Gmina Grodków Postal code 49-200 Area 9.88 km² Population 8,746 (2015) Team Olimp Grodków | Time zone CET (UTC+1) Car plates OB Local time Friday 6:03 PM | |
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Weather 5°C, Wind NW at 14 km/h, 83% Humidity | ||
Grodków [ˈɡrɔtkuf] (German: Grottkau ) is a town in Brzeg County, Opole Voivodeship in Poland, the administrative seat of Gmina Grodków. It is located in the Silesian Lowlands of the Oder basin, in the historic Upper Silesia region, about 20 km (12 mi) south of Brzeg. In the north it has access to the A4 autostrada. The town has 8,746 inhabitants (2015).
Contents
Map of Grodk%C3%B3w, Poland
Before 1945 the town was part of Germany (see Territorial changes of Poland after World War II).
History
The settlement of villa Grodcobichi in the Duchy of Silesia was first mentioned in a 1210 deed. The neighbouring town of Neu Grottkau was laid out by German settlers in the course of the Ostsiedlung, it was granted city rights in 1268 by the Silesian duke Henryk IV Probus. The medieval city plan was characterized by a rectangular marketplace and four streets leading to the towers of the city gates and the nearby towns of Nysa, Ziębice, Wrocław and Lewin. Upon the 1311 partition of the Silesian duchy, Grodków fell to the Duchy of Brzeg ruled by Duke Bolesław III the Generous, who became a Bohemian vassal in 1327. In 1344 he sold the town to Bishop Przecław of Wrocław, who attached it to his Silesian Duchy of Nysa. Later their suzerain, the Bohemian king Wenceslaus, granted the Wrocław bishops the title of a "Duke of Grodków", which they retained until the secularisation of the bishopric in 1810.
Grottkau was devastated during the Hussite Wars and again in the Thirty Years' War, after which it was rebuilt under the rule of its native son Bishop Sebastian von Rostock. With the Bohemian kingdom, the town was incorporated into the Habsburg Monarchy in 1526. After the First Silesian War of 1740-42, it was annexed by King Frederick the Great of Prussia, the Prussian garrison established after the Seven Years' War in 1763 was not disbanded until 1920. From 1815 onwards, Grottkau was part of the Silesia Province.
The town had 4,867 inhabitants in 1939 and was the seat of Landkreis Grottkau until 1945. The town was heavily damaged during the Vistula–Oder Offensive of the Red Army. After World War II, the German population was expelled according to the resolutions of the Potsdam Agreement.
Economy
Grodków is the centre for commerce, business and industry in the regional locality of Gmina Grodków. The town's gmina is largely dependent on the agricultural sector, due to the Opole Voivodeship's fertile soil, being a major factor in the town's economy alike. The town has a department for the local shopping chain "Wimar Bort", located by Henryk Sienkiewicz Street (ul. Henryka Sienkiewicza). The settlement has a major industrial complex located to its north, including: "Grodkono" waffles food production; "Nalewki Kresowe" producing the Polish alcoholic beverage nalewka, as well as a vulcanisation plant, all located by Lipowa Street (ul. Lipowa).
Grodków is located south of the Przylesie interchange (Węzeł Przylesie), connecting the Voivodeship Road 401 to the A4 motorway. The town has a railway station, with the Nysa–Grodków–Brzeg line crossing through the city.
Notable people
Twin towns - Sister Cities
Grodków is twinned with: