Poznan Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Poznań (pronounced , German Posen, see also other names) is a city in west-central Poland with over 578,000 inhabitants (1999). Located by the Warta River, it is one of the oldest Polish cities, an important historical centre and the capital of Greater Poland, the cradle of the Polish state, and Poland's capital in the mid-tenth century during the early Piast dynasty. Poznań's impressive cathedral is the earliest church in the country, containing the tombs of the first Polish rulers: duke Mieszko I and king Boleslaus the Brave.Today the city is a vibrant centre for trade, industry, and education. Poznań is Poland's 5th largest city and 4th biggest industrial centre. It is also the administrative capital of the Greater Poland Voivodship.
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2 Name of the city 3 Culture 4 History 5 Education 6 Economy 7 Sports 8 Politics 9 Bibliography 10 See also: 11 External links: |
Without the special characters, the name is sometimes also spelled Poznan in English, it is also referred to, in Polish language, as Stołeczne Miasto Poznań (name used on special occasions), German Haupt- und Residenzstadt Posen (name used between 20 August 1910 and 28 November 1918) , Latin: Posnania, civitas Posnaniensis.
Earliest surviving reference 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 means the Poznan's town. It is also possible the name comes directly from the verb poznać which means "to know, to recognize".
Poznań metropolitan area, consisting of the autonomous towns of Poznań, Ostrów, Ostrówek, Środka, Chwaliszewo, Łacina, was integrated into one city in 1793–1800. Rapidly growing city, in 1900, was extended by the joining of the neighbouring villages of Grunwald, Łazarz, Górczyn, Jeżyce, Wilda, Winogrady. Later also Piątkowo and Rataje. Today, Poznań is divided into 5 districts, which are further divided onto several dozens of neighbourhoods. The districts are:
The annual Malta Theatre festival is probably the most characteristic cultural event of the city. Henryk Wieniawski Violin Festival is held every 5 years. Annual classical music festival is held in the city, on which the Basel Boys Choir took part several times. to be continued...
Main article: History of Poznań, see also: History of Poland
Historical summary:
Poznań it is one of the oldest Polish cities, an important historical center and the capital of Greater Poland, the cradle of the Polish state, and Poland's capital in the mid-tenth century during the early Piast dynasty. Poznań's impressive cathedral is the earliest church in the country, containing the tombs of the first Polish rulers: duke Mieszko I and king Boleslaus the Brave. Poznań was the capital city of Greater Poland region and one of the biggest Polish cities. Lubrański Academy, second Polish university (in fact this wasn't "full" university, because students to get science tittle had to go to Cracow) was established in 1519.
Poznań was the capital of the Greater Poland area when it came under control of Prussia in 1793, its administrative area renamed to South Prussia. The area was liberated from without by the armies of Napoleon and from within by local Polish resistance fighters, and was part of the Duchy of Warsaw from 1807 to 1815. Poznań was capital of the Poznań department. Following the defeat of Napoleon, the Greater Poland area returned to Prussia, ostensibly as an autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznań, but was reclassified as a Prussian province in 1830. This situation remained until the end of World War I, though Prussia and its provinces became part of the German Empire in the unification of 1871. Poznań was the capital of the area during all periods of Prussian control, with the official name "Posen". This was a period of great building projects, including a new theater and the Kaiser's Residence in a park setting at the western edge of the old town.
As an effect of Great Poland Uprising, between the two World Wars the area was part of the restored Poland and the capital of Poznań Voivodship;. During World War II, the area became part of Nazi Germany as the Reichsgau Wartheland, with capital in Poznań. After the war, the area once again was part of the restored Poland, and the city has been capital of the surrounding area through administrative district boundary changes in 1957, 1975 and 1999, currently administrating Greater Poland Voivodship, one of 16 provinces in the country.Geography
Location
city area 261,3 km² (2002)
geographical location:
52°17'34[N - 52°30'27]N
16°44'08''E - 17°04'28''E
highest point: Mt. Morasko 154 m asl
lowest point: Warta river valley: 60 m aslName of the city
Administrative division
Culture
History
| 1600 | about 20,000 inhabitants |
| about 1650 | after Polish-Swedish war of 1655-57: settlement of 200-300 Scots |
| 1655-1657 | about 14,000 inhabitants |
| 1700-1709 | about 12,000 inhabitants. Northern War, city captured and looted by the Swedes, the great plague kills 9000, some 75% of population |
| 1732 | 4000 inhabitants (notes of Jan Rzepecki - town scribe) |
| 1733 | 6000 inhabitants |
| 1768-1772 | fighting between the Bar Confederates and Prussian troops, but reforms of Komisji Dobrego Porządku gives growth up to 15,000 inhabitants before 1793 (inc. about 20% Germans, 30% Jews) |
| 1793 | 12,000 - 13,000 inhabitants |
| 1816 | 18,000 (inc. 67% Poles, 22% Jews and 11% Germans with 24,000 soldiers at the garrison) |
| 1824 | 22,000 inhabitants |
| 1831 | 31,000 inhabitants |
| 1848 | 42,000 inhabitants (43% Poles; 40% of Germans; 17% of Jews) (and 3000 soliders at the garrison) |
| 1850 | 43,000 inhabitants |
| 1860 | 43,000 inhabitants and 6000 soliders at the garrison |
| 1861 | 51,000 inhabitants |
| 1867 | 47,000 civil inhabitants (47% Germans; 38% Poles and 15% Jews |
| 1870 | 54,400 inhabitants |
| 1871 | 65,000 inhabitants (inc. garrison) |
| 1885 | 4800 soldiers at the garrison |
| 1890 | 69,627 inhabitants (data of census) (inc. 51% Poles) |
| 1895 | 73,200 inhabitants |
| 1900 | 110,000 inhabitants and 7000 soldiers at the garrison |
| 1905 | 136,800 inhabitants |
| 1910 | 156,696 civil inhabitants (data of census) (inc. 57% Poles) and 6200 soldiers at the garrison |
| 1913 | 10,000 soldiers at the garrison |
| 1917 | 156,357 inhabitants (from government data) |
| 1918 | 156,091 inhabitants (from government data) |
| in Second Polish Republic ''Data taken from number of deaths, births and migration numbers | |
| 1919 | 158,185 inhabitants'' |
| 1920 | 162,902 inhabitants'' |
| September 3, 1921 | 169,422 inhabitants (census data; inc. 92,089 women) |
| 1922 | 178,229 inhabitants'' |
| 1923 | 185,521 inhabitants'' |
| 1924 | 193,228 inhabitants'' |
| 1925 | 220,023 inhabitants* |
| 1926 | 226,828 inhabitants* |
| 1927 | 237,048 inhabitants* |
| 1928 | 248,426 inhabitants* |
| 1929 | 261,597 inhabitants* |
| 1930 | 266,742 inhabitants* |
| December 9, 1931 | 246,698 inhabitants (census data) inc. 236,200 Poles, 100 Russians, 200 Ukrainians, 6400 Germans, 1100 Jews and 100 others; inc 131,929 woman |
| 1932 | 248,763 inhabitants* |
| 1933 | 252,667 inhabitants* |
| 1934 | 255,557 inhabitants* |
| 1935 | 260,444 inhabitants* |
| 1936 | 265,271 inhabitants* |
| 1937 | 268,794 inhabitants* |
| 1938 | 272,653 inhabitants* |
| June 1, 1939 | 274,155 inhabitants (probably up to 10,000 inhabitants more) |
| Reichsgau Wartheland* *German data used in trial of Arthur Greiser | |
| September 1, 1940 | 287,862 inhabitants (81% Poles; 18% Germans; 2% others) |
| January 1, 1941 | 296,790 inhabitants (80% Poles; 20% Germans; 1% others) |
| August 1, 1941 | 308,051 inhabitants (77% Poles; 23% Germans; 1% others) |
| February 1, 1942 | 318,208 inhabitants (75% Poles; 25% Germans; 1% others) |
| January 1, 1943 | 326,572 inhabitants (74% Poles; 26% Germans; 1% others) |
| October 1, 1943 | 327,026 inhabitants (73% Poles; 26% Germans; 1% others) |
| April 1, 1944 | 323,747 inhabitants (71% Poles; 28% Germans; 1% others) |
| 1939 - 1945 | During WWII, about 8 600 pre-war inhabitants were murdered (inc. about 1,500 Jews); 3,620 were taken to Germany as slave workers (20% of them died); 38,256 inhabitants of Polish nationality was resettled to GG, over 60,000 were deprived of their property and expelled from their homes (ger. Verdrägung, pol. rugi). Approximately 90,000 Germans were settled in the city. In general: during WWII 14,413 of the pre-war inhabitants died. From this number: 4,025 died as an effect of the combat, 2,255 were executed by German authorities, 6,382 died in concentration camps and prisons; 735 died as slave workers in Germany, 1,070 died of diseases and starvation. Until now, approx. 2,000 persons are still missing. Additional 1,500 of the inhabitants were permanently injured during the war, while another 800 people returned seriously injured from camps and prisons. |
|
in the Third Polish Republic | |
| 1946 | 268,000 inhabitants |
| 1950 | 320,700 inhabitants |
| 1960 | 408,100 inhabitants |
| 1970 | 471,900 inhabitants |
| 1975 | 516,000 inhabitants |
| 1980 | 552,900 inhabitants |
| 1990 | 590,049 inhabitants; (maximum) from 1990 migrations from the city to the surrounding areas of Poznań County |
| 1995 | 581,772 inhabitants |
| 2000 | 572,900 inhabitants |
| March 31, 2002 | 571,571 inhabitants inc. 305,567 woman (53%) |
| May 2002 | 578,900 inhabitants (data of census) inc. 309,000 woman (54%), population density: 2187 inhabitants/sq.km |
| Population Forecast 2020 | |
| 2020 | 2020 forecast: Poznań City 584,500 (small increase) 2020 forecast: Poznań County 305,500 (significant increase) 2020 forecast: Poznań Metro Area 890,000 |
(in alphabetical order)
Main article: Education in Poznań
Poznań is home to 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.
Poznań has been an important trade centre since the Middle Ages. In 19th century however local heavy industry became to grow. Several major factories were founded, including the steel mill and railway factory of Hipolit Cegielski.
Nowadays Poznań is one of the major centres of trade with Germany. Many Western-European companies started their Polish branches there or in the nearby localities of Tarnowo Podgórne and Swarzędz;.
For a list of major Poznań-based corporations see Major corporations in Poznań
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 effected 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 number of cars grew at least twice since 1989, the policy of improving public transport gave good effects. Limiting car access to the city centre, building new tram lines (inc. Poznanski 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.
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