Editing Poznań (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Poznań|Timeline of Poznań|Historical population of Poznań}}

===Early Middle Ages===
For centuries before the [[Baptism of Poland|Christianization of Poland]] (an event that essentially is credited as the creation of the very first Polish state, the [[Duchy of Poland (1031-1076)|Duchy of Poland]]), Poznań was an important cultural and political centre of the [[Polans (western)|Western Polans]]. It consisted of a fortified [[stronghold]] between the [[Warta]] and [[Cybina]] rivers on what is now [[Ostrów Tumski, Poznań|Ostrów Tumski]]. [[Mieszko I of Poland|Mieszko I]], the first historically recorded ruler of the West Polans and of the early Polish state which they dominated, built one of his main stable [[headquarters]] in Poznań. [[Christianization of Poland|Mieszko's baptism]] in AD 966, seen as a defining moment in the [[Christianization]] of the Polish state, may have taken place in Poznań.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dobosz |first=Józef |date=2002 |title=Monarchia i możni wobec Kościoła w Polsce do początku XIII wieku |location=Poznań |publisher=Wydawn. Poznańskie |page=47 |isbn=9788371771101 |language=pl}}</ref>

===11th to 16th centuries===
[[File:Złota Kaplica. Pomnik Mieszka I i Bolesława I Chrobrego (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Monument of [[Mieszko I]] and [[Bolesław I the Brave]] in Golden Chapel at [[Poznań Cathedral|Archcathedral Basilica]].]]
Following the [[baptism]], construction began of [[Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul, Poznań|Poznań's cathedral]], the first in Poland. Poznań was probably the main seat of the first [[missionary]] bishop sent to Poland, [[Bishop Jordan]]. The [[Congress of Gniezno]] in 1000 led to the country's first permanent [[archbishopric]] being established in [[Gniezno]] (which is generally regarded as Poland's capital in that period), although Poznań continued to have independent bishops of its own. Poznań's cathedral was the place of burial of the early [[Piast dynasty|Piast]] monarchs, among them Mieszko I, [[Bolesław I the Brave]], [[Mieszko II of Poland|Mieszko II Lambert]], [[Casimir I of Poland|Casimir I]], and later of [[Przemysł I of Poland|Przemysł I]] and [[Przemysł II of Poland|Przemysł II]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Instytut Zachodni |date=1988 |title=Życie i myśl |volume=37 |issue=1–6 |location=Warszawa (Warsaw) |publisher=Pax |page=47 |oclc=473901657}}</ref>

The [[pagan reaction in Poland|pagan reaction]] that followed Mieszko II's death (probably in Poznań) in 1034 left the region weak, and in 1038, Duke [[Bretislaus I, Duke of Bohemia|Bretislaus I]] of [[Duchy of Bohemia|Bohemia]] sacked and destroyed both Poznań and Gniezno. Poland was reunited under [[Casimir the Restorer|Casimir I the Restorer]] in 1039, but the capital was moved to [[Kraków]], which had been relatively unaffected by the troubles. In 1138, by the [[Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty|testament of Boleslaus III]], Poland was divided into separate [[Duchy|duchies]] under the late king's sons, and Poznań and its surroundings became the domain of [[Mieszko III the Old]], the first of the [[Duchy of Greater Poland|Dukes of Greater Poland]]. This period of fragmentation lasted until 1320. Duchies frequently changed hands; control of Poznań, Gniezno and [[Kalisz]] sometimes lay with a single duke, but at other times these constituted separate duchies.

In about 1249, Duke [[Przemysł I]] began constructing what would become the [[Royal Castle, Poznan|Royal Castle]] on a hill on the left bank of the [[Warta]]. Then in 1253, Przemysł issued a charter to Thomas of [[Gubin, Poland|Gubin]] for the founding of a town under [[Magdeburg law]], between the castle and the river. Thomas brought a large number of German settlers to aid in the building and settlement of the city – this is an example of the German eastern migration ({{Lang|de|[[Ostsiedlung]]}}) characteristic of that period.<ref name=Brather87156159>{{cite book |last=Brather |first=Sebastian |title=Archäologie der westlichen Slawen. Siedlung, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im früh- und hochmittelalterlichen Ostmitteleuropa |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2001 |series=Ergänzungsbände zum [[Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde]] |volume=30 |pages=87, 156, 159 |isbn=3-11-017061-2 |language=de}}</ref><ref name=Brather87>{{cite book |last=Brather |first=Sebastian |title=Archäologie der westlichen Slawen. Siedlung, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im früh- und hochmittelalterlichen Ostmitteleuropa |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2001 |series=Ergänzungsbände zum [[Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde]] |volume=30 |page=87 |isbn=3-11-017061-2 |language=de |quote=Das städtische Bürgertum war auch in Polen und Böhmen zunächst überwiegend deutscher Herkunft. [English: Also in Poland and Bohemia were the burghers in the towns initially primarily of German origin.]}}</ref> The city, which covered the area of today's [[Poznań Old Town|Old Town]] neighbourhood, was surrounded by a defensive wall, integrated with the castle.<ref>{{cite book|title=God's Playground A History of Poland Volume 1: The Origins to 1795|author=Norman Davies|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|pages=65}}</ref> The royal chancery and the university ensured a first flourishing of Polish literary culture in the city.

[[File:Poznan Braun Hohenberg.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Poznań, {{circa}} 1617, view from the north.]]

In reunited Poland, and later in the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], Poznań was the seat of a [[Poznań Voivodeship (14th century to 1793)|voivodeship]]. The city's importance began to grow in the [[Jagiellonian dynasty|Jagiellonian]] period, due to its position on trading routes from [[Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]] and [[Ruthenia]] to western Europe. It would become a major center for the [[fur trade]] by the late 16th century. Suburban settlements developed around the city walls, on the river islands, and on the right bank, with some (Ostrów Tumski, [[Śródka, Poznań|Śródka]], Chwaliszewo, Ostrówek) obtaining their own town charters. However, the city's development was hampered by regular major fires and floods. On 2 May 1536 a fire destroyed 175 buildings, including the castle, the town hall, the monastery, and the [[suburb]]an settlement called St. Martin.<ref>J. Perles: ''Geschichte der Juden in Posen''. In: ''Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums''. Vol. 13, Breslau 1864, pp. 321–334 (in German, [https://books.google.com/books?id=z61K1O9KYooC&pg=PA323 online].)</ref> In 1519, the [[Lubrański Academy]] had been established in Poznań as an institution of higher education, but without the right to award degrees, which was reserved to Kraków's [[Jagiellonian University]]. However, the [[Jesuit College in Poznań|Jesuits' college]], founded in the city in 1571 during the [[Counter-Reformation]], had the right to award degrees from 1611 until 1773, when it was combined with the academy.

===17th and 18th centuries===
[[File:Iglesia colegial de Poznan, Poznan, Polonia, 2014-09-18, DD 34-36 HDR.jpg|thumb|upright|Interior details in Collegiate Basilica known as ''[[Poznań Fara|Fara]]'' built in 1651–1705; one of the finest examples of [[Baroque in Poland|baroque architecture in Poland]].]]

In the second half of the 17th century and most of the 18th, Poznań was severely affected by a series of wars, attendant military occupations, lootings and destruction – the [[Second Northern War|Second]] and [[Third Northern War|Third Northern]] Wars, the [[War of the Polish Succession]], the [[Seven Years' War]] and the [[Bar Confederation]]. During the [[Deluge (history)|Deluge]], Poznań's [[Jews in Poland|Jewish]] community was accused of collaborating with the invading [[Swedish Army|Swedish enemy]], and as a result suffered [[pogrom]]s carried out by both the city's non-Jewish residents and units of the Polish [[Crown Army]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Poznań |url=https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Poznan |access-date=2023-09-04 |website=yivoencyclopedia.org}}</ref>

It was also hit by frequent outbreaks of [[Plague (disease)|plague]], and by floods, particularly that of 1736, which destroyed most of the suburban buildings. The population of the conurbation declined from 20,000 around 1600 to 6,000 around 1730, and [[Bamberg]]ian and [[Dutch people|Dutch]] settlers ([[Bambers]] and [[Olęders]]) were brought in to rebuild the devastated suburbs. In 1778, a "Committee of Good Order" (''Komisja Dobrego Porządku'') was established in the city, which oversaw rebuilding efforts and reorganized the city's administration. However, in 1793, in the [[Second Partition of Poland]], Poznań came under the control of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]], becoming part of (and initially the seat of) the province of [[South Prussia]].

===19th century to World War I===
The Prussian authorities expanded the city boundaries, making the walled city and its closest suburbs into a single administrative unit. Left-bank suburbs were incorporated in 1797, and Ostrów Tumski, Chwaliszewo, Śródka, Ostrówek and Łacina (St. Roch) in 1800. The old city walls were taken down in the early 19th century, and major development took place to the west of the old city, with many of the main streets of today's city center being laid out.

{{multiple image
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| align = left
| image1 = Widok Poznania z kosciolem Bernardynow, kolegium Jezuitow i klasztorem Benedyktynek 1833 (79917527) (cropped).jpg
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = A lithograph from 1833. In the centre background the former [[Jesuits]]' college and Górków Palace on the right.
| image2 = Biblioteka Raczyńskich 1..jpg
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = [[Raczyński Library]] (1828) on the left seen across the [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Wilhelm]]strasse, now [[Karol Marcinkowski|Marcinkowskiego]] boulevard. Postcard from 1904.
| image3 = Brama Berlińska Poznań.jpg
| alt3 = 
| caption3 = As Poznań grew in the 19th century, [[:pl:Brama Berlińska w Poznaniu|Berlin Gate]] ({{circa}} 1890, b. 1849), main west gate of the [[Poznań Fortress|Prussian inner fortification ring]], almost immediately began to impede city's development and was torn down in 1901.
| image4 = Teatr Polski w Poznaniu - 1875-1925 (78979830) (cropped).jpg
| alt4 = 
| caption4 = [[Polish Theatre, Poznań|Polish Theatre]] (1875) had become a national stage in the [[Greater Poland|Greater Poland region]], then partly under [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] / [[German Empire|German]] rule.
}}

In the [[Greater Poland uprising of 1806]], Polish soldiers and civilian volunteers assisted the efforts of [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] by driving out Prussian forces from the region. The city became a part of the [[Duchy of Warsaw]] in 1807, and was the seat of [[Poznań Department]] – a unit of administrative division and local government. However, in 1815, following the [[Congress of Vienna]], the region was returned to Prussia, and Poznań became the capital of the semi-autonomous [[Grand Duchy of Posen]]. Around 1820, Poznań had over 20,000 inhabitants, 70% of whom were Poles, 20% Jews, and 10% Germans.

The city continued to expand, and various projects were funded by Polish philanthropists, such as the [[Raczyński Library]] and the Bazar hotel. The city's first railway, running north-west to [[Stargard]], opened in 1848. Due to its strategic location, the Prussian authorities intended to make Poznań into a fortress city, building a ring of defensive fortifications around it. Work began on the [[citadel]] with ''[[Fort Winiary]]'' in 1828, and in subsequent years the entire set of defenses called ''[[Festung Posen]]'' was completed.

A [[Greater Poland Uprising (1848)|Greater Poland Uprising]] during the [[Revolutions of 1848]] was ultimately unsuccessful, and the Grand Duchy lost its remaining autonomy, Poznań becoming simply the capital of the Prussian [[Province of Posen]]. It would become part of the [[German Empire]] with the [[Unification of Germany|unification of German states]] in 1871. Polish patriots continued to form societies such as the [[Central Economic Society for the Grand Duchy of Poznań]], and [[Polish Theatre in Poznań|Polish Theatre]] opened in 1875. It became a national stage for the inhabitants of the province of Posen, and even in whole [[Greater Poland|Greater Poland region]], acting as a mainstay of Polish tradition and culture, and as a sign of resistance against the restrictive policies of the Prussian partition authorities. However, the authorities made efforts to [[Germanisation of Poles during the Partitions|Germanize]] the region, particularly through the [[Prussian Settlement Commission]] founded in 1886. Germans accounted for 38% of the city's population in 1867, though this percentage would later decline somewhat, particularly after the region returned to Poland.
[[File:Juliusz Knorr - Widok Starego Rynku w Poznaniu w 1838 roku.jpg|thumb|Poznań in the 19th century]]
Another expansion of ''Festung Posen'' was planned, with an outer ring of more widely spaced forts around the perimeter of the city. Building of the first nine forts began in 1876, and nine intermediate forts were built from 1887. The inner ring of fortifications was now considered obsolete and came to be mostly taken down by the early 20th century, although the citadel remained in use. This made space for further civilian construction, particularly the [[Imperial Castle, Poznań|Prussian Royal Residence Palace]] (''Zamek'') which was completed in 1910, and other grand buildings around it, including today's central university buildings and the opera house. The city's boundaries were also significantly extended to take in former suburban villages: Piotrowo and Berdychowo in 1896, Łazarz, Górczyn, [[Jeżyce, Poznań|Jeżyce]] and [[Wilda, Poznań|Wilda]] in 1900, and Sołacz in 1907.

In 1910, Poznań had 156,696 inhabitants, of which nearly 60% were Poles (over 91,000 Polish inhabitants of the city), and around 40% were Germans (over 65,000 German inhabitants of the city). Other nationalities accounted for 1-2% of the population (mainly Jews).  Germans tended to settle in the newer western part of the city, the ''Kaiserviertel'' or Kaiser district, Poles in the older east side.  And while there was tension between the two major populations there was also some overlap between them, particularly in cultural events.<ref>[https://www.copernico.eu/en/articles/divided-city-entertainment-and-pleasure-culture-posen-around-1900 A divided city? The entertainment and pleasure culture in Posen around 1900]</ref>

The percentage of Polish-speakers declined from 76.6% in 1846 to 69.9% in 1858 and just 50.4% in 1890, but then rebounded to 57.9% in 1910. According to censuses of elementary school pupils the share of Polish-speakers among pupils was higher: 63.7% in 1886 and 78.7% in 1911.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Belzyt |first=Leszek C. |title=Pruska statystyka językowa (1825-1911) a Polacy zaboru pruskiego, Mazur i Śląska |publisher=Uniwersytet Zielonogórski |year=2013 |isbn=978-83-7842-074-3 |location=Zielona Góra |pages=222–225 |language=Polish |trans-title=Prussian language statistics (1825-1911) and the Poles of the Prussian partition, Masuria and Silesia}}</ref>

After independence the percentage of Polish-speakers was 92.8% in 1921<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/publication/10336/edition/17259/content |title=Rocznik statystyczny stoł. miasta Poznania za lata 1922-1924 |publisher=Urząd Statystyczny stoł. m. Poznania |year=1926 |location=Poznań |pages=32 |language=Polish |trans-title=Statistical Yearbook of the City of Poznań for the years 1922-1924}}</ref> and 96.6% in 1931.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kruszka |first=Kazimierz |url=https://stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/poznan/ASSETS_karta.pdf |title=Statystyczna karta historii Poznania |publisher=Wydział Analiz Urzędu Statystycznego w Poznaniu |year=2008 |isbn=978-83-61264-01-9 |location=Poznań |pages=88 |language=Polish |trans-title=A statistical chart of the history of Poznań}}</ref>

===Interbellum===
[[File:Hotel Bazar 1918.jpg|thumb|right|Successful [[Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919)|Greater Poland uprising]] broke out on 27 December 1918 after a patriotic speech by [[Ignacy Jan Paderewski|Ignacy Paderewski]] at [[:pl:Hotel Bazar w Poznaniu|Hotel Bazar]], pictured in that period.]]
[[File:Stary Rynek w Poznaniu 1934.jpg|thumb|right|Old Market Square in 1934. The Odwach [[guardhouse]] and the 1893 New Town Hall, which was not rebuilt after World War II, are visible.]]

At the end of [[World War I]], the [[Treaty of Versailles]] awarded the province and city of Posen to the new Poland. The local German populace were forced to acquire Polish citizenship or leave the country, forfeiting all property to the Polish State. This led to a wide emigration of the ethnic Germans of the town's population – the town's German population decreased from 65,321 in 1910 to 5,980 by 1926 and further to 4,387 in 1934.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVg_tMs_ZPIC&q=adelnau&pg=PA365 |title=Polens Politik gegenüber seiner deutschen Minderheit 1919–1939 |first1=Albert S. |last1=Kotowski |page=56 |publisher=Forschungsstelle Ostmitteleuropa, [[University of Dortmund]] |year=1998 |language=de |isbn=3-447-03997-3}}</ref>

In the interwar [[Second Polish Republic]], the city again became the capital of [[Poznań Voivodeship]]. Poznań's university, today called [[Adam Mickiewicz University]], was founded in 1919, and in 1924 the [[Poznań International Fair]] began. In 1929, the fair site was the venue for a major National Exhibition (''Powszechna Wystawa Krajowa'', popularly ''PeWuKa'') marking the tenth anniversary of independence; organized on a space of 650,000 square metres it attracted around 4.5&nbsp;million visitors. In the 1930s, the fair ranked as European fourth largest organiser of international trade events.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-09-29|title=Snapshots frozen in time. A century of Poznań trade fairs|url=https://www.poznan.pl/mim/wortals/en/wortal,684/news,9560/snapshots-frozen-in-time-a-century-of-poznan-trade-fairs,171252.html|access-date=2022-02-16|website=poznan.pl|publisher=Poznań City Hall}}</ref> The city's boundaries were again expanded in 1925 to include Główna, [[Komandoria]], [[Rataje, Poznań|Rataje]], Starołęka, [[Dębiec, Poznań|Dębiec]], Szeląg and [[Winogrady]], and in 1933: [[Golęcin]] and [[Podolany, Poznań|Podolany]].

===World War II===
During the [[Occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany|German occupation]] of 1939–1945, Poznań was incorporated into the [[Nazi Germany]] as the capital of ''[[Reichsgau Wartheland]]''. Many Polish inhabitants, even children as young as 10, were executed, arrested, [[Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany|expelled]] to the [[General Government]] or used as [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kołakowski|first=Andrzej|editor-last=Kostkiewicz|editor-first=Janina|year=2020|title=Zbrodnia bez kary... Eksterminacja i cierpienie polskich dzieci pod okupacją niemiecką (1939–1945)|language=pl|location=Kraków|publisher=[[Jagiellonian University|Uniwersytet Jagielloński]], [[Biblioteka Jagiellońska]]|page=74|chapter=Zbrodnia bez kary: eksterminacja dzieci polskich w okresie okupacji niemieckiej w latach 1939-1945}}</ref> Polish children were also [[Kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany|kidnapped]] and deported to an infamous camp for Polish children in [[Łódź]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ledniowski|first1=Krzysztof|last2=Gola|first2=Beata|editor-last=Kostkiewicz|editor-first=Janina|year=2020|title=Zbrodnia bez kary... Eksterminacja i cierpienie polskich dzieci pod okupacją niemiecką (1939–1945)|language=pl|location=Kraków|publisher=Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Biblioteka Jagiellońska|pages=147, 158|chapter=Niemiecki obóz dla małoletnich Polaków w Łodzi przy ul. Przemysłowej}}</ref> At the same time, many Germans and ''[[Volksdeutsche]]'' were settled in the city. The German population increased from around 5,000 in 1939 (some 2% of the inhabitants) to around 95,000 in 1944.<ref>Jerzy Topolski. ''Dzieje Poznania w latach 1793–1945: 1918–1945''. PWN. 1998. pp. 958, 1425.</ref><ref>"Trial of ''Gauleiter'' [[Arthur Greiser]]". ''Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals''. United Nations War Crimes Commission. Wm. S. Hein Publishing. 1997. p. 86.</ref>

The Jewish community's history in the city dates back to the 13th century.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12302-posen| title = POSEN - JewishEncyclopedia.com.}}</ref> In the past, the Jewish council in Poznan became one of the oldest and most important Jewish councils in Poland.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/p/586-poznan/99-history/137881-history-of-community |title=History of Poznan Community, at ''Sztetl''. |access-date=2 September 2020 |archive-date=6 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606062222/https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/p/586-poznan/99-history/137881-history-of-community |url-status=dead }}</ref> The pre-war Jewish population of at least about 2,000<ref>"Survival artist: a memoir of the Holocaust", Eugene Bergman, 2009, pg. 20.</ref> were mostly murdered in [[the Holocaust]]{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}.

A [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camp]] was set up in [[Fort VII]], one of the 19th-century perimeter forts. The camp was later moved to [[Żabikowo, Luboń|Żabikowo]] south of Poznań. Also the [[Stalag XXI-D]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|German prisoner-of-war camp]] for [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] POWs of various nationalities was based in the city.

The [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance]] was active in Poznań with various organizations and activities, and even an underground Polish parliament was established in the city.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Pietrowicz|first=Aleksandra|year=2011|title=Konspiracja wielkopolska 1939–1945|magazine=Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej|language=pl|publisher=IPN|issue=5–6 (126–127)|page=36|issn=1641-9561}}</ref>

The German authorities significantly expanded Poznań's boundaries to include most of the present-day area of the city; these boundaries were retained after the war. Poznań was captured by the [[Red Army]], assisted by Polish volunteers{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}, on 23 February 1945 following the [[Battle of Poznań (1945)|Battle of Poznań]], in which the German army conducted a last-ditch defence in line with Hitler's designation of the city as a ''[[German World War II strongholds|Festung]]''. The [[Poznań Citadel|Citadel]] was the last point to be taken, and the fighting left much of the city, particularly the Old Town, seriously damaged. Many monuments were also destroyed, including [[Gutzon Borglum]]'s statue of [[Woodrow Wilson]] in Poznan.<ref>Price, Waldine, ''Gutzon Borglum: The Man Who Carved a Mountain'', Waldine Price, 1961 p. 181.</ref>

===1945–present===
Due to the [[expulsion of Germans from Poland after World War II|expulsion and flight of German population]] Poznań's post-war population became almost uniformly Polish. The city again became a voivodeship capital. In 1950, the size of [[Poznań Voivodeship]] was reduced, and the city itself was given separate voivodeship status. This status was lost in the 1975 reforms, which also significantly reduced the size of Poznań Voivodeship.

{{multiple image
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| image1 = Poznan_1956.jpg
| image2 = Poznańskie Krzyże 1981.jpg
| footer = From left: [[Poznań protests of 1956]] – the first of several massive protests against the communist government – the sign reads "We demand bread!"; Poznań Crosses – Monument to the Victims of June 1956 (built and pictured in 1981).
}}
The [[Poznań 1956 protests]] are seen as an early instance of discontent with communist rule. In June 1956, a protest by workers at the city's [[Cegielski]] locomotive factory developed into a series of strikes and popular protests against the policies of the government. After a protest march on 28 June was fired on, crowds attacked the communist party and secret police headquarters, where they were repulsed by gunfire. Riots continued for two days until being quelled by the army; 67 people were killed according to official figures. A [[Monument to the Victims of June 1956|monument to the victims]] was erected in 1981 at Plac Mickiewicza.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/poland/wielkopolska/poznan/sights/landmarks-monuments/monument-victims-june-1956 |title=Monument to the Victims of June 1956 |publisher=Lonely Planet |date=28 June 1981 |access-date=19 January 2016}}</ref>

The post-war years had seen much reconstruction work on buildings damaged in the fighting. From the 1960s onwards intensive housing development took place, consisting mainly of [[Panelak|pre-fabricated concrete blocks of flats]], especially in [[Rataje, Poznań|Rataje]] and [[Winogrady]], and later [[Piątkowo, Poznań|Piątkowo]], following its incorporation into the city in 1974. Another infrastructural change, which was completed in 1968, was the rerouting of the river [[Warta]] to follow two straight branches either side of Ostrów Tumski.

[[File:654320 Poznań baszta 02.JPG|thumb|On the right remnants of the medieval town walls with two small towers.]]

The most recent expansion of the city's boundaries took place in 1987, with the addition of new areas mainly to the north, including [[Morasko]], Radojewo and [[Kiekrz]]. The first free local elections following the [[fall of communism]] took place in 1990. With the [[Polish local government reforms]] of 1999, Poznań again became the capital of a larger province entitled [[Greater Poland Voivodeship]]. It also became the seat of a ''[[powiat]]'' [[Poznań County]], with the city itself gaining separate ''powiat'' status.

[[Post-communism]] infrastructural developments include the opening of the [[Poznań Fast Tram|''Pestka'' Fast Tram]] route in 1997, and Poznań's first motorway connections in 2003 as Poland's east–west [[A2 autostrada (Poland)|A2 highway]] runs south of the city centre, serving also as a bypass. In 2006 country's first [[F-16 Fighting Falcons]] came to be stationed at the [[31st Air Base]] in [[Nowe Miasto, Poznań|Krzesiny]] in the south-east of the city.

Poznań continues to host regular trade fairs and international events, including the [[2008 United Nations Climate Change Conference|United Nations Climate Change Conference]] in 2008. It was one of the host cities for [[UEFA Euro 2012]].