Zgorzelec
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Zgorzelec ([zɡɔˈʐɛlɛt͡s] ⓘ, German: Görlitz[a], Upper Sorbian: Zhorjelc [ˈzhɔʁʲɛlts], Lower Sorbian: Zgórjelc, Czech: Zhořelec) is a town in southwestern Poland with 30,374 inhabitants (2019). It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the seat of Zgorzelec County and of Gmina Zgorzelec (although it is not part of the territory of the latter, as the town is an urban gmina in its own right). Zgorzelec is located on the Lusatian Neisse river, on the Polish-German border adjoining the German town of Görlitz, of which it constituted the eastern part up to 1945.
History
Up until 1945, the modern-day towns of Zgorzelec and Görlitz were a single entity; their history up to that point is shared. The date of the town's foundation is unknown.[2]
Middle Ages
In the
In the following centuries, from 1346, it was a wealthy member of the
Modern period
After suffering for years in the Thirty Years' War, the region of Upper Lusatia (including Görlitz) passed to Saxony (1635), whose Electors were also Kings of Poland from 1697. One of the two main routes connecting Warsaw and Dresden ran through the city at that time.[6]
In 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, the Congress of Vienna awarded Görlitz to the Kingdom of Prussia and subsequently the city became part of the German Empire in 1871. The city was a part of the Prussian province of Silesia from 1815 to 1919.
20th century
During World War I, the Germans operated a prisoner-of-war camp in present-day Zgorzelec, in which initially Russian, French and British POWs were held, and then from 1916 to 1919 around 6,500 Greek soldiers were interned.[7] After the abolition of the Kingdom of Prussia in the aftermath of World War I, Görlitz became a part of the newly established Province of Lower Silesia in the Free State of Prussia.
On August 26, 1939, a few days before Germany invaded Poland and sparked World War II, a temporary prisoner-of-war camp intended for Poles was established in present-day Zgorzelec, which was soon converted into the large Stalag VIII-A POW camp.[8] The first 8,000 Polish POWs were brought to the camp on September 7, 1939.[9] Also Polish civilians, including women, were held in the camp, which served as a transit camp for Poles, who were deported to Germany either to forced labour or to Nazi concentration camps.[10] Among them were especially Polish activists and intelligentsia from Silesia, Greater Poland and Pomerania, arrested during the Intelligenzaktion.[9] After being brought to the town in freight trains, the prisoners were marched from the train station to the camp, while the local German population and Hitler Youth stood in lines and insulted them.[9] Poor sanitary conditions led to frequent epidemic outbreaks in the camp.[11] During the war also POWs of various other nationalities were held in the camp, including the Czechs, Lithuanians, Jews, French, Belgians, Russians, Italians, Britons, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Yugoslavs, Slovaks, Americans. The French composer Olivier Messiaen was one of its inmates.[12][13] Most POWs were evacuated by the Germans in February 1945 in a death march, during which POWs who either were unable to walk or tried to escape were murdered.[14]
In the wake of German defeat, operation groups arrived in the town on May 10 an May 12 1945 on the right Oder bank of Görlitz to secure Polish takeover of the town district. Polish administration was officially implemented on May 21,[15] On June 2, 1945, Polish military closed the bridge in Görlitz to block Germans from returning to their homes in Silesia. Early morning on June 21, the Polish ordered the Germans to leave their homes on the eastern part of Görlitz. [15]
The
The
In 1972, the Polish-East German border was opened for visa-free travel, resulting in intense movement between Zgorzelec and Görlitz, which lasted until 1980, when East Germany unilaterally closed the border due to anti-communist protests and the emergence of the Solidarity movement in Poland. Until 1975 Zgorzelec was administratively located in the Wrocław (Lower Silesian) Voivodeship, and in 1975–1998 it was located in the Jelenia Góra Voivodeship.
Recent history
Since the
Sights
- Miejski Dom Kultury (Municipal House of Culture)
- Augustus II of Polandand the reconstructed Postal Square (Plac Pocztowy)
- Military cemetery of the Polish Second Army– one of the largest military cemeteries in Poland
- Historical parks
- Greek Boulevard (Bulwar Grecki), with a view of Görlitz
- Wheelwright Croft (Zagroda Kołodzieja)
- Muzeum Łużyckie
- Town Hall
- Old townhouses in the city center
- Former Tricycle Mill (Młyn trójkołowy)
- Baroque palace in the Ujazd district
- Memorial to the victims of the Stalag VIII-A German World War II prisoner of war camp
Transport
Zgorzelec is served by two railway stations, Zgorzelec in the southern part of the town, and Zgorzelec Miasto in the eastern part.
Sports
Notable residents
- Jakob Böhme (1575–1624), German theologian
- Ryszard Sobczak (born 1967), Polish fencer and Olympic medallist
- Grzegorz Żmija (born 1971), goalkeeper
- Agata Korc (born 1986), Polish swimmer
- Honorata Skarbek (born 1992), Polish singer
- Wojciech Suchodolski (born 1974), Polish video blogger[17]
Twin towns – sister cities
Zgorzelec is twinned with:[18]
Gallery
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Aerial view of Zgorzelec
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Town Hall
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Wheelwright Croft
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Amphitheatre of Zgorzelec
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Muzeum Łużyckie
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District court
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Andrzej Błachaniec Park
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Park Ujazdowski
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Bulwar Grecki (Greek Boulevard)
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Piłsudskiego Street
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Saint Joseph church
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Śniadecki Brothers Liceum (high school)
Notes
- ^ After the war, the German name Görlitz usually refers only to the western, German part of the city.
References
- ^ "Population. Size and structure and vital statistics in Poland by territorial division in 2019. As of 30th June". stat.gov.pl. Statistics Poland. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ^ a b c "History of Zgorzelec and Görlitz". Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ Bena, Waldemar (2006). Szlakiem grodzisk słowiańskich i średniowiecznych zamków (in Polish and German). Zgorzelec. pp. 9–10.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Plemiona polskie". Encyklopedia Internautica (in Polish). Retrieved 13 December 2020.
- ^ Gustav Köhler, Der Bund der Sechsstädte in der Ober-Lausitz: Eine Jubelschrift, G. Heinze & Comp., Görlitz, 1846, p. 30 (in German)
- ^ "Informacja historyczna, Dresden-Warszawa". Retrieved 1 June 2019.
- ^ "Als Tausende Griechen in Görlitz Zuflucht suchten". LR Online (in German). Retrieved 31 October 2020.
- ^ Joanna Lusek, Albrecht Goetze, Stalag VIII A Görlitz. Historia – teraźniejszość – przyszłość, "Łambinowicki rocznik muzealny" Tom 34, Opole, 2011, p. 27 (in Polish)
- ^ a b c Lusek, Goetze, p. 28
- ^ Lusek, Goetze, p. 27-28
- ^ Lusek, Goetze, p. 29
- ^ "European Center Memory, Education, Culture". Meetingpoint Music Messiaen e.V. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^ "Stalag VIII A". Meetingpoint Music Messiaen e.V. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^ Lusek, Goetze, p. 44
- ^ a b c d Elżbieta Opiłowska. Kontinuitäten und Brüche deutsch-polnischer Erinnerungskulturen : Görlitz-Zgorzelec 1945 - 2006 (Thesis) (in German). Frankfurt (Oder), Univ.
- ^ "Ambasada Grecji w Warszawie – Grecy w Polsce". www.greece.pl. Archived from the original on 2 March 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
- ^ Suchy przysłał list, retrieved 13 April 2022
- ^ "Miasta Partnerskie". zgorzelec.eu (in Polish). Zgorzelec. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
External links
- Zgorzelice in the Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland (1895) (in Polish)
- Official Municipal Portal (in Polish/English/French/German/Greek/Ukrainian)
- Tourist Information (in Polish, English, and German)
- Civic Portal (in Polish)
- Urban Portal (in Polish)
- Görlitz Internet Portal (in German, English, and Polish)
- The Old Town Bridge (online camera)
- "Görlitz/Zgorzelec – Urban development from 12th to 21st century" on YouTube