Głogów

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Głogów (pronounce: ['gȗoguv], German: Glogau, Czech: Hlohov, the latter rare) is a town in southwestern Poland. According to the 2004 Census estimate the town had a total population of 71,686. It is situated in the Glogow County, in the Lower Silesian Voivodship (as of 1999), and was previously in the Legnica Voivodship (1975-1998). Głogów is the sixth largest city of that voivodship. The name of the town comes from hawthorn (Polish: głóg).

Głogów consists of the following residential districts: Brzostów, Chrobry, Hutnik, Kopernik (Copernicus), Kościuszki, Ostrów Tumski (Church Island), Paulinów, Piastów Śląskich, Przemysłowe, Słoneczne, Stare Miasto (Old Town), Śródmieście, Żarków. Two villages, Biechów and Wróblin Głogówski, are also within Głogów's administrative borders.

1 History
2 Landmarks
3 People
- 3.1 Born in Głogów:
4 External links

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History

Image:Glogow zamek.jpg Głogów is one of the oldest towns in Poland. It was founded as a gród by a slavic tribe called the Dziadoszans. The first known historic record of Głogów was in 1010 in Thietmar's chronicles, when it was invaded by Germans under the rule of Holy Roman Emperor Henry II, and was once again besieged by German armies on August 9, 1017. On August 14, 1109 the battle of Głogów is held, against the army of emperor Henry V. In 1157 the town was taken by Frederick I Barbarossa, who burnt down its citizens. In 1180, under the rule of Konrad I, the son of Wladislaus II the Exile of Poland, the rebuilt Głogów became a capital of the principality, and in 1253 it was given Magdeburg city rights.

In the 16th century, the Głogów line of the Piast dynasty died out with the death of John II the Mad. In the years 1491-1506 Głogów was ruled by John Albert and Sigmund the Old, future kings of Poland. Later it was taken over by the Habsburg dynasty. In the middle of the 17th century, during the Thirty Years' War, Głogów was turned into a stronghold in 1630. It was conquered by Protestants in 1632, reconquered by Austria in 1633, and fell to Sweden in 1642, although it reverted back to the Habsburgs in 1648. In March 1741 it was captured in a brilliant night attack by the Prussian army under Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, and like the majority of Silesia became part of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Image:Glogow kosciol Bozego Ciala.jpg

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Polish forces of Jan Henryk Dąbrowski were stationed here, and the city was also visited thrice by Napoleon himself. Głogów was captured by French forces after the Battle of Jena in 1806. The town, with a garrison of 9,000 French troops, was besieged in 1813-14 by the Sixth Coalition; by the time the defenders surrendered on 10 April 1814, only 1,800 defenders remained.

Because the stronghold status had slowed down the city's development for many years, the citizens tried to abolish the stronghold status in the 19th century; the fortifications were only moved to the east in 1873, and finally taken down in 1902, which allowed the city to develop. In 1939 it had 33,000 inhabitants.

Image:Glogow kosciol sw. Mikolaja.jpg In 1945, the town was once again made into a stronghold by the Nazi government. Głogów was besieged for 6 weeks by the Soviet Red Army and was 95% destroyed. After the Yalta Conference, Głogów, just like all of Lower Silesia, was given to Poland, and in May 1945 the first settlers came to Głogów, to find only ruins. The town has not been fully rebuilt to this day. The town started to develop again only in 1967, after a copper foundry was built there. It is still the largest industrial company in the town.

In the years 1945-1950, Głogów was part of the Wrocław Voivodship, and in 1950 it became part of the newly created Zielona Góra Voivodship. From 1975-1998 it belonged to Legnica Voivodship, and after the administrative reform of 1999 it became part of the Lower Silesian Voivodship.

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