Wagrowiec
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Wągrowiec is a town in north-western Poland, 50 km from both Poznań and Bydgoszcz. Since 18th century it has been the a seat of a powiat. It is currently attached to the Greater Polish Voivodship. The town is located in the middle of the historical region of Pałuki and the Chodzież lake area (Pojezierze chodzieskie), on the river Wełna and its tributaries Nielba and Struga, as well as on the shores of Durów Lake.
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Geography
The region around the town is rich in lakes. The town itself sits in the middle of Lake Durów. The Wagrowiec municipal area boasts a rare attraction: two rivers, the Nielba and Wełna cross there, without conmingling.
Administration
Wagrowiec is constituted as a gmina miejska, or municipal commune. The city is also the seat of the rural commune of Wągrowiec, and is the seat of powiat of Wągrowiec.
Situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship since 1999, Wagrowiec was previously a part of the Pila Voivodship (1975-1998).
Industry and commerce
Wągrowiec is an important rail and road junction. There are several notable factories located in the town, including the machinery factories (a branch of the Hipolit Cegielski factory in Poznań and a branch of the Zremb machinery factory), a major food processing plants (a mill, meat canning factory and a milk yard) and a furniture factory. The town is also a centre of tourism, with several hotels located along the shores of the lake.
History
The town was founded as a small village called Prostynie by the Cistercian monks from the monastery in Łekno in 1319. In 1381 the name of Wągrowiec is mentioned for the first time in connection with the place. By that time the town received city laws, most likely modelled after the Magdeburg Law. At the end of XVI century king Wladyslaw Jagiello gave the city the privileges of market and fair and in 1396 the Cistercian monastery was moved to the town.
The town soon started to prosper. In 15th and 16th centuries it was an important centre of trade and commerce, and manufacture (mostly textiles). The period of prosperity came to a halt during the Deluge, when in 1656 the town was captured, pillaged and burnt by the forces of Charles X of Sweden.
Following the Partitions of Poland, the town in 1793 was annexed by Kingdom of Prussia, and was confiscated from the Cistercians in 1797. Initially a part of the newly-created province of South Prussia, it was in 1807 transferred to the Duchy of Warsaw, a state allied to the Napoleonic France. However, after Napoleon's defeat and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Wągrowiec was yet again annexed by Prussia—this time to the autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznań. In 1835 the Cistercian monastic order was dissolved, and its property was confiscated by the Prussian authorities. On February 9, 1849, the autonomy of the Duchy was cancelled, and Wągrowiec - under a germanized name of Wongrowitz - became part of the province of Posen. In 1888 a railroad line linking Wągrowiec with Poznań was opened.
After World War I, Wągrowiec was once again within the borders of a Polish state, the Republic of Poland. This was not automatic, however: in the years 1918-19 Polish inhabitants of Wagrowiec fought in the Greater Poland Uprising.
Following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the conclusion of the Polish Defence War of 1939, the town was annexed to the German Reich. During World War II, Wapno was part of the German Reichsgau Wartheland and its name was changed by the Nazis to Eichenbrück. Many of its Polish inhabitants were expelled to the more easterly areas of the General Government as part of the implementation of lebensraum policies. Wagrowiec was liberated in January of 1945.
Miscellanea
Notable people from Wągrowiec
- Jakub Wujek was born here (1541), author of a translation of Holy Scripture into the Polish language.
Notable architecture and other attractions
- the Gothic parish church with a belfry containingRenaissance polichromies dating to (1587)
- A Baroque Cistertian monastery (late 18th century)
- Late[Baroque Cistercian church (late 18th century, burnt in 1945, rebuilt 1946-1962)
- Opatówka abbey - the former seat of the Cistercian Abbots, now a Regional Museum
- Pyramid of Lakiński - the pyramid-shaped tomb of a Polish captain who served in Napoleon's army.
- The Dębina oak tree reserve with trees more than 200 years old and 40 metres tall, located just outside the city limits
Sport
The famous Nielba Sports Club is headquartered here. The mens handball team plays in the Polish Second Division, mens soccer team plays in the Fourth Division.
See also
- Standesamt Wongrowitz - civil registration office during Prussian administration
- Kreis Wongrowitz - "county" during Prussian administration
External links
- Municipal site (http://www.wagrowiec.pl/index.php?menu=1&id=8)de:Wągrowiec