Everything about Oppeln totally explained
Opole is a city in southern
Poland on the
Oder River (Odra). It has a population of 129,553 and is the capital of the
Opole Voivodeship, and also the seat of
Opole County. It is the historical capital of
Upper Silesia. Today, many
German Upper Silesians and Poles of
German ancestry live in the Opole region and the city itself.
History
Before the
5th century Germanic tribe of the
Silingii and possibly
Burgundians migrated into the region around Opole. After the Germanic tribes left to invade the
Roman Empire,
Western Slavic tribes moved into the area.
Opole developed since the 10th century as the regional capital of the
Slavic Opolanie. Their first settlements were on the
Wyspa Pasieka island in the middle of the
Odra. At the end of the century
Silesia became part of Poland and was ruled by the
Piast dynasty; the land of the pagan Opolanie was conquered by Duke
Bolesław I in 1012/1013. From the 11th-12th centuries it was also a
castellany. After the death of Duke
Władysław II the Exile, Silesia was divided in 1163 between two Piast lines- the
Wrocławska line in
Lower Silesia and the Opolsko-
Raciborska of
Upper Silesia. Opole would
became a duchy in 1172 and would share much in common with the
Duchy of Racibórz, with which it was often combined. In 1281 Upper Silesia was divided further between the heirs of the dukes, and the Duchy of Opole was temporarily reestablished in 1290.
While
German merchants had earlier established a colony in Opole at the crossing of the Oder, German peasants began arriving in 1217. Opole received
German town law in 1254, which was expanded with
Neumarkt law in 1327 and
Magdeburg rights in 1410. Along with most of
Silesia, in 1327 the Duchy of Opole came under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of
Bohemia, itself part of the
Holy Roman Empire. In 1521 the Duchy of
Racibórz (
Ratibor) was inherited by the Duchy of Opole, by then already known by the German name Oppeln. With the death of King
Louis II of Bohemia at the
Battle of Mohács, Silesia was inherited by
Ferdinand I, placing Oppeln under the sovereignty of the
Habsburg Monarchy of
Austria. The Habsburgs took control of the region in 1532 after the line of local Piast dukes died out. Beginning in 1532 the Habsburgs pawned the duchy to different rulers (see
Dukes of Opole). With the abdication of King
John II Casimir of Poland as the last Duke of Opole in 1668, the region passed to the direct control of the Habsburgs.
King
Frederick II of
Prussia conquered most of Silesia from Austria in 1740 during the
Silesian Wars; Prussian control was confirmed in the Peace of Breslau in 1742. From 1816-1945 Opole was the capital of
Regierungsbezirk Oppeln within Prussia. The city became part of the
German Empire during the
unification of Germany in 1871.
After the defeat of Imperial Germany in
World War I, a
plebiscite was held on
March 20 1921 in Oppeln to determine if the city would be in the
Weimar Republic or become part of the
Second Polish Republic. 20,816 (94.7%) votes were cast for Germany, 1,098 (5.0%) for Poland, and 70 (0.3%) votes were declared invalid. Voter participation was 95.9%. However, at the time the voting population consisted only of ethnic Germans.
Oppeln was the administrative seat of the
Province of Upper Silesia from 1919-1939. With the defeat of Poland in the
Invasion of Poland at the beginning of
World War II in 1939, eastern Upper Silesia was readded to the Province of Upper Silesa and Oppeln lost its status as provincial capital to Katowice (renamed Kattowitz again).
After the end of the Second World War in 1945, Oppeln was transferred from Germany to Poland according to the
Potsdam Conference, and given its old Slavic name of Opole. Opole became part of the
Katowice Voivodeship from 1946-1950, after which it became part of the
Opole Voivodeship. Unlike other parts of
historical eastern Germany ceded to remapped Poland, Opole and the surrounding region's German population remained and wasn't
forcibly expelled as elsewhere, even though many ethnic Germans with right to German citizenship left to
West Germany to flee the communist
Eastern Bloc. Today Opole, along with the surrounding region, is known as a centre of the German-speaking Silesian minority in Poland.
Historical population
| Year |
Population |
| 1533 ¹ |
1,420 |
| 1691 |
1,191 |
| 1700 |
1,150 |
| 1746 |
1,161 |
| 1750 |
2,450 |
| 1787 |
2,802 |
| 1800 |
3,073 |
| 1816 |
4,050 |
| 1819 |
4,896 |
| 1825 |
5,987 |
| 1834 |
6,496 |
|
| Year |
Population |
| 1850 |
8,280 |
| 1858 ² |
8,877 |
| 1875 |
12,694 |
| 1890 |
19,000 |
| 1905 |
30,112 |
| 1910 ³ |
33,907 |
| 1924 |
43,000 |
| 1932 |
45,532 |
| 1936 |
50,561 |
| May 17 1939 |
50,540 |
| March 24 1945 |
170 |
|
| Year |
Population |
| July 1945 |
13,000 |
| 1946 |
40,000 |
| 1950 |
50,300 |
| 1956 |
56,400 |
| 1960 |
63,500 |
| 1965 |
70,000 |
| 1971 |
87,800 |
| 1973 |
92,600 |
| December 31 1989 |
127,653 |
| Census 1992 |
129,552 |
| Census 2002 |
129,946 |
| December 31 2004 |
128,864 |
|
¹ First census of the city
² 8,320 German nationality (93,7%) and 557 Polish nationality (6,3%)
³ 80% German-speaking, 16% Polish- or Slavic Silesian-speaking, and 4% German- and Polish-speaking
German minority
Alongside
German, many citizens of Opole-Oppeln before 1945 used a strongly German-influenced
Silesian dialect known as Upper Silesian,
Wasserpolnisch, or
Wasserpolak. Because of this, the Soviet puppet-state administration after the annexation of Silesia in 1945 didn't initiate a general
expulsion of German-speakers in Opole, as was done in Lower Silesia, for instance, where the population exclusively spoke the German language. Because they were considered "
autochthonous" (Polish), the Wasserpolak-speakers instead received the right to remain in their homeland. Many German-speakers took advantage of this decision, allowing them to remain in their Oppeln, even when they considered themselves to be of German nationality. The city and its surroundings presently contain the largest German and Upper Silesian minorities in Poland. (See also
Germans of Poland.)
Attractions
Opole hosts the annual
National Festival of Polish Song. The city is also known for its 10th century Church of
St. Adalbert and the 14th century Church of the
Holy Cross. There is a zoo, the
Ogród Zoologiczny w Opolu.
Structures and buildings
Museums
a Diocesan Museum (Muzeum Diecezjalne)
the Opole Regional Museum (Muzeum Śląska Opolskiego)
the Opole Village Museum (Muzeum Wsi Opolskiej)
Education
state-run universities and colleges:
privately run colleges:
Politics
Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from Opole constituency
Dorota Jazłowiecka, PO
Tadeusz Jarmuziewicz, PO
Ryszard Knosala, PO
Leszek Korzeniowski, PO
Sławomir Kłosowski, PiS
Teresa Ceglecka-Zielonka, PiS
Mieczysław Walkiewicz, PiS
Henryk Kroll, German minority
Ryszard Galla, German minority
Józef Stępkowski, Samoobrona
Sandra Lewandowska, Samoobrona
Tomasz Garbowski, SLD
Marek Kawa, LPR
Famous residents
Władysław Opolczyk, count palatine of Poland 1378
Leo Baeck (1873-1956), rabbi
Anna Brzezińska (born 1971), fantasy writer
Jerzy Buzek (born 1940), academic and politician, prime minister of Poland
Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999), theater director
Jan Kasprowicz (1860-1926), poet
Paul Kleinert (1837-1920), German theologian
Miroslav Klose (born 1978), football player (playing in the German national football team)
Andrzej Jerzy Lech (born 1955), artist and photographer
Emin Pasha (born Eduard Schnitzer) (1840-1892), explorer and governor of Africa
Bolesław Polnar (born 1952), graphic artist and painter
Edwin von Drenkmann, famous German lawyer
Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, German officer
Hans-Adolf von Moltke, German diplomat
Jürgen Peters, president of the German trade union IG Metall.
Joachim Zeller, district mayor of Berlin-Central.
Jan Fethke, movie director
Alfons Hayduk, German author
Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert, German painter
Georg Nehrlich, German painter
Ruth Seydewitz, German journalist and author
Hugo Ulrich, (1827-1872), musician
Hans-Busso von Busse, German architect and professor
Eckart Klein, German lawyer
Friedrich Münzer (1868-1942), German philologist
Jürgen Roloff, German protestant theologian
Emil Friedrich Julius Sommer, professor of German language
Max Wiener, German-Jewish theologian.
Kaspar Colonna, German Army officer.
Ferdinand von Prondzynski, 19th century Prussian general, whose direct descendant Ferdinand von Prondzynski is President of Dublin City University, Ireland.
Rochus Misch (1917-still alive), communications' chief of the Reichskanzlei and member of the Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler
Chester Marcol, American Football Placekicker for the Green Bay Packers.
» see also: Dukes of Opole-Oppeln
Twin cities
Alytus, Lithuania
Agioi Anargyroi, Greece
Bonn, Germany
Bruntál, Czech Republic
Carrara, Italy
Grasse, France
Ingolstadt, Germany
Kuopio, Finland
Mülheim, Germany
Potsdam, Germany
Roanoke, USA
Székesfehérvár, Hungary
Kragujevac, SerbiaFurther Information
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