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This article is about the city in Poland. For other uses, see Poznan (disambiguation).

Poznań (; full official name: The Capital City of Poznań, , , Yiddish: פּױזן Poyzn) is a city in west-central Poland with over 578,900 inhabitants (2002). Located by the Warta River, it is one of the oldest cities in Poland, making it an important historical center. Poznań's impressive cathedral is the earliest church in the country, containing the tombs of the first Polish rulers: duke Mieszko I, king Boleslaus the Brave, king Mieszko II, duke Casimir I the Restorer, duke Przemysł I and king Przemysł II.

Today the city is a vibrant center for trade, industry, and education. Poznań is Poland's 5th largest city and 4th biggest industrial center. It is also the administrative capital of the Greater Poland Voivodship.

Geography

Location

  • City area 261,3 km² (2002)
  • Geographical location:
  • 52°17'34N - 52°30'27N
  • 16°44'08E - 17°04'28E
  • Highest point: Mt. Morasko 157 m asl
  • Lowest point: Warta river valley: 60 m asl

Name of the city

It is also referred to in Polish as Stołeczne Miasto Poznań (name used on special occasions), in German as Posen (Haupt- und Residenzstadt Posen between 20 August 1910 and 28 November 1918), and in Latin as Posnania and civitas Posnaniensis.

The earliest surviving references to the city were by Thietmar in his chronicles: episcopus Poznaniensis ("Bishop of Poznań", 970) and ab urbe Poznani ("by" or "from the city Poznań", 1005).

Early spellings include: Posna and Posnan.

The name probably comes from a personal name Poznan and would mean "Poznan's town." It is also possible the name comes directly from the verb poznać which means "to get to know, to recognize."

Administrative division

The Poznań metropolitan area, consisting of the autonomous towns of Poznań, Ostrów, Ostrówek, Środka, Chwaliszewo, Łacina, was integrated into one city in 1793–1800. The rapidly growing city annexed the neighboring villages of Grunwald, Łazarz, Górczyn, Jeżyce, Wilda, Winogrady in 1900,Piątkowo and Rataje in later years. Today, Poznań is divided into five districts, which are further divided onto several dozens of neighborhoods. The districts are:

Culture

The annual Malta Theater festival is probably the most characteristic cultural event of the city. There are also Henryk Wieniawski Violin Festival (held every 5 years), and Classical Music Festival (annual).

History

Main article: History of Poznań, see also: History of Poland Mieszko I , the first known duke of the Polans, built one of his castles in Poznań. The Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul is the oldest Polish cathedral, built in Poznań during the latter half of the 10th century. The city would become the capital of Greater Poland. Mieszko I's son, Boleslaus the Brave, was crowned king in 1025 and the Kingdom of Poland was formed. Greater Poland became the 'cradle of the Polish state', and both Mieszko I and Boleslaus I are buried in Poznań. Lubrański Academy, the second Polish university (not a "full" university, in fact, as science students had to go to Kraków) was established in 1519.

Poznań was the capital of the Greater Poland area when it came under the control of Prussia in 1793 and had its administrative area renamed to South Prussia. During the Greater Poland Uprising of 1806, local Polish resistance fighters rebelled, thereby assisting the efforts of Napoleon while simultaneously driving out the occupying Prussian forces. The city became part of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807 and was capital of the Poznań department. Napoleon's defeat led to the Congress of Vienna, where the boundaries of Europe were redrawn by the victors. Greater Poland was returned to Prussia and became the capital of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznań. From the time of the Revolutions in the mid 1800s, it was an official Prussian province and became part of the German Empire after the unification of German states in 1871.

Shorty after Germany's defeat in World War I, the Great Poland Uprising (1918-1919) occurred, leading to the creation of the Second Polish Republic, where Poznań became the capital of Poznań Voivodship. During World War II, Poland suffered under Nazi occupation and the Polish population was severely repressed. Since the war's end, Poznań has become the capital of the surrounding area through administrative district boundary changes in 1957, 1975, and 1999. Poznań currently administrates Greater Poland Voivodship, one of 16 provinces in the country. The Poznań riots of 1956 played a significant role in liberalising the post war communist regime (read more).

Historical population

Detailed demographic tables: Historical population of Poznań Historical population summary:
  • 1600 : about 20,000 inhabitants
  • 1732 : 4000 inhabitants
  • 1793 : 15,000 inhabitants before
  • 1918 : 156,091 inhabitants (from government data)
  • 1939 : 274,155 inhabitants
  • 1946 : 268,000 inhabitants
  • 2000 : 572,900 inhabitants
  • May 2002: 578,900 inhabitants

2020 population Forecast:

  • Poznań City 584,500 (small increase)
  • Poznań County 305,500 (significant increase)
  • Poznań Metro Area 890,000

Famous people

(in alphabetical order)

Education

Main article: Education in Poznań

Poznań is home to a few state-owned universities and a number of smaller, mostly private-run colleges and institutions of higher education. Adam Mickiewicz University (abbreviated UAM) is one of the most influential and biggest universities in Poland.

Scientific and regional organizations

Economy

Poznań has been an important center of trade since the Middle Ages. Starting in the 19th century, local heavy industry began to grow. Several major factories were built, including the steel mill and railway factory of Hipolit Cegielski.

Today Poznań is one of the major centers of trade with Germany. Many Western-European companies started their Polish branches in Poznań, or in the nearby localities of Tarnowo Podgórne and Swarzędz.

For a list of major Poznań-based corporations see Major corporations in Poznań

Sports

Politics

Municipal politics

Since 1989 (the end of the communist era), Poznań municipality and metro area have invested heavily in infrastructure, especially transportation and improved public administration. This has resulted in a massive investment from foreign companies in Poznań itself, as well as in communities west and south of Poznań (namely, Kornik and Tarnowo Podgorne).

Most foreign investors are German and Dutch companies (see "Major corporations" above), with a few others. Investors are mostly from the food processing, furniture, automotive and transport & logistics industries. Foreign companies are primarily attracted by low labour costs, but also by the relatively good road and railway networks in the vicinity, good vocational skills of workers (heritage of the communist era) and relatively liberal employment laws. As compared with Germany, there are far fewer restrictions, e.g. on shop opening hours.

Worth noticing is also the positive attitude of public administration towards investments, and less annoying "red tape" than elsewhere in Poland.

Investment into transportation was mostly in the public transport area. While the number of cars since 1989 has at least doubled, the policy of improving public transport gave good effects. Limiting car access to the city center, building new tram lines (inc. Poznański Szybki Tramwaj) and investing in new rolling stock (such as modern Combino trams by Siemens and Solaris low-floor buses) actually increased ridership. This is a notable success, even considering that Polish society possesses about half of "old EU" purchasing power and thus not everybody can own a car.

Future investments into transportation include the construction of a "third ring road" around the city, and the completion of A2 (E30) highway towards Berlin. In the public transport area (and non-car transportation), further investment must be made into the development bicycle paths (and the linking of presently existing ones), and an attempt is presently made of developing Karlsruhe-style light rail system for commuters. All that is made more complicated (and more expensive) by the heavy neglect of transportation throughout communist era.

Poznań constituency

Members of Sejm elected in 2005 from Poznań constituency:

Members of European Parliament elected from Poznań constituency:

Twin towns

References

Bibliography

  • collective work, Poznań. Dzieje, ludzie kultura, Poznań 1953
  • K. Malinowski (red.), Dziesięć wieków Poznania, t.1, Dzieje społeczno-gospodarcze, Poznań 1956
  • collective work, Poznań, Poznań 1958
  • collective work, Poznań. Zarys historii, Poznań 1963
  • Cz. Łuczak, Życie społeczno-gospodarcze w Poznaniu 1815-1918, Poznań 1965
  • J. Topolski (red.), Poznań. Zarys dziejów, Poznań 1973
  • Zygmunt Boras, Książęta Piastowscy Wielkopolski, Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, Poznań 1983
  • Jerzy Topolskiego (red.), Dzieje Poznania,Wydawnictwo PWN, Warszawa - Poznań 1988
  • Alfred Kaniecki, Dzieje miasta wodą pisane, Wydawnictwo Aquarius, Poznań 1993
  • Witold Maisel (red.), Przywileje miasta Poznania XIII-XVIII wieku. Privilegia civitatis Posnaniensis saeculorum XIII-XVIII. Władze Miasta Poznania, Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, Wydawnictwa Żródłowe Komisji Historycznej, Tom XXIV, Wydawnictwo PTPN, Poznań 1994
  • Wojciech Stankowski, Wielkopolska, Wydawnictwo WSiP, Warszawa 1999

See also

External links

Internet Directories

City Guides

Economy

Science and Education

Genealogy

Culture and History

Sports

Photographs

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Poznań".

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