Ziębice () is a town in
Ząbkowice Śląskie County,
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship (, ) in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of and has a total population of 2,899,986.
It is one of the wealthiest ...
, in south-western
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. It lies on the
Oława River, approximately east of
Ząbkowice Śląskie
Ząbkowice Śląskie ( ; ) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Ząbkowice Śląskie County and of a local municipality called Gmina Ząbkowice Śląskie. The town lies approximately south of the ...
and south of the regional capital
Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
. It is the seat of the administrative district (
gmina
The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...
) called
Gmina Ziębice.
As of 2019, the town has a population of 8,708.
History
The area became part of the emerging Polish state under its first historic ruler
Mieszko I
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 ...
in the 10th century. The town was first mentioned in 1234 under the Old Polish spelling ''Sambice''. This Slavic town was probably destroyed in 1241 during the
Mongol invasion of Europe
From the 1220s to the 1240s, the Mongol Empire, Mongols conquered the Turkic peoples, Turkic states of Volga Bulgaria, Cumania and Iranian peoples, Iranian state of Alania, and various principalities in Eastern Europe. Following this, they began ...
. According to records, a new town 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 ...
, called ''Munsterberck'' (1253) or ''Sambiz videlicet Munsterberg'' (1268). The town became home of a German-speaking population as the result of
Ostsiedlung
(, ) is the term for the Early Middle Ages, early medieval and High Middle Ages, high medieval migration of Germanic peoples and Germanisation of the areas populated by Slavs, Slavic, Balts, Baltic and Uralic languages, Uralic peoples; the ...
.
As a result of the fragmentation of Poland, it formed part of the duchies 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, ...
until 1290, Świdnica until 1322, and afterwards it was the capital of a small
eponymous duchy, remaining under the rule of 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 ...
until 1521. In 1344, a court was established in the town by the Piast dukes.
[
In 1521 it passed to the Podiebrad family, and in 1569 it passed to the kings of Bohemia. The town suffered in the ]Hussite Wars
The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, a ...
and 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 ...
, and in 1643, it was hit by an epidemic.[ In 1742, it became part of ]Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
and was the capital of Kreis Münsterberg. In 1842, the town had a population of 3,946, predominantly Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
by confession. In 1871, it became part of 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 ...
along with the bulk 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, ...
. Following Germany's defeat in 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 1945, it became again part of Poland and its German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
population was expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement
The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...
.
Culture
Ziębice hosts Poland's only Museum of Home Appliances.
Sports
The local football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club is Sparta Ziębice. It competes in the lower leagues.
Notable people
* Karl Denke (1860–1924), serial killer
* Edyta Górniak
Edyta Anna Górniak (; born 14 November 1972) is a Polish pop singer. Górniak started as a musical theatre actress in 1990. She performed in the most popular musical in Polish history, the Tony Award-nominated ''Metro (musical), Metro''. Some ...
(born 1972), singer
* Janusz Kamiński
Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński (; born June 27, 1959) is a Polish cinematographer and director.
He established a partnership with Steven Spielberg, working as a cinematographer of all of his films since 1993, winning one Academy Award for Best Cine ...
(born 1959), cinematographer
* Karl Weigert (1845–1904), pathologist
Twin towns – sister cities
See twin towns of Gmina Ziębice.
Gallery
2014 Ziębice, kościół św. Jerzego 01.JPG, Gothic Saint George Basilica
Brama Paczkowska.JPG, Medieval Paczkowska Gate
Pomnik orła ziębicach(2).jpg, Piast Eagle monument
Ziębice, cukrownia, 06.JPG, Ziębice Sugar Refinery
References
External links
*
Jewish Community in Ziębice
on Virtual Shtetl
Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Ząbkowice Śląskie County
{{ZąbkowiceŚląskie-geo-stub