Wloclawek
Encyclopedia
Włocławek AUD is a town in northern Poland
on the Vistula (Wisła) and Zgłowiączka rivers, with a population of 117,785 (June 2009). It is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
and until 1999 was the capital of Włocławek Voivodeship.
An assistant to the Archbishop of Gniezno is mentioned residing in the town in 1123 and the Diocese of Włocławek in Kuyavia
was first mentioned in a bull
issued by Pope Eugene III
in 1148. The first bishop of Włocławek, whose name appears in the bull, was Warner, and he was followed by an Italian named Onoldius. The diocese was also recorded as "Włocławek and Pomerania
" (Vladislaviensis et Pomeraniae).
Włocławek received its town rights
in 1255. In the 14th and 15th century, the city was destroyed or captured several times by German knights, who called it Leslau. Peace arrived with the Treaty of Thorn in 1466 and the city prospered from its involvement in the Polish grain trade. In 1657, a Swedish invasion during the Second Northern War
partially destroyed the city. After the Second Partition of Poland
in 1793, Włocławek fell to Prussia
. The Congress of Vienna
restored it to Congress Poland
, but it was occupied by Russia
in 1831. The city was again destroyed during the German offensive
during the First World War.
Under the Nazi occupation during World War II
, Włocławek was renamed Leslau and administered as part of Reichsgau Wartheland
. The war saw a third of the city destroyed, but factories and workshops were rebuilt by the Polish government
in the subsequent decades. The most important industries in Włocławek today are chemicals, chemical products, furniture, and food processing. A lock system constructed in 1969 regulates the water level of the Vistula.
. Soon the Star became required for all Jews in German-occupied Europe. Many Włocławek Jews died from Nazi fists or guns, starvation or illness after being confined in the Łódź Ghetto. Others were gassed upon arrival at the Chelmno death camp.There is little, if any trace of their once rich and lively community today.
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...
on the Vistula (Wisła) and Zgłowiączka rivers, with a population of 117,785 (June 2009). It is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
-Transportation:Transportation infrastructure is of critical importance to the voivodeship's economy. Kuyavia-Pomerania is a major node point in the Polish transportation system. Railway lines from the South and East pass through Bydgoszcz in order to reach the major ports on the Baltic Sea...
and until 1999 was the capital of Włocławek Voivodeship.
History
Historians have given a number of years for the establishment of the town since the 16th century. Part of the confusion is the various attribution of the city's namesake as Władysław II the Exile, his grandfather Władysław I Herman, or Vladislav II of Bohemia.An assistant to the Archbishop of Gniezno is mentioned residing in the town in 1123 and the Diocese of Włocławek in Kuyavia
Kuyavia
Kujawy , is a historical and ethnographic region in the north-central Poland, situated in the basin of the middle Vistula and upper Noteć Rivers, with its capital in Włocławek.-Etymology:The origin of the name Kujawy was seen differently in history...
was first mentioned in a bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
issued by Pope Eugene III
Pope Eugene III
Pope Blessed Eugene III , born Bernardo da Pisa, was Pope from 1145 to 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become Pope.-Early life:...
in 1148. The first bishop of Włocławek, whose name appears in the bull, was Warner, and he was followed by an Italian named Onoldius. The diocese was also recorded as "Włocławek and Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
" (Vladislaviensis et Pomeraniae).
Włocławek received its town rights
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 1255. In the 14th and 15th century, the city was destroyed or captured several times by German knights, who called it Leslau. Peace arrived with the Treaty of Thorn in 1466 and the city prospered from its involvement in the Polish grain trade. In 1657, a Swedish invasion during the Second Northern War
Second Northern War
The Second Northern War was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Russia , Brandenburg-Prussia , the Habsburg Monarchy and Denmark–Norway...
partially destroyed the city. After the Second Partition of Poland
Second Partition of Poland
The 1793 Second Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the second of three partitions that ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the War in Defense of the Constitution and the Targowica Confederation of 1792...
in 1793, Włocławek fell to Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
. The Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
restored it to Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
, but it was occupied by Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
in 1831. The city was again destroyed during the German offensive
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
during the First World War.
Under the Nazi occupation during 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...
, Włocławek was renamed Leslau and administered as part of Reichsgau Wartheland
Reichsgau Wartheland
Reichsgau Wartheland was a Nazi German Reichsgau formed from Polish territory annexed in 1939. It comprised the Greater Poland and adjacent areas, and only in part matched the area of the similarly named pre-Versailles Prussian province of Posen...
. The war saw a third of the city destroyed, but factories and workshops were rebuilt by the Polish government
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
in the subsequent decades. The most important industries in Włocławek today are chemicals, chemical products, furniture, and food processing. A lock system constructed in 1969 regulates the water level of the Vistula.
Jewish community
Since the beginning of the 19th century, Włocławek had a flourishing, sizable Jewish population. After the Nazi occupation in 1939, it became the first town in Europe in which Jews were required to wear yellow Stars of DavidYellow badge
The yellow badge , also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments in order to mark them as Jews in public. It is intended to be a badge of shame associated with antisemitism...
. Soon the Star became required for all Jews in German-occupied Europe. Many Włocławek Jews died from Nazi fists or guns, starvation or illness after being confined in the Łódź Ghetto. Others were gassed upon arrival at the Chelmno death camp.There is little, if any trace of their once rich and lively community today.
Włocławek districts
- Michelin
- Południe (South)
- Rybnica
- Śródmieście (City Centre)
- Wschód Leśny (East Forest area)
- Wschód Mieszkaniowy (East Residential area), a.k.a. Dzielnica Wschód (Eeast District)
- Wschód Przemysłowy (East Industrial area), a.k.a. Dzielnica Wschód (Eeast District)
- Zachód Przemysłowy (West Industrial area)
- Zawiśle
- Zazamcze
Historical monuments
- Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of MaryAssumption of MaryAccording to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life...
- Begun in 1340. - St. Witalis Church - from 1330
- Church of John the BaptistJohn the BaptistJohn the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
- from 1538. Built on the site of an earlier temple first mentioned in 1065.
Sports
- Anwil Włocławek - men's basketball team, former Polish Champion, 4th in Era Basket Liga in 2003/2004 season.
- Kujawiak Hydrobudowa Włocławek - men's football team, winner of regional 3rd league group 2004, promoted to play in 2nd league in season 2004/2005, now Zawisza BydgoszczZawisza BydgoszczZawisza Bydgoszcz is a military-sponsored sports club from Bydgoszcz, Poland, founded in 1946. Its name commemorates a legendary Polish 15th century knight, Zawisza Czarny...
, club bought by Bydgoszcz. - Wloclawskie Towarzystwo Wioslarskie / Włocławek Rowing Association - rowing team, former Polish and world Champions; created in 1886
Major corporations
- Zakłady Azotowe Anwil
- Kujawska Fabryka Farb i Lakierów Nobiles
- Fabryka Lin i Drutu Drumet
- Kujawianka
- KeSeM
- Fabryka Urządzeń Technicznych Wisła-Bryka
- Kujawska Wytwórnia Termometrów
- Kujawska Fabryka Manometrów
- Włocławska Fabryka Porcelany
- Rieber Foods Polska S.A. Delecta
- Włocławskie Fabryki Mebli Paged-Wefem
- Kujawskie Zakłady Przemysłu Owocowo-Warzywnego Włocławek Sp. z o.o.
- Instal Projekt
- TOP 2000Top 2000The Top 2000 is a radio program on the Dutch radio station Radio 2, and has been broadcast since 1999. It is broadcast annually at the end of the year. Until 2008 the program started 0:00 on Boxing Day , and continuing non-stop until 24:00 at New Year's Eve...
- Hydrobudowa Włocławek
- RUN Chłodnia
- Elektrownia Wodna we Włocławku
- DGS
- Bomilla
- Stalprodukt
- Remwil
- Sanitec Koło Sp. z o.o.
- ABfilter
Education
- Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna
- Wyższa Szkoła Informatyki in Łódź, branch in Włocławek
- Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa in Włocławek
- Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne in Włocławek
- Wyższa Szkoła Techniki i Przedsiębiorczości in Włocławek
High schools
- I LO im. Ziemi Kujawskiej, ul. Mickiewicza 6 in Włocławek is one of the best high school in the city and in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian VoivodeshipKuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship-Transportation:Transportation infrastructure is of critical importance to the voivodeship's economy. Kuyavia-Pomerania is a major node point in the Polish transportation system. Railway lines from the South and East pass through Bydgoszcz in order to reach the major ports on the Baltic Sea...
- History of the school
- In early 1900 the Committee of Civic, which was chaired by Louis Bauer requested the Ministry of Finance to set up a trade school. 27 April 1900, the Ministry of Finance agreed to the creation of Włocławskie Siedmioklasowej School of Economics. The founders of the school was 104 inhabitants. The school admitted students were between the ages of 8 to 11 years who, after the annual rate became the first class of students. Powers available to the school received a state school,
- II LO im. Mikołaja Kopernika, ul. Urocza 3
- III LO im. Marii Konopnickiej, ul. Bechiego 1
- IV LO im. Kamila Krzysztofa Baczyńskiego, ul. Kaliska 108
- V LO im. Unii Europejskiej, ul. Toruńska 77/83
Twin Areas
This area has twinning with the following:
Belarus MogilevMogilevMogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...
, Belarus;- BedfordBedfordBedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, United Kingdom; 
Ukraine IzmailIzmailIzmail is a historic town near the Danube river in the Odessa Oblast of south-western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Izmail Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast....
, Ukraine;
France Saint-AvoldSaint-AvoldSaint-Avold is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.It is situated twenty-eight miles east of Metz and seventeen miles southwest of Saarbrücken....
, France
People
- Sholem AschSholem AschSholem Asch, born Szalom Asz , also written Shalom Asch was a Polish-born American Jewish novelist, dramatist, and essayist in the Yiddish language.-Life and work:...
- Bronisław Dembowski (b. 1927), bishop of Włocławek (1992–2003)
- Anton Denikin
- Roman KozłowskiRoman KozłowskiRoman Kozłowski was a Polish palaeontologist, best known for his work on graptolites.Kozłowski was born in Włocławek. He was a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and founder of Acta Palaeontologica Polonica...
, paleontologist - Leon MarchlewskiLeon MarchlewskiLeon Paweł Marchlewski was a Polish chemist.He was one of the founders in the field of chlorophyll chemistry....
- Aharon MeggedAharon MeggedAharon Megged is an Israeli author and playwright.-Biography:Aharon Megged was born in 1920 in Włocławek, Poland, and in 1926 immigrated with his parents to Mandate Palestine. He grew up in Ra'anana, attending the Herzliya high school in Tel Aviv...
- Henryk MuszyńskiHenryk MuszynskiHenryk Józef Muszyński is the Primate Emeritus of Poland and former Archbishop of Gniezno, Poland, having been appointed by Pope John Paul II when the Polish hierarchy was reorganized in March 1992...
, bishop - Jan NagórskiJan NagórskiJan Nagórski , also known by his Russified name of Ivan Nagurski was a Polish engineer and pioneer of aviation, the first person to fly an airplane in the Arctic and the first aviator to perform a loop with a flying boat....
, the first man to fly over the North Pole - Marcel Reich-RanickiMarcel Reich-RanickiMarcel Reich-Ranicki is a Polish-born German literary critic and member of the literary group Gruppe 47. He is regarded as one of the most influential contemporary literary critics in the field of German literature and therefore was in Germany often called the 'Pope of literature' .-Life:Marcel...
- Tadeus ReichsteinTadeus ReichsteinTadeusz Reichstein was a Polish-born Swiss chemist and Nobel laureate.Reichstein was born into a Jewish family at Włocławek, Congress Poland, and spent his early childhood at Kiev, where his father was an engineer...
- Chaim F. ShatanChaim F. ShatanChaim F. Shatan was a Canadian psychiatrist born in Włocławek, Poland.Shatan's parents moved to Canada when he was two. He received his MDCM degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada...
, physician who defined Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Włodzimierz Stanny
- Józef StolorzJózef StolorzJózef Stolorz is a fine art painter, born 31 October 1950 in Katowice, Silesia, Poland.-Life and work:...
, renowned fine-art painter - Jakub ŚwinkaJakub SwinkaJakub Świnka was a Polish Catholic priest, the Archbishop of Gniezno and a notable politician and supporter of the idea of unification of all Polish lands under the rule of Władysław I the Elbow-high. His Coat of Arms was Świnka....
- Stefan Wyszyński, enrolled in the Roman Catholic seminary in Włocławek
- Stanisław Zagajewski fine-art sculptor
- Maryla RodowiczMaryla RodowiczMaryla Rodowicz is a Polish singer.-Early life:She studied at Liceum Ziemi Kujawskiej in Włocławek and graduated from the Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego in Warsaw...
Singer