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==History== ===Medieval period=== [[File:Świdnica - Cathedral.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[St. Stanislaus and St. Wenceslaus Cathedral, Świdnica|St. Stanislaus and St. Wenceslaus Cathedral]], listed as a [[List of Historic Monuments (Poland)|Historic Monument of Poland]]]] The city's name was first recorded as ''Svidnica'' in 1070, when it was part of [[Piast dynasty|Piast]]-ruled [[Kingdom of Poland|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 Silesia|Duchy of Wrocław]], a province of [[Kingdom of Poland|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>{{cite web|url=http://um.swidnica.pl/pages/pl/turystyka/historia-swidnicy.php|title=Historia Świdnicy|website=UM Świdnica|access-date=25 November 2019|language=pl}}</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>{{Cite book|last1=Czerwiński|first1=Janusz|last2=Chanas|first2=Ryszard|title=Dolny Śląsk – przewodnik|year=1977|publisher=Sport i Turystyka|location=Warszawa|language=pl|pages=178–186}}</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 [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] settled in the city in 1287 and 1291, respectively.<ref name=PWN>{{cite web|url=https://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo/Swidnica;3984475.html|title=Świdnica|website=Encyklopedia PWN|access-date=25 November 2019|language=pl}}</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 [[Hussites|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 dynasty|Jagiellonian]]-ruled [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]]. In the 15th century, several mills operated in the city.<ref name=UM/> Large [[cattle]] and [[hops|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 [[:de:s:Die Schedelsche Weltchronik (deutsch):001|Die Schedelsche Weltchronik]] on [[:de:s:|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|thumb|left|Map of Świdnica (1778)]] [[File:Wybicki-tablica.JPG|thumb|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 [[Siege of Schweidnitz (1762)|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 [[Poland Is Not Yet Lost|national anthem of Poland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://swidnica24.pl/2017/07/220-lat-mazurka-dabrowskiego-jak-wlasciwie-spiewac-hymn-polski/|title=220 lat Mazurka Dąbrowskiego. Jak właściwie śpiewać Hymn Polski?|website=Swidnica24.pl|date=20 July 2017|access-date=1 November 2020|language=pl}}</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>{{Cite book|last=Belzyt|first=Leszek|url=https://opacplus.bsb-muenchen.de/search?isbn|title=Sprachliche Minderheiten im preussischen Staat: 1815 - 1914; die preußische Sprachenstatistik in Bearbeitung und Kommentar|date=1998|publisher=Herder-Inst.|isbn=978-3-87969-267-5|location=Marburg}}</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 [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War I|POW camp]] for [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] officers and a forced labour camp for regular POWs in the town.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kujat|first=Janusz Adam|year=2000|title=Pieniądz zastępczy w obozach jenieckich na terenie rejencji wrocławskiej w czasie I i II wojny światowej|journal=Łambinowicki rocznik muzealny|location=Opole|language=pl|volume=23|page=13|issn=0137-5199}}</ref> ===World War II and recent history=== A Nazi prison was located in the city under [[Nazi Germany]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=100001070|title=Gefängnis Schweidnitz|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=1 November 2020|language=de}}</ref> and during World War II, the Germans also established a [[List of subcamps of Gross-Rosen|subcamp]] of the [[Gross-Rosen concentration camp]], three [[prisoner of war]] labor divisions of the [[Stalag VIII-A]] camp and a [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] camp.<ref name=PWN/> Among the prisoners was [[Lesław Bartelski]], Polish writer and [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|resistance member]], who fought in the [[Warsaw Uprising]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sierotwiński|first=Stanisław|year=1966|title=Kronika życia literackiego w Polsce pod okupacją hitlerowską: próba przeglądu zdarzeń w układzie chronologicznym|journal=Rocznik Naukowo-Dydaktyczny|language=pl|publisher=Wydawnictwo [[Pedagogical University of Cracow|Wyższej Szkoły Pedagogicznej]] w Krakowie|issue=24|page=53}}</ref> In January 1945, a German-perpetrated [[The March (1945)|death march]] of [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] POWs from the [[Stalag Luft 7]] passed through the city.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stanek|first=Piotr|year=2015|title=Stalag Luft 7 Bankau i jego ewakuacja na Zachód w styczniu 1945 r.|journal=Łambinowicki rocznik muzealny|location=Opole|language=pl|volume=38|page=66|issn=0137-5199}}</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 [[Expulsion of Germans after World War II|expelled]] to the remainder of [[Allied-occupied Germany|Germany]] in accordance with the [[Potsdam Agreement]] and the city was repopulated with [[Polish people|Poles]], many of whom had themselves been expelled from [[Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union]]. Also [[Greeks in Poland|Greeks]], refugees of the [[Greek Civil War]], settled in Świdnica in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kubasiewicz|first=Izabela|editor-last1=Dworaczek|editor-first1=Kamil|editor-last2=Kamiński|editor-first2=Łukasz|year=2013|title=Letnia Szkoła Historii Najnowszej 2012. Referaty|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|page=117|chapter=Emigranci z Grecji w Polsce Ludowej. Wybrane aspekty z życia mniejszości}}</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]].
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