Żywiec () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

on the River Soła in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

with 31,194 inhabitants (2019). It is situated within the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

, near the Żywiec Lake and Żywiec Landscape Park, one of the eight

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

s in the voivodeship. Historically, the town has been part of the Lesser Poland region and is the capital of the Żywiecczyzna region, which is ethnically part of the Goral Lands. The 551231 Żywiec planetoid is named after the town.

History

Żywiec was first mentioned in a written document in 1308 as a seat of a Catholic parish. It was originally located in the place later known as ''Stary Żywiec'' (lit. "Old Żywiec"). It belonged then to the Duchy of Cieszyn, and after 1315 to the Duchy of Oświęcim, which in 1327 became a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

. The town was a focal point for the development of hitherto sparsely populated Żywiec Basin. The area of Stary Żywiec was prone to flooding so the town was moved to the current spot in 1448. In 1457 the Duchy of Oświęcim was purchased and incorporated directly to the Polish Crown. Żywiec was a private town, administratively located in the Kraków Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown. In 1624 it was sold by the Komorowski family to Constance of Austria, queen consort of the Polish king Sigismund III Vasa. During the Deluge, Żywiec was plundered and destroyed by Swedish troops in 1656. From 1672 it was a possession the Polish Chancellor Jan Wielopolski. The Old Castle was built in the mid-14th century. The castle has undergone several restorations and boasts a number of styles of architecture and decoration, including Gothic,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

. Żywiec's Old Castle is encompassed by a 260,000 square metre landscape park, which was established initially in the 17th century. The Church of the Holy Cross was built towards the end of the 14th century, and expanded twice, once in 1679 and again in 1690. In the 18th century, a Baroque church was later constructed on the site and still stands today. A second noteworthy church, the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary's Birth, was constructed and expanded during the first half of the 15th century, before being renovated in Baroque fashion after a fire in 1711. Upon the First Partition of Poland in 1772, Żywiec became part of the Austrian

Kingdom of Galicia The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. In the early 10th century, the Kingdom of Galicia was formed following the div ...

. In 1810 it was purchased by Prince Albert of Saxony, son of King Augustus III of Poland and again ruled with the neighbouring Silesian Duchy of Teschen (Cieszyn). When he died in 1822, his estates fell to Archduke Charles from the Austrian House of Habsburg-Lorraine. The town also houses the Żywiec Brewery, established by Charles' son Archduke Albert in 1852, and purchased by Heineken International in the 1990s. A museum was founded at the site in 2006. At the beginning of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, over 1,000 soldiers of the Polish Legions from the region marched out from Żywiec to fight for Polish independence; 167 of them died in the war. At the end of the war, in 1918, Poland regained independence and control of the town. Eight Poles from Żywiec were killed in the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1920.

Second World War

Following the 1939

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, which started

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Żywiec was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and annexed to the German Province of Upper Silesia (see East Upper Silesia). The last Habsburg owner Archduke Karl Albrecht of Austria refused to sign the German , whereafter he was ousted and arrested. 26 Poles from Żywiec were murdered by the Russians in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940. Between September and December 1940, the Nazi authorities expelled 17,413–20,000 Polish inhabitants from around Żywiec county in the so-called Action Saybusch conducted by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

and

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

. A transit camp for expelled Poles was located at the local school. The expelled Poles were taken to the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

, a different region within Poland under German military occupation. The incident formed part of the Nazis' efforts, led by Reich Minister Alfred Rosenberg and his deputy Alfred Meyer, to develop the Occupied Eastern Territories for settlement by German migrants. In 1941, Nazi German of Upper Silesia Fritz Bracht, while visiting the town, declared that there will be no Poles in the county in five years. German occupation ended in 1945.

Economy

The Żywiec Brewery is located in the town. There is a museum dedicated to the brewery.

Sports

There are several football clubs in the town: men teams Koszarawa Żywiec, Czarni-Góral Żywiec, Soła Żywiec, and women team TS Mitech Żywiec. All four teams compete in the lower leagues, although Mitech also played in the Ekstraliga (Polish top division) until 2020.

Notable people

* Ferdynand Obtułowicz (1851-1923), doctor and social worker * Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria (1860–1933), aristocrat * Archduke Karl Albrecht of Austria (1888–1951), aristocrat * Alice Habsburg (1889–1985), aristocrat * Archduke Leo Karl of Austria (1893–1939), aristocrat * Wilhelm Brasse (1917–2012) photographer, Auschwitz prisoner * Tadeusz Wrona (born 1954), aviator * Tomasz Adamek (born 1976), boxer * Piotr Haczek (born 1977), athlete * Agata Wróbel (born 1981), weightlifter * Tomasz Jodłowiec (born 1985), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Żywiec is twinned with: * Adur, England, United Kingdom * Čadca, Slovakia * Feldbach, Austria * Gödöllő, Hungary * Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia *

Opava Opava (; , ) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Opava (river), Opava River. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia and was a historical capital of Czech Sile ...

, Czech Republic * Riom, France * Storuman, Sweden * Szczytno, Poland * Unterhaching, Germany

Gallery

Ratusz na Rynku w Żywcu.jpg, Town Hall Żywiec - Konkatedra.jpg, St. Mary's Co-cathedral Żywiec - Dzwonnica konkatedry.JPG, Co-cathedral bell tower Nowy Zamek w Żywcu zdjęcie.jpg, New Castle Autumn park in Żywiec in the reflection of a puddle.jpg, Castle park in autumn Żywiec, Muzeum Browaru Żywiec 3.jpg, Żywiec Brewery Museum

References

External links

Jewish Community in Żywiec
on Virtual Shtetl {{DEFAULTSORT:Zywiec Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Żywiec County Province of Upper Silesia