Jasło

History

In the early days of Polish statehood, Jasło was part of the Castellany of Biecz, out of which Biecz County emerged in the 14th century. The area of the future town belonged to a Cisterian Abbey from Koprzywnica, and by the mid 13th century, Jasło, known then as Jasiel or Jasiol, had a fair of local importance. Together with a number of other locations in Lesser Poland, the village was granted Magdeburg rights by King Casimir III the Great, on April 23, 1366. In 1368 the king made a transaction with the Cisterian monks - in exchange for the town of Frysztak, and the villages of Glinik and Kobyle, Jasło became a royal town. It already had a parish church, founded before 1325 by King Władysław I of Poland. The parish had a school, and in the mid-14th century, Carmelite brothers came to the town.

Polish Golden Age was the period of prosperity for both Lesser Poland and Jasło, which belonged to Kraków Voivodeship. The town grew, but it never became an important urban location of this part of the country. It had a number of artisans, several fairs and markets. Local merchants traded with both Polish and foreign merchants, mostly from the Kingdom of Hungary, taking advantage of the vicinity of the border. Good times ended in the 1650s. In 1655, the town was captured and destroyed by the Swedes (see the Deluge), in 1657 - by the Transilvanians of George II Rakoczi, and in the first years of the 18th century - again by Swedish troops of King Charles XII of Sweden (see Great Northern War). The town was destroyed once again by the Russians during the Bar Confederation.

In 1772, after the first partition of Poland (see Partitions of Poland), Jasło was annexed by the Austrian Empire, as part of Galicia. In 1790, the town became the seat of a district, which had been moved here from Dukla. Several Austrian-German civil servants came here, and office buildings, with a new town hall, courthouse, prison and schools were built. In 1826 several houses in the market square burned, which resulted in construction boom, and in early 1846, farmers from villages around Jasło took part in the Galician peasant revolt. In 1858, Ignacy Łukasiewicz, a world-renowned inventor, moved to Jasło. Due to his pioneering work, an oil well was constructed in Niegłowice near Jasło (1889-1890). At approximately same time, a rail line from Stróże to Zagórz was constructed (1872-1884), with additional connection from Jasło to Rzeszów opened in 1890. In the early 20th century, the population of Jasło was 10,000. The town was well-kept and clean, a power plant was built in 1897, then a municipal park was opened, and in September 1900, Jasło was visited by Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. Several World War I battles took place in the area of Jasło, but the town itself was not destroyed. In May 1915, in the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive, Russian forces were pushed back by the Germans, who entered Jasło on May 6, 1915, at 22:30.

In the Second Polish Republic, Jasło was the seat of a county in Kraków Voivodeship. For most part of the interbellum period, unemployment and poverty were prevalent, and the situation began slowly to improve in the late 1930s, after creation of the Central Industrial Region. In 1937, Gamrat chemical plant was opened, but all efforts were destroyed in the Invasion of Poland, September 1939. Jasło belonged to the General Government, and was an important center of the Polish resistance movement. In the night of August 5/6, 1943, the Kedyw carried out a successful attack on the local prison. In September and October 1944, after the Soviet - German frontline was established, and remained unchanged for several months, the Germans began expulsion of all inhabitants of Jasło, as the town was located on the front line. In the late autumn of 1944, Wehrmacht units burned whole town, and as a result, 97% of Jasło was destroyed. In January 1945, only 365 people dwelled among the ruins of the town.

Etymology

The name derives from Old Polish common word for the "manger" or "trough [trof]" which sounded "jasło" < *jesło (before the Lechitic umlaut). Plausibly, it comes from the Slavonic verb "to eat" - "jeść" < *jesti. The Modern Polish equivalent is "żłób" or more seldom "koryto" and the word "jasło" is forgotten in this meaning. The Germanized version was Jassel or Jessel which appeared in 1325.

Transportation

Jasło is an important railroad junction of southeastern Poland, with trains going into three directions - eastwards (to Zagorz), westwards (to Stróże) and northeast, to Rzeszów. Another line, along the Wisłoka to Dębica, was planned in the interebellum period. Construction on it began in 1938, but it was never completed because of World War II.

Education

Sports

→Jasło is home to a sports club Czarni Jasło, founded in 1910.

→Polish Folk Dance

Churches of Jasło

Jasło has a population that includes Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, non-Catholics [presumably Protestants], and a small Jewish population. However, it is mainly Roman Catholic, and contains 9 Catholic Churches.

Notable people

Born in the area:

Associated with:

Twin towns — Sister cities

Jasło is twinned with: