Barwałd Średni () is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in southern Poland, located in the administrative district of

Gmina Kalwaria Zebrzydowska __NOTOC__ Gmina Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Wadowice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the town of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, which lies approximately east of Wadowice an ...

within

Wadowice County __NOTOC__ Wadowice County ( pl, powiat wadowicki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local governme ...

, Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It lies approximately west of

Kalwaria Zebrzydowska Kalwaria Zebrzydowska () is a town in southern Poland with 4,429 inhabitants (2007 estimate). As of 1999, it is situated in Lesser Poland or Małopolska (in Polish). Previously, the town was administered within the Voivodeship of Bielsko-Biała ( ...

, east of

Wadowice Wadowice (; ger, Frauenstadt – Wadowitz) is a town in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 19,200 inhabitants (2006), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). W ...

, and south-west of the regional capital

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

History

The growing settlement of Barwałd was divided in the 16th century into three separate villages: Barwałd Górny (Upper), Barwałd Dolny (Lower) and Barwałd Średni (the Middle Barwałd). The wooden parish church of St. Erasmus was built in the second half of the 18th century. It was financed by the district landlord, Jan Biberstein-Starowieyski. The spire is a remnant of the previous 16th-century church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The layout, in which the spire is located to the east of the chancel, is unusual and rarely found. There is polychrome decoration dating from the end of the 18th century, which features figurative, vegetative and geometric motifs. On the chancel ceiling you can see a painting of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, while in the nave there is The Transfiguration of Our Lord on Mount Tabor. The main altar contains an 18th-century painting of St. Erasmus.

World War II railway catastrophe

On 24 November 1944 two trains (one German with military

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

, and one Polish) traveling at regular speeds collided head-on in Barwałd Średni. It was the biggest train collision of World War II in

occupied Poland ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...

with both locomotives and nearly half of their trainsets destroyed completely. Some 130 people from the Polish passenger train were killed and over 100 wounded.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barwald Sredni Villages in Wadowice County