Opole

 

(ôpô'lĕ) , Ger. Oppeln, city (1992 est. pop. 129,000), capital of Opolskie prov., S Poland, on the Oder River. A river port and rail junction, it is also an important trade center, with manufactures of cement, metals, and furniture. Originally a Slavic settlement, it was the seat (1163–1532) of the dukes of Opole of the Piast dynasty. The duchy passed (1532) to the house of Hapsburg and (1742) to Prussia and was incorporated into Poland in 1945. It was the capital (1919–45) of the Prussian province of Upper Silesia. In the city are the churches of St. Adalbert (10th cent.) and of the Holy Cross (14th cent.).

Opole
General view
Flag Coat of arms
Opole
Coordinates: 50°40′N 17°56′E / 50.667, 17.933
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Opole
Powiat	city county
Gmina	Opole
City Rights	1217
Government
- Mayor	Ryszard Zembaczyński
Area
- City	km²  ( sq mi)
Population (2007)
- City
- Density	/km² (/sq mi)
- Metro
Time zone	CET ([[UTC+1]])
- Summer (DST)	CEST ([[UTC+2]])
Postal code	45-001 to 45-910
Area code(s)	+48 077
Car Plates	OP
Website: www.opole.pl

Opole ([ɔ:pɔlε] (help·info); German: Oppeln (help·info)) is a city in southern Poland on the Oder River (Odra). It has a population of 129,553 and is the capital of the Opole Voivodeship, and also the seat of Opole County. It is the historical capital of Upper Silesia. Today, many German Upper Silesians and Poles of German ancestry live in the Opole region and the city itself.

History

Before the 5th century Germanic tribe of the Silingii and possibly Burgundians migrated into the region around Opole. After the Germanic tribes left to invade the Roman Empire, Western Slavic tribes moved into the area.

Opole developed since the 10th century as the regional capital of the Slavic Opolanie. Their first settlements were on the Wyspa Pasieka island in the middle of the Odra. At the end of the century Silesia became part of Poland and was ruled by the Piast dynasty; the land of the pagan Opolanie was conquered by Duke Bolesław I in 1012/1013. From the 11th-12th centuries it was also a castellany. After the death of Duke Władysław II the Exile, Silesia was divided in 1163 between two Piast lines- the Wrocławska line in Lower Silesia and the Opolsko-Raciborska of Upper Silesia; Opole became the capital of the latter duchy in 1217. In 1281 Upper Silesia was divided further between the heirs of the dukes, and the Duchy of Opole was established.

While German merchants had earlier established a colony in Opole at the crossing of the Oder, German peasants began arriving in 1217. Opole received German town law in 1254, which was expanded with Neumarkt law in 1327 and Magdeburg rights in 1410. Along with most of Silesia, in 1327 the Duchy of Opole came under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Bohemia, itself part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1521 the Duchy of Racibórz (Ratibor) was inherited by the Duchy of Opole, by then already known by the German name Oppeln. With the death of King Louis II of Bohemia at the Battle of Mohács, Silesia was inherited by Ferdinand I, placing Oppeln under the sovereignty of the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria. The Habsburgs took control of the region in 1532 after the line of local Piast dukes died out. Beginning in 1532 the Habsburgs pawned the duchy to different rulers (see Dukes of Opole). With the abdication of King John II Casimir of Poland as the last Duke of Opole in 1668, the region passed to the direct control of the Habsburgs.

King Frederick II of Prussia conquered most of Silesia from Austria in 1740 during the Silesian Wars; Prussian control was confirmed in the Peace of Breslau in 1742. From 1816-1945 Opole was the capital of Regierungsbezirk Oppeln within Prussia. The city became part of the German Empire during the unification of Germany in 1871.

After the defeat of Imperial Germany in World War I, a plebiscite was held on March 20 1921 in Oppeln to determine if the city would be in the Weimar Republic or become part of the Second Polish Republic. 20,816 (94.7%) votes were cast for Germany, 1,098 (5.0%) for Poland, and 70 (0.3%) votes were declared invalid. Voter participation was 95.9%. However, at the time the voting population consisted only of ethnic Germans.

Oppeln was the administrative seat of the Province of Upper Silesia from 1919-1939. With the defeat of Poland in the Invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II in 1939, eastern Upper Silesia was readded to the Province of Upper Silesa and Oppeln lost its status as provincial capital to Katowice (renamed Kattowitz again).

After the end of the Second World War in 1945, Oppeln was transferred from Germany to Poland according to the Potsdam Conference, and given its old Slavic name of Opole. Opole became part of the Katowice Voivodeship from 1946-1950, after which it became part of the Opole Voivodeship. Unlike other parts of historical eastern Germany ceded to remapped Poland, Opole and the surrounding region's German population remained and was not forcibly expelled as elsewhere, even though many ethnic Germans with right to German citizenship left to West Germany to flee the communist Eastern Bloc. Today Opole, along with the surrounding region, is known as a centre of the German-speaking Silesian minority in Poland.

Historical population

Year Population 1533 ¹ 1,420 1691 1,191 1700 1,150 1746 1,161 1750 2,450 1787 2,802 1800 3,073 1816 4,050 1819 4,896 1825 5,987 1834 6,496

Year Population 1850 8,280 1858 ² 8,877 1875 12,694 1890 19,000 1905 30,112 1910 ³ 33,907 1924 43,000 1932 45,532 1936 50,561 May 17 1939 50,540 March 24 1945 170

Year Population July 1945 13,000 1946 40,000 1950 50,300 1956 56,400 1960 63,500 1965 70,000 1971 87,800 1973 92,600 December 31 1989 127,653 Census 1992 129,552 Census 2002 129,946 December 31 2004 128,864

¹ First census of the city

² 8,320 German nationality (93,7%) and 557 Polish nationality (6,3%)

³ 80% German-speaking, 16% Polish- or Slavic Silesian-speaking, and 4% German- and Polish-speaking

German minority

Alongside German, many citizens of Opole-Oppeln before 1945 used a strongly German-influenced Silesian dialect known as Upper Silesian, Wasserpolnisch, or Wasserpolak. Because of this, the Soviet puppet-state administration after the annexation of Silesia in 1945 did not initiate a general expulsion of German-speakers in Opole, as was done in Lower Silesia, for instance, where the population exclusively spoke the German language. Because they were considered "autochthonous" (Polish), the Wasserpolak-speakers instead received the right to remain in their homeland. Many German-speakers took advantage of this decision, allowing them to remain in their Oppeln, even when they considered themselves to be of German nationality. The city and its surroundings presently contain the largest German and Upper Silesian minorities in Poland. (See also Germans of Poland.)

Attractions

Opole hosts the annual National Festival of Polish Songs. The city is also known for its 10th century Church of St. Adalbert and the 14th century Church of the Holy Cross. There is a zoo, the Ogród Zoologiczny w Opolu.

Structures and buildings

• The art nouveau Groschen bridge (Most Groszowy), currently named Green Bridge (Zielony Mostek)
• Piast castle on the island
• a 14th century Franciscan church, a Piast mausoleum
• a 19th century Town Hall
• the Church of our Lady (Kościół NMP)
• the 14th century St. James's Cathedral (Katedra św. Jakuba)

Museums

• a Diocesan Museum (Muzeum Diecezjalne)
• the Opole Regional Museum (Muzeum Śląska Opolskiego)
• the Opole Village Museum (Muzeum Wsi Opolskiej)

Education

• state-run universities and colleges:
  • Opole University of Technology (Politechnika Opolska)
  • University of Opole (Uniwersytet Opolski)
  • Public Higher Medical Professional School in Opole (Państwowa Medyczna Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa w Opolu)
• privately run colleges:
  • Management and Administration College in Opole (Wyższa Szkoła Zarządzania i Administracji w Opolu)
  • Bogdan Jański Academy (Szkoła Wyższa im. Bogdana Jańskiego)

Politics

Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from Opole constituency

• Dorota Jazłowiecka, PO
• Tadeusz Jarmuziewicz, PO
• Ryszard Knosala, PO
• Leszek Korzeniowski, PO
• Sławomir Kłosowski, PiS
• Teresa Ceglecka-Zielonka, PiS
• Mieczysław Walkiewicz, PiS
• Henryk Kroll, German minority
• Ryszard Galla, German minority
• Józef Stępkowski, Samoobrona
• Sandra Lewandowska, Samoobrona
• Tomasz Garbowski, SLD
• Marek Kawa, LPR

Famous residents

• Władysław Opolczyk, count palatine of Poland 1378
• Leo Baeck (1873-1956), rabbi
• Anna Brzezińska (born 1971), fantasy writer
• Jerzy Buzek (born 1940), academic and politician, prime minister of Poland
• Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999), theater director
• Jan Kasprowicz (1860-1926), poet
• Paul Kleinert (1837-1920), German theologian
• Miroslav Klose (born 1978), football player (playing in the German national football team)
• Andrzej Jerzy Lech (born 1955), artist and photographer
• Emin Pasha (born Eduard Schnitzer) (1840-1892), explorer and governor of Africa
• Bolesław Polnar (born 1952), graphic artist and painter
• Edwin von Drenkmann, famous German lawyer
• Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, German officer
• Hans-Adolf von Moltke, German diplomat
• Jürgen Peters, president of the German trade union IG Metall.
• Joachim Zeller, district mayor of Berlin-Central.
• Jan Fethke, movie director
• Alfons Hayduk, German author
• Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert, German painter
• Georg Nehrlich, German painter
• Ruth Seydewitz, German journalist and author
• Hugo Ulrich, (1827-1872), musician
• Hans-Busso von Busse, German architect and professor
• Eckart Klein, German lawyer
• Friedrich Münzer (1868-1942), German philologist
• Jürgen Roloff, German protestant theologian
• Emil Friedrich Julius Sommer, professor of German language
• Max Wiener, German-Jewish theologian.
• Kaspar Colonna, German Army officer.
• Rochus Misch (1917-still alive), communications' chief of the Reichskanzlei and member of the Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler
• Chester Marcol, American Football Placekicker for the Green Bay Packers.

see also: Dukes of Opole-Oppeln

Twin cities

• Alytus, Lithuania
• Agioi Anargyroi, Greece
• Bonn, Germany
• Bruntál, Czech Republic
• Carrara, Italy
• Grasse, France
• Ingolstadt, Germany
• Kuopio, Finland
• Mülheim, Germany
• Potsdam, Germany
• Roanoke, USA
• Székesfehérvár, Hungary
• Kragujevac, Serbia

References

• This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of June 4 2006.

• The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. "Opole". Columbia University Press. Accessed June 4 2006.

External links

• Municipal website
• Webcam showing Krakowska Street in Opole (Polish)

Coordinates: 50°40′N, 17°56′E

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