Opole
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. It is the historical capital of
Upper Silesia. Today, many Poles of
German ancestry live in the Opole region.
Opole developed since the 10th century as the regional capital of the
Slavic Opolanians. At the end of the century
Silesia became part of Poland and was ruled by the
Piast dynasty; the land of the pagan Opolanians was conquered by Duke
Bolesław I in 1012/1013. From the 11th-12th centuries it was also a
castellany. Along with the rest of Silesia, Opole became part of the
Holy Roman Empire in 1163. 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 became the capital of the latter duchy in 1217. In 1281 Upper Silesia was divided further between the heirs of the dukes, and the Duchy of Opole was established.
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
Środa Śląska 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 also 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
Germanizing 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 Opole 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%. Eastern Upper Silesia, including the industrial region of
Katowice, was granted to Poland in 1922.
Opole was the administrative seat of the
Province of Upper Silesia from 1919-1939. With the defeat of Poland in the
Polish September Campaign at the beginning of
World War II in 1939, eastern Upper Silesia was readded to the Province of Upper Silesa and Opole lost its status as provincial capital to Katowice.
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 was not forcibly expelled, even though many left to West Germany to flee the
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
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 Polish administration after the annexation of Silesia in 1945 did not 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.)
Opole hosts the annual National Festival of Polish Songs. 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.
* state-run universities and colleges:
**
Opole University of Technology (
Politechnika Opolska)
**
University of Opole (
Uniwersytet Opolski)
**
Public Higher Medical Professional School in Opole (
Państwowa Medyczna Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa w Opolu)
* privately-run colleges:
**
Management and Administration College in Opole (
Wyższa Szkoła Zarządzania i Administracji w Opolu)
**
Bogdan Jański Academy (
Szkoła Wyższa im. Bogdana Jańskiego)
|
Opole Główne Railway Station |
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 |
Apartment buildings along the marketplace |
*
Leo Baeck (1873-1956), rabbi
*
Anna Brzezińska (born 1971), fantasy writer
*
Jerzy Buzek (born 1940), academic and politician
*
Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999), theater director
*
Jan Kasprowicz (1860-1926), poet
*
Paul Kleinert (1837-1920), theologian
*
Miroslav Klose (born 1978), football player
*
Andrzej Jerzy Lech (born 1955), artist and photographer
*
Friedrich Münzer (1868-1942), philologist
*
Emin Pasha (born Eduard Schnitzer) (1840-1892), explorer and governor of Africa
see also:
Dukes of Opole |
Signs showing direction of 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 County,
USA *
Székesfehérvár,
Hungary*
Kragujevac,
Serbia*
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. "
Opole". Columbia University Press. Accessed
June 4 2006.
*
Municipal website*
Webcam showing Krakowska Street in Opole 
