Rawicz (; german: Rawitsch) is a town in west-central Poland with 21,398 inhabitants as of 2004. It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999); previously it was in Leszno Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Rawicz County.

History

The town was founded by Adam Olbracht Przyjemski of Rawicz coat of arms for Protestant refugees from Silesia during the Thirty Years' War. In 1638 King Władysław IV Vasa granted Rawicz town rights and confirmed the town's coat of arms. Rawicz was built as a precisely planned town and developed at a rapid pace. It was located on the trade route connecting Poznań and Wrocław. In 1640, a cloth guild was founded. Cloth production became a leading branch of the local industry, and by the end of the 18th century Rawicz was the leading weaving town of the whole region of

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...

. Rawicz was a private town of

Polish nobility The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...

, administratively located in the Kościan County in the Poznań Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown. After the destruction of Rawicz by the

Swedes Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...

in 1655 during the Deluge, the town was rebuilt in an impressive way, erecting new townhouses, a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

church and a Catholic monastery. The early 18th century was an unfavorable period in the town's history. In 1701 it suffered a fire, in 1704-1705 it was occupied by Sweden, foreign troops marched through it: Russians in 1707, Austrians in 1719, Saxons in 1733. In the following decades, rapid development took place again, the construction of the castle was completed and a new Baroque town hall was built. In the second half of the 18th century, there were two breweries, a distillery, a slaughterhouse, and a

brickyard A brickyard or brickfield is a place or yard where bricks are made, fired, and stored, or sometimes sold or otherwise distributed from. Brick makers work in a brick yard. A brick yard may be constructed near natural sources of clay or on or ...

in Rawicz. In 1793, Rawicz was annexed by Prussia as a result of the Second Partition of Poland. In 1807 the town was recovered by Poles as part of the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw and in 1815 it was again annexed by Prussia, initially as part of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznan. The principal industry was the manufacture of snuff and cigars. Trade involved grain, wool, cattle, hides, and timber. In 1905 it had 11,403 inhabitants. After World War I Poland regained its independence in 1918. In 1919 the Battle of Rawicz was fought as part of the Greater Poland uprising, aiming to reunite the region with the reestablished Polish state. Rawicz returned to Poland in January 1920. On the first day of the invasion of Poland, which started World War II on September 1, 1939, the Germans entered the town, but were forced to withdraw. They entered again on September 5. In the following days the '' Einsatzgruppe III'' entered the town to commit crimes against Poles.

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

arrested during the '' Intelligenzaktion'' were imprisoned in the local prison. In October 1939 the Germans carried out the first executions of Polish residents, while first mass expulsions of over 500 Poles were carried out in December 1939. The expelled Poles were predominantly local activists and owners of better houses, which were then handed over to German colonists as part of the '' Lebensraum'' policy. Also a transit camp for Poles expelled from nearby villages was operated in the town. Despite such circumstances, the Polish resistance movement was organized in the town. In January 1945, the town was taken over by the Soviets, who imprisoned soldiers of the Polish Home Army here. Later on, the Soviet-appointed communists organized a prison here for political opponents, of which 142 died here. In 1973, Sarnowa was included within the town limits. A large prison exists in former monastery since 1820. A 50 billion cubic feet natural gas discovery at Rawicz in 2015 is expected to be the largest gas development in Poland for 20 years.

Sights

Among the historic sights of Rawicz are the ''Rynek'' (Market Square) with the

town hall, the Baroque Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the Classicist Church of Saint Andrew Bobola, the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

Church of Christ the King, the Planty Park and historic townhouses, dating back to the 18th and 19th century. File:SM Rawicz Kościół św Andrzeja Apostoła 2019 (2) ID 655830.jpg, Saint Andrew the Apostle church File:Rawicz,kościół pw. św. Andrzeja Boboli - wieża.jpg, Saint Andrew Bobola church File:Kościół pw. Chrystusa Króla i Zwiastowania Najświętszej Marii Panny.jpg, Church of Christ the King File:Rawicz,ul.Rynek 18.jpg, Old townhouses at the ''Rynek'' (Market Square)

Sports

Notable local sports clubs are speedway club Kolejarz Rawicz and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team .

Transport

Rawicz train station, building in 2015 summer

A railway station is located in the town. The expressway S5 and national road 36 run near the town.

Cuisine

The officially protected traditional food originating from Rawicz is ''kiełbaska rawicka'', a local type of kiełbasa (as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland). Local traditions of meat production date back hundreds of years.

Notable residents

* Heinrich Gottfried Ollendorff (1803–1865), German grammarian and language educator *

Wolfgang Straßmann Wolfgang Straßmann (8 October 1821 – 6 December 1885) was a German physician and liberal politician. He fought in the March Revolution of 1848 and the First Schleswig War. In 1877, he became a member of the Prussian House of Representatives ...

(1821–1885), politician * Heinrich Braun (1862–1934), surgeon * Maximilian Otte (1910–1944), Luftwaffe pilot * Robert Maćkowiak (born 1970), sprinter * Arthur Ruppin (1876–1943), Zionist *

Reinhard Seiler Reinhard Seiler (30 August 1909 – 6 October 1989) was a Spanish Civil War and World War II Luftwaffe Major and ace, commander of Jagdgeschwader 104 and a winner of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany; for the f ...

(1909–1989), Luftwaffe officer * Piotr Świderski (born 1983), speedway rider *

Anita Włodarczyk Anita Włodarczyk (; born 8 August 1985) is a Polish hammer thrower. She is the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympic champion, and the first woman in history to throw the hammer over 80 m; she currently holds the women's world record of 82.98 m. She is co ...

(born 1985), hammer thrower *

Karol Świderski Karol Grzegorz Świderski (born 23 January 1997) is a Polish professional association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Serie A club Hellas Verona FC, Hellas Verona, on loan from Charlotte FC, and th ...

(born 1997), football player

References

External links

Municipal WebsiteRawicz Yizkor (Holocaust Memorial) Book
( Hebrew & English)
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship Rawicz County 1638 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Populated places established in 1638 Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939)