Głogów

Głogów ([ˈɡwɔɡuf]^ⓘ , in German: Glogau, in Czech: Hlohov; in medieval Spanish called Glogovia) is a city in southwestern Poland. It belongs to Głogów County, in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship since 1999, since before (1975-1998) it was part of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is the sixth most populated city in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. The name of the city comes from the Slavic root głóg 'thorn'.

Głogów consists of the following residential districts: Brzostów, Chrobry, Hutnik, Kopernik, Kościuszki, Ostrów Tumski (Cathedral Island), Paulídow, Piastów Śląskich, Przemysłowe, Słoneczne, Stare Miasto (< i>Old Town), Śródmieście, Żarków. Two towns, Biechów and Wróblin Głogówski, which are also within the administrative boundaries of Głogów.

History

Piasts

The first known historical record appears in the chronicles of Tietmaro of Merseburg in the year 1010, after the troops of the Germanic king Henry II attacked those of the Polish duke Boleslaw I the Brave in the conflict over the Lusatian March. and they besieged Glogua on August 9, 1017 without results. The following year Henry and Boleslaus agreed to the Peace of Bautzen.

In 1109, King Henry V intervened in the fight between the Piast dukes Boleslaus III the Crookedmouth and Zbigniew. He besieged the city, but was unable to defeat the Polish troops at the Battle of Głogów. In 1157 the city fell into the hands of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, who invaded Silesian lands in aid of Duke Władysław II the Exiled and his children.

In 1180, during the rule of Conrad, youngest son of Władysław II, Głogów was rebuilt to become the capital of his principality, which passed back to the Duchy of Silesia after his death around 1190. In 1251, during The fragmentation that occurred during the time of Duke Bolesław II the Bald and his younger brother, the Duchy of Głogów was established, whose duke was Conrad I of Silesia-Głogów. Two years later he granted the city the right of Magdeburg. Like many of the Silesian duchies, Głogów also fell to John I of Bohemia in 1329.

In 1504 the lineage of the Silesian Piasts became extinct with the death of John II the Mad. John's cruel measures provoked resistance from the citizens of Głogów, and in 1488 the troops of Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary and Croatia and Bohemia, appeared at the city gates and expelled the duke. Between 1491 and 1506 John Albert and Sigismund, future kings of Poland, ruled the city.

Austria and Prussia

The House of Habsburg inherited the city as a peer of the Bohemian Crown's lands in Silesia, and in 1526 it was incorporated into the Habsburg Monarchy. During the Thirty Years' War, Głogów was fortified. It was conquered by the Protestants in 1632 and reconquered by imperial troops in 1633, it would fall into the hands of Sweden in 1642 and return to the Habsburgs in 1648.

Głogów remained part of the Austrian Crown of Bohemia until the end of the First Silesian War. In March 1741 it was captured in an attack by the Prussian army led by General Leopold II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, and like most of Silesia it became part of the kingdom of Prussia under Frederick. The city was then called Groß-Glogau (Greater Glogau) to distinguish it from Oberglogau (Upper Glogau, present-day Głogówek, in Upper Silesia).

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Polish troops of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski were stationed in Głogów, a city where Napoleon Bonaparte passed three times. Głogów was taken by the French after the Battle of Jena in 1806. The city, with a garrison of nine thousand French soldiers, was besieged between 1813 and 1814 by the league of countries fighting against France; By the time its defenders surrendered on April 10, 1814, only eighteen hundred remained alive.

Because being a fortress had prevented its urban development, its citizens tried during the xix century to have its status would modify. The fortifications were demolished to the east in 1873 and removed in 1902, allowing the city to expand. In 1939 Głogów had 33,000 inhabitants, the vast majority of them German.

Second World War and postwar

During World War II the Nazi Government turned the city into a fortress. Głogów was besieged by the Red Army for six weeks and 95% of the city was destroyed. After the Yalta Conference the city, like most of Lower Silesia, was handed over to Poland and its German inhabitants were expelled. In May 1945, the first Poles began to arrive in the city, which was renamed Głogów, where they found only ruins; To this day the reconstruction has not yet been completed. Only in 1967 did the city begin to experience some development after the construction of a copper foundry, which is still the largest industrial enterprise in the city.

Between 1945 and 1950 Głogów was part of the province or voivodeship of Wrocław (Wrocław), and in 1950 it became part of the newly created province of Zielona Góra. Between 1975 and 1998 it belonged to the province of Legnica and, after the administrative reform of 1999, it was included in the province of Lower Silesia.

Architecture

• City Council
• Castle of the Dukes of Głogów (the site of the archaeological museum)
• Baroque Church of the Corpus Christi
• Church of Saint Lawrence (centuryXVI)
• Gothic Church of St. Nicholas (in ruins)
• Colegiata of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Głogów
• Gothic cholegiata
• Andreas Gryphius Theatre (in ruins)
• Sections of the medieval walls
• Foso of the centuryXVII
• Artillery tower of the centuryXIX
• Fireplace of 221 meters high belonging to an old power station

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