Everything about Liegnitz totally explained
Legnica is a
city on the
Kaczawa river in
Lower Silesia in south-western
Poland. According to official figures for 2006, it has a total population of 105,485.
The city was formerly known in Polish as
Lignica; it was officially renamed Legnica in 1946, after it had passed to Poland from
Germany following
World War II.
Since 1999 Legnica has been part of
Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975 to 1998 it was the administrative seat of the former
Legnica Voivodeship). The city constitutes a separate urban
gmina and city
county, as well as being the seat of
Legnica County (which surrounds but doesn't include the city).
History
The area of Legnica was at the intersection of travel routes of
Celtic and
East Germanic tribes.
Tacitus in his
Germania and
Ptolemy recorded the
Lugii (Lygii) in
Magna Germania, and mentioned their town of Lugidunum, which has been attributed to both Legnica and Głogów. When the East Germanic tribes left for southern Europe,
West Slavic tribes moved in and were the first group to settle it permanently.
The city was first officially mentioned in
chronicles from 1004, although settlement dates to the 7th century. It was originally known as Lignica. It became the residence of the dukes of
Lower Silesia in 1163 and was the seat of a principality ruled by a
Silesian branch of the
Piast dynasty from 1248 to 1675.
Legnica became famous for the
Battle of Legnica (or Battle of Wahlstatt) that took place at
Legnickie Pole near the city on
9 April 1241 during the
Mongol invasion of Europe. The
Christian army of the Polish duke
Henry II the Pious of Silesia, supported by the feudal nobility, included Poles, Bavarian miners and
military orders, was decisively defeated by the
Mongols. Although the Mongols killed Henry and destroyed his forces, their advance into Europe was halted when they turned back to attend to the election of a new
Khagan (Grand Khan) following the death in the same year of
Ögedei Khan. Minor celebrations are held annually in Legnica to commemorate the battle.
As the capital of the
Duchy of Legnica at the beginning of the 14th century, Legnica was one of the most important cities of Central Europe, having a population of approximately 16,000 residents. The city began to expand quickly after the discovery of
gold in the
Kaczawa River between Legnica and
Złotoryja (Goldberg).
Legnica, along with other Silesian duchies, became a vassal of the Kingdom of
Bohemia during the 14th century and was included within the
Holy Roman Empire. The
Protestant Reformation was introduced in the duchy as early as 1522 and the population became
Lutheran. After the death of King
Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia at
Mohács in 1526, Legnica was inherited by the
Habsburg Monarchy of
Austria. The first map of Silesia was made by native son
Martin Helwig.
In 1676, Legnica passed to direct
Habsburg rule after the death of the last Silesian Piast duke,
Georg Wilhelm (son of Duke
Christian of Brieg), despite the earlier inheritance pact by Brandenburg and Silesia, by which it was to go to Brandenburg. Silesian aristocracy was trained at the
Liegnitz Ritter-Akademie.
In 1742 most of Silesia, including Liegnitz, became part of the
Kingdom of Prussia after King
Frederick the Great's defeat of Austria in the
War of the Austrian Succession. In 1760 during the
Seven Years' War, Liegnitz was the site of the
Battle of Liegnitz when Frederick's army defeated an Austrian army led by
Laudon. In 1813 during the
Napoleonic Wars, the Prussians, under Field Marshal
Blücher, defeated the
French forces of
MacDonald in the
Battle of Katzbach nearby.
After the administrative reorganization of the Prussian state following the
Congress of Vienna, Liegnitz and the surrounding territory (
Landkreis Liegnitz) were incorporated into the
Regierungsbezirk (administrative district) Liegnitz, within the
Province of Silesia on
1 May 1816. Along with the rest of Prussia, the town became part of the
German Empire in 1871 during the
unification of Germany. On
1 January 1874 Liegnitz became the third city in Lower Silesia (after
Breslau and
Görlitz) to be raised to an
urban district, although the district administrator of the surrounding Landkreis Liegnitz continued to have his seat in the city.
The census of 1910 gave Liegnitz's population as 95.86 %
German, 0.15 % German and Polish, 1.27 %
Polish, 2.26 %
Wendish, and 0.19 %
Czechs. On
1 April 1937 parts of the Landkreis Liegnitz communities of Alt Beckern, Groß Beckern, Hummel, Liegnitzer Vorwerke, Pfaffendorf und Prinkendorf were incorporated into the city of Liegnitz. After the
Treaty of Versailles following
World War I, Liegnitz was part of the newly created
Province of Lower Silesia from 1919 to 1938, then of the
Province of Silesia from 1938 to 1941, and again of the Province of Lower Silesia from 1941 to 1945.
After the defeat of
Nazi Germany during
World War II, Liegnitz and all of Silesia east of the
Neisse river was transferred to
Polish administration following the
Potsdam Conference in 1945. The German population was
expelled from between 1945 and 1947 and replaced with Poles and, as the medieval Polish name
Lignica was considered
archaic, the town was renamed Legnica. The transfer to Poland decided at
Potsdam in 1945 was officially
recognized by
East Germany in 1950, by
West Germany under Chancellor
Willy Brandt in the
Treaty of Warsaw signed in 1970, and finally by the reunited Germany by the
Two Plus Four Agreement in 1990. By 1990 only a handful of
Polonized Germans, pre-war citizens of Liegnitz, remained of the pre-1945 German population.
From 1945 to 1990, during the
Cold War, the headquarters of the
Soviet forces in Poland, the so-called
Northern Group of Forces, was located in the city. This fact had a strong influence on the life of the city. For much of the period, the city was divided into Polish and Soviet areas, with the latter closed to the public. These were first established in July 1945, when the Soviets forcibly ejected newly arrived Polish inhabitants from the parts of the city they wanted for their own use. The ejection was perceived by some as a particularly brutal action, and rumours circulated exaggerating its severity, though no evidence of anyone being killed in the course of it has come to light. In April 1946 city officials estimated that they were 16,700 Poles, 12,800 Germans, and 60,000
Russians in Legnica. The last Soviet units left the city in 1993.
In the 1950s and 1960s the local
copper and
nickel industries became a major factor in the economic development of the area.
Until the winter of 2003, the longest
osobowy (standard railway train stopping at every station, in contrast to fast and
express trains) train service in Poland ran from
Katowice to Legnica (via
Kędzierzyn-Koźle,
Nysa, and
Jaworzyna Śląska).
Economy
Education
state-run colleges and universities
other
Twin towns
As of 2007, Legnica is twinned with five other European towns.
Blansko, Czech Republic
Drohobych, Ukraine
Orenburg, Russia
Wuppertal, Germany
Roanne, France
Environment
Legnica is noted for its parks and gardens, and has seven hundred hectares of green space, mostly along the banks of the Kaczawa river; the Tarninow district is particularly attractive.
Important Roads
In the south of Legnica there are Highway—A4. Legnica has also a district, which is a part of country road no 3.
Public transport
Legnica has public transport. In city there are 20 normal bus lines, 1 belt-line, 2 night lines and 3 suburban.
The town has an airport (airport code EPLE) with a 1600-metre runway, the remains of a former Soviet air base, but it's (as of 2007) in a poor state and not used for commercial flights.
Sports
Miedź Legnica - men's football team (Polish Cup winner 1992; 3rd league in seasons 2003/2004 and 2004/2005)
Politics
Municipal politics
Legnica tends to be a left-of-center town with a considerable influence of workers' unions. The Municipal Council of Legnica (Rada miejska miasta Legnica) is the legislative branch of the local government and is composed of 25 members elected in local elections every five years. The mayor or town president (Prezydent miasta) is the executive branch of the local government and is directly elected in the same municipal elections.
Legnica - Jelenia Góra constituency
Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from Legnica-Jelenia Gora constituency:
Ryszard Bonda, Samoobrona
Bronisława Kowalska, SLD-UP
Adam Lipiński, PiS
Tadeusz Maćkała, PO
Ryszard Maraszek, SLD-UP
Olgierd Poniźnik, SLD-UP
Władysław Rak, SLD-UP
Tadeusz Samborski, PSL
Jerzy Szmajdziński, SLD-UP
Halina Szustak, LPR
Michał Turkiewicz, SLD-UP
Ryszard Zbrzyzny, SLD-UP .
Notable residents
Henry II the Pious (1207-1241), ruler of several Polish duchies
Witelo (1230-?), philosopher and scientist
Bolesław II the Bald (1220-1278), ruler of several Polish duchies
Jerzy Liban (1464-1546), composer and philologist
Hans von Schweinichen (1552-1616), court steward
Hans Aßmann Freiherr von Abschatz (1646-1699), lyricist and translator
Christian Josef Willenberg (1676-1731), military engineer
Georg Rudolf Böhmer (1723-1803), pharmacist and botanist
Benjamin Bilse (1816-1902), conductor and composer
Wilhelm Haberling (1871-1940), doctor and historian of medicine
Paul Löbe (1875-1967), social democratic politician
Horst Lange (1904-1971), author
Erich von Manstein
Günther Reich (1921-1989), opera singer
Peter Marzinkowski (born 1939), first Bishop of AlindaoFurther Information
Get more info on 'Liegnitz'.
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