Milicz () is a town in

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship (, ) in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of and has a total population of 2,899,986. It is one of the wealthiest ...

, in west-central

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 ...

. It is the seat of Milicz County and of Gmina Milicz, part of the larger Wrocław metropolitan area.

Geography

The town is situated in the historic Lower Silesia region, near the border with

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

. The centre is located on the Barycz river, about north of the regional capital

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

. From 1975 to 1998 Milicz belonged to Wrocław Voivodeship. The Milicz Ponds, an important habitat and breeding ground for water birds, are a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

established 1963 and protected under the

Ramsar convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...

. Since 1996 they also formed part of a larger

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 ...

known as the Barycz Valley Landscape Park. As of 2019, the town has a population of 11,304.

History

Milicz developed as route of the ancient Amber Trade Route known as the

Amber Road The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. ...

. A settlement at the site was possibly established in the 11th century. ''Milich'' Castle was first mentioned in an 1136 deed by

Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II (; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as Pope was controversial, and the first eight years o ...

as a property of the cathedral chapter of the Diocese of Wrocław. The name possibly refers to a legendary founder or is derived from , "pleasant", "friendly". It is listed as a possession of the Polish Archdiocese of Gniezno in an 1154 deed issued by

Pope Adrian IV Pope Adrian (or Hadrian) IV (; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 until his death in 1159. Born in England, Adrian IV was the first Pope ...

, it is later also mentioned under the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name ''Milicium'' in a 1249 document by Duke

Przemysł I of Greater Poland Przemysł I (4 June 1221 – 4 June 1257), a member of the Piast dynasty, was Duke of Greater Poland from 1239 until his death, from 1241 with his brother Bolesław the Pious as co-ruler. He was able to re-acquire large parts of Greater Poland, ...

. The Polish name ''Mylicz'' first appeared in the ''

Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis (, 'Book of endowments of the Bishopric of Wrocław') is a Latin manuscript catalog of documents compiled in the later 13th or in the early 14th century. It lists towns and villages obliged to pay a tithe to the Bishopric of Wrocław. As a pr ...

'' (''Book of endowments of the Bishopric of Wrocław'') manuscript written about 1305 at the behest of Bishop Henry of Wierzbnej. Milicz

Upon the death of Polish Duke

Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth (; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between 1107 and 1138. He was the onl ...

in 1138, Milicz became part of the Polish

Duchy of Silesia The Duchy of Silesia (, ) with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval provincial duchy of Poland located in the region of Silesia. Soon after it was formed under the Piast dynasty in 1138, it fragmented into various Silesian duchies. In 1327, t ...

, ruled by Duke

Bolesław I the Tall Bolesław I the Tall (; 1127 – 7 or 8 December 1201) was Duke of Wrocław from 1163 until his death in 1201. Early years Boleslaw was the eldest son of Władysław II the Exile by his wife Agnes of Babenberg, daughter of Margrave Leopold II ...

from 1163, and was the seat of a

castellany A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

. The citizens received

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

in 1245. In 1294 the area was conquered by Duke Henry III of Głogów and from 1313 belonged to the Silesian Duchy of Oels (Oleśnica), which itself became a

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

fiefdom in 1329. In 1358 the Wrocław bishops finally sold their Milicz estates to the

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of King Casimir III the Great. Branches of ...

duke Konrad I, whose successors had a Gothic castle built. In 1432, the town was attacked by the

Hussites upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...

. The Oleśnica dukes held the town until in 1492 the line became extinct and the duchy was finally seized as an expired fief by the Bohemian Crown. In 1494 King Vladislas II of Bohemia granted Milicz to his chamberlain Sigismund Kurzbach, who installed the autonomous Silesian

state country State country (; ; ) was a unit of administrative and territorial division in the Bohemian crown lands of Silesia and Upper Lusatia, existing from 15th to 18th centuries. These estates were exempt from feudal tenure by privilege of the Bohemian ...

of Milicz and Żmigród ''(Trachenberg)''. The Milicz part was acquired by the Maltzan noble family in 1590. Militsch was conquered by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

upon the

First Silesian War The First Silesian War () was a war between Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia and Habsburg monarchy, Austria that lasted from 1740 to 1742 and resulted in Prussia's seizing most of the region of Silesia (now in south-western Poland) from Austria. The ...

in 1742, and was part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

from 1871. After Germany's defeat in

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 ...

, Poland re-emerged as an independent country, and Milicz was close to the new border. After the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

's Vistula–Oder Offensive and

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 ...

's defeat in

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 ...

, Milicz became again part of Poland, although with a Soviet-installed

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, which stayed in power until the 1980s.

Sights

Milicz is the site of one of the six ''Churches of Grace'', which the Silesian

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

were allowed to build with the permission of

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

emperor Joseph I, also King of Bohemia, given at the Altranstädt Convention of 1707. The

half-timbered Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

house of worship finished in 1714 today serves as

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

parish church dedicated to Saint

Andrew Bobola Andrew Bobola, Society of Jesus, SJ (; 1591 – 16 May 1657) was a Polish missionary and martyr of the Society of Jesus, known as the Apostle of Lithuania and the "hunter of souls". He was beaten and tortured to death during the Khmelnytsky Upri ...

The castle of the Oleśnica Dukes erected in the 14th century was destroyed in World War II. The Maltzahn dynasty left a Late Baroque- Neoclassical palace erected in 1798 with an

English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...

, the first in Silesia. Since 1963 the building is the seat of a secondary forestry college.

Demographics

Notable people

* Oskar von Heydebrand und der Lasa (1815–1888), landowner and politician * Maria von Maltzan (1909–1997), resistance fighter.

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Walther von Reichenau Walter Karl Gustav August Ernst von Reichenau (8 October 1884 – 17 January 1942) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) in the '' Heer'' (Army) of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was nicknamed "The Bull" ( German: ''Der Bulle) ...

married her niece at the local church. * Joachim Carl von Maltzan (1733–1817), Prussian

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

as Minister Plenipotentiary in London * Oskar Obier (1876–1952), painter * Edwin Graf von Rothkirch und Trach (1888–1980), officer and show jumping rider * Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand Guhr (1787–1848) conductor * Damian Wojtaszek (born 1988), volleyball player * Hermann Wassertrilling ''(Hirsch Wassertrilling)'', rabbi from

Boskovice Boskovice (; ) is a town in Blansko District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. The area of the historic town centre, Jewish quarter, château complex and castle ruin is well preserved and is protec ...

, was active here in the 19th century

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Milicz.

References

External links

Local history

Town site
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Milicz County Cities in Silesia Populated riverside places in Poland