| Żagań | |||
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  Żagań
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| Coordinates: 51°37′N 15°19′E / 51.617°N 15.317°E | |||
| Country |  Poland |
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| Voivodeship | Lubusz | ||
| County | Żagań County | ||
| Gmina | Żagań (urban gmina) | ||
| Established | Twelfth century | ||
| Town rights | 1280 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Sławomir Jan Kowal | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 39.92 km2 (15.4 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2008) | |||
| - Total | 26,509 | ||
| - Density | 664.1/km2 (1,719.9/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 68-100 to 68-103 | ||
| Area code(s) | +48 68 | ||
| Car plates | FZG | ||
| Website | http://www.um.zagan.pl | ||
Żagań [ˈʐagaɲ] (French and German: Sagan) is a town on the Bóbr river in western Poland, with 26,665 inhabitants (2004). Historically the seat of the Silesian Dukes of Sagan, the town is the capital of Żagań County.
Previously in the Zielona Gora Voivodeship (1975-1998), Żagań has been situated in the Lubusz Voivodeship since 1999.
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History
Żagań, first mentioned in a 1202 deed, then belonged the Duchy of Lower Silesia at Wrocław under the rule of the Piast duke Henry I the Bearded. In 1251 it was part of the newly created Duchy of Głogów under Henry's grandson Konrad I. After Konrad's death in 1274 heirs again divided the duchy and the castle of Żagań became the residence of his youngest son Przemko of Ścinawa, Duke of Żagań from 1278, who established a monastery of the Augustinian Canons here. Thus the Duchy of Żagań came into the existence. In 1284 he swapped his estates for the Duchy of Ścinawa and was succeeded by his elder brother Konrad II the Hunchback. When Konrad II died in 1304 all former Głogów estates were re-unified under his surviving brother Henry III.
In 1309 Henry III of Głogów was followed by his eldest son Henry IV the Faithful, who in 1321 again had to divide the duchy among him and his younger brothers. He ceded Głogów to Przemko II and retired to Żagań, which again became the capital of a duchy in his own right. In 1329 all sons of Henry III of Głogów became vassals of John of Luxembourg, the King of Bohemia - with the exception of Przemko II who died suddenly two years later. When in 1393 Henry VI the Older, grandson of Henry IV died without issue, the estates were again re-unified with Głogów until in 1412 Jan I, the eldest son of Duke Henry VIII the Sparrow became the sole rule of the Żagań duchy. After a fierce battle for the inheritance his son Jan II the Mad finally sold it to Duke Albert III of Saxony from the House of Wettin, thus ending the centuries-long Piast rule.
In 1549 Elector Maurice of Saxony ceded Żagań to the Bohemian king Ferdinand I of Habsburg. Emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg allotted the fief to Albrecht von Wallenstein, his generalissimo in the Thirty Years' War in 1627. It then passed to the illustrious Bohemian family of Lobkowicz, who had the Baroque Żagań Palace erected. After the First Silesian War of 1742 Żagań fell to Prussia.
In 1786 the fief was purchased by Peter von Biron, Duke of Courland, and eventually (1843) passed to his daughter Dorothea, the wife of Edmond de Talleyrand, a nephew of the great French diplomat Talleyrand, who came to pass her retirement years at Żagań. A patent of King Frederick William IV of Prussia on 6 January 1845 invested her as Duchess of Sagan and Napoleon III recognized the title in France, in favor of her son Louis.
In France there is a prince and a duc de Sagan. The double title, both Prussian and French, served to render the duc de Sagan a neutral party in World War II: his Château de Valençay provided a safe haven for treasures of the Louvre during the German occupation of France. During World War II, the town was the location of the infamous Stalag Luft III. The town was transferred from Germany to Poland in 1945.
Sports
- Czarni Żagań
- WKS Sobieski Żagań
- Formoza Żagań
- KS Bóbr Żagań
- UKS Orzeł Żagań
Notable people
- Adolf Engler (1844-1930), botanist
- Reinhold Röhricht (1842-1905), historian
- Wolfgang Samuel (born 1935), author. He recounts his childhood flight from the invading Russians in his memoir, "German Boy".
- Łukasz Garguła (born 1981), footballer
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Żagań is twinned with:
Gallery
 Railway station |
 town panorama |
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Żagań |
- Official town webpage
- Map from mapa.szukacz.pl (Polish)
- "Le château de Sagan" (French)
Coordinates: 51°37′N 15°19′E / 51.617°N 15.317°E
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