Country Poland Gmina Otmuchów Time zone CET (UTC+1) Area 27.83 km² Local time Monday 10:53 PM | County Nysa Elevation 220 m (720 ft) Postal code 48-385 Population 5,261 (2006) Voivodeship Opole Voivodeship | |
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Weather 6°C, Wind SW at 8 km/h, 72% Humidity | ||
Otmuchów (pronounced: [ɔtˈmuxuf]) is a town in Nysa County, Opole Voivodeship, Poland, with 5,317 inhabitants (2004).
Contents
Map of Otmuch%C3%B3w, Poland
Etymology
The city was mentioned for the first time as "Otemochow" in 1155. The name Othmuchow was also listed in the Chronicles of the Kingdom of Poland written in the years 1455-1480 by Jan Długosz.
In 1613 the Silesian regionalist and historian Nicholas Henkel stated in his own work entitled Fri Silesiographia two names in Latin, Otmuchovia and Othmuchaw.
In 1945 the city's name was changed from Ottmachau to Otmuchów.
History
The first mentioning of the town comes from 1155. During the 14th century the city was surrounded by walls. Establishment of the coat of arms of the city dates back to 1347. The coat of arms is an open city gate in white on a blue field. From the 14th century it was used as the town seal. Destroyed by many wars throughout history, the town lost its importance due to a nearby developing city of Nysa, which was the capital of the principality of the bishop.
Before 1945 the area was part of Germany. During the Second World War a Prisoner of War camp (E276) was based here, at a sugar beet factory. The camp came under the administration of Stalag VIIIB/344 at Lamsdorf (Łambinowice), a camp for English-speaking prisoners of war. In 1944 the men were transferred to the oil refinery at Trzebinia (E738).
Twin towns – Sister cities
Otmuchów is twinned with: