Włocławek

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A panorama of today's Włocławek, taken from Saint Gotthard Hill
Włocławek
Cathedral in Włocławek

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Coat of arms
Włocławek is located in Poland
Włocławek
Coordinates: 52°39′N 19°3′E / 52.65°N 19.05°E / 52.65; 19.05
Country  Poland
Voivodeship Kuyavian-Pomeranian
Powiat city county
Established tenth century
Town rights 1255
Government
 • Mayor Andrzej Pałucki
Area
 • City 84.32 km2 (32.6 sq mi)
Population (2009)
 • City 117,785
 • Density 1,396.9/km2 (3,617.9/sq mi)
 • Metro 243 000
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 87-800 to 87-810, 87-812, 87-814, 87-816 to 87-818, 87-822
Area code(s) +48 54
Car plates CW
Website http://www.wloclawek.pl
Włocławek districts

Włocławek [vwɔt​͡sˈwavɛk] ( listen) (German: Leslau from 1939–45) 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.

Contents

[edit] 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 (Latin: Vladislaviensis) 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[citation needed]. 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.

[edit] 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 David. 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.

[edit] 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

[edit] Historical monuments

Interior of Cathedral
Tomb effigy of Bishop Piotr z Bnina by Veit Stoss, located in Cathedral
St. Witalis Church
Church of John the Baptist
Plac Wolności (Liberty Square)
PWSZ we Włocławku (Higher Vocational State School in Włocławek)
Południe (South) district
Młyn Hotel (former salt mill)
  • Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of Mary - Begun in 1340.
  • St. Witalis Church - from 1330
  • Church of John the Baptist - from 1538. Built on the site of an earlier temple first mentioned in 1065.

[edit] Sports

[edit] Major corporations

Grodzki Square (Plac Grodzki) in downtown (Śródmieście) (aka Wzorcownia)
Włocławek Dam – Hydroelectric Power Station in Włocławek (Elektrownia Wodna we Włocławku)

[edit] Education

[edit] High schools

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

[edit] Twin Areas

This area has twinning with the following:

Belarus Mogilev,[1] Belarus;
United Kingdom Bedford,[1] United Kingdom;
Ukraine Izmail,[1] Ukraine;
France Saint-Avold,[1] France

[edit] People

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d z aktualności Urzędu Miasta – Town Twinning

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Włocławek
City counties
Coat of arms of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
Land counties
Urban gmina
POL powiat włocławski COA.svg
Urban-rural gminas
Rural gminas
Seat (not part of the county)
  • Włocławek

Coordinates: 52°39′N 19°02′E / 52.65°N 19.033°E / 52.65; 19.033

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