Zgorzelec, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland

🇵🇱 Zgorzelec is a town in south-western Poland with 30,374 inhabitants (2019). It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the seat of Zgorzelec County and of Gmina Zgorzelec (although it is not part of the territory of the latter, as the town is an urban gmina in its own right). Zgorzelec is located on the Lusatian Neisse river, on the Polish-German border adjoining the German town of 🇩🇪 Görlitz, of which it constituted the eastern part up to 1945.

History Up until 1945, the modern-day towns of Zgorzelec and 🇩🇪 Görlitz were a single entity; their history up to that point is shared. The date of the town's foundation is unknown.

In the Early Middle Ages, the area was inhabited by the Bieżuńczanie tribe, one of the old Polish tribes, which together with the Sorbian Milceni tribe, with which it bordered in the west, was subjugated in 990 by the Margraviate of Meissen, a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire. It was conquered by Polish Duke, and future King, Bolesław I the Brave in 1002, whose goal was to decisively unite all Polish tribes, and remained part of Poland during the reign of the first Polish kings Bolesław I the Brave and Mieszko II Lambert until 1031, when the region fell again to the Margraviate of Meissen. Zgorzelec/Görlitz was first mentioned in a document from the King of Germany, and later Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV in 1071 as a small village named Goreliz in the region of Upper Lusatia. In 1075, the region came under the rule of the Duchy of Bohemia (kingdom from 1198). In the 13th century the village gradually turned into a town. It became rich due to its location on the Via Regia, an ancient and medieval trade road. In 1319 it became part of the Piast-ruled Duchy of Jawor, the southwesternmost duchy of fragmented Poland, and later on, became part of Bohemia again.

History: Recent Since the fall of communism in 1989, Zgorzelec and Görlitz have developed a close political relationship. Two of the numerous bridges over the Neisse river that had been blown up by retreating German forces in World War II have been rebuilt, reconnecting the two towns with one bus line. There is also common urban management and annual common sessions of both town councils. In 2006 the towns jointly applied to be the European Capital of Culture in 2010. It was hoped that the jury would be convinced by the concept of Polish-German cooperation, but the award fell to Essen, with Görlitz/Zgorzelec in second place.

Sights • Miejski Dom Kultury (Municipal House of Culture) • Polish-Saxon post milestone of King Augustus II of Poland and the reconstructed Postal Square (Plac Pocztowy) • Military cemetery of the Polish Second Army – one of the largest military cemeteries in Poland • Historical parks • Greek Boulevard (Bulwar Grecki), with a view of Görlitz • Wheelwright Croft (Zagroda Kołodzieja) • Muzeum Łużyckie • Town Hall • Old townhouses in the city center • Former Tricycle Mill (Młyn trójkołowy) • Baroque palace in the Ujazd district • Memorial to the victims of the Stalag VIII-A German World War II prisoner of war camp.

Transport Zgorzelec is served by two railway stations, Zgorzelec in the southern part of the town, and Zgorzelec Miasto in the eastern part.