Świdnica

Template:For Template:Infobox settlement Świdnica (Template:IPA; Template:Langx Template:IPA; Template:Langx Template:IPA) is a city on the Bystrzyca River in south-western Poland in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.Template:TERYT As of 2021, it has a population of 55,413 inhabitants.<ref name="population" /> It is the seat of Świdnica County, and also of the smaller district of Gmina Świdnica (although it is not part of the territory of the latter, as the town forms a separate urban gmina). It is the seventh largest city of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Świdnica became part of the Wałbrzych agglomeration on 23 January 2014.<ref>Press release, Siedem nowych gmin w Aglomeracji Wałbrzyskiej. Swidnica24.pl. Retrieved 23 February 2014.</ref>

A city with almost a thousand years of history, recorded in 1070, Świdnica was one of the main cities of Silesia and southwestern Poland in the Middle Ages, the second most important center of culture and art in the region (after Wrocław),<ref name=PWN/> a famed brewing center, and in 1291–1392 the capital of an eponymous principality ruled by a local line of the Piast dynasty. The city has a preserved Old Town with several Gothic and Baroque churches,<ref name=PWN/> including the St. Stanislaus and St. Wenceslaus Cathedral and the Church of Peace, two landmark churches listed as Historic Monuments of Poland<ref name=ph1/><ref name=ph2/> with the latter also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History

Medieval period

File:Świdnica - Cathedral.jpg

St. Stanislaus and St. Wenceslaus Cathedral, listed as a Historic Monument of Poland

The city's name was first recorded as Svidnica in 1070, when it was part of Piast-ruled Poland. Świdnica became a town in 1250, although no founding document has survived that would confirm this fact. The town belonged at the time to the Duchy of Wrocław, a province of Poland. By 1290, Świdnica had city walls and six gates, crafts and trade were blossoming. At the end of the 13th century, there were guilds of bakers, weavers, potters, shoemakers, furriers and tailors in Świdnica.<ref name=UM>Template:Cite web</ref> The city was famous for its beer production. In the late 15th century, almost three hundred houses had the right to brew beer.<ref name=UM/> In various cities of the region (Wrocław, Oleśnica, Brzeg) and Europe (Kraków, Toruń, Prague, Pisa) there were so-called "Świdnica Cellars" – restaurants serving beer from Świdnica.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Wrocław's Piwnica Świdnicka exists to this day as the oldest restaurant in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe. There was also a mint in Świdnica.<ref name=PWN/> The Franciscans and Dominicans settled in the city in 1287 and 1291, respectively.<ref name=PWN>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1291–1392 Świdnica was the capital of the Piast-ruled Duchy of Świdnica and Jawor. The last Polish Piast duke was Bolko II of Świdnica, and after his death in 1368 the duchy was held by his wife until 1392; after her death it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Bohemia by Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. By the end of the 14th century, Świdnica was already one of the largest cities in Silesia, with about 6,000 inhabitants.<ref name=UM/>

In 1429 the city successfully defended itself against a Hussite attack.<ref name=UM/> From about 1469 to 1490 it was under the rule of the Kingdom of Hungary and after that it was part of Jagiellonian-ruled Bohemia. In the 15th century, several mills operated in the city.<ref name=UM/> Large cattle and hop markets took place there.<ref name=UM/> In 1493, the town is recorded by Hartmann Schedel in his Nuremberg Chronicle as Schwednitz.<ref>See Die Schedelsche Weltchronik on German Wikisource.</ref>

Early modern period

In 1526 the city came under the rule of the Habsburg monarchy as part of the surrounding Duchy of Schweidnitz (Świdnica). In the 16th century it was one of the regional centers of Anabaptism.<ref name=PWN/> The city suffered greatly during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48) as a result of sieges, fires and epidemics.<ref name=UM/> Świdnica, under the Germanized name Schweidnitz, was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia during the First Silesian War (1740–42). The town was turned into a fortress, which it remained until 1866.<ref name=UM/>

File:Karte von Schweidnitz (1778).tif

Map of Świdnica (1778)

File:Wybicki-tablica.JPG

Plaque to Józef Wybicki, commemorating his stay in 1803

It was captured again by Austria in October 1761, during the Third Silesian War, or Seven Years' War, but Prussians retook it one year later. In 1803 the city was visited by Polish jurist, poet, political and military activist Józef Wybicki, best known as the author of the lyrics of the national anthem of Poland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1807 the city was captured by French troops during the Napoleonic Wars. It became part of the Prussian-led German Empire in 1871 during the unification of Germany and stayed within Germany until the end of World War II. According to the Prussian census of 1905, the city of Schweidnitz had a population of 30,540 who were mostly Germans, but also included a Polish minority comprising around 3% of the population.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The World War I flying ace Lothar von Richthofen was buried in Schweidnitz, until the city became owned by Poland after World War II in which the graveyard was leveled. During World War I, the Germans operated a POW camp for Allied officers and a forced labour camp for regular POWs in the town.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

World War II and recent history

A Nazi prison was located in the city under Nazi Germany,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and during World War II, the Germans also established a subcamp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, three prisoner of war labor divisions of the Stalag VIII-A camp and a forced labour camp.<ref name=PWN/> Among the prisoners was Lesław Bartelski, Polish writer and resistance member, who fought in the Warsaw Uprising.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In January 1945, a German-perpetrated death march of Allied POWs from the Stalag Luft 7 passed through the city.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

After the defeat of Germany in 1945, the town, like most of Silesia, became again part of Poland under border changes agreed at the Potsdam Conference. Those members of the German population who had not already fled or had been killed during the war were subsequently expelled to the remainder of Germany in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement and the city was repopulated with Poles, many of whom had themselves been expelled from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union. Also Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War, settled in Świdnica in the 1950s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> From 1975 to 1998 it was administratively located in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship.

In 2004, Świdnica became the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Świdnica.

Points of interest

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Interior of the Evangelical Church of Peace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Gothic Cathedral of St. Stanislaus and St. Wenceslaus from the 14th century has the highest tower in Silesia, standing 103 meters tall; it hosts an image of "Our Lady Health of the Sick". It is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland.<ref name=ph1>Template:Cite Polish law</ref>

The Evangelical Church of Peace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Historic Monument of Poland,<ref name=ph2>Template:Cite Polish law</ref> was built in 1656–57.

File:Swidnica Rynek fontanna 2.jpg

Market Square in the Old Town

The 16th-century town hall has been renovated numerous times and combines Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architectural elements. A museum is located in the town hall. The Baroque Church of St. Joseph and the Church of St. Christopher are from the same era. One remaining element of the former defensive works is the Chapel of St. Barbara.

Other notable destinations include the old town and the Stary Rynek square, Gola Dzierżoniowska Castle, Medieval town of Niemcza, Cistercian monastery at Henryków, where the oldest preserved manuscript in Polish was written, and the Wojsławice Arboretum.

File:Świdnica - panoramio (1).jpg

Old Town of Świdnica

Politics

Wałbrzych constituency

Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from the Wałbrzych constituency.

Michał Dworczyk	Law and Justice
Marek Dyduch	Democratic Left Alliance
Marcin Gwóźdź	Law and Justice
Izabela Mrzygłocka	Civic Platform
Wojciech Murdzek	Agreement
Tomasz Siemoniak	Civic Platform
Monika Wielichowska	Civic Platform
Ireneusz Zyska	Law and Justice

Education

Świdnica is home to a College of Data Communications Technology (Wyższa Szkoła Technologii Teleinformatycznych).

In 2003, Świdnica hosted a session of the Warsaw-based International Chapter of the Order of Smile, when a Child Friendship Centre was established. Świdnica was officially titled the "Capital of Children's Dreams".

Sport

Polonia Świdnica – football club that competes in the lower leagues, but also played in the Polish second division in the 1940s and 1950s.
Akademia Piłkarska 13 Jarosława Lato

Notable people

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Thomas Stoltzer (Template:Circa–1526), composer
Maria Cunitz (1604–1664), astronomer
Benjamin Schmolk (1672–1737), composer, poet
Johann Christoph Glaubitz (Template:Circa–1767) architect
Johann Gottlieb Janitsch (1708–1763), composer
Karl Theodor Robert Luther (1822–1900), astronomer
Albert Kretschmer (1825–1891), professor, painter, costumes researcher
Clara Jaschke (either 1848 or 1858–1912) one of Prussia and Germany's first women railway workers and campaigner for women's rights.
Emil Krebs (1867–1930), sinologist
Ferdinand Friedensburg (1886–1972), politician
Michael Graf von Matuschka (1888–1944), resistance fighter
Hubert Schmundt (1888–1984), Kriegsmarine Admiral
Manfred von Richthofen (1892–1918), World War I ace known as "The Red Baron"
Peter Adolf Thiessen (1899–1990), physical chemist
Heinz Starke (1911–2001), politician, Bundesfinanzminister 1961–1962
Georg Gärtner (1920–2013), known as "Hitler's last Soldier in America"
Gunther Gebel-Williams (1934–2001), animal trainer
Manfred Kanther (born 1939), politician
Henning Eichberg (born 1942), cultural sociologist
Dorota Świeniewicz (born 1972), volleyball player, member of Poland women's national volleyball team
Bartosz Huzarski (born 1980), cyclist
Anna Werblińska (born 1984), volleyball player, member of Poland women's national volleyball team
Janusz Gol (born 1985), Polish professional footballer
Arkadiusz Piech (born 1985), Polish professional footballer
Patryk Klimala (born 1998), Polish professional footballer
Aleksander Balcerowski (born 2000), basketball player