Chocianów h is a town in Polkowice County

Polkowice County

Polkowice County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. The county covers an area of...

, Lower Silesian Voivodeship

Lower Silesian Voivodeship

Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province , is one of the 16 voivodeships into which Poland is currently divided. It lies in southwestern Poland...

, in south-western Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina

Gmina

The gmina is the principal unit of administrative division of Poland at its lowest uniform level. It is often translated as "commune" or "municipality." As of 2010 there were 2,479 gminas throughout the country...

) called Gmina Chocianów

Gmina Chocianów

Gmina Chocianów is an urban-rural gmina in Polkowice County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Chocianów, which lies approximately south-west of Polkowice, and west of the regional capital Wrocław.The gmina covers an area of , and as of 2006 its total...

. The town lies approximately 14 kilometres (9 mi) south-west of Polkowice

Polkowice

Polkowice is a town in south-western Poland with 22,279 inhabitants . It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship...

, and 85 kilometres (53 mi) west of the regional capital Wrocław. As of 2006, it has a population of 8,215.
It developed from a castle called Chodzenow built in 1297 by Duke Bolko I the Strict

Bolko I the Strict

Bolko I the Strict also known as the Raw or of Jawor , was a Duke of Lwówek during 1278-81 and Jawor since 1278 , sole Duke of Lwówek since 1286, Duke of Świdnica-Ziębice since 1291.He was the second son of Bolesław II the Bald, Duke of Legnica by his first wife Hedwig, daughter of...

 of Świdnica

Swidnica

Świdnica is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. It has a population of 60,317 according to 2006 figures. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh largest town in that voivodeship. From 1975–98 it was in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship...

, who had to secure his lands against the claims of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia.

Prior to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Chocianów was in Germany and was known by its German name of Kotzenau. It received its town privileges

Town privileges

Town privileges or city rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium.Judicially, a town was distinguished from the surrounding land by means of a charter from the ruling monarch that defined its privileges and laws. Common privileges were related to trading...

 in 1894. The town had a population of 4,301 in 1939, but with war deaths and the expulsion of most Germans

Expulsion of Germans after World War II

The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...

after the war the population was down to 1,707 in 1946.