Lwówek Śląski

File:Lwówek Ślaski, Henryk Brodaty.JPG in 1217]]

The vicinity of present-day Lwówek Śląski, densely wooded and located on the inner side of the unsettledLudwig Petry: Geschichte Schlesiens. Band 1: Von der Urzeit bis zum Jahre 1526, Stuttgart, Jan Thorbecke Verlag, 2000, p. 11, {{ISBN|3-7995-6341-5}} Silesian PrzesiekaHugo Weczerka, Handbuch der historischen Stätten, Schlesien, 2003, p. 296, {{ISBN|3-520-31602-1}} within the medieval Kingdom of Poland was gradually cleared and populated by German peasants in the first half of the 13th century during the Ostsiedlung.Westermann, p. 74 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.Jerzy Maroń, Legnica 1241 Historyczne Bitwy, Bellona 2008, p. 44, {{ISBN|83-11-11171-5}} In 1209 Henry granted it important privileges, such as rights to brew, mill, fish, and hunt within a mile from settlement.{{cite web|url=https://turystyka.powiatlwowecki.pl/pl/article/117|title=Gmina Lwówek Śląski|access-date=12 February 2020|language=Polish}} German colonists expandedKrallert, "Die nord- und mitteldeutsche Ostsiedlung vom 12.—14. Jahrhundert" upon the preexisting settlement and in 1217 it was granted town rights by Henry the Bearded, as one of the first cities in Poland{{cite web|url=https://lwowekslaski.pl/cms/25176/historia|title=Historia|website=Urząd Gminy i Miasta Lwówek Śląski|access-date=12 February 2020|language=Polish}} (Opole and Racibórz received town rights that same year, earlier only Złotoryja); its style of governance was duplicated by other local towns, such as Bolesławiec, as Löwenberg Rights or Lwówek Śląski Rights.Krallert, "Die Ausbreitung des deutschen Städtewesens bis 1400" In 1243 Duke Bolesław II Rogatka organized the first knight tournament in Poland in the town.{{cite web|url=https://legnica.gosc.pl/doc/4528620.Igrzyska-zimowe|title=Igrzyska zimowe|website=Gość Legnicki|access-date=12 February 2020|language=Polish}} The dukes then constructed a castle, documented for the first time in 1248. In the 13th century Franciscans and Knights Hospitaller settled in the town. As a result of the fragmentation of Poland, it was part of the Duchy of Legnica from 1248, the Duchy of Jawor from 1274, from 1278 to 1286 it was the capital of an eponymous duchy under its only duke Bernard the Lightsome, who took the title of a Duke of Silesia and Lord of Lwówek, and afterwards it was again part of the Duchy of Jawor, which was soon included in the larger Duchy of Świdnica-Jawor, part of which it remained until its dissolution in 1392. In 1327 the town received the right to mint its own coin from Duke Henry I of Jawor, before Wrocław. In 1329 it was one of the largest cities in Silesia. In the 13th and 14th centuries distinctive landmarks of Lwówek were built, including the defensive walls with the Lubańska and Bolesławiecka towers, the town hall (later expanded) and the Gothic churches of St. Mary and of St. Francis.

After the death of Duchess Agnes of Habsburg, the widow of Bolko II, the last Polish Piast Duke of Świdnica, the town with the duchy passed to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1392. Löwenberg's placement on a trade route allowed it to become one of the more prosperous towns in Bohemia. In 1469 it passed to Hungary and in 1490 again to Bohemia, then ruled by Polish prince Vladislaus II Jagiellon, son of King Casimir IV of Poland. In 1498 Vladislaus II granted the coat of arms, still used today. The town remained under the rule of the Jagiellonian dynasty until 1526 when it passed with the Bohemian Crown to the Habsburg monarchy of Austria.

During the Thirty Years' War, Löwenberg was devastated by Swedish and Imperial troops, especially between 1633 and 1643. By the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the town was largely destroyed and had a decimated population of only hundreds.

{{Gallery

| title = The prints of Lwówek Śląski during the centuries

| width = 160 |height=150

| align = center

|File:XVII wiek lwówek śląski panorama 21.jpg

| alt1 = Panorama from 16th century

|Panorama from 16th century

|File:Lwówek Śląski panorama XVI wiek.jpg

| alt2 = Panorama from XVIcentury

|Panorama from 17th century

|File:XVIII w lwówek śląski zdjęcie lotnicze.jpg

| alt3 = Gold coin with bust of Washington facing slightly left

|Panorama from 18th century

}}

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 the town in May 1813. Polish writer Aleksander Fredro joined the Napoleonic troops in the town.{{cite web|url=https://lwowek24.pl/drugie-zycie-napoleona/|title=Drugie życie Napoleona|website=Lwowek24.pl|date=27 May 2022|access-date=24 November 2023|language=pl}} On August 21, 1813, the present-day district of Płakowice was the site of a battle, in which French and Polish troops defeated the Prussians, and Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in the town on August 21–23 while organizing his defenses against the Prussian troops of General Gebhard von Blücher. Following Macdonald's retreat after the Battle of the Katzbach with Blucher, General Puthod's Division, including Vacherau's Brigade (The Irish Regiment, 134th & 143rd Regiments), became isolated from the rest of the army. The Bóbr River had risen out of its banks from the heavy rains and the bridges were underwater. The division had been reduced to six thousand men and twelve pieces of artillery. On the morning of 29 August, they reached the town of Lowenberg. It took up the best position it could find, on the narrow ridge above Płakowice, with its back to the river. All the bridges had been washed away and there was no possibility of constructing a bridge with the river flooding its banks on both sides. A combined Russian and Prussian Army of overwhelming superiority faced the Division but could only attack at the one narrow south-eastern end of the ridge. The battle began at 8:00 am and lasted until after 4:00 pm. When the Division had expended the last of its ammunition, the enemy attacked and overran its position.

Most of the officers waded into the river and swam to the opposite shore. The riverbed itself was not terribly wide although the current was strong. They were able to wade about half the distance, swim a short way, and walk through the water to dry land. The total French casualties of killed, wounded, drowned and captured were more the 3,000.

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 interwar period and during World War II there was an economic recession.

In the last days of World War II, the medieval center was 40% destroyed and numerous Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque buildings were lost. After the German surrender, a time of oppression began for the German populace in their own hometown. More and more Polish arrived who took possession of the town. No Germans were allowed in the streets after dusk. Every Sunday, Germans were forced to public works. However, Germans were also not allowed to move westwards. Finally, on July 1, 1946, the Polish administration announced that all Germans were to be "repatriated" to diminished Germany and had to leave their homes.{{cite book|title=Letzte Tage in Stadt und Kreis Löwenberg, Schlesier berichten von Flucht, Unterdrückung und Vertreibung|year=2000 |publisher=Senfkorn Verlag|ISBN=9783935330008|pages=88, 90}}

The town became part of Poland in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, first under its historic Polish name Lwów.{{Cite Polish law|title=Rozporządzenie Ministra Obrony Narodowej w porozumieniu z Ministrem Administracji Publicznej z dnia 21 sierpnia 1945 r. o utworzeniu nowych, o zmianach istniejących dotychczas rejonowych komend uzupełnień i o ustaleniu ich zasięgu terytorialnego.|year=1945|volume=33|number=196}} The town was repopulated by Poles, some of whom were expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, while some were settlers from war-devastated central Poland or former prisoners of German Nazi concentration camps and forced labour camps. In 1946, the town was renamed to its other historic,{{cite book|author= |title=Rozprawy Akademii Umiejętności. Wydział Historyczno-Filozoficzny. Serya II. Tom XI|year=1897|language=pl|publisher=Akademia Umiejętności|location=Kraków|page=311}} but more modern, name Lwówek Śląski,{{Cite Polish law|title=Zarządzenie Ministrów: Administracji Publicznej i Ziem Odzyskanych z dnia 7 maja 1946 r. o przywróceniu i ustaleniu urzędowych nazw miejscowości.|gazette=Monitor|year=1946|volume=44|number=85}} to distinguish it from Poland's lost city of Lwów.

Following the Korean War, in 1953, Poland admitted 1,000 North Korean orphans in the present-day district of Płakowice, however, some were relocated to Szklarska Poręba and Bardo in the following years.{{cite magazine|last=Sołtysik|first=Łukasz|year=2009|title=Dzieci i młodzież północnokoreańska w Polsce w latach 1953–1954 w świetle wybranych dokumentów|magazine=Rocznik Jeleniogórski|language=pl|location=Jelenia Góra|volume=XLI|page=196|issn=0080-3480}} Remaining children returned to North Korea in 1959.Sołtysik, p. 198

A memorial to Napoleon Bonaparte was unveiled in 2003.

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.

• Graph of population of the city of Lwówek Śląski, over the last 2 centuries:

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PlotArea = left:60 right:30 top:25 bottom:30

TimeAxis = orientation:vertical

AlignBars = late

Colors =

id:linegrey2 value:gray(0.9)

id:linegrey value:gray(0.7)

id:cobar value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.8)

id:cobar2 value:rgb(0.6,0.9,0.6)

DateFormat = yyyy

Period = from:0 till:11000

ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey

ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:500 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey2

PlotData =

color:cobar width:22 align:left

bar:1797 from:0 till:3928

bar:1816 from:0 till:3684

bar:1825 from:0 till:3552

bar:1840 from:0 till:3770

bar:1861 from:0 till:4628

bar:1871 from:0 till:4798

bar:1885 from:0 till:4720

bar:1905 from:0 till:5682

bar:1920 from:0 till:6319

bar:1941 from:0 till:6063

bar:1945 from:0 till:6238

bar:1950 from:0 till:3411

bar:1960 from:0 till:5517

bar:1970 from:0 till:6714

bar:1978 from:0 till:7776

bar:1988 from:0 till:9312

bar:1999 from:0 till:9249

bar:2000 color:cobar2 from:0 till:10045

bar:2006 from:0 till:9687

bar:2011 from:0 till:9462

bar:2016 from:0 till:8940

PlotData =

textcolor:black fontsize:S

bar:1797 at: 3928 text: 3,928 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1816 at: 3684 text: 3,684 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1825 at: 3552 text: 3,552 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1840 at: 3770 text: 3,770 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1861 at: 4628 text: 4,628 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1871 at: 4798 text: 4,798 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1885 at: 4720 text: 4,720 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1905 at: 5682 text: 5,682 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1920 at: 6319 text: 6,319 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1941 at: 6063 text: 6,063 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1945 at: 6238 text: 6,238 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1950 at: 3411 text: 3,411 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1960 at: 5517 text: 5,517 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1970 at: 6714 text: 6,714 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1978 at: 7776 text: 7,776 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1988 at: 9312 text: 9,312 shift:(-14,5)

bar:1999 at: 9249 text: 9,249 shift:(-14,5)

bar:2000 at: 10045 text: 10,045 shift:(-14,5)

bar:2006 at: 9687 text: 9,687 shift:(-14,5)

bar:2011 at: 9462 text: 9,462 shift:(-14,5)

bar:2016 at: 9115 text: 8,940 shift:(-14,5)

{{Weather box

| location = Lwówek Śląski (1979–2013)

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|Jan record high C=14.5|Feb record high C=16.3|Mar record high C=20.4|Apr record high C=28.4|May record high C=30.2|Jun record high C=34.2|Jul record high C=35.9|Aug record high C=35.9|Sep record high C=28.5|Oct record high C=25.1|Nov record high C=17.2|Dec record high C=13.3|year record high C=35,9|Jan high C=1.3|Feb high C=2.7|Mar high C=7.4|Apr high C=13.3|May high C=18.7|Jun high C=21.3|Jul high C=23.4|Aug high C=23.3|Sep high C=18.3|Oct high C=13.0|Nov high C=6.3|Dec high C=2.6|year high C=12,6|Jan low C=-4.1|Feb low C=-3.6|Mar low C=-0.4|Apr low C=3|May low C=7.4|Jun low C=10.6|Jul low C=12.4|Aug low C=12.0|Sep low C=8.7|Oct low C=4.8|Nov low C=0.8|Dec low C=-2.4|year low C=4,1|Jan record low C=-26.3|Feb record low C=-23.9|Mar record low C=-14.6|Apr record low C=-6.9|May record low C=-2.9|Jun record low C=1.3|Jul record low C=5.1|Aug record low C=3.9|Sep record low C=-0.1|Oct record low C=-6.0|Nov record low C=-13.5|Dec record low C=-22.9|year record low C=-26,3|precipitation colour=green|Jan precipitation mm=43|Feb precipitation mm=36|Mar precipitation mm=44|Apr precipitation mm=36|May precipitation mm=53|Jun precipitation mm=66|Jul precipitation mm=90|Aug precipitation mm=75|Sep precipitation mm=52|Oct precipitation mm=37|Nov precipitation mm=44|Dec precipitation mm=48|year precipitation mm=623|unit precipitation days=1.0 mm|Jan precipitation days=12|Feb precipitation days=10|Mar precipitation days=11|Apr precipitation days=8|May precipitation days=10|Jun precipitation days=12|Jul precipitation days=12|Aug precipitation days=11|Sep precipitation days=10|Oct precipitation days=8|Nov precipitation days=10|Dec precipitation days=12

|year precipitation days = 126

|source 1 = http://eca.knmi.nl/

}}

File:Lwówek Śląski (157).JPG

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

• Cinema LOK;
• Office of providers the cable TV;
• Art gallery Kla-Tka;
• Dance School Vega;
• Music room;
• School of painting and drawing.

File:Muzeum Złota w Złotoryi agat z Płóczek Górnych 21.07.2011 p.jpg

File:Książęce Lwówek Śląski Pierwsza Warka 2010.jpg

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

• In January – The Kings Parade in the Feast of Three Kings(06.01);
• In March – Lwówek talent fest;
• In April – Nationwide Orientation Fest (III round of Polish Cup);
• In May – International canoeing trip on the Bóbr river;
• In May – Turist rally name Henryk the Bearded;
• In July – Lwówek Agat Summer;
• In July – Lwówek motorcycle jamboree;
• In September – Unusual Heritage Fairs - Napoleonic Picknic, Lower Silesian Festival Of Gifts Of The Forest;
• In October – Lwówek Mineralogical Meeting;
• In December – Christmas Fair, Santa Claus Run, Christmas nativity play.

The museums in Lwówek Śląski include:

• Museum - historical facility in the town hall (Wolności Sq. 1);
• Museum of the Brewery in the town brewery "Lwówek" (Traugutta St. 4).

In the second weekend of July, when Lwówek Agat Summer lasts, visitors can access Lubańska Tower for views of the town.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

• Nikolaus von Reusner (1545–1602), jurist
• Martin Moller (1547–1606), mystic
• Georg Schultze (1599–1634), jurist
• Esaias Reusner (1636–1679), lutist and composer
• Franz Schmidt (1818–1853), preacher, representative in the Frankfurt Parliament in 1848, fled to Switzerland, then to St. Louis, MO, USA; founder of the German Lyceum there.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
• Günther Klammt (1898–1971), major-general
• Eberhard Zwirner (1899–1984), physician and phonetician
• Stefan Hüfner (1935–2013), physicist
• {{interlanguage link|Krzysztof Zawadzki|pl|display=1}} (born 1970), actor
• Lucjan Błaszczyk (born 1974), table tennis player
• Anna Rostkowska (born 1980), Polish Olympic athlete

See twin towns of Gmina Lwówek Śląski.

File:Lwówek Śląski, mury obronne z basztami (7).JPG|Defensive walls

File:Lwówek Śląski, Kościół Wniebowzięcia NMP - fotopolska.eu (254351).jpg|Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary

File:Lwówek Śląski, ratusz, wnętrza (7).JPG|Town hall interior

File:Lwówek Ślaski Wieża kościoła ewangelickiego.JPG|The remaining tower of the Protestant Church

File:Miłorząb we Lwówku 2.JPG|City park

File:Plakowice-01.jpg|Renaissance Płakowice Castle

File:Lwówek Śląski - Urząd Gminy 01.jpg|Gmina office

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |first1 = Westermann |last1 = Verlag |author1-link = Westermann Verlag |author2 = Erich Stier |author3 = Ernst Kirsten |author4 = Wilhelm Wühr |author5 = Heinz Quirin |author6 = Werner Trillmilch |author7 = Gerhard Czybulka |author8 = Hermann Pinnow |author9 = Hans Ebeling |title = Westermanns Atlas zur Weltgeschichte: Vorzeit / Altertum, Mittelalter, Neuzeit |year=1963 |publisher = Georg Westermann Verlag |location = Braunschweig |page = 170 |language = de }}
• {{cite book |last = Krallert |first = Wolfgang |title = Atlas zur Geschichte der deutschen Ostsiedlung |year = 1958 |publisher = Velhagen & Klasing |location = Bielefeld |page = 33 }}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Lwówek Śląski}}

{{EB1911 poster|Löwenberg}}

• [http://www.lwowekslaski.pl/ Official website] {{in lang|pl}}

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{{Gmina Lwówek Śląski}}

{{Lwówek Śląski County}}

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Category:Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship

Category:Lwówek Śląski County

Category:Cities in Silesia

Category:Populated riverside places in Poland