Lwówek Śląski

Founded in the 13th century, it was granted town rights in 1217, which became a model of municipal rights for a number of towns in southern Poland, including Cieszyn and Oświęcim, and from 1281 to 1286 it was a local Ducal seat of the Piast dynasty. Its prosperity came from the exploitation of gold and silver deposits, and after their depletion it was a center for cloth and linen making. Lwówek has also been a brewing center since the 13th century, with "Browar Lwówek" brewery being the oldest company in Poland. Called the Agate Capital of Poland, and hosts the annual Lwówek Agate Summer, the largest mineralogical event in Poland, every second weekend of July.

• Name — Lwówek Śląski • Settlement Type — Town • Image Flag — POL Lwówek Śląski flag.svg • Image Shield — POL Lwówek Śląski COA.svg • Nickname — Agate Capital of Poland • Motto — I love Lwówek Śląski • Pushpin Map — Poland • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Type1 — Voivodeship • Subdivision Type2 — County • Subdivision Type3 — Gmina • Subdivision Name1 — Lower Silesian • Subdivision Name2 — Lwówek • Subdivision Name3 — Lwówek Śląski • Established Title — Established • Established Date — before 1209 • Established Title3 — Town rights • Established Date3 — 1217 • Founder — Henry the Bearded • Named For — Lion • Leader Title — Mayor • Leader Name — Dawid Kobiałka • Area Total Km2 — 16.65 • Population As Of — 2019-06-30 • Elevation Min Point — Market Square • Elevation Min M — 205 • Elevation Min Ft — 672.5 • Elevation Max Point — Skałka • Elevation Max M — 300 • Elevation Max Ft — 984 • Population Total — 8869 • Population Density Km2 — auto • Postal Code Type — Postal code • Postal Code — 59-600 • Area Code — +48 75 • Website — http: www.lwowekslaski.pl • Timezone — CET • Utc Offset — +1 • Timezone Dst — CEST • Utc Offset Dst — +2 • Blank Name — Car plates • Blank Info — DLW • Blank1 Name — Climate • Blank1 Info — Dfb • Blank Name Sec2 — Voivodeship roads Lwówek Śląski (formerly Lwów; Löwenberg in Schlesien) is a town in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. Situated on the Bóbr River, Lwówek Śląski is about 30 km NNW of Jelenia Góra and has a population of about 9,000 inhabitants. It is the administrative seat of Lwówek County and of the municipality Gmina Lwówek Śląski. Founded in the 13th century, it was granted town rights in 1217, which became a model of municipal rights for a number of towns in southern Poland, including Cieszyn and Oświęcim, and from 1281 to 1286 it was a local Ducal seat of the Piast dynasty. Its prosperity came from the exploitation of gold and silver deposits, and after their depletion it was a center for cloth and linen making. Lwówek has also been a brewing center since the 13th century, with "Browar Lwówek" brewery being the oldest company in Poland. Lwówek Śląski is called the Agate Capital of Poland, and hosts the annual Lwówek Agate Summer, the largest mineralogical event in Poland, every second weekend of July.

• Illustration — Mural commemorating the granting of town rights by Henry the Bearded in 1217 The vicinity of present-day Lwówek Śląski, densely wooded and located on the inner side of the unsettled Silesian Przesieka within the medieval Kingdom of Poland was gradually cleared and populated by German peasants in the first half of the 13th century during the Ostsiedlung. The town was founded by Duke of Poland Henry the Bearded who designated it for an administrative centre in a previously uninhabited, borderline Polish–Lusatian territory. In 1209 Henry granted it important privileges, such as rights to brew, mill, fish, and hunt within a mile from settlement. German colonists expanded upon the preexisting settlement and in 1217 it was granted town rights by Henry the Bearded, as one of the first cities in Poland (Opole and Racibórz received town rights that same year, earlier only Złotoryja); its style of governance was duplicated by other local towns, such as Bolesławiec, as Löwenberg Rights or Lwówek Śląski Rights. In 1243 Duke Bolesław II Rogatka organized the first knight tournament in Poland in the town. The dukes then constructed a castle, documented for the first time in 1248. In the 13th century Franciscans and Knights Hospitaller settled in the town. As a result of the fragmentation of Poland, it was part of the Duchy of Legnica from 1248, the Duchy of Jawor from 1274, from 1278 to 1286 it was the capital of an eponymous duchy under its only duke Bernard the Lightsome, who took the title of a Duke of Silesia and Lord of Lwówek, and afterwards it was again part of the Duchy of Jawor, which was soon included in the larger Duchy of Świdnica-Jawor, part of which it remained until its dissolution in 1392. In 1327 the town received the right to mint its own coin from Duke Henry I of Jawor, before Wrocław. In 1329 it was one of the largest cities in Silesia. In the 13th and 14th centuries distinctive landmarks of Lwówek were built, including the defensive walls with the Lubańska and Bolesławiecka towers, the town hall (later expanded) and the Gothic churches of St. Mary and of St. Francis. After the death of Duchess Agnes of Habsburg, the widow of Bolko II, the last Polish Piast Duke of Świdnica, the town with the duchy passed to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1392. Löwenberg's placement on a trade route allowed it to become one of the more prosperous towns in Bohemia. In 1469 it passed to Hungary and in 1490 again to Bohemia, then ruled by Polish prince Vladislaus II Jagiellon, son of King Casimir IV of Poland. In 1498 Vladislaus II granted the coat of arms, still used today. The town remained under the rule of the Jagiellonian dynasty until 1526 when it passed with the Bohemian Crown to the Habsburg monarchy of Austria.

During the Thirty Years' War, Löwenberg was devastated by Swedish and Imperial troops, especially between 1633 and 1643. By the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the town was largely destroyed and had a decimated population of only hundreds. Löwenberg slowly recovered during its reconstruction, but began to prosper again after its acquisition by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1741 during the Silesian Wars. Troops of the First French Empire occupied the town in May 1813. Polish writer Aleksander Fredro joined the Napoleonic troops in the town. On August 21, 1813, the present-day district of Płakowice was the site of a battle, in which French and Polish troops defeated the Prussians, and Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in the town on August 21–23 while organizing his defenses against the Prussian troops of General Gebhard von Blücher. Following Macdonald's retreat after the Battle of the Katzbach with Blucher, General Puthod's Division, including Vacherau's Brigade (The Irish Regiment, 134th & 143rd Regiments), became isolated from the rest of the army. The Bóbr River had risen out of its banks from the heavy rains and the bridges were underwater. The division had been reduced to six thousand men and twelve pieces of artillery. On the morning of 29 August, they reached the town of Lowenberg. It took up the best position it could find, on the narrow ridge above Płakowice, with its back to the river. All the bridges had been washed away and there was no possibility of constructing a bridge with the river flooding its banks on both sides. A combined Russian and Prussian Army of overwhelming superiority faced the Division but could only attack at the one narrow south-eastern end of the ridge. The battle began at 8:00 am and lasted until after 4:00 pm. When the Division had expended the last of its ammunition, the enemy attacked and overran its position. Most of the officers waded into the river and swam to the opposite shore. The riverbed itself was not terribly wide although the current was strong. They were able to wade about half the distance, swim a short way, and walk through the water to dry land. The total French casualties of killed, wounded, drowned and captured were more the 3,000. Löwenberg was included within the Province of Silesia after the 1814 Prussian administrative reorganization. Like the rest of the Kingdom of Prussia, the town became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the unification of Germany.

It became part of the Prussian Province of Lower Silesia after World War I. In the interwar period and during World War II there was an economic recession. In the last days of World War II, the medieval center was 40% destroyed and numerous Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque buildings were lost. After the German surrender, a time of oppression began for the German populace in their own hometown. More and more Polish arrived who took possession of the town. No Germans were allowed in the streets after dusk. Every Sunday, Germans were forced to public works. However, Germans were also not allowed to move westwards. Finally, on July 1, 1946, the Polish administration announced that all Germans were to be "repatriated" to diminished Germany and had to leave their homes. The town became part of Poland in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, first under its historic Polish name Lwów. The town was repopulated by Poles, some of whom were expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, while some were settlers from war-devastated central Poland or former prisoners of German Nazi concentration camps and forced labour camps. In 1946, the town was renamed to its other historic, but more modern, name Lwówek Śląski, to distinguish it from Poland's lost city of Lwów. Following the Korean War, in 1953, Poland admitted 1,000 North Korean orphans in the present-day district of Płakowice, however, some were relocated to Szklarska Poręba and Bardo in the following years. Remaining children returned to North Korea in 1959. A memorial to Napoleon Bonaparte was unveiled in 2003.

The coat of arms of Lwówek Śląski is a vertically divided shield depicting the red-white chessboard of the Świdnica Piasts in the sinister field and a right-facing crowned red lion in the dexter field.

• Year — 1329 — 1543 — 1740 — 1784 — 1797 — 1816 — 1825 — 1840 — 1861 — 1871 — 1885 — 1905 • Population number — ~11,000 — 4,100 — 1,495 — 2,397 — 3,928 — 3,684 — 3,552 — 3,770 — 4,628 — 4,798 — 4,720 — 5,682 • Year — 1920 — 1941 — 1945 — 1950 — 1960 — 1970 — 1978 — 1988 — 1999 — 2000 — 2006 — 2016 • Population number — 6,319 — 6,063 — 6,238 — 3,411 — 5,517 — 6,714 — 7,776 — 9,312 — 9,249 — 10,045 — 9,687 — 8,940 • Graph of population of the city of Lwówek Śląski, over the last 2 centuries: ImageSize = width:750 height:300 PlotArea = left:60 right:30 top:25 bottom:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late Colors = id:linegrey2 value:gray(0.9) id:linegrey value:gray(0.7) id:cobar value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.8) id:cobar2 value:rgb(0.6,0.9,0.6) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:11000 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:500 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey2 PlotData = color:cobar width:22 align:left bar:1797 from:0 till:3928 bar:1816 from:0 till:3684 bar:1825 from:0 till:3552 bar:1840 from:0 till:3770 bar:1861 from:0 till:4628 bar:1871 from:0 till:4798 bar:1885 from:0 till:4720 bar:1905 from:0 till:5682 bar:1920 from:0 till:6319 bar:1941 from:0 till:6063 bar:1945 from:0 till:6238 bar:1950 from:0 till:3411 bar:1960 from:0 till:5517 bar:1970 from:0 till:6714 bar:1978 from:0 till:7776 bar:1988 from:0 till:9312 bar:1999 from:0 till:9249 bar:2000 color:cobar2 from:0 till:10045 bar:2006 from:0 till:9687 bar:2011 from:0 till:9462 bar:2016 from:0 till:8940 PlotData = textcolor:black fontsize:S bar:1797 at: 3928 text: 3,928 shift:(-14,5) bar:1816 at: 3684 text: 3,684 shift:(-14,5) bar:1825 at: 3552 text: 3,552 shift:(-14,5) bar:1840 at: 3770 text: 3,770 shift:(-14,5) bar:1861 at: 4628 text: 4,628 shift:(-14,5) bar:1871 at: 4798 text: 4,798 shift:(-14,5) bar:1885 at: 4720 text: 4,720 shift:(-14,5) bar:1905 at: 5682 text: 5,682 shift:(-14,5) bar:1920 at: 6319 text: 6,319 shift:(-14,5) bar:1941 at: 6063 text: 6,063 shift:(-14,5) bar:1945 at: 6238 text: 6,238 shift:(-14,5) bar:1950 at: 3411 text: 3,411 shift:(-14,5) bar:1960 at: 5517 text: 5,517 shift:(-14,5) bar:1970 at: 6714 text: 6,714 shift:(-14,5) bar:1978 at: 7776 text: 7,776 shift:(-14,5) bar:1988 at: 9312 text: 9,312 shift:(-14,5) bar:1999 at: 9249 text: 9,249 shift:(-14,5) bar:2000 at: 10045 text: 10,045 shift:(-14,5) bar:2006 at: 9687 text: 9,687 shift:(-14,5) bar:2011 at: 9462 text: 9,462 shift:(-14,5) bar:2016 at: 9115 text: 8,940 shift:(-14,5)

• Illustration — Lwówek's Culture Centre

Lwówek's Culture Centre is located in Przyjaciół Żołnierza St. 5. In town's culture centre there are: • Cinema LOK; • Office of providers the cable TV; • Art gallery Kla-Tka; • Dance School Vega; • Music room; • School of painting and drawing.

• Illustration — Agate from Płóczki Górne • Illustration — Famous beer from Lwówek Śląski's Brewery - "Lwówek Książęcy" Every year in the second weekend of July takes place Lwóweckie Lato Agatowe. • In January – The Kings Parade in the Feast of Three Kings(06.01); • In March – Lwówek talent fest; • In April – Nationwide Orientation Fest (III round of Polish Cup); • In May – International canoeing trip on the Bóbr river; • In May – Turist rally name Henryk the Bearded; • In July – Lwówek Agat Summer; • In July – Lwówek motorcycle jamboree; • In September – Unusual Heritage Fairs - Napoleonic Picknic, Lower Silesian Festival Of Gifts Of The Forest; • In October – Lwówek Mineralogical Meeting; • In December – Christmas Fair, Santa Claus Run, Christmas nativity play.

The museums in Lwówek Śląski include: • Museum - historical facility in the town hall (Wolności Sq. 1); • Museum of the Brewery in the town brewery "Lwówek" (Traugutta St. 4). In the second weekend of July, when Lwówek Agat Summer lasts, visitors can access Lubańska Tower for views of the town.

• Nikolaus von Reusner (1545–1602), jurist • Martin Moller (1547–1606), mystic • Georg Schultze (1599–1634), jurist • Esaias Reusner (1636–1679), lutist and composer • Franz Schmidt (1818–1853), preacher, representative in the Frankfurt Parliament in 1848, fled to Switzerland, then to St. Louis, MO, USA; founder of the German Lyceum there. • Günther Klammt (1898–1971), major-general • Eberhard Zwirner (1899–1984), physician and phonetician • Stefan Hüfner (1935–2013), physicist • Krzysztof Zawadzki (born 1970), actor • Lucjan Błaszczyk (born 1974), table tennis player • Anna Rostkowska (born 1980), Polish Olympic athlete

See twin towns of Gmina Lwówek Śląski.

• Illustration — Defensive walls • Illustration — Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary • Illustration — Town hall interior • Illustration — The remaining tower of the Protestant Church • Illustration — City park • Illustration — Renaissance Płakowice Castle • Illustration — Gmina office