesia, Poland in Central Europe. A small part is located in the Czech Republic. The Silesian ridge runs through northern Silesia from west-northwest to east-southeast and adjo ...
(Wrocław Plain, Wrocław Valley, Oleśnica Plain) at an elevation of around 105–156 metres (Gajowe Hill and Maślickie Hill) above sea level. The city lies on the Oder River and its four tributaries, which supply it within the city limits – Bystrzyca (Odra), Bystrzyca, Oława (river), Oława, Ślęza and Widawa. The Dobra River and many streams flow through the city. The city has a sewage treatment plant on the Janówek estate.


Flora and fauna

There are 44 city parks and public green spaces covering around 800 hectares. The most notable are ''Szczytnicki Park'', ''Park Południowy'' (South Park) and ''Wladyslaw Anders, Anders Park''. In addition, Wrocław University runs an historical University of Wrocław Botanical Garden, Botanical garden, founded in 1811, with a salient Alpine garden, a lake and a valley. In Wrocław, the presence of over 200 species of birds has been registered, of which over 100 have nesting places there. As in other large Polish cities, the most numerous are Rock dove, pigeons. Other common species are the House sparrow, sparrow, Eurasian tree sparrow, tree sparrow, Eurasian siskin, siskin, Rook (bird), rook, Hooded crow, crow, Western jackdaw, jackdaw, Eurasian magpie, magpie, Common swift, swift, Common house martin, martin, Barn swallow, swallow, Common kestrel, kestrel, mute swan, mallard, Eurasian coot, coot, Common merganser, merganser, black-headed gull, great tit, Eurasian blue tit, blue tit, long-tailed tit, European greenfinch, greenfinch, hawfinch, Eurasian collared dove, collared dove, common wood pigeon, fieldfare, redwing, common starling, grey heron, white stork, common chaffinch, Common blackbird, blackbird, Eurasian jay, jay, Eurasian nuthatch, nuthatch, Eurasian bullfinch, bullfinch, Common cuckoo, cuckoo, Bohemian waxwing, waxwing, lesser spotted woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, white-backed woodpecker, white wagtail, Eurasian blackcap, blackcap, black redstart, old world flycatcher, emberizidae, European goldfinch, goldfinch, western marsh harrier, little bittern, common moorhen, Common reed bunting, reed bunting, remiz, great reed warbler, little crake, little ringed plover and white-tailed eagle. The city is periodically plagued by the brown rat, especially in the Market Square and in the vicinity of Eatery, eateries. Otherwise, due to the proximity of wooded areas, there are Erinaceidae, hedgehogs, Red fox, foxes, wild boar, bats, Beech marten, martens, Red squirrel, squirrels, roe deer, Leporidae, hares, Eurasian beaver, beavers, European polecat, polecats, Eurasian otter, otters, European badger, badgers, Least weasel, weasels, stoats and raccoon dogs. There are also occasional sightings of escaped muskrat, american mink and raccoon.


Climate

Within the Köppen climate classification, Wrocław has an oceanic climate (''Cfb''), bordering on a humid continental climate (''Dfb'') using the 0 °C (32 °F) isotherm. The position of Wrocław in the
Silesian Lowlands Silesian Lowlands (or Silesian Plains, , , ) are lowlands located in Silesia, Poland in Central Europe. A small part is located in the Czech Republic. The Silesian ridge runs through northern Silesia from west-northwest to east-southeast and adjo ...
, which are located just north of the Sudetes and to the southwest of the Trzebnickie Hills, creates a favourable environment for accumulation of heat in the Oder river valley between Wrocław and Opole. Wrocław is therefore the warmest List of cities in Poland, city in Poland, among those tracked by the :pl:Instytut Meteorologii i Gospodarki Wodnej, Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW), with a mean annual temperature of . The city experiences relatively mild and dry winters, but with the skies frequently overcast. Summers are warm and generally sunny, however, that is the period when most precipitation occurs, which often falls during thunderstorms. The city sometimes experiences Foehn wind, foehn-like conditions, particularly when the wind blows from the south or the south-west. The temperatures in the city centre often tend to be higher than on the outskirts due to the urban heat island effect. Snow may fall in any month from October to May but normally does so in winter. The snow cover of at least stays on the ground for an average of 27.5 days per year – one of the lowest in Poland. The highest temperature in Wrocław recognised by IMGW was noted on 8 August 2015 (), though thermometers at the meteorological station managed by the
University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...
indicated on that day. The lowest temperature was recorded on 11 February 1956 ().


Government and politics

Wrocław is the capital city of
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 ...
, a province (Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship) created in 1999. It was previously the capital of Wrocław Voivodeship. The city is a separate urban gmina and City with powiat rights, city-county. It is also the seat of Wrocław County, which adjoins but does not include the city.


Districts

Wrocław was previously subdivided into five Dzielnica, boroughs (): Old Town, Wrocław (former district), Old Town, Downtown, Wrocław, Downtown, Krzyki, Fabryczna, and Psie Pole. Although they were abolished in 1991 and have not existed as public administration units since then, areas of borders and names similar/identical to the former districts exist in the practice of operation of various types of authorities and administrations (e.g. as divisions of territorial competencies of courts, prosecutors' offices, tax offices, etc.). The present Wrocław Osiedle, districts () were created in 1991, and are a type of local government district.


Municipal government

Wrocław is governed by the List of mayors of Wrocław, city's mayor and a municipal legislature known as the city council. The city council is made up of 39 councilors and is directly elected by the city's inhabitants. The remit of the council and president extends to all areas of municipal policy and development planning, up to and including development of local infrastructure, transport and planning permission. It is not able to draw taxation directly from its citizens, and instead receives its budget from the Polish national government, whose seat is in Warsaw. The city's current mayor is Jacek Sutryk, who has served in this position since 2018. The first mayor of Wrocław after the war was Bolesław Drobner, appointed to the position on 14 March 1945, even before the Siege of Breslau, surrender of Festung Breslau.


Economy

Wrocław is the second-wealthiest of the large cities in Poland after
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
. The city is home to the largest number of leasing and debt collection companies in the country, including the largest European Leasing Fund as well as numerous banks. Due to the proximity of the borders with Germany and the Czech Republic, Wrocław and the region of Lower Silesia is a large import and export partner with these countries. Wrocław is one of the most innovative cities in Poland with the largest number of R&D centres, due to the cooperation between the municipality, business sector and numerous universities. There are many organisations dealing with innovation–research institutions and technology transfer offices, incubators, technology and business parks, business support organisations, companies, start-ups and co-working spaces. The complex and varied infrastructure available in Wrocław facilitates the creation of innovative products and services and enables conducting research projects. The city has the biggest number of R&D centres in Poland, with many co-working spaces and business incubators offering great support to start a project fast and without high costs or too much paperwork. Wrocław's industry manufactures buses, railroad cars, home appliances, chemicals, and electronics. The city houses factories and development centres of many foreign and domestic corporations, such as WAGO Kontakttechnik, Siemens, Robert Bosch GmbH, Bosch, Whirlpool Corporation, Nokia Networks, Volvo, Hewlett-Packard, HP, IBM, Google, Opera Software, Bombardier Transportation, WABCO Vehicle Control Systems, WABCO and others. Wrocław is the location of offices for large Polish companies including Getin Holding, AmRest, Polmos, and MCI Management SA. Kaufland Poland has its main headquarters in the city. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the city has had a developing Information technology, high-tech sector. Many high-tech companies are located in the Wrocław Technology Park, such as Baluff, CIT Engineering, Caisson Elektronik, ContiTech, Ericsson, Innovative Software Technologies, IBM, IT-MED, IT Sector, Livechat Software, LiveChat Software, Mitsubishi Electric, Maas, PGS Software, Technology Transfer Agency Techtra and Vratis. In Biskupice Podgórne (Gmina Kobierzyce, Community Kobierzyce) there are factories of LG (LG Display, LG Electronics, LG Chem, LG Innotek), Dong Seo Display, Dong Yang Electronics, Toshiba, and many other companies, mainly from the electronics and home appliances sectors, while the Nowa Wieś Wrocławska factory and distribution centre of Nestlé Purina and factories a few other enterprises. The city is the seat of Wrocław Research Centre European Institute of Innovation and Technology, EIT+, which contains, inter alia, geological research laboratories to the unconventional and Lower Silesian Cluster of Nanotechnology. The logistics centres DHL, FedEx and United Parcel Service, UPS are based in Wrocław. It is a major centre for the pharmaceutical industry (U.S. Pharmacia, Hasco-Lek, Galena, Avec Pharma, 3M, Labor, S-Lab, Herbapol, and Cezal). Wrocław is home to Poland's largest shopping mall – :pl:Aleja Bielany, Bielany Avenue (pl. Aleja Bielany) and Bielany Trade Centre, located in Bielany Wrocławskie where stores such as Auchan, Decathlon (retailer), Decathlon, Leroy Merlin, Makro, IKEA, Jula, Obi (store), OBI, Castorama, Black Red White, Poco, E. Wedel, Cargill, Prologis and Panattoni can be found. In February 2013, Qatar Airways launched its Wrocław European Customer Service.


Major corporations

*3M *Aira *Akwawit–Polmos S.A. – Wratislavia vodka plant *The Bank of New York Mellon *Bombardier Transportation Poland * BSH – Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte *CD Projekt *CH Robinson Worldwide *Crédit Agricole Poland *Credit Suisse *Deichmann SE, Deichmann *DeLaval Operations Poland *DHL *Dolby Labs *Ernst & Young *Fantasy Expo – owner CD-Action *Gigaset Communications *Google *Hewlett-Packard *IBM *Kaufland Poland *KGHM Polska Miedź *LG Electronics *McKinsey & Company *Microsoft *National Bank of Poland *Nokia Networks *Olympus Corporation, Olympus Business Services Europe *Opera Software *Parker Hannifin *PZ Cussons Poland *Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń, PZU *QAD Inc., QAD *Qatar Airways *Qiagen *Robert Bosch GmbH *SAP SE, SAP Poland *Santander Consumer Bank *Siemens *Südzucker *Techland *Text (company), Text *Tieto *UBS *United Parcel Service, UPS *United Technologies Corporation *Viessmann *Vulcan (Polish software company), Vulcan *WABCO Vehicle Control Systems, WABCO Poland *Whirlpool Corporation, Whirlpool Poland


Shopping centres

*Magnolia Park - The fourth largest shopping centre in Poland and the largest one in Wrocław. It offers a wide selection of shops, including Zara brand, Zara, Sephora, Cropp (brand), Cropp, Castorama, and Primark *Wroclavia - One of the largest malls in Poland and the 2nd largest in Wrocław, after Magnolia Park. It is a major shopping centre, located next to the Wrocław Główny railway station, Wrocław Main railway station, featuring more than 150 shopping outlets, restaurants, cafes and Cinema City Poland, Cinema City. The building also houses Wrocław Central coach station, which is located beneath the shopping centre *:pl:Galeria Dominikańska, Galeria Dominikańska *:pl:Pasaż Grunwaldzki, Pasaż Grunwaldzki *:pl:Centrum Korona, Centrum Handlowe Korona - Large shopping complex located in north Wrocław. It features retail shops for fashion and home goods, as well as a food court & cinema *Marino *Centrum Handlowe Borek *Sky Tower (Wrocław), Galeria Handlowa Sky Tower *Wrocław Fashion Outlet *Factoria Park *Renoma (Wrocław), Renoma, a luxury department and a building of significant architectural value, representing the Modern architecture, modernist style. *Wrocław Market Hall *Barasch Brothers' Department Store, Feniks


Transport

Wrocław is a major transport hub, situated at the crossroad of many routes linking Western and Central Europe with the rest of Poland. The city is skirted on the south by the A4 autostrada (Poland), A4 highway, which is part of the European route E40, extending from the Polish-German to the Polish-Ukrainian border across southern Poland. The 672-kilometre highway beginning at Jędrzychowice, Zgorzelec County, Jędrzychowice connects Lower Silesia with Opole and the industrial
Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...
n metropolis,
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
, Tarnów and Rzeszów. It also provides easy access to German cities such as
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, Leipzig, Magdeburg and with the A18 autostrada (Poland), A18 highway Berlin, Hamburg. The toll-free A8 autostrada (Poland), A8 bypass (Wrocław Beltway, ring road) around the west and north of the city connects the A4 highway with three major routes – Expressway S5 (Poland), S5 expressway leading to Poznań, Bydgoszcz; the Expressway S8 (Poland), S8 express road towards Oleśnica, Łódź,
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, Białystok; and the National road 8 (Poland), National Road 8 to Prague, Brno and other townships in the Czech Republic. Traffic congestion is a significant issue in Wrocław as in most Polish cities. In 2020 it was ranked as the fifth-most congested city in Poland, and 41st in the world. On average, a car driver in Wrocław annually spends seven days and two hours in a traffic jam. Roadblocks, gridlocks and narrow cobblestone streets around the Old Town are considerable obstacles for drivers. The lack of parking space is also a major setback; private lots or on-street pay bays are the most common means of parking. A 2019 study revealed that there are approximately 130 vehicles per each parking spot, and the search for an unoccupied bay takes on average eight minutes.


Aviation

The city is served by Wrocław Airport (IATA airport code, IATA: WRO ICAO airport code, ICAO: EPWR) situated around 10 kilometres southwest from the city centre. The airport handles passenger flights with LOT Polish Airlines, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Lufthansa, Eurowings, Air France, KLM, Scandinavian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines and air cargo connections. In 2019, over a 3.5 million passengers passed through the airport, placing it fifth on the list of busiest airports in Poland. Among the permanent and traditional destinations are
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, Amsterdam, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Zürich and Budapest. Low-cost carrier, Low-cost flights are common among British, Italian, Spanish and Ukrainian travellers, based on the number of destinations. Seasonal charter flights are primarily targeted at Polish holidaymakers travelling to Southern Europe and North Africa.


Rail and bus

The main rail station is Wrocław Główny railway station, Wrocław Główny, which is the largest railway station in Poland by the number of passengers served (21.2 million passengers a year), and perhaps the most important railroad junction alongside Warszawa Centralna, Warsaw Central station. The station is supported by PKP Intercity, Polregio, Koleje Dolnośląskie and Leo Express. There are direct connections to Szczecin Główny railway station, Szczecin, Poznań Główny, Poznań, and to Warsaw Central through Łódź Fabryczna railway station, Łódź Fabryczna station. There is also a regular connection to Berlin Hauptbahnhof and Wien Hauptbahnhof (Vienna), as well as indirect to Praha hlavní nádraží (Prague) and Budapest Nyugati railway station, Budapest-Nyugati with one transfer depending on the carrier. Adjacent to the railway station, is a central bus station located in the basement of the shopping mall Wroclavia, with services offered by Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacji Samochodowej, PKS, Neobus, Flixbus, Sindbad, and others.


Public transport

The public transport in Wrocław comprises 99 bus lines and a well-developed network of 23 Tramways in Wrocław, tram lines, with a length of over 200 kilometres, operated by the Municipal Transport Company MPK (). Rides are paid for, tickets can be purchased in vending machines, which are located at bus stops, as well as in the vending machines located in the vehicle. Payment is via contactless payment card, and the ticket is saved on the card. The tickets are available for purchase in the electronic form via mobile app: mPay, Apple Pay, SkyCash, Mobill, Google Pay (payment method), Google Pay. Tickets are one-ride or temporary (0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 24, 48, 72, or 168 hours). All buses and a significant portion of the trams have low-floors. Over a dozen traditional taxicab firms operate in the city as well as Uber, , Bolt (company), Bolt and Free Now (service), Free Now.


Other

There are of Cycling infrastructure, cycling paths, including about paths on flood embankments. Wrocław has a bike rental network called the City Bike (''Wrocławski Rower Miejski''). It has 2,000 bicycles and 200 self-service stations. In addition to regular bicycles, tandem, cargo, electric, folding, tricycles, children's, and handbikes are available, operating every year from 1 March to 30 November. During winter (December – February) 200 bikes are available in the system. Wrocław possesses a scooter-sharing system of Lime (transportation company), Lime, Bird Global, Bird, Bolt (company), Bolt and Free Now (service), Hive Free Now – motorized scooter, motorised scooter rental is available using a mobile application. Electronic car rental systems include Traficar, Panek CarSharing (hybrid cars), GoScooter and electric Scooter (motorcycle), scooters using the mobile application. A gondola lift over the Oder called Polinka began operation in 2013. Wrocław also has a Inland port, river port on the Oder and several marinas.


Demographics

In December 2020, the population of Wrocław was estimated at 641,928 individuals, of which 342,215 were women and 299,713 were men. Data for territorial unit 0264000. Since 2011, the population has been steadily rising, with a 0.142% increase between 2019 and 2020, and a 2.167% increase in the years 2011–2020. In 2018, the crude birth rate stood at 11.8 and the mortality rate at 11.1 per 1,000 residents. The median age in 2018 was 43 years. The city's population is aging significantly; between 2013 and 2018, the number of Senior citizen, seniors, per Statistics Poland – men aged 65 or above and women aged 60 or above, surged from 21.5% to 24.2%. Historically, the city's population grew rapidly throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1900, approximately 422,709 people were registered as residents. In 1933, the population was 625,000. The strongest growth was recorded from 1900 to 1910, with almost 100,000 new residents within the city limits. Although the city was overwhelmingly German-speaking, the ethnic composition based on heritage or place of birth was mixed. In 2000, around 43% of all inhabitants in 1910 were born outside Silesia and migrated into the city, mostly from the contemporary regions of
Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...
(then the Prussian Partition of Poland) or Pomerania. Poles and Jews were among the most prominent active minorities. Simultaneously, the city's territorial expansion and incorporation of surrounding townships further strengthened population growth. Following the end of the Second World War and Flight and expulsion of Germans, post-1945 expulsions of the remaining pre-war population, Wrocław became again predominantly Polish language, Polish-speaking. New incomers were primarily resettled from Eastern Borderlands, areas in the east which Poland lost (Vilnius and Lviv), or from other provinces, notably the regions of Greater Poland, Lublin, Białystok and Rzeszów. At the end of 1947, the city's population was estimated at 224,800 individuals. In the following years, Wrocław had the largest rate of natural increase among the five largest Polish cities. German nationals who stayed were either resettled in the late 1940s and 1950s, or assimilated, though a German Socio-Cultural Organisation in Wrocław, cultural society now exists to promote German culture in the still-existing German minority. In the 1950s, Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War, also settled in the city. Wrocław currently has one of the highest concentration of foreigners in Poland alongside
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
and Poznań. A significant majority are migrant workers from Ukraine; other significant minorities include people from Italy, Spain, South Korea, India, Russia and Turkey. No exact statistic exists on the number of temporary residents from abroad. The city is home to a large population of foreign students. ImageSize = width:900 height:350 PlotArea = left:60 right:30 top:25 bottom:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late Colors = id:linegrey2 value:gray(0.9) id:linegrey value:gray(0.7) id:cobar value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.8) id:cobar2 value:rgb(0.6,0.9,0.6) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:700000 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:20000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey2 PlotData = color:cobar width:20 align:left bar:1526 from:0 till:22000 bar:1710 from:0 till:40890 bar:1849 from:0 till:110702 bar:1871 from:0 till:207997 bar:1890 from:0 till:335186 bar:1900 from:0 till:422709 bar:1910 from:0 till:512105 bar:1919 from:0 till:528260 bar:1933 from:0 till:625198 bar:1939 from:0 till:629565 bar:1946 from:0 till:170656 bar:1947 from:0 till:224800 bar:1955 from:0 till:378619 bar:1965 from:0 till:474199 bar:1975 from:0 till:575890 bar:1985 from:0 till:637207 bar:1991 from:0 till:643640 bar:2000 from:0 till:633857 bar:2010 from:0 till:632996 bar:2020 from:0 till:643782 bar:2023 color:cobar2 from:0 till:674132 PlotData= textcolor:black fontsize:S bar:1526 at: 22000 text: 22,000 shift:(-17,5) bar:1710 at: 40890 text: 40,890 shift:(-17,5) bar:1849 at: 110702 text: 110,702 shift:(-14,5) bar:1871 at: 207997 text: 207,997 shift:(-17,5) bar:1890 at: 335186 text: 335,186 shift:(-17,5) bar:1900 at: 422709 text: 422,709 shift:(-17,5) bar:1910 at: 512105 text: 512,105 shift:(-17,5) bar:1919 at: 528260 text: 528,260 shift:(-17,5) bar:1933 at: 625198 text: 625,198 shift:(-17,5) bar:1939 at: 629565 text: 629,565 shift:(-17,5) bar:1946 at: 170656 text: 170,656 shift:(-17,5) bar:1947 at: 225000 text: 224,800 shift:(-17,5) bar:1955 at: 378619 text: 378,619 shift:(-17,5) bar:1965 at: 474199 text: 474,199 shift:(-17,5) bar:1975 at: 575890 text: 575,890 shift:(-17,5) bar:1985 at: 637207 text: 637,207 shift:(-29,5) bar:1991 at: 643640 text: 643,640 shift:(-23,5) bar:2000 at: 633857 text: 633,857 shift:(-12,5) bar:2010 at: 632996 text: 632,996 shift:(-15,5) bar:2020 at: 643782 text: 643,782 shift:(-17,5) bar:2023 at: 674132 text: 674,132 shift:(-29,5)


Religion

Wrocław's population is predominantly Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic, like the rest of Poland. The diocese was founded in the city as early as 1000. It was one of the first dioceses in the country at that time. Now the city is the seat of a Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wrocław, Catholic Archdiocese. Prior to World War II, Breslau was mostly inhabited by Protestants, followed by a large Roman Catholic and a significant Jewish minority. In 1939, of 620,976 inhabitants, 368,464 were Protestants (United Protestants; mostly Lutherans and minority Reformed tradition, Reformed; in the Prussian Union of churches, Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union), 193,805 Catholics, 2,135 other Christians and 10,659 Jews. Wrocław had the third largest Jewish population of all cities in Germany before the war.Polish city marks first rabbinic ordination since World War II
, ''The Times of Israel'', 3 September 2014
Its White Stork Synagogue was completed in 1840, and rededicated in 2010. In 2014, it celebrated its first ordination of four rabbis and three cantors since the Holocaust. The Polish authorities together with the German Foreign Minister attended the official ceremony. Post-war resettlements from Poland's ethnically and religiously more diverse former eastern territories, known in Polish as ''Kresy'', and the eastern parts of post-1945 Poland (''see Operation Vistula'') account for a comparatively large portion of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Greek Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christians of mostly Ukrainians in Poland, Ukrainian and Lemkos, Lemko descent. Wrocław is also unique for its "Dzielnica Czterech Świątyń" (Borough of Four Temples) — a part of Stare Miasto, Wrocław, Stare Miasto (Old Town) where a synagogue, a Lutheranism, Lutheran church, a Roman Catholic church and an Eastern Orthodox church stand near each other. Other Christian denominations present in Wrocław include Seventh Day Adventists, Baptists, Free Christians, Reformed (Calvinist), Methodists, Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Non-christian congregations include Buddhists. There are also minor associations practicing and promoting Slavic neopaganism, Rodnovery neopaganism. In 2007, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wrocław established the Pastoral Centre for English Speakers, which offers Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, as well as other sacraments, fellowship, retreats, catechesis and pastoral care for all English-speaking Catholics and non-Catholics interested in the Catholic Church. The Pastoral Centre is under the care of Conventual Franciscans, Order of Friars Minor, Conventual (Franciscans) of the Kraków Province in the parish of :pl:Kościół św. Karola Boromeusza we Wrocławiu, St Charles Borromeo (Św Karol Boromeusz).


Education

Wrocław is the third largest educational centre of Poland, with 135,000 students in 30 colleges which employ some 7,400 staff. The city is home to ten Public university, public colleges and universities. The
University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...
(''Uniwersytet Wrocławski'') has over 47,000 students, and was ranked fourth among public universities in Poland by the ''Wprost'' weekly ranking in 2007. The Wrocław University of Technology (''Politechnika Wrocławska'') has over 20,000 students, and was considered the best university of technology in Poland by the ''Wprost'' in 2007. The Wrocław University of Economics (''Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wrocławiu'') has over 18,000 students, and is ranked fifth best among public economic universities in Poland by the ''Wprost'' weekly ranking in 2007. The Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences (''Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy we Wrocławiu'') has over 13,000 students, and ranked the third best among public agricultural universities in Poland by the ''Wprost'' weekly ranking in 2007. Institutions include the Wrocław Medical University (''Uniwersytet Medyczny we Wrocławiu''), the :pl:Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego we Wrocławiu, University School of Physical Education in Wrocław, the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław (''Akademia Sztuk Pięknych we Wrocławiu''), the Karol Lipiński University of Music (''Akademia Muzyczna im. Karola Lipińskiego we Wrocławiu''), the Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts, Wrocław Campus (''Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Teatralna w Krakowie filia we Wrocławiu''), and the Tadeusz Kościuszko Land Forces Military Academy (''Wyższa Szkoła Oficerska Wojsk Lądowych''). Private universities include the Wyższa Szkoła Bankowa (University of Business in Wrocław), the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (''SWPS Uniwersytet Humanistycznospołeczny''), the University of Law (Wyższa Szkoła Prawa), and Coventry University Wrocław (a campus branch of the Coventry University, UK). Other cultural institutions based in Wrocław arę the Alliance française, Alliance Française in Wrocław, the Austrian Institute in Wrocław, the British Council in Wrocław, the Dante Alighieri Society in Wrocław, and the Grotowski Institute in Wrocław.


Culture and landmarks


Old Town

The Old Town of Wrocław is listed in the Registry of Objects of Cultural Heritage and is on Poland's prestigious List of Historic Monuments (Poland), list of National Monuments. Several architectural landmarks and edifices are one of the best examples of Brick Gothic and Baroque architecture, Baroque architecture in the country. Fine examples of Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassicism, and Historicism are scattered across the city's central precinct. The Wrocław Opera, Wrocław Opera House, Monopol Hotel, :pl:Gmach Biblioteki Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego przy ul. Karola Szajnochy we Wrocławiu, University Library, Ossolineum, the
National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...
and the castle-like District Court are among some of the grandest and most recognisable historic structures. There are several examples of Art Nouveau and Modernist architecture, Modernism in pre-war retail establishments such as the Barasch Brothers' Department Store, Barasch-Feniks, :pl:Dom Handlowy Kameleon, Petersdorff-Kameleon and Renoma (Wrocław), Renoma department stores. The Ostrów Tumski (Cathedral Island) is the oldest section of the city. It was once an isolated islet between the branches of the Oder River. The Wrocław Cathedral, one of the tallest churches in Poland, was erected in the mid 10th century and expanded over later centuries. The island is home to five other Christian temples and churches, the :pl:Pałac arcybiskupi we Wrocławiu, Archbishop's Palace, the Archdiocese Museum, a 9.5-metre 18th-century monument dedicated to Saint John of Nepomuk, historic tenements and the steel Tumski Bridge from 1889. A notable attraction are 102 original gas lighting, gas lanterns which are manually lit each evening by a cloaked lamplighter. The early 13th-century Main Market Square (Rynek) is the oldest medieval public square in Poland, and one of the largest. The area of the main square together with the auxiliary square is 48,500 m². It features the ornate Gothic Wrocław Town Hall, Old Town Hall, the oldest of its kind in the country. In the north-west corner of the square is St. Elisabeth's Church, Wrocław, St. Elisabeth's Church (Bazylika Św. Elżbiety) with its 91.5-metre-high tower and an observation deck at an altitude of 75 metres. Beneath the basilica are two small medieval houses connected by an arched gate that once led into a churchyard; these were reshaped into their current form in the 1700s. Today, the two connected buildings are known to the city's residents as "Jaś i Małgosia", named after the children's fairy tale characters from Hansel and Gretel. North of the church are so-called "Slaughterhouse, shambles" (Polish: ''jatki''), a former meat market with a :pl:Pomnik Pamięci Zwierząt Rzeźnych, Monument of Remembrance for Slaughtered Animals. The Salt Square, now a flower market, which opened in 1242, is located at the south-western corner of the Market Square. Close to the square, between Szewska and Łaciarska streets, is the domeless 13th-century St. Mary Magdalene Church (Wrocław), St. Mary Magdalene Church, which in 1523 during the Reformation was converted into Wrocław's first Protestant temple. The Cathedral of St. Vincent and St. James, Wrocław, Cathedral of St. Vincent and St. James and the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew, Wrocław, Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew's Collegiate Church are burial sites of List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarchs,
Henry II the Pious Henry II the Pious (; 1196 – 9 April 1241) was Duke of Silesia and High Duke of Poland as well as Duke of South-Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. Between 1238 and 1239 he also served as regent of Sandomierz and Opole– Racibórz. He ...
and Henry IV Probus, respectively. The ''Pan Tadeusz Museum'', open since May 2016, is located in the "House under the Golden Sun" at 6 Market Square. The manuscript of the national Epic poem, epos, ''Pan Tadeusz'', is housed there as part of the Ossolineum, Ossolineum National Institute, with multimedia and interactive educational opportunities.


Tourism and places of interest

The Tourist Information Centre () is situated on the Main Market Square, Wrocław, Main Market Square (Rynek) in building no 14. Wrocław has been visited by over 6 million tourists in 2024. Free Hotspot (Wi-Fi), wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) is available at a number of places around town. Wrocław is a major attraction for both domestic and international tourists. Noteworthy landmarks include the Wrocław Fountain, Multimedia Fountain, Szczytnicki Park with its Japanese Garden (Wrocław), Japanese Garden, miniature park and List of dinosaur parks, dinosaur park, the University of Wrocław Botanical Garden, Botanical Garden, Poland's largest railway model ''Kolejkowo'', Hydropolis Centre for Ecological Education,
University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...
with Mathematical Tower, :pl:Kościół Imienia Jezus we Wrocławiu, Church of the Name of Jesus, Wrocław water tower, Royal Palace, Wrocław, the Royal Palace, ropes course on the Opatowicka Island, White Stork Synagogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery, Wrocław, Old Jewish Cemetery and the :pl:Cmentarz Żołnierzy Włoskich, Cemetery of Italian Soldiers. An interesting way to explore the city is seeking out ''Wrocław's dwarfs'' – over 800 small bronze Homunculus, figurines can be found across the city, on pavements, walls and lampposts. They first appeared in 2005. The Racławice Panorama is a monumental Cyclorama, cycloramic painting, done by Jan Styka and Wojciech Kossak, depicting the Battle of Racławice during the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794. The 15×114 meter panorama was originally located in Lwów and following the end of World War II it was brought to Wrocław. Wrocław Zoo is home to the ''Africarium'' – the only space devoted solely to exhibiting the fauna of Africa with an oceanarium. It is the oldest List of zoos by country, zoological garden in Poland, established in 1865. It is the third-largest zoo in the world in terms of the number of animal species on display. Small passenger vessels on the Oder offer river tours, as do historic Tramways in Wrocław, trams or the converted open-topped historic buses Jelcz 043. In 2021, the Odra Centrum has opened, an educational centre on the river which is offering workshops, a library and kayak rentals. The Centennial Hall (), designed by Max Berg in 1911–1913, is a World Heritage Site listed by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
in 2006.


Museums

The
National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...
at Powstańców Warszawy Square, one of Poland's main branches of National Museum of Poland, the National Museum system, holds one of the largest collections of contemporary art in the country. Ossolineum is a National Institute and Library incorporating the :pl:Muzeum Książąt Lubomirskich we Wrocławiu, Lubomirski Museum (pl), partially salvaged from the formerly Polish city of Lwów (now Lviv in Ukraine), containing items of international and national significance. It has a history of major World War II theft of collections after the invasion and takeover of Lwów by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Major museums include the :pl:Muzeum Miejskie Wrocławia, City Museum of Wrocław (pl), Museum of Bourgeois Art in the Wrocław Town Hall, Old Town Hall, Museum of Architecture, Wrocław, Museum of Architecture, :pl:Muzeum Archeologiczne we Wrocławiu, Archaeological Museum (pl), Museum of Natural History at University of Wrocław, Museum of Contemporary Art in Wrocław, :pl:Muzeum Archidiecezjalne we Wrocławiu, Archdiocese Museum (pl), Galeria Awangarda, the :pl:Arsenał Miejski we Wrocławiu, Arsenal, :pl:Muzeum Farmacji Uniwersytetu Medycznego we Wrocławiu, Museum of Pharmacy (pl), :pl:Muzeum Poczty i Telekomunikacji we Wrocławiu, Post and Telecommunications Museum (pl), :pl:Muzeum Geologiczne im. Henryka Teisseyre we Wrocławiu, Geological Museum (pl), the :pl:Muzeum Mineralogiczne im. Kazimierza Maślankiewicza we Wrocławiu, Mineralogical Museum (pl), :pl:Muzeum Etnograficzne we Wrocławiu, Ethnographic Museum (pl). Recent openings of museums were the Historical Centrum Zajezdnia (opened in 2016), the OP ENHEIM Gallery (opened in 2018), and the Museum of Illusions (opened in 2021).


Entertainment

The city is well known for its large number of nightclubs and pubs. Many are in or near the Market Square, Wrocław, Market Square, and in the Niepolda passage, the :pl:Estakada kolejowa we Wrocławiu, railway wharf on the Bogusławskiego street. The basement of the Wrocław Town Hall, old City Hall houses one of the oldest restaurants in Europe—''Piwnica Świdnicka'', operating since 1273, while the basement of the new City Hall contains the Microbrewery, brewpub ''Spiż''. Next to the market there is also brewpubs ''Browar Staromiejski Złoty Pies'', while in other parts of the city two others brewpubs - ''Browar Stu Mostów'' and ''Browar Rodzinny Prost''. Mostly on the second weekend of June, the Festival of Good Beer takes place. It is the biggest beer festival in Poland. In November and December the Christmas market is held at the Main Market Square.


In literature

The history of Wrocław is described in minute detail in the monograph ''Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City'' by Norman Davies and Roger Moorhouse. A number of books have been written about Wrocław following World War II. Wrocław philologist and writer Marek Krajewski wrote a series of crime novels about detective Eberhard Mock, a fictional character from the city of Breslau. Michał Kaczmarek published ''Wrocław according to Eberhard Mock – Guide based on the books by Marek Krajewski''. In 2011, appeared the 1,104-page Lexicon of the architecture of Wrocław and in 2013 a 960-page Lexicon about the greenery of Wrocław. In 2019, Wrocław was recognised as a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
City of Literature UNESCO's City of Literature programme is part of the wider Creative Cities Network. The ''Network'' was launched in 2004, and now has member cities in seven creative fields. The other creative fields are: Crafts and Folk Arts, Design, Film ...
. Wrocław was designated as the World Book Capital for 2016 by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
.


Films, music and theatre

Wrocław is home to the Wroclaw Feature Film Studio (Wytwórnia Filmów Fabularnych), the Film Stuntman School, ATM Grupa, Grupa 13, and Polot Media (formerly Tako Media). Film directors Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Sylwester Chęciński, among others, made their film debuts in Wrocław. Numerous movies shot around the city include ''Ashes and Diamonds, The Saragossa Manuscript (film), The Saragossa Manuscript, Sami swoi, The Doll (1968 film), Lalka, A Lonely Woman, Character (film), Character, Aimée & Jaguar, Avalon (2001 film), Avalon, A Woman in Berlin (film), A Woman in Berlin, Suicide Room, The Winner (2011 film), The Winner, 80 Million, Run Boy Run (film), Run Boy Run, Bridge of Spies (film), Bridge of Spies and Breaking the Limits''. Numerous Polish TV-series were also shot in Wrocław, notably ''Świat według Kiepskich'', ''Pierwsza miłość'', ''Belfer (TV series), Belfer'', and ''Four Tank-Men and a Dog''. There are several theatres and theatre groups, including Polish Theatre in Wrocław, Polish Theatre (Teatr Polski) with three stages, and Contemporary Theatre (Wrocławski Teatr Współczesny). The International Theatre Festival Dialog-Wrocław is held every two years. Wrocław's opera traditions are dating back to the first half of the seventeenth century and sustained by the Wrocław Opera, built between 1839 and 1841. Wrocław Philharmonic, established in 1954 by Wojciech Dzieduszycki is also important for music lovers. The National Forum of Music was opened in 2015 and is a famous landmark, designed by the Polish architectural firm, Stefan Kuryłowicz, Kurylowicz & Associates.


Sport

The area of Wrocław is home to many popular professional sports teams. The most popular sport is Association football, football (
Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław (), is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Wrocław that plays in , the second level of the Polish football leagu ...
club – Polish Champion in 1977 and 2012), followed by basketball (Śląsk Wrocław (basketball), Śląsk Wrocław Basketball Club – award-winning men's basketball team and 17-time Polish Champion). Matches of UEFA Euro 2012 Group A, Group A UEFA Euro 2012's were held at Wrocław at the Stadion Miejski (Wrocław), Municipal Stadium. Matches of EuroBasket 1963 and EuroBasket 2009, as well as 2009 Women's European Volleyball Championship, 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship and 2016 European Men's Handball Championship were also held in Wrocław. Wrocław was the host of the 2013 World Weightlifting Championships and will the host World Championship 2016 of Duplicate bridge and World Games 2017, a competition in 37 non-Olympic sport disciplines. The Olympic Stadium (Wrocław), Olympic Stadium in Wrocław hosts the Speedway Grand Prix of Poland. It is also the home arena of the popular motorcycle speedway club WTS Sparta Wrocław, five-time Team Speedway Polish Championship, Polish Champion. A marathon takes place in Wrocław every year in September. Wrocław also hosts the Wrocław Open, a professional tennis tournament that is part of the ATP Challenger Tour.


Men's sports

*
Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław (), is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Wrocław that plays in , the second level of the Polish football leagu ...
: men's Football in Poland, football team, List of Polish football champions, Polish Championship in Football 1977, 2012; Polish Cup winner 1976, 1987; Polish SuperCup winner 1987, 2012; Ekstraklasa Cup, Polish League Cup winner 2009. Now in (Polish Premier League). * WTS Sparta Wrocław: motorcycle speedway team, five-time Polish Champion. * Śląsk Wrocław (basketball), Śląsk Wrocław: men's basketball team, 18 times Polish Champion, six times runner-up, 15 times third place; 12 times Polish Cup winner. * Śląsk Wrocław (handball), Śląsk Wrocław: men's Handball in Poland, handball team, 15-time Polish Champion. * Gwardia Wrocław (men's volleyball), Gwardia Wrocław: Volleyball in Poland, volleyball team, three-time Polish Champion. * KS Rugby Wrocław: rugby union team. * Panthers Wrocław: American football team. Panthers joined European League of Football (ELF) which is an eight-team professional league, the first league in Europe since the demise of NFL Europe. The Panthers will start playing games against teams from Germany and Spain in June 2021. * The 2025 UEFA Conference League Final between English side Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and Spain's Real Betis will take place at Wrocław Stadium, Stadion Wrocław in Wrocław, Poland, on Wednesday 28 May 2025.


Women's sports

* Ślęza Wrocław (women's basketball), Ślęza Wrocław: women's basketball team, two-times Polish Champion. * Śląsk Wrocław (women), WKS Śląsk Wrocław (formerly KŚ AZS Wrocław): women's Football in Poland, football team. * AZS AWF Wrocław: women's Handball in Poland, handball team. * AZS AE Wrocław: women's table tennis team.


People

*
Alois Alzheimer Alois Alzheimer ( , , ; 14 June 1864 – 19 December 1915) was a German psychiatrist, neuropathologist and colleague of Emil Kraepelin. He is credited with identifying the first published case of "presenile dementia", which Kraepelin later ide ...
, psychiatrist and neuropathologist *Adolf Anderssen, chess master *Đorđe Andrejević-Kun, painter *Natalia Avelon, actress *Max Berg, architect *Max Bielschowsky, neuropathologist *Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident *Edmund Bojanowski, blessed of the Catholic Church *Max Born, theoretical physicist and mathematician, Nobel laureate *Leszek Czarnecki, businessman *Sławomir Dobrzański, pianist and musicologist *Hermann von Eichhorn, Prussian field marshal *Artur Ekert, physicist *Hermann Fernau, lawyer *Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat, biochemist and virologist *Władysław Frasyniuk, politician *Jolanta Fraszyńska, actress *Hans Freeman, biochemist *Henryk Gulbinowicz, archbishop *Jerzy Grotowski, theater director *Clara Immerwahr, chemist *Klaudia Jachira, politician and comedian *Zygmunt Haas, computer scientist *Fritz Haber, chemist and Nobel laureate *Jan Hartman (philosopher), Jan Hartman, philosopher *Felix Hausdorff, mathematician *Mirosław Hermaszewski, astronaut *Hubert Hurkacz, tennis player *Lech Janerka, musician *Carl Gotthard Langhans, architect *Alfred Kerr, German-Jewish critic *Hedwig Kohn, notable female physicist *August Kopisch, poet *Arthur Korn, physicist, mathematician and inventor *Urszula Kozioł, poet *Heinrich Gerhard Kuhn, physicist *Marek Krajewski, writer and linguist *Wojciech Kurtyka, mountaineer *Aleksandra Kurzak, operatic soprano *Ferdinand Lassalle, initiator of the social-democratic movement in Germany *Olaf Lubaszenko, actor and film director *Hugo Lubliner, dramatist *Olga Malinkiewicz, physicist and inventor *Mata (rapper), Mata, rapper *Aharon Mor, Polish-born Israeli civil servant *Mateusz Morawiecki, politician, former Prime minister of Poland *Alexander Moszkowski, satirist, writer and philosopher *Moritz Moszkowski, composer, pianist, and teacher *Ruth Neudeck, German SS death camps supervisor and war criminal *Rafał Omelko, athlete *Heinrich Pick (1882-1947), jurist *Sepp Piontek, football manager *Piotr Ponikowski, cardiologist *Margaret Pospiech, writer, filmmaker *Michael O. Rabin, Michael Oser Rabin, mathematician and computer scientist *Manfred von Richthofen, fighter pilot *Tadeusz Różewicz, poet and dramatist *Wanda Rutkiewicz, mountaineer *Auguste Schmidt, educationist and feminist *Marlene Schmidt, Miss Germany 1961, Miss Universe 1961 *Eva Siewert, journalist and lesbian activist *Angelus Silesius (Johann Scheffler), convert from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism, mystic and religious poet *Max Simon, Waffen-SS officer *Karl Slotta, biochemist *Agnes Sorma, actress *Daniel Speer, author, composer *Eva Stachniak, writer *Edith Stein, philosopher and Roman Catholic martyr *Charles Proteus Steinmetz, electrical engineer *Fritz Stern, historian *Julius Stern, composer * William Stern, psychologist *August Tholuck, theologian *Olga Tokarczuk, writer, Nobel laureate in Literature *Jan Tomaszewski, footballer *Dagmara Wozniak (born 1988), Polish-American U.S. Olympic sabre fencer *Ludwig von Zanth (1796–1857), architect


International relations


Diplomatic missions

There are 2 general consulates in Wrocław – Germany and Ukraine, a Vice-Consulate of Hungary, and 23 honorary consulates – Austria, Bulgaria, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia (country), Georgia, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom.


Twin towns – sister cities

Wrocław is Sister city, twinned with: * Batumi, Georgia (2019) * Breda, Netherlands (1991) * Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, United States (1991) * Cheongju, South Korea (2023) *
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, Germany (1991) * Guadalajara, Mexico (1995) * Hradec Králové, Czech Republic (2003) * Kaunas, Lithuania (2003) * Lille, France (2013) * Lviv, Ukraine (2002) * Oxford, United Kingdom (2018) * Ramat Gan, Israel (1997) * Reykjavík, Iceland (2017) * Vienne, Isère, Vienne, France (1990) * Wiesbaden, Germany (1987)


Works

*''Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City'', a 2002 book


See also

*2003 Wrocław football riot *Jan (bishop of Wrocław) *Wrocław Global Forum * Breslau, Ontario – former village (settled 1806, postal village 1857) and now community named after Wrocław * City Barrage, Wrocław


Notes


References


Bibliography

* *Till van Rahden, '' Jews and Other Germans: Civil Society, Religious Diversity, and Urban Politics in Breslau, 1860–1925'' (2008. Madison, WI
The University of Wisconsin Press
*Gregor Thum, ''Uprooted. How Breslau Became Wrocław During the Century of Expulsions'' (2011. Princeton

* * * *Gregor Thum, Obce miasto: Wrocław 1945 i potem, Wrocław: Via Nova, 2006 * * * * *


External links


Municipal website

Tourist Information Centre website

MPK Wrocław (transport company website)

Christmas market

Roadside assistance in WrocławMorning coffee in Wroclaw. And something sweet...
{{Authority control Wrocław, Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Cities in Silesia City counties of Poland 10th-century establishments in Poland Populated places established in the 10th century Populated riverside places in Poland Members of the Hanseatic League Magdeburg rights Holocaust locations in Poland Capitals of former nations