Węgliniec

Węgliniec

Węgliniec

Place in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland

Węgliniec [vɛŋˈɡliɲɛt͡s] (German: Kohlfurt) is a town in Zgorzelec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, close to the border with Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Węgliniec.

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The town lies approximately 22 kilometres (14 mi) north-east of Zgorzelec, and 128 kilometres (80 mi) west of the regional capital Wrocław. As of 2019, the town has a population of 2,846.

History

Virgin Mary Queen of Poland church in Węgliniec

The oldest known historical mention of the settlement dates back to 1502 [2] in the context of medieval German Ostsiedlung, receiving the name Kohlfurt.[3] In 1742 it was annexed by Prussia. [citation needed] It was plundered by different armies during the Third Silesian War (1756–1763).[4] In 1846 a railway line connecting Wrocław and Berlin, running through the village, was opened.[2] In 1847 a line to Dresden was built, and in 1865 to Lubań.[2] The settlement became an important railway junction. During World War II, the Germans located there two prisoner-of-war labor subcamps and a forced labor camp.[2] Near the end of World War II, in February 1945, the almost completely abandoned village was captured by the Soviets.[4] After World War II the region was placed preliminary under Polish administration according to the post-war Potsdam Agreement. It was repopulated with Poles, some of whom were from the Eastern Borderlands, which were annexed by the Soviet Union.

Węgliniec was granted town rights in 1967.[2]

Transport

Węgliniec railway station remains a major railway junction, located on strategic passenger and freight routes between Poland and Germany, with regular cross-border passenger services to Görlitz/Dresden and a limited service to Cottbus/Berlin.

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Węgliniec.

References

  1. [1]
    "Population. Size and structure and vital statistics in Poland by territorial division in 2019. As of 30th June". stat.gov.pl. Statistics Poland. 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  2. [2]
    Zmiana Studium Uwarunkowań i Kierunków Zagospodarowania Przestrzennego Gminy Węgliniec (projekt), Węgliniec, 2015, p. 35 (in Polish)
  3. [3]
    Hugo Weczerka. Handbuch der historischen Stätten: Schlesien. Vol. 15. p. 239.
  4. [4]
    Krzysztof Mazurski, Z przeszłości Węglińca. „Wędrowiec. Wrocławskie zeszyty krajoznawcze”, Wrocław, 1996, p. 56-61 (in Polish)


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