Nowogrodziec (german: Naumburg am Queis) is a town in Bolesławiec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Nowogrodziec. It lies on the east bank of the

Kwisa The Kwisa (german: Queis, hsb, Hwizdź) is a river in south-western Poland, a left tributary of the Bóbr, which itself is a left tributary of the Oder river. It rises in the Izera Mountains, part of the Western Sudetes range, where it runs al ...

river south of the

Lower Silesian Wilderness Lower Silesian Forest ( pl, Bory Dolnośląskie, german: Niederschlesische Heide) is the largest continuous forest of Poland, with total area of 1650 square kilometers. It is located in southwestern Poland, in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship and t ...

, approximately south-west of

Bolesławiec Bolesławiec (pronounced , szl, Bolesławiec, german: Bunzlau) is a historic city situated on the Bóbr River in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in western Poland. It is the administrative seat of Bolesławiec County, and of Gmina Bolesławiec, ...

, and west of the regional capital

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

. As of 2019, the town has a population of 4,243.

History

Polish Duke

Henry I the Bearded Henry the Bearded ( pl, Henryk (Jędrzych) Brodaty, german: Heinrich der Bärtige; c. 1165/70 – 19 March 1238) was a Polish duke from the Piast dynasty. He was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1201, Duke of Kraków and High Duke of all Pol ...

established the town in 1233 and granted it Magdeburg town rights. Earlier, in 1202, he founded a castle, which after 1217 was granted to the Magdalene Sisters. Due to the fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies, the town later belonged to the duchies of Legnica,

Głogów Głogów (; german: Glogau, links=no, rarely , cs, Hlohov, szl, Głogōw) is a city in western Poland. It is the county seat of Głogów County, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), and was previously in Legnica Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

and

Jawor Jawor (german: Jauer) is a town in south-western Poland with 22,890 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975 to 1998 it was in the former Legnica Voivodeship). It is the seat of Jawor County, and lies appr ...

, ruled by the Silesian line of the Piast dynasty. Here the important ''

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History Origins The V ...

'' road crossed the Kwisa, that marked the border with the historic

Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the ...

region in the west. From 1495 the town was owned by the Magdalene monastery. It developed rapidly. The town obtained a privilege, allowing brewing and selling beer. In 1500, thanks to the efforts of the nuns, the town's first

waterworks Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

were launched. After the flood of 1496, there was an epidemic that killed half the population. Only three marriages and residents of the monastery survived the next epidemic in 1527. In the 16th century the first

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

was established, and in 1698 the first pottery guild was founded here. In 1810 the monastery was secularized and a court and a school were located in its former buildings. From 1871 to 1945 it was part of Germany. Heavily devastated during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the town passed to the Republic of Poland upon the implementation of the Oder-Neisse line in 1945. From 1975 to 1998 Nowogrodziec was in

Jelenia Góra Voivodeship Jelenia Gora Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Its capital city was Jelenia Gora. Major cities and towns (population i ...

Sights

Among the historic sights of Nowogrodziec are the town hall (''Ratusz''), the Baroque church of Saints Peter and Paul with the ruins of the Magdalene monastery, the Saint Nicholas church, the Baroque statue of

John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) ( cs, Jan Nepomucký; german: Johannes Nepomuk; la, Ioannes Nepomucenus) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus ...

at the Market Square and the Polish-Saxon post milestone of King

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as K ...

from 1725. The Garniec Fountain at the Market Square refers to the town's pottery traditions. Like nearby

, the town was once famous for its pottery. File:Kościół w Nowogrodźcu.jpg, Saints Peter and Paul church File:Nowogrodziec, kosciół św. Mikołaja.jpg, Saint Nicholas church File:Nowogrodziec Naumburg am Queis kursaechs Postmeilenstein 2.jpg, Post milestone File:Garniec Fountain in Nowogrodziec (1).jpg, Garniec Fountain at the Market Square

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Nowogrodziec.

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Bolesławiec County Cities in Silesia