Gubin, Poland

Gubin
Church ruins and town hall
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Lubusz
region	Krosno Odrzańskie region/Krosno Odrzańskie
Gmina	Gubin (urban gmina)
Established	13th century
Town rights	1235
Government
• Mayor	Bartłomiej Bartczak
Area
• Total	20.68 km2 (7.98 sq mi)
Population  (2006)
• Total	16,974
• Density	820/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	66-620
Area code	+48 68
Car plates	FKR
Website	www.gubin.pl

Gubin [ˈɡubʲin] (German: Guben) is a town in Krosno Odrzańskie County, Lubusz Voivodeship southwestern Poland. Located on the right bank of the Lusatian Neisse River, it has a population of 15,000 inhabitants (2005). It was of the Zielona Góra Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998. The Polish-German rail and road border crossings are connected with the German city of Guben, of which Gubin was the eastern part until the border changes of 1945.

The coat of arms of both cities are almost identical, which further emphasizes their shared history as one township. Whereas the original arms of Guben features the coat of arms of Saxony, Bohemia and Prussia, Gubin dropped the Saxon shield and the Prussian eagle after it became part of Poland, and replaced the Bohemian double-tailed lion in the centre with the Polish eagle.

History

Prior to 1945, Gubin was part of Guben, Germany. In 1945 the Oder-Neisse line was chosen as the new German-Polish border at the Potsdam Conference. This meant that Guben would be split between the two countries, with the eastern portion of the city, including the historic centre, becoming Polish Gubin.

The central part of Gubin was seriously damaged at the end of World War II, with the historic town hall and church being burnt out. While the town hall has since been restored, the parish church is today a stabilised ruin.

A large army garrison was based in Gubin from 1951-2002, including the 5th Infantry Division, which evolved into the 5th "Saxony" Tank Division in 1956. The garrison was closed in 2002 following restructuring.

Traffic

Gubin lies on the no. 32 road that operates as an orbital road for Gubin, which starts at the border crossing with Guben to Krosno Odrzańskie and Zielona Góra and leads to the no. 5 road that links to Poznań. Gubin also has a railway border crossing.

Land Structure

Gubin has a land mass of 20.68 km² of which 61% is used for agricultural purposes and 5% is used for forest uses.

The city takes up 1.49% of the area of the Krosno Odrzańskie County.

Education

In Gubin, all of the schools to date are run by the local government.

External links

• Official website Template:Pl icon
• Jewish Community in Gubin on Virtual Shtetl