{"id":238,"date":"2018-03-09T10:36:55","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T09:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/m40.hekko24.pl\/projekty\/visitpoznan\/?page_id=238"},"modified":"2018-09-05T11:45:32","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T09:45:32","slug":"historia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/visitpoznan.info\/en\/poznan\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"HISTORY"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/span><\/i> The fortified settlement and Pozna\u0144 of the first Piasts<\/a><\/h3>
<\/p>\n

The history of Pozna\u0144, as in the case of the majority of old towns, began with water. The place beneath the future Pozna\u0144 was created by the River Warta and its tributaries: the Cybina, the Bogdanka and the Wierzbak, creating sandbanks. It was indeed upon these, near the end of the IX century, that the settelment was born \u2013 undoubtedly established by a\u00a0Poznanian ruler, who on today's Ostr\u00f3w Tumski (old Slavonic for Cathedral Islands) built a\u00a0fortified settlement protecting the travelling traders as they crossed the river at the Warta ford.<\/p>\n

The lengend tells the story in a different way. It talks of the three brothers, named Lech, Czech and Rus, who after many years of being apart decided to meet again. They started their journeys from 3 different directions and the place where they finally met each other was called Pozna\u0144 by them to commemorate this happy meeting (\u201cpozna\u0107\u201d means to meet someone).<\/span><\/p>\n

During the reign of Mieszko I\u00a0a\u00a0new imposing centre with a\u00a0so-called 'palatium' or princely residence with a private chapel was built. The construction of the first Christian place of worship on the Polish lands and also the first Polish cathedral was started directly after the baptism of Mieszko, and certainly before the arrival of the first Polish bishop \u2013 Jordan. The entire complex was encircled by earth and timber defensive embankments.<\/p>\n

Mieszko, and after him his son Boles\u0142aw, named by his successors 'the Brave', were buried in Pozna\u0144 Cathedral. Unfortunately \u2013 the sanctity of the new city did not last long. Just 70 years after the inauguration of the capital diocese, Wielkopolska suffered great losses and damage during a\u00a0Czech raid. The reconstruction of the region lasted until the end of the XI century, and the state capital was temporarily transferred to Krak\u00f3w. Better times returned to Pozna\u0144 in the XII and XIII centuries.<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/i> Location of the city and royal Pozna\u0144<\/a><\/h3>
<\/p>\n

In the XII and XIII centuries during the reigns of successive local princes: W\u0142adys\u0142aw Odonica, Przemys\u0142 I\u00a0and Boles\u0142aw the Pious all of Wielkopolska was quickly modernised, with the parallel process of the introduction of Magdeburg Law for the establishment of local towns. One of these towns was the new Pozna\u0144, already no longer built on the terrain \u2013 flooded by the water of the River Warta – of Ostr\u00f3w Tumski or \u015ar\u00f3dka, but on the high left bank \u2013 where Stary Rynek is today. From 1253 a\u00a0new era began in the city history. Not long afterwards the most important characteristic buildings were built \u2013 the enormous Collegiate Parish Church dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, the City Hall and the Castle of Prince Przemys\u0142 I, which at the end of the XIII century became the Royal Castle. In 1295 the Prince of Wielkopolska, Przemys\u0142 II was crowned King of Poland.<\/p>\n

Not quite a\u00a0century later the marriage of Jadwiga to Jagie\u0142\u0142o brought new prospects to Pozna\u0144 \u2013 the ancient trade route from Western Europe became suddenly extended to Wilna and to Ruthenian and even Russian towns. Pozna\u0144 for the next two centuries was an important stopping place on this trade route. New settlements were established around the town, the number of resdients grew quickly, so that in the XVI century, they exceeded 30,000. New brickworks and potteries were established and also a\u00a0centre providing services for merchant caravans. On the island of Tumski the bishop funded the first academy in Wielkopolska, and the second in Poland. It was the Lubra\u0144ski Academy \u2013 the first academy in Poland that taught in the spirit of the Renaissance. The city was able to afford to employ the most distinguished builders of those times, who transformed the wooden mediaeval Pozna\u0144 into a\u00a0modern Renaissance centre. The pride of the city was the Town Hall transformed by the Lombard builder, Jan Baptyst Quadro of Lugano. The result of this work so delighted the citizens of Poznan that they employed him in the city for many years, during which he designed many more buildings.<\/p>\n

The Town Hall, a beautiful example of the spirit of renaissance, very quickly became a clock with a mechanism that displayed goats locking their horns to the rhythm of ringing bells and a trumpet playing in the background at noon (till 2014) or the top of every hour (since 2014).<\/span>
The legend says that once upon a time a feast commemorating a very important guest was organised in Pozna\u0144. The main course of the feast was going to be roast venison. Unfortunately, when the cook left the kitchen, his clumsy assistant burned the meat. To recover from this situation the assistant ran to a grassy meadow where he saw two small goats. He took them to the kitchen, but before he managed to prepare them for to be cooked as a main dish, the animals ran away to the top of the town hall tower, where they started to fight using their horns. People standing on the main square were so amused watching the goats fight that the cook assistant was pardoned and to commemorate this event the mechanism with the two artificial goats locking horns was added to the clock.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/i> XVII - XVIII century \u2013 time of anxieties and poverty<\/a><\/h3>
<\/p>\n

The slow decline of Pozna\u0144, similar to that of many other Polish cities and towns, began together with the the Thirty Years War. During the course of successive wars a\u00a0succession of Crown and Confederate military units were stationed in the city while fighting in the Northern War. Despite this, building work continued on the great and magnificent Jesuit church, which at the end of the XVIII century took on the role of the city Parish Church and for later generations is one of the most distinguished artistic achievements of the baroque era in Poland.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the XVIII century a\u00a0major event was the settling in Pozna\u0144 and adjacent villages of about 100 families from Bamberg. The new arrivals brought a\u00a0new village model to Pozna\u0144 \u2013 based on rents, due to which Pozna\u0144, as the first city in the Republic, became a\u00a0city free of feudal obligations! After almost a\u00a0century of stagnation, in part due to the settlers from Bamberg themselves, the indigenous population and its wealth \u2013 the city slowly began to grow.<\/p>\n

Bambers assimilated with the local population very quickly. In the XIX century there was even a Bamber folklore outfit created. It had a colorful skirt with a white lacy apron on top, both of which were ankle-length so the shoe underneath them could be seen. Young maids intending to get married used to wear for the Sunday mass service and to other events a so called \u201dkornet\u201d (a bonnet) decorated with flowers, ribbons and precious stones. The traditional belief about the Kornets was that the bigger the cornet the richer the husband found by the maid. That\u2019s why some of the Kornets had the height of 25 cm and weighed more than 3 kg!<\/span><\/p>\n

The prosperous times continued for Pozna\u0144 for a while.<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/i> Under Prussian rule<\/a><\/h3>
<\/p>\n

For the new authorities of the city, which they renamed Posen, the city was initially only a\u00a0garrison and an administrative centre. After a\u00a0certain time though the Prussian officials began to develop new residential and administrative areas, which later became the centre of the contemporary city. The standard of the new buildings was high and Prussian. The old mediaeval city walls were demolished, while a\u00a0fortress was built simultaneously, the centre of which became Fort Winiary, today's Cytadel, and the entire city was surrounded by a\u00a0network of smaller forts. Even worse – the development of the city was done with only a singular, military purpose in mind, even the railway station, built in the middle of the XIX century, was outside the defensive earthworks. Pozna\u0144 became a\u00a0fortress.<\/p>\n

Despite the presence of the Germans in Pozna\u0144, interesting and predominantly Polish initiatives could be seen. On Wilhelm Platz, today's Plac Wolno\u015bci, Count Raczy\u0144ski built the first public library in Poland. On the opposite side the 'Bazar' was built \u2013 a\u00a0bastion of Polish commerce, and the Golden Chapel, or the mausoleum of the first Piasts were built in the cathedral. However the real impulse for Pozna\u0144 was the demolition of the encircling Prussian defence walls \u2013 at the beginning of the XX century, which suddenly made a\u00a0great area of land accessible for development. This centre became the Palace Quarter, in which a\u00a0new palace was built, the Imperial Palace, around which were built numerous facilities and buildings: the City Theatre, the Railway and Postal Directorates, the Sanitary Institute and various official buildings. Horse-drawn trams gave way to electric trams, a\u00a0central railway station was built and new residential and administrative quarters were added<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/i> The XX Century \u2013 a century of military triumphs and disasters<\/a><\/h3>
<\/p>\n

World War I\u00a0and simultaneously the partitions, ended for Pozna\u0144 together with the end of the Wielkopolska Uprising in the summer of 1919. The re-establishment of frontiers of the independent II Republic of Poland was a\u00a0triumphal return \u2013 the Poznan citizens had triumphed in their uprising. Furthermore Pozna\u0144 was the most developed and the wealthiest city in the country and it continued to prosper. On the site of the former East German Exhibition trade fairs began being organised just two years later, and in 1929 the largest Inter-war exhibition was held \u2013 the National General Exhibition – Powszechna Wystawa Krajowa (known as PeWuKa).<\/p>\n

World War II began for Poznanians with the arrival of the Germans in the city on the 10th of September. The province of Wielkopolska became the so-called Wartheland. The Germans exiled virtually a\u00a0third of the 270,000 city residents. They were replaced by Germans from the Baltic countries. At the end of January 1945 the offensive attack of Polish and Soviet units began, a time of struggle for Pozna\u0144, which lasted nearly a\u00a0month and caused enormous loss and destruction. The greatest destruction was in the city centre, as many as a\u00a0quarter of the residential buildings were uninhabitable. Even so, the exiled Poznanians quickly returned to the city, they were also joined by Poles who had been exiled from Poland's eastern provinces, mainly the province of Wilno, all of which were taken from Poland by the Soviet Union. Within a\u00a0year after the end of the war the number of city residents had exceeded a\u00a0quarter of a\u00a0million!<\/p>\n

Forced into the Soviet planning system, the city surrendered. In 1956 the Ceglorz workers (the name refers to the Hipolit Cegielski Works in Pozna\u0144 \u2013 then under the patronage of J\u00f3zef Stalin) came out to the streets, demanding freedom, law and bread. That was the first Polish strike, crushed with tanks, brought the whole of Poland the yearned for changes in October. However for the entire period of the Polish People's Republic, Pozna\u0144, because of its Trade Fairs, was for many Poles the only window allowing a view to the outside world.<\/p>\n

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