Lwówek Śląski

Lwówek Śląski

The town hall, The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the municipal office, The Lubań Tower, The Płakowice Palace, the tenements in the town centre

Flag
Coat of arms
Lwówek Śląski
Coordinates: 51°7′N 15°35′E / 51.117°N 15.583°E / 51.117; 15.583
Country  Poland
Voivodeship Lower Silesian
County Lwówek Śląski County
Gmina Gmina Lwówek Śląski
Established before 1209
Town rights 1217
Government
 • Mayor Mariola Szczęsna
Area
 • Total 16.65 km2 (6.43 sq mi)
Population (2006)
 • Total 9,687
 • Density 580/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 59-600
Area code(s) +48 75
Car plates DLW
Climate Dfb
Website http://www.lwowekslaski.pl
The buggle-call of Lwówek Śląski
Musical notation of the buggle-call of Lwówek Śląski

Lwówek Śląski [ˈlvuvɛk ˈɕlɔ̃skʲi] (Polish: Lwówek Śląski ( listen); German: Löwenberg in Schlesien) is a town in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in Poland. Situated on the Bóbr River, Lwówek Śląski is about 30 kilometres (19 miles) NNW of Jelenia Góra and has a population of about 10,300 inhabitants. It is the administrative seat of Lwówek Śląski County, and also of the smaller municipality called Gmina Lwówek Śląski.

History

The vicinity of Lwówek Śląski, densely wooded and located on the inner side of the unsettled[1] Silesian Przesieka,[2] was gradually cleared and populated by German peasants in the first half of the 13th century during the Ostsiedlung.[3] 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.[4] By 1217 the settlement, founded by the Duke of Wrocław, had important privileges, such as rights to brew, mill, fish, and hunt within a mile from settlement. German colonists expanded[5] upon the preexisting settlement and in 1217 it received town rights as the second town in Silesia; its style of governance was duplicated by other local towns, such as Bunzlau (Bolesławiec), as Löwenberg Rights or Lwówek Śląski Rights.[6] The dukes then constructed a castle, documented for the first time in 1248. In the second half of the 13th century Löwenberg became the capital of a Silesian Piast principality, whose duke took the title of a Duke of Silesia and Lord of Löwenberg.

The prints of Lwówek Śląski during the centuries
Panorama from XVI-th century
Panorama from XVI-th century 
Panorama from XVIcentury
Panorama from XVII-th century 
Shiny silver coin with profile of Washington bust.
Panorama from 1739 
Gold coin with bust of Washington facing slightly left
Panorama from XVIII-th century 

After the death of Duchess Agnes of Habsburg, the widow of Bolko II, the last Piast of Świdnica, the region was inherited with the Duchy of Świdnica-Jawor (Schweidnitz-Jauer) by the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1393. Löwenberg's placement on a trade route allowed it to become one of the more prosperous towns in Bohemia. It passed with the Bohemian crown to the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526. During the Thirty Years' War, Löwenberg was devastated by Swedish and Imperial troops, especially between 1633-1643. 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 Löwenberg in May 1813, and Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in the town from August 21–23 while organizing his defenses against the Prussian troops of General Gebhard von Blücher. A few days later the Prussian army defeated the Frenchmen; more than 3,000 French soldiers drowned in the flooding Bober (Bóbr) as they retreated.

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 last days of World War II, Löwenberg's medieval center was 40% destroyed and numerous buildings of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque were lost. At war's end the town was placed under Polish administration as Lwówek Śląski according to the Potsdam Agreement. Its remaining German population was expelled and replaced with Poles.

Coat of arms

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.

Population

Year 1329 1543 1740 1784 1797 1816 1825 1840 1861 1871 1885 1905
Population number[7] ok. 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 8940

Climate

Climate data for Lwówek Śląski (1979–2013)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 14.5
(58.1)		 16.3
(61.3)		 20.4
(68.7)		 28.4
(83.1)		 30.2
(86.4)		 34.2
(93.6)		 35.9
(96.6)		 35.9
(96.6)		 28.5
(83.3)		 25.1
(77.2)		 17.2
(63)		 13.3
(55.9)		 35,9
(96.6)
Average high °C (°F) 1.3
(34.3)		 2.7
(36.9)		 7.4
(45.3)		 13.3
(55.9)		 18.7
(65.7)		 21.3
(70.3)		 23.4
(74.1)		 23.3
(73.9)		 18.3
(64.9)		 13.0
(55.4)		 6.3
(43.3)		 2.6
(36.7)		 12,6
(54.72)
Average low °C (°F) −4.1
(24.6)		 −3.6
(25.5)		 −0.4
(31.3)		 3
(37)		 7.4
(45.3)		 10.6
(51.1)		 12.4
(54.3)		 12.0
(53.6)		 8.7
(47.7)		 4.8
(40.6)		 0.8
(33.4)		 −2.4
(27.7)		 4,1
(39.34)
Record low °C (°F) −26.3
(−15.3)		 −23.9
(−11)		 −14.6
(5.7)		 −6.9
(19.6)		 −2.9
(26.8)		 1.3
(34.3)		 5.1
(41.2)		 3.9
(39)		 −0.1
(31.8)		 −6.0
(21.2)		 −13.5
(7.7)		 −22.9
(−9.2)		 -26,3
(−15.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 43
(1.69)		 36
(1.42)		 44
(1.73)		 36
(1.42)		 53
(2.09)		 66
(2.6)		 90
(3.54)		 75
(2.95)		 52
(2.05)		 37
(1.46)		 44
(1.73)		 48
(1.89)		 623
(24.53)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 12 10 11 8 10 12 12 11 10 8 10 12 126
Source: http://eca.knmi.nl/

Culture and entertainment

Lwówek's Culture Centre

Lwówek's Culture Centre is located in Przyjaciół Żołnierza St. 5. In town's culture centre there are:

City events

Agat from Płóczki Górne
Famous beer from Lwówek Śląski's Brewery - "Lwówek Książęcy"

Every year in the second weekend of July takes place Lwóweckie Lato Agatowe.

Museums

In Lwówek Śląski there are two important museums:

In the second weekend of July, when Lwówek Agat Summer lasts, you can also visit Lubańska Tower and admire the great, breathtaking view on the town.

Twin cities

This Deutsche Bundespost stamp shows Lwówek Śląski's town hall interior
Town Country The date of the beginning of partnership
Lwówek		 PolandPoland 2003[8]
Heidenau		 GermanyGermany 4 April 1995
Velký Šenov		 Czech RepublicCzech Republic 16 November 2000
Noidans-lès-Vesoul		 FranceFrance 21 June 2006
Chrastava		 Czech RepublicCzech Republic 18 June 2007[9]
Wilthen		 GermanyGermany 22 September 2009

Notable residents

Skylines

The view on the town from west (2005)

Notes

  1. ↑ Petry, Ludwig; Geschichte Schlesiens. Band 1: Von der Urzeit bis zum Jahre 1526, Stuttgart, Jan Thorbecke Verlag, 2000, p.11, ISBN 3-7995-6341-5
  2. ↑ Hugo Weczerka, Handbuch der historischen Stätten, Schlesien, 2003, p.296, ISBN 3-520-31602-1
  3. ↑ Westermann, p. 74
  4. ↑ Jerzy Maroń, Legnica 1241 Historyczne Bitwy, Bellona 2008, p. 44, ISBN 83-11-11171-5
  5. ↑ Krallert, "Die nord- und mitteldeutsche Ostsiedlung vom 12.—14. Jahrhundert"
  6. ↑ Krallert, "Die Ausbreitung des deutschen Städtewesens bis 1400"
  7. ↑ Staffa, Marek (2003). Słownik geografii turystycznej Sudetów, Pogórze Izerskie. [1], A-Ł [Glossary tourist geography of the Sudetenland, Foothills Mountains. [1] A-L]. Wroclaw: I-BiS. pp. 443–471. ISBN 83-85773-60-6.
  8. ↑ "miasta partnerskie" (PDF).
  9. ↑ "Chrastava - polski". www.chrastava.cz. Retrieved 2015-08-10.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lwówek Śląski.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Löwenberg.

Coordinates: 51°07′N 15°35′E / 51.117°N 15.583°E / 51.117; 15.583

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