Legnica

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Legnica

Legnica		- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	Flag	Coat of Arms
- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	Country:	Poland	- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	Voivodship:	Lower Silesian Voivodship	- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	Population:	106,122 (2005)	- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	Area:	56,29 km²	- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	Density:	1899/km²	- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	Lattitude and Longtitude :	- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	Founded:	7th century	- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	City rights:	1264	- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	Area code:	+48 76	- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	Car plates:	DL	- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"	Municipal Website

Legnica (pronounce: Legnica.ogg, formerly Lignica, German Liegnitz) is a town in south-western Poland. As of the 2005 census estimate, the town has a total population of 106,122. Situated in the "Województwo Dolnośląskie" (Lower Silesian Voivodship) (since 1999) on the Kaczawa river. Previously capital of Legnica Voivodship (1975-1998).

History

The area of Legnica was inhabited for hundreds of years by East Germanic tribes, until about 500 AD, when Slavic tribes from the east flooded the area, after the East Germanic tribes had wandered to Southern Europe.

Founded in the 7th century, Legnica derives its name from the Polish verb: leżeć: (to lay down). First mentioned in chronicles in 1004, Legnica is famous for the Battle of Legnica that took place at Legnickie Pole near the city on April 9, 1241 between the Mongols of the Golden Horde and the combined army of Duke Henry II the Pious. Henry's army, supported by the feudal nobility, included Poles, Germans, the Teutonic Knights, the Hospitallers, and the Knights Templar. Although the Mongols killed Henry and decimated his forces, their advance into Europe was halted as they turned back to attend to the election of a new Khagan (Grand Khan) following the death in the same year of the khan Ögedei. Subutai was putting together such an invasion plan when recalled to the Court of the Great Khan, where he died in 1248. After Ogedei's death, the tension between the heirs to Jochi and the remainder of the Khanate only worsened - and it was this, the necessity for Batu and his heirs to keep the bulk of their army ready to defend from an attack from the other Mongols that saved Europe, not the defeat at Legnica. Minor celebrations are held in memory of the battle on April 9th each year in Legnica.

Legnica became the residence of the dukes of Lower Silesia in 1163 and was the seat of a principality ruled by a branch of the Piast dynasty from 1248 to 1675. Legnica, along with Silesia, became part of the Kingdom of Bohemia during the Middle Ages and part of the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria after the death of the Bohemian king Louis II in 1526. In 1676 Legnica passed to direct Habsburg rule after the death of the last Piast duke, Georg Wilhelm. The Protestant Reformation was introduced in the duchy as early as 1522. Until 1742 the originally Slavic town was known as Lignica, but the name was changed to Liegnitz with the incorporation of Silesia into the Kingdom of Prussia following Prussia's defeat of Austria; at that time the town was ever more germanized, though already most of its citizens were of German descent. In 1813, the Prussians, under Field Marshall Blücher, defeated the French in the Battle of Katzbach during the Napoleonic Wars.

The town became a part of the Republic of Poland in 1945, after a long German history, and in 1948 changed its spelling to Legnica, as Lignica sounded archaic.

During the Cold War, between 1945 and 1990, the headquarters of the Soviet forces in Poland, the so-called Northern Group of Forces, was located in the city. This fact had a strong influence on the life of the city. For much of the period, the city was divided into Polish and Soviet areas, with the latter closed to the public. These were first established in July, 1945. when the Soviets forcibly ejected newly arrived Polish inhabitants from the parts of the city they wanted for their own use. The ejection was perceived by some as a particularly brutal action, and rumours circulated exaggerating its severity, though no evidence of anyone being killed in the course of it has come to light. In April 1946 city officials estimated that they were 16,700 Poles, 12,800 Germans and 60,000 Russians in Legnica^*. The last Russian units left the city only in 1993.

From 1945 to 1947 all of the city's former, German inhabitants were expelled, often in a brutal way, by train deportation into West Germany, as Legnica was to become an ethnically Polish city. In 1990 only a handful of polonized Germans, pre-war civilians of Liegnitz, had remained of the pre-1945 German population. In the 1950s and 1960s local copper and nickel industry became a major factor in the economic development of the area.

Until the winter of 2003, the longest "osobowy" (standard railway train stopping at every station, in contrast to fast and express trains) train service in Poland ran from Katowice to Legnica (via Kędzierzyn Koźle, Nysa and Jaworzyna Śląska).

Economy

Industry: copper mining and processing, KGHM Polska Miedź owns a large steel mill on the western outskirts of town.

Education

state-run colleges and universities
- Witelon University of Applied Sciences (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa im. Witelona) ^*
- Wrocław University of Technology ^*
- Foreign Language Teacher Training College ^*

other
- Wyższa Szkoła Zarządzania / The Polish Open University ^*
- Wyższa Szkoła Menedżerska ^*
- Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne ^*

Twin towns

As of 2005, Legnica is twinned with four other European towns.

Sports

Miedź Legnica - men football team (Polish Cup winner 1992; 3rd league in seasons 2003/2004 and 2004/2005)

Politics

Municipal politics

Legnica tends to be a left-of-center town with a considerable influence of workers' unions. The Municipal Council of Legnica (Rada miejska miasta Legnica) is the legislative branch of the local government and is composed of 25 members elected in local elections every five years. The mayor or town president (Prezydent miasta) is the executive branch of the local government and is directly elected in the same municipal elections.