Inowrocław
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Królowej Jadwigi Street filled with historic architecture leading to the market square
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  Inowrocław
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| Coordinates: 52°47′35″N 18°15′40″E / 52.79306°N 18.26111°E / 52.79306; 18.26111 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship |  Kuyavian-Pomeranian |
| County | Inowrocław |
| Gmina | Inowrocław (urban gmina) |
| First mentioned | 1185 |
| Town rights | 1238 |
| Government | |
| • City Mayor | Arkadiusz Fajok |
| Area | |
| • Total | 30.42 km2 (11.75 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 100 m (300 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 85 m (279 ft) |
| Population
(31 December 2021)
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| • Total | 70,713  [1] |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code |
88-100 to 88-115
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| Area code | (+48) 52 |
| Car plates | CIN |
| Website | http://www.inowroclaw.pl |
Inowrocław (Polish pronunciation: [inɔˈvrɔtswaf] ⓘ; German: Hohensalza; before 1904: Inowrazlaw; archaic: Jungleslau, Junges Leslau, Junge Leszlaw,[2] Yiddish: לעסלא, romanized: Lesle or Lessle[2])[3] is a city in central Poland with a total population of 70,713 in December 2021.[1] It is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is one of the largest and most historically significant cities within Kuyavia.
Inowrocław is an industrial town located about 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Bydgoszcz known for its saltwater baths and salt mines. The town is the 5th largest agglomeration in its voivodeship, and is a major railway junction, where the west–east line (Poznań–Toruń) crosses the Polish Coal Trunk-Line from ChorzówtoGdynia.
The town was first mentioned in 1185 as Novo Wladislaw, possibly in honor of Władysław I Herman or after the settlers from Włocławek. Many inhabitants of Włocławek settled in Inowrocław fleeing flooding. In 1236, the settlement was renamed Juveni Wladislawia. It was incorporated two years later by Casimir Konradowic. In medieval Latin records, the town was recorded as Juniwladislavia.[4] As a result of the fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies, after 1230 Inowrocław was the capital of the Duchy of Kuyavia,[5] and from 1267 to 1364 it was the capital of the Duchy of Inowrocław, before it became part and capital of Poland's Inowrocław Voivodeship, which covered northern Kuyavia along with the Dobrzyń Land. The voivodeship later also formed part of the larger Greater Poland Province. Inowrocław was a royal city of the Kingdom of Poland. The town's development was aided by the discovery of extensive salt deposits in the vicinity during the 15th century.
It was an important city of late medieval Poland. In 1321, a Polish-Teutonic trial was held in Inowrocław regarding the Teutonic occupation of Gdańsk Pomerania, while the city itself was occupied by the Teutonic Knights from 1332 to 1337.[5] King Casimir III the Great often stayed in the city, and in 1337 he held a meeting with King John of Bohemia in the local castle.[5] A strong garrison was located in the city during the Polish-Teutonic War (1409–1411), and it was the main base of King Władysław II Jagiełło after his victory in the Battle of Grunwald.[5]
Inowrocław was occupied and plundered by Swedish troops during the Deluge in the 1650s,[5] and was annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia in February 1772 during the First Partition of Poland and added to the Netze District. Following the Franco-Prussian Treaty in July 1807, Inowrocław was transferred to the newly created Duchy of Warsaw, which was a client state of the French Empire. The city was a headquarters for Napoleon Bonaparte during his 1812 invasion of Russia. Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Inowrocław (as first Inowraclaw and later Inowrazlaw) was transferred back to Prussia as part of the Grand Duchy of Posen. Initially, until 1838 the mayors were still Poles, then Germans.[5] Despite Germanisation attempts, the city was an important center of the Polish resistance during the partitions.[5] It flourished after the establishment of a railway junction in 1872 and a spa in 1875. The city and the region were given the Germanized name Hohensalza on December 5, 1904.[5] It was electrified in 1908.
After the end of World War I, in November 1918, Poland regained independence and Polish insurgents re-captured the city in January 1919.[5] Restoration to the re-established sovereign Polish state was confirmed in the Treaty of Versailles (which came into effect on January 10, 1920), and the historic name Inowrocław was restored. High unemployment resulting from trade embargoes led to violent confrontations between workers and the police in 1926 and hunger strikes killed 20 in 1930. Inowrocław was part of Poznań Voivodeship until 1925, when it became an independent urban district. This district was briefly assigned to Great Pomerania during the reform of Polish regional administration just before World War II.
Captured by the German 4th Army during the invasion of Poland on September 11, 1939, Inowrocław was again renamed Hohensalza[5] and initially administered under the military district (Militärbezirk) of Posen before being incorporated into Nazi Germany first as part of the Reichsgau of Posen (1939) and then as part of Reichsgau Wartheland (1939–1945).
The Einsatzgruppe IV entered the city on September 12–15, 1939, to commit various atrocities against Poles.[6] Poles arrested during the Intelligenzaktion were held in the local prison and in a transit camp, and afterwards mostly murdered in the prison or in the nearby Gniewkowo forest, while some were deported to Nazi concentration camps.[7][8] In a large massacre, on the night of October 22–23, 1939, the Germans murdered 56 Poles in the prison, including numerous teachers.[7] Families of the victims were expelled, alike local Polish activists and craftsmen, whose workshops were handed over to German colonists in accordance to the Nazi Lebensraum policy.[9] In total, the Germans expelled a few thousand Poles from the city, including over 2,900 already in 1939.[5][8] Several Poles from Inowrocław were also murdered by the Russians in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940.[10] Multiple local members of the Home Army, a major Polish resistance organization, were imprisoned and murdered by the Germans in the prison camp in Żabikowo in 1944–1945.[11]
Between 1940 and 1945, Hohensalza was used as a resettlement camp for Poles and an internment camp for Soviet, French and British prisoners of war. Germany also operated a forced labour camp in the city.[12]
Inowrocław returned to Poland and its original name following the arrival of the Soviet Red Army on January 21, 1945. The last German air raid occurred on April 4, 1945, when a single aircraft dropped four fragmentation bombs and fired on travelers waiting at the Inowrocław train platform. Between 1950 and 1998, the town was part of Bydgoszcz Voivodeship, but the 1999 reforms left it part of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship.
The first recorded instance of Jews in Inowroclaw was in 1447. By the end of the 16th century, there was an established Jewish community with a rabbi. However, by the end of the 16th century, many of these Jews were murdered by Stefan Czarniecki's army in 1656. In 1680, John III Sobieski restored the rights of Jews in Inowroclaw that had been lost during the previous siege.[13] By 1765, there were 980 Jews living in Inowroclaw, but in 1774 there was a fire that destroyed many Jewish homes, causing many to flee elsewhere.
The ongoing emancipation of Jews in the 18th and 19th centuries lifted restrictions on Jews. Nevertheless, the Jews of Inowroclaw remained devoted to their traditions. They were increasingly allowed into public life, and Jews were even allowed to run for seats in the Municipal Council. In the 1830s, illiteracy was abolished amongst Jewish boys in Inowroclaw as they were made to take German classes.[14] However, there was a disparity between the young and old Jewish generations as many older Jews were interested in staying true to their traditions and did not want to be Germanized.
A synagogue was created on 9 September 1836. However, in 1908, this synagogue closed and was turned into a beth midrash, house of prayer, and the seat of the community administration. A new synagogue, funded by Leopold Levy, one of the wealthiest Jews in the town, was created in its place.[14]
The community steadily lost its population in second half of the 19th century as many moved to Germany and the United States. In 1921, there were only 252 Jews left in the town.[14]
On 14 September 1939, the Nazis seized Inowroclaw. The synagogue was plundered and set on fire. The next day, the Jews were ordered to stand in the synagogue, where Leopold Levy was executed. Both the old and new Jewish cemeteries were destroyed. The Inowroclaw Jews went through a selection process. The people chosen for extermination were sent to the Inowroclaw prison. In October, they were taken to the forest in Gniekowo and shot dead. By the end of 1940, there were no Jews left in Inowroclaw, with few surviving the war. The few Jews who survived came back to Inowroclaw after the war; however, there was no attempt to re-establish a Jewish community.[14]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
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| 1970 | 54,900 | — |
| 1980 | 66,100 | +20.4% |
| 1990 | 77,700 | +17.5% |
| 2000 | 79,400 | +2.2% |
| 2004 | 77,647 | −2.2% |
| 2014 | 74,803 | −3.7% |
| 2019 | 72,561 | −3.0% |
The most popular sports in the city are basketball and football. Notable teams:
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