Bogatynia

Coordinates: 50°54′25″N 14°57′25″E / 50.90694°N 14.95694°E / 50.90694; 14.95694
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Bogatynia
Watchmaker's house
Watchmaker's house
UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
59-916 (Turoszów, Zatonie Kolonia, Trzciniec Górny, Trzciniec Dolny and Stare Zatonie districts), 59-920
Area code+48 75
Car platesDZG
Voivodeship roads
Websitehttp://www.bogatynia.pl
Map

Bogatynia ([bɔɡaˈtɨɲa] ⓘ; German: Reichenau in Sachsen) is a town in Zgorzelec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. As of December 2021, the town had a population of 16,460.[3]

Geography

The municipal area forms Poland's "Turoszów panhandle" (Polish: Worek Turoszowski) between the Czech town of Frýdlant in the east and the German town of Zittau in the west. To the southwest, the tripoint of the Czech, German, and Polish borders is located on the Neisse River. The town lies approximately 27 kilometres (17 mi) south of Zgorzelec, and 147 kilometres (91 mi) west of the regional capital Wrocław. The town has an area of 59.88 square kilometres (23.12 square miles).[2]

History

Historical timber-framed house, typical to the area

The settlement of Richnow (modern German: Reichenau, i.e. 'rich vale') in the historical region of

Meissen margraves, with Świdnica in Silesia. Initially a possession of the Kingdom of Bohemia, it passed to the Duchy of Jawor of fragmented Poland in 1319, again to Bohemia in 1346,[5][6] to the Kingdom of Hungary in 1469, again to Bohemia in 1490, and to the Saxon Electorate by the 1635 Peace of Prague
. From 1697 to 1763 it was also ruled by Kings of Poland in personal union.

The settlement suffered during the

Oder-Neisse line according to the post-war Potsdam Agreement, it passed to Poland and was granted a city charter. It is therefore the only municipality in Poland which until 1945 had not been part of Prussia (but of the Free State of Saxony). From 1945 to 1947 the town was renamed Rychwald followed by the current name.[8]

The town used to be connected via

narrow gauge railway lines opened in 1884 to Zittau and to the Bohemian border, where it was linked with the Frýdlant–Heřmanice Railway
in 1900. Cross border service discontinued in 1945, and the railway line was closed in 1961.

On August 8, 2010, the Miedzianka stream flooded the entire central part of the town, causing heavy damage and destroying several historic buildings. The cause of the flooding was extremely heavy rain and the resulting swelling of the river Miedzianka. Two people died.[9]

Economy

Turów Power Station

Today Bogatynia is one of the richest towns per capita in Poland, due to its two principal enterprises: the

Polska Grupa Energetyczna, the third-largest of the country. The word bogaty in Polish describes a rich or wealthy person - a calque
from the town's original German name, Reichenau (reich: "rich").

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

See twin towns of Gmina Bogatynia.

Notable residents

Immaculate Conception Church in Bogatynia

References

  1. ^ "Burmistrz". bip.bogatynia.pl (in Polish). Bulletin of Public Information of Gmina Bogatynia. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Local Data Bank". bdl.stat.gov.pl. Statistics Poland. Retrieved 30 October 2022. Category K1, group G441, subgroup P1410. Data for territorial unit 0225034.
  3. ^ a b "Local Data Bank". bdl.stat.gov.pl. Statistics Poland. Retrieved 30 October 2022. Category K3, group G7, subgroup P1336. Data for territorial unit 0225034.
  4. ^ "Local Data Bank". bdl.stat.gov.pl. Statistics Poland. Retrieved 30 October 2022. Category K3, group G7, subgroup P2425. Data for territorial unit 0225034.
  5. ^ Knothe, Hermann (1879). Geschichte des Oberlausitzer Adels und seiner Güter (in German). Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel. pp. 655, 657.
  6. ^ Ryszard Zawadzki. "Bogatynia XIII - XV stulecie". Bogatynia.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Ryszard Zawadzki. "Bogatynia XVIII- XX stulecie". Bogatynia.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  8. ^ Rudolf Vierhaus: Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie, Ortsregister, Munich 2008, p. 779
  9. ^ "Flash floods strike central Europe, killing at least 15". BBC. Retrieved 20 May 2023.

External links

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