Głogówek

Głogówek
Town Hall on Main Square
Flag Coat of arms
Głogówek
Coordinates: 50°20′38″N 17°52′2″E / 50.34389°N 17.86722°E / 50.34389; 17.86722
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Opole
County	Prudnik
Gmina	Głogówek
Established	11th century
Town rights	1275
Government
– Mayor	Andrzej Jan Kałamarz
Area
– Total	22.06 km2 (8.5 sq mi)
Elevation	212 m (696 ft)
Population (2006)
– Total	5,816
– Density	263.6/km2 (682.8/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	48-250
Area code(s)	+48 77
Car plates	OPR
Website	http://www.glogowek.pl

Głogówek [ɡwɔˈɡuvɛk] (German: Oberglogau, earlier Klein Glogau or Kraut Glogau, Czech: Horní Hlohov) is a city in Poland located in Opole Voivodeship in Upper Silesia. The city lies approximately 35 km (22 mi) from Opole, the capital of the voivodeship, and is about 10 km (6 mi) from the Czech border. The name of the city comes from the Polish word głóg, meaning hawthorn. The plant grew quite thickly in the area when the city was founded.

History

It is often said that the first historical mention of Głogówek was in 1076, but this is now known to be false. The Russian sources frequently quoted citing the city's 11th century founding were misinterpreted, referring instead to a Lower Silesian town, Głogów, with a very similar name. This village, first mentioned in 1010, was located some distance from Głogówek and later became a fortified castle by the Oder and a major city. However, given the ages of the Russian texts, a mistake in identifying the first historical mentions of the two villages is understandable. At the time, military conflict in the region was common, and the use of the Głogów fortress may very well have inspired the names of smaller villages in the surrounding area, causing the confusion.

The first unequivocal historical mention of Głogówek in a Silesian source dates from 1212. This source is a list of villages which were in the tithing area of the Leubus Cloister. The village was referred to as "Glogov" in the Latin text, which describes, in some detail, the boundaries of the village. This description could only apply to the present-day village, and is considered to be the first unambiguous mention of Głogówek. Town privileges were granted to Głogówek in 1275. Another error in Silesian record-keeping states that Głogówek, still a fairly small town, had 12 official representatives, a number much too large for a city of that size. Wrocław, a much larger city, had only five at the time. The city was later granted German town privileges as well.

In 1327, Oberglogau, like all other Silesian villages, came under Bohemian rule. The town's city rights were renewed again in 1373, this time under the Magdeburg rights provision. In 1379, a church, Saint Bartholomew's, was built. Only a few years later, the duke of Opole, Ladislaus II (+1401), built another large cloister in Mochau Pauliner-Wiese, associated with Częstochowa in the area. In 1643, the village was largely destroyed by Swedish invaders. The Polish king Jan Kasimir sought refuge during the invasion by staying in a castle in the village from October 17, 1655 until December 18 of the same year. After the First Silesian War in the 18th century Oberglogau and many other villages in the area came under Prussian control. The village was for the most part destroyed in a large fire in 1765. In addition, Ludwig van Beethoven came to stay in the city's castle, using it to finish his fourth symphony. The city was connected to the railroad network in 1876 when its population, which was almost completely bilingual, stood at 6,000, and by 1880 the population had decreased to 5,000. The population stood at 7,500 at the outbreak of World War II, which destroyed 40% of the city.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Twin towns — Sister cities

Głogówek is twinned with: Rietberg, (Germany), Vrbno pod Pradědem, (Czech Republic)

Gmina

Głogówek is the seat of a Gmina, a Polish administrative division similar to a parish. The Gmina has an area of 170,06 km² (65.66 mi²), and contains the villages of Biedrzychowice, Błażejowice Dolne, Cieszniów, Dzierżysławice, Góreczno, Kazimierz, Kazimierz-Anachów, Kierpień, Leśnik, Mionów, Mochów, Nowe Kotkowice, Nowe Kotkowice-Chudoba, Racławice Śląskie, Rzepcze, Stare Kotkowice, Szonów, Tomice, Twardawa, Twardawa-Małkowice, Wierzch, Wróblin, Zawada, Zawada-Bud, Zawada-Golczowice, Zawada-Mucków, Zawada-Sysłów und Zwiastowice. The population of the Gmina is 14,265.

People

See also: Category:People from Głogówek and Category:People from Prudnik County

Natives

• House of the Von Oppersdorf(f),^[1] a Silesian nobile house
  • Franz Graf von Oppersdorff (1778–1818), a great lover of music, patron of Beethoven
  • Johann Stanety (Italian: Giovanni Stanetti; 1663–1726, Vienna), sculptor
  • Johann Sedlatzeck (1789–1866, Vienna), flutist, acted in Austria
  • Wilhelm Fraenkel (1844–1916, Vienna), Jewish architect, master public survant for urban development (German: Stadtbaumeister) of Vienna (e.g. Sacher-Hotel Wien), acted in Austria^[4]
  • Karl Zuschneid (1856–1926, Weimar), musiclogist, acted in Germany
  • Gerhard Strecke (1880–1968, Ratingen), composer, acted in Germany
  • Siegfried Tann (born 1942), communal politician of the CDU^[5]
  • Peter Peschel (born 1972), footballer

  Other residents

  • der Großvater der US-amerikanischen Schauspielerin Uma Thurman, Friedrich Karl Johannes von Schlebrügge, wurde am 21. November 1886 in Oberglogau geboren and emigrierte in den 1930ern nach Schweden.
  • die Urgroßmutter des demokratischen Präsidentschaftskandidaten von 2004 John Kerry, Mathilde Fränkel, wurde am 14. August 1845 in Oberglogau geboren.

  References

  1. ^ de:Oppersdorff
  2. ^ de:Eduard von Oppersdorff
  3. ^ de:Hans Georg von Oppersdorff
  4. ^ de:Wilhelm Fraenkel
  5. ^ de:Siegfried Tann

  External links

  • (Polish), (German) Official website of the city
  • (Polish) Głogówek Online Information Portal of Głogówek Community

  This article incorporates information from the revision as of 18 October 2006 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.

  Coordinates: 50°22′N 17°52′E / 50.367°N 17.867°E / 50.367; 17.867