Brzeg


Brzeg is a town in southwestern Poland with 35,890 inhabitants and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the left bank of the Odra.
The town of Brzeg was first mentioned as a trading and fishing settlement in the year 1234. In 1248, Silesian Duke Henry III the White granted the settlement German town rights and by the late 13th century the city became fortified. Sometimes referred to as “the garden town”, the town's size greatly expanded after the construction of dwelling houses which were located on the city outskirts.
From the early 14th to late 17th centuries, the town was ruled by the Piast dynasty, the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. It then came under the control of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire and became part of Germany.
After Germany's defeat in World War II, the town became part of Poland.

Etymology

Brzeg was in earlier documents referred to as Civitas Altae Ripae, meaning "city at high banks" of the Odra river; its name is derived from the Polish Brzeg. The historian Konstanty Darmot, in his book of the etymology of Silesian localities, states that in a Latin document from 1234, the settlement's name was Visoke breg .

History

Prehistory

The locality in and around present-day Brzeg has been settled by people since the Mesolithic era, with the earliest signs of settlement between 8000–4200 BC, as concluded from archaeological findings in Myślibórz, Kościerzyce, Lubsza and Lipki. The early human populous left behind traces of lithic flakes, flint flakes and other flint related tools. The earliest signs of agriculture come around during the Neolithic Era. The Neolithic culture developed agriculture and domesticated farm animals; this lifestyle led Nomadic cultures to settle in the locality. The era saw the development of weaving, pottery and mining in the Brzeg Plain, with archaeological finds in Brzeg, Buszyce, Prędocin, Lewin Brzeski, Małujowice, Lipki, Myśliborze, Mąkoszyce and Obórki.
The time period of 1300–700 BC bears the existence of the Lusatian culture of the late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. The culture settled in the region and in large continued to develop agriculture and the domestication of farm animals. The natural economy of the culture was based on weaving, pottery and metal works. The Lusatian culture's populous that inhabited the Brzeg Lands was identified by archaeological excavations, revealing 17 individual localities, including 3 hamlets and 8 burial sites, namely a fortified wooden settlement in Rybna and an open-pit crematory in Pisarzowice.
To follow the Lusatian culture, which witnessed its declension around 500 BC, were the Celts, around 400–300 BC in Silesia, as identified with archaeological findings in Lubsza and Pawłów. Around 100 BC, the peoples of Silesia began trading with the Roman Empire, as evidenced through the findings of Roman currency in the locality. In the 7th century Slavic peoples started settling in the region. At the same time Iron tools and blacksmith-based hamlets found in Kantorowice and Pępice are evidenced for the first time in this region.

Silesian period and foundation

The ages of AD 500–1000 saw the establishment of the early feudal system in Silesia. The era was characteristic of the establishment of gord settlements, towns and the continued development of trade and crafts. It is believed the permanent populous around modern-day Brzeg was set up by Silesian tribes. The first mention of the Silesian tribes is made in the mid-ninth-century document known as the Bavarian Geographer, which included the Silesian gord of Ryczyn, located north-west of Brzeg, in the eastern Oława County. The Ryczyn gords became the main line of defence for the Silesians, namely to protect the river trade routes along the River Odra and the land trade route between Ryczyn and Brzeg. The importance of the Ryczyn gords is demonstrated by Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire's army halting their advancement before the gords in 1109.
Between the ninth and early-tenth century, the Brzeg Lands, together with that of Silesia, were part of the Kingdom of Great Moravia until its demise in AD 906, after which, until 990 the region was under the rule of the Przemyslids. Around the year 990, Silesia was annexed into Mieszko I's Poland. During the Fragmentation of Poland, the area of the Brzeg Lands, together with Silesia, came under the control of King of Poland, Bolesław III Wrymouth's oldest son, Władysław II the Exile.
The most favourable area for the settlement of Brzeg is located between the Castle Square, with elevated ground extending south-east towards the Square of the American Polonia. Before the town's foundation, three separate settlements existed in its modern-day territory, with "Wysoki Brzeg" bearing the main administrative role in the region. Between the late-twelfth and early-thirteen century, the Dukes of Wrocław set up a curia, led by a claviger. In 1235, Henry the Bearded occupied the area around Oława, by which Walloons had to turn over a tribute of 1 scale of grain and of oat to the settlement of Brzeg, suggesting the existence of a granary and other outbuildings in the curia's established headquarters.
Some two-hundred m south-west from the curia was the former location, on what was later to be called Mary's Hill, the Romanesque St. Mary's Church. During the Reformation, the church was deconstructed, and its brickwork used for the construction of the town's fortifications. A chronicle from the sixteenth-century states it was "the first church", however, no more is known about the holy site. Historians believe the founder of the church may have been Bolesław I the Tall or Henry the Bearded. Around the peripheries of the settlement, was the location of several hospital buildings. Towards the route to Wrocław in the town's west, was the location of the Hospital of the Holy Ghost, used for both to cure the town's dwellers and as an inn for travellers along the Wrocław-Opole route the town of Brzeg was located in the middle of, with an average walking distance between each town taking one day. The area around the Holy Ghost Hospital, present-day Moniuszko Square, was the location of a major market, positioned by the cross roads of the Wrocław–Nysa route, east of the Wrocławska Gate. By the end of the thirteenth-century, the Duke of Brzeg possessed 10 shambles. The market is believed to be characteristic of other Silesian towns, commonly selling agricultural produce, namely bread, meat and shoes. Prior to the locality receiving its town charter in 1248 or 1250, the settlement had characteristics of a town and not of an ordinary fishing village, being referred to as "civitas" in an early Latin document, as exemplified by the existence of the curia, church and a major market, allowing the settlement to develop through the exchange of produce and barter.
Prior to Brzeg receiving its town charter, the Duke of Wrocław, Henry III the White, received the settlement of Małkowice,, in exchange of his feudal rights over Zębice. The fishermen living in Małkowice, in accordance to ancient Polish law were charged with the task of protecting the Ducal Castle along the riverside. By the turn of the thirteenth century, the defenceless populous living in the pastures of the Brzeg Plain began to relocate into the fortified Visoke breg, building up a new osiedle around the present-day streets of: ul. Łokietka, Piastowska and Trzech Kotwic. The osiedle was documented as Stary Brzeg, to be renamed Wieś Brzeska: Brygischedorf and villa Bregensis in c. 1339. To the west of the fortified centre of Brzeg, the settlement of Rataje as the former village's etymology suggests, centered around the upkeep of the ducal pastures.

Middle Ages and Early Modern period

The town received German town law in 1250 from the Wrocław Duke Henry III the White. The foundation was carried out by the three lokators, Gerkinus of Goldberg, Ortlif and Heinrich of Reichenbach. From the emblem of Heinrich of Reichenbach the town also got its coat of arms. While in power, Henry III, granted the town the forest around the locality of Lubsza. His successor, Henryk IV the Righteous regulated the town's church affairs, as well as renouncing his patronage over St. Mary's Church, located west of the town's western boundary. The church was granted to the Order of Saint John, subsequently founding the Church of St. Nicholas in 1292. The town was fortified in 1297.
From 1311-1675 Brzeg was the capital of a Lower Silesian duchy ruled by the Piast dynasty, a branch of the dukes of Lower Silesia, one of whom built a castle in 1341. The Duchy became part of the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1329. The town was burned by the Hussites in 1428 and soon afterwards rebuilt.
In 1595 Brieg was again fortified by Joachim Frederick of Brieg and Liegnitz. In the Thirty Years' War it suffered greatly; in the War of the Austrian Succession it was heavily bombarded by the Prussian forces; and in 1807 it was captured by Napoleon's army. When Bohemia fell to the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526, the town fell under the overlordship of the Habsburgs in their roles of Kings of Bohemia, although it was still ruled locally by the Silesian Piasts. Upon the extinction of the last duke George William of Legnica in 1675, Brieg came under the direct rule of the Habsburgs.

Late modern and contemporary

In 1537 the duke Frederick II of Legnica concluded a treaty with Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg, whereby the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg would inherit the duchy upon the extinction of the Silesian Piasts. On the death of George William the last duke in 1675, however, Austria refused to acknowledge the validity of the treaty and annexed the duchies and Frederick the Great of the Kingdom of Prussia used this treaty to justify his claim at the invasion of Silesia during the War of the Austrian Succession in 1740. Brieg and most of Silesia were annexed by Prussia in 1741 during the First Silesian War. In 1807 the town's fortifications were pulled down by Napoleon's army. The Prussian Province of Silesia, and thus Brieg, consequently became part of the German Empire when it was proclaimed in 1871 on the unification of Germany.
During World War II, 60% of Brieg was destroyed and many of the town's inhabitants died during the severe winter of 1944–5 as they fled from the advancing Red Army. The war had brought the most severe destruction to the town in its entire history. Some of the town's population was evacuated by the German Army who moved its population further west inside Germany for safety and declared Brieg "Festung Brieg". After the fall of the town to the Soviets the remaining German population were later subject to harassment and expulsion. After the war, the Potsdam Conference placed Silesia, and thus the town, under Polish administration. Subsequently, Brzeg and Lower Silesia were repopulated by Polish whom Soviets expelled from the eastern part of prewar Poland.

Traditional Garrison Town

From the late 19th century the then German town of Brieg had expanded into a traditional military garrison town, from 1897 until 1919 it was the home town base to Infantry Regiment No. 157 designated from 1902 the 4th Silesian Infantry Regiment No. 157 of the Royal Prussian Army and respectively the Imperial German Army. In 1914 under the regiment's last peacetime commander Lieutenant General :de:Paul Tiede|Paul Tiede the regiment began mobilizing for the Western Front at the outbreak of World War I as part of VI Army Corps, 12th Division, 78th Infantry Brigade.
At the end of World War I the garrison barracks at Brieg remained for some years after without a stationed military regiment. The Imperial German Army Air Arm military aerodrome found in nearby Grüningen was furthermore dismantled and destroyed as part of the Treaty of Versailles. It was not until 4 August 1930 that the 5th Squadron of Cavalry Regiment No. 8 of the German Reichswehr arrived in Brieg from Breslau-Carlowitz, other cavalry squadrons from Militsch and Oels followed shortly after. This resulted in the garrison's Tiede-Barracks located in Moltke-, Sedan-, Roon- und Bismarckstraße requiring some alterations to accommodate the new arrival of horse-cavalry residents. It was from Brieg garrison, the German Cavalry Captain Konrad Freiherr von Wangenheim became famous for securing a Gold medal win at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin for the German equestrian team whilst suffering from a broken collarbone. In 1933 an airfield located in nearby Hermsdorf was also built and thereby a much larger military aerodrome was established. The new aerodrome was occupied by Flight Reconnaissance Group 113.
Towards the end of World War II, on 6 February 1945, the Soviet army captured Brzeg, which resulted in moderate destruction of the town's buildings and infrastructure. After Germany's defeat in the war, Brzeg became part of Poland. Since 1950 the reconstructed town has been a part of the Opole Voivodeship.

History of the Jewish population

As the town was situated on the commercial route to Wrotizla, in which a colony of Jews had long resided, Jews settled there about 1324. The Jewish community of Brieg had its separate place of worship from early times. In 1358 Jews lent money to local noblemen and the duke of Brieg, Ludwig I, who granted the Jews freedom of movement in the duchy in that year. In the 14th century the Jews of Brieg were persecuted on account of their usurious practices; one outbreak of such violence occurred in 1362. In 1392 it was claimed that all debts of the duke had been discharged by the payments to a Jew of Brieg, of a certificate of indebtedness. In 1398 the Brieg Jews bought a letter of protection from the duke, whereby they were guaranteed the peaceful possession of their privileges. But in 1401 they were driven from the city, except Jacob and Seman von Reichenbach, who had received a patent of protection from the duke's council for six years from May 1, 1399. In 1423, duke Ludwig II granted the Jews rights of residence on payment of an annual tax of 20 gulden, but they were expelled from the duchies of Brieg and Liegnitz in 1453 as a result of the inflammatory preachings of the Franciscan John Capistrano. Solomo, a capitalist, lent large sums of money to royal houses in the 15th century. In the 16th century, one of the local Jews served as a physician to the duke of Brieg.
With the decline of Breslau as a trade center, the Jews of Brieg became little more than an isolated community; and in modern times they shared the lot of the other Silesian Jews. They carried on insignificant trade operations as a rule. The conquest of Silesia by Frederick the Great brought but slight change in their condition.
A synagogue was built in Brieg in 1799, and a rabbi was first appointed in 1816. The Jewish population numbered 156 in 1785; 376 in 1843; 282 in 1913; 255 in 1933; and 123 in 1939. In the Kristallnacht pogroms of 1938 the interior of the synagogue was completely demolished and the Torah scrolls publicly burned; numerous shops were ransacked. The community was not reestablished after the Holocaust.

Geography

Status

The shape of the town, including its neighbouring osiedla, is comparable to that of a deformed rectangle, elongated north-south and west-east. The area of the town, including the village of Rataje, which was incorporated into Brzeg on January 1, 1973, is some. In comparison to Opole, with a total area of ; Nysa's and Kędzierzyn-Koźle's ; Brzeg is ranked fourth in the Opole Voivodeship by both population and area.

Topography

Brzeg, as the regional capital of Brzeg County, is located in the west of the Opole Voivodeship, in the south-east of Poland. The settlement is located in the valley of the River Odra, located between Opole 38.5 km to its east and Wrocław, to its north-west. The town has a predominantly flat relief. The River Odra, at low water levels forms eyots north of Jerzynowa, Kępa and Srebrna Islands. The locality is located in the Brzeg Plain, part of the Silesian Lowlands. The Brzeg Plain's boundaries are outlined by the Odra River to its north, the Nysa Kłodzka Valley to its south-east, the hillocks of Grodków Hills and the Wawrzyszów Hills to its south. The western boundary of the Brzeg Plain is marked by the Oława Valley, along the Odra's mid-course.
The Brzeg Plain was formed by the Riss glaciation period, leaving behind remnants of a ground moraine from the last glacial period. The ground moraines have left two equally small hills, bearing characteristics of kames. The kames form the Łosiów Range, between the confluence of the River Nysa Kłodzka and the Oława Valley. Small streams, having their sources around the range, are fed directly into the Odra River in the region of Nysa Kłodzka and Oława.Climate

Settlement and trade

The settlement of Brzeg, historically located in the regional unit of Lower Silesia as opposed to Upper Silesia, is due to the formation of a "przesieka". The "clearing" was a lateral formation, extending northerly from the former Sudetes Wildland to the southern foothills of the Sudetes Mountains. The clearing's characteristics set it as a point for defence in the Lower Silesia region, lined with barrages made out of cut down woodland. The Brzeg Plain was settled due to its fertile soil, allowing for the earliest forms of agriculture to develop in the locality. The locality was first settled by Silesian tribes and in later history, until 1675, by the Piast duchies of Duchy of Brzeg, Legnica and Wołów, united under the Duchy of Legnica-Wołów-Brzeg. Presently, the region is spotted with numerous towns, including Brzeg, Grodków and Strzelin, as well as villages, with agriculture providing the major source of income. The development of agriculture is met with a lack of forested areas, apart from the Stobrawa Landscape Park, located 7.2 km to the north of Brzeg and the Odra river. The Stobrawa woodland, agriculture and the River Odra provided Brzeg the necessary diversity to remain the regional trade capital in Silesia.
Brzeg's geographical position between two trade routes, running from west to east and north to south and further on into the Kingdom of Bohemia, additionally stimulated the town's demographic and economic expansion. Presently, Brzeg remains located between the European route E67 and E40.

Environment

Brzeg has five public parks, three of which encircle the Old Town, after the area was transformed into parkland with the deconstruction of the garrison town's fortifications during the Napoleonic Wars in 1807. The parkland, surrounding the Old Town to its south, became known as the Planty. The Planty constitute of the Central Park of J. Czajkowski, with a total area of 6.1 ha. The Central Park contains an artificial lake and a stream, connecting its waters to the western portion of the Planty, the Park nad Fosą. The Park by the Moat, with a total area of 3.7 ha, is located south of the Silesian Piasts' Castle. The third and largest by area parkland surrounding the Old Town is located by the Odra river, the Odranian Park, with a total area of 10.9 ha. The castle, together with the town's fortification remnants, the Odrzańska Gate is located in the park.
The largest parkland in Brzeg, located in the south-west of the town is the Park of Juliusz Peppel and formerly Liberty Park having a total area of 68.8 ha. The parkland was established after donations from the owners of Skarbimierz and the landed-elite family von Lobbecke donated the area to the town's authorities, to make way for a landscape park in the area. The smallest of the five public parks in Brzeg is the Park Ptasi, located in the south of the town, west of the osiedle of Westerplatte. The park has a total area of 1 ha.

Demography

History

After 1945, the town of Brzeg was part of the population transfers of the Soviet and Polish People's Republic's campaign to resettle Poles from Kresy to the newly annexed territories by Poland from the defeated Germany, as part of the Potsdam Agreement. During the Polish resettlement campaign, the German population of Brzeg was expelled to the remaining territories of Germany. The newly arrived population in Brzeg predominantly came from the countryside, being former peasants. The integration of the residents came in phases: education, communal work, marriages and the provision of material goods and items left behind by the former populace. By 1975, 37.9% of the population of Brzeg had settled in the town after 1960.
Breakdown of population origin of Brzeg in 1950:
Population originPopulation no.Percentage
Total population12,771100.0
Local population8246.5
Migrant population11,94793.5

Breakdown of migrant population origin of Brzeg in 1950:
Population originPopulation no.Percentage
Warsaw4693.9
Warsaw Voivodeship3653.0
Bydgoszcz Voivodeship2892.4
Poznań Voivodeship5334.5
Łódź750.6
Łódź Voivodeship5294.4
Kielce Voivodeship7496.3
Lublin Voivodeship3873.2
Białystok Voivodeship1441.2
Katowice Voivodeship7476.3
Kraków Voivodeship9117.6
Soviet Union5,14443.1
Other countries2001.7
Remaining1,40511.8

Population change

YearPopulationYearPopulation
200238 841 200338 781
200438 550 200538 379
200638 163 200737 842
200837 625 200937 609
201037 346 201137 329
201237 261 201336 980
201436 675 201536 469
201636 381 201736 110

Main sights

  • The Renaissance Brzeg Town Hall, surrounded by thirteenth-century townhouses.
  • Old Castle, with an interesting adorned façade, host of the Muzeum Piastów Śląskich. The Brzeg Castle is referred to as the Silesian Wawel. The castle-complex includes the Chapel of St. Jadwiga of Poland.
  • St. Nicholas's Church.
  • Holy Cross Church,.
  • St. Jadwiga's Church, located by the castle.
  • St. Luke's Church, a church built in the Neoclassical architectural style.
  • Saints Peter and Paul Church, a Franciscan church built in the thirteen-century.
  • Baroque figures of John of Nepomuk and Jude the Apostle from 1722, standing by the façade of the Holy Cross Church.
  • Statue of the Holy Trinity, raised in 1731.
  • Piast Gimnasium founded in 1569.
  • Odrzańska Gate, part of the former fortifications; located in the Park Odrzański.
  • Water tower by Rybacka Street, from 1877.
  • Residential townhouses:
  • * Rynek 19, Renaissance façade from 1621.
  • * Chopina 1, Renaissance from 1597.
  • * Jabłkowa 5, Baroque townhouse from 1715.
  • * Jabłkowa 7, Empire architectural style from 1797.
  • Old Garrison buildings from the Frederick the Great colonisation period.
  • Planty - remaining bastion fortifications around the medieval town. The fortifications were deconstructed in 1807, with the area transformed into the Planty Park.
  • Synagogue from 1799.
  • River Boat Station , built in 2012.

    Economy

Industry

Brzeg is the centre for industry and production in the Brzeg County. The town's industries include the production of agricultural machinery, electric engines, margarine and sugar production.
The largest concentration of industry in Brzeg is located in the town's eastern quarter, south of the River Odra, with numerous manufacturers, including: the German Bartling GmbH ; "BESEL", and CIK car accessories plant. All three industries are located between Ciepłownicza Street and Składowa Street.
Brzeg is also home to one of the largest confectionary companies in Poland, PWC Odra S.A.. Presently, the firm is part of the joint-stock company Otmuchów Group. The production plant is located by Starobrzeska Street.

Tourism

, Brzeg had the lowest number of foreign tourists in the Opole Voivodeship, with some 95% being national tourists. Per 1000 of the population, there are 1.60–3.89 available accommodations, which is behind nine of the eleven regional capitals in the Opole Voivodeship, including Opole, with 3.90–5.89 tourist accommodations per 1000 of the population.

Education

Brzeg has a total of 7,826 citizens in the potential education age group. The number of city dwellers in Brzeg that have completed higher education is at 14.4% of the population, which is similar to the statistical average of the number of people obtaining higher education in the Opole Voivodeship, being at 15.1%. Data from 2015 indicates that 2.5% of the population of Brzeg have completed post-lyceum education, with Brzeg having two post-lyceum schools : Medyczne Studium Zawodowe by Ofiar Katynia Street ; Policealne Studium Zawodowe – Zespół Szkół Ekonomicznych by Jan Paweł II Street. The population of Brzeg that is in the age of potential further education is 26.8%, out of which 27.1% are women and 26.6% are men.
Some 22.4% of the population of the town of Brzeg has some sort of work-related further education. In 2015, 5.3% of the town's population participated in secondary education, while some 19.6% have attended primary education in that same year. The city council of Brzeg spends 33.3% of its annual budget on education, amounting to 35.2 million złoty annually.
Post-secondary education institutions:
NameAddressFaculty no.Student no.Teacher no.Website
Technikum No. 1 in BrzegSłowiańska 1821466––
Technikum No. 2 in BrzegJana Pawła II 2814370––
I Liceum ogólnokształcące Armii Krajowej 71032031
II Liceum ogólnokształcące 1 Maja 71334136
Zasadnicza Szkoła Zawodowa No. 3 Kamienna 39261–
Technikum No. 3 Kamienna 38207–
Państwowa Szkoła Muzyczna Level 1 Piastowska 18–16120

Public gymnasium institutions:
NameAddressFaculty no.Student no.Teacher no.Website
Gymnasium No. 3 Bohaterów Monte Cassino 141234335
Gymnasium No. 2Poprzeczna 1612317——
Gymnasium No. 1 Oławska 2922526
Gymnasium No. 4Lompy 16142——

Transport

Brzeg is located at the crossroads of the National Road and the National Road Motorway is located 14 km south of Brzeg.
Brzeg has well developed railway and bus transportation services. The PKP Brzeg railway station is operated by PKP Intercity and Przewozy Regionalne. The town has direct connections to Opole, Wrocław, Kraków, Warszawa, Katowice, Poznań, Szczecin, Zielona Góra, Lublin, Kielce, Przemyśl, Zamość, Nysa, and other cities. The Brzeg bus service is operated by PKS Brzeg, with ten bus lines around the town and Gmina Brzeg. The important routes are to Wrocław, Opole, Grodków, Namysłów, Nysa, Karpacz, Strzelin, Wiązów, and others. On Sunday, there is a special route to Szklarska Poręba.
In 2013, a hospital helipad was opened by Mossora Street.

Sports

Brzeg is twinned with: