Środa Wielkopolska (; until 1968 Środa) is a town in western-central Poland, situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, about southeast of Poznań, with 22,001 inhabitants (2009). It is the seat of Środa County, and of Gmina Środa Wielkopolska (a district within the county).

History

thumb|left|upright=0.7|Resolution of the [[sejmik of Poznań and Kalisz voivodeships in Środa approving the election of Sigismund III Vasa as King of Poland in 1587]]

A stronghold existed at the site in the Middle Ages. The oldest known mention of Środa dates back to 1228.

During World War II Środa was under German occupation from September 1939 to January 1945. A prison for Poles was established in the town. On September 17, 1939, the Gestapo murdered 21 Poles from Środa in the neighbouring village of Kijewo, and on October 20, 1939, Germans carried out a public execution of 29 Poles, including teachers, merchants, engineers, lawyers, landowners, and post and bank employees, at the market square. Leonard Cybichowski, principal of the local agricultural school, was one of Polish school principals and teachers murdered in the Dachau concentration camp. In 1939, Germans expelled families of Poles who were either murdered in the massacres or deported to Nazi concentration camps as part of the Intelligenzaktion. In 1940, Germans expelled the owners of shops, workshops and bigger houses, which were then handed over to German colonists as part of the Lebensraum policy. Further expulsions were carried out in February 1941. In 1940 the local parish church was closed down.

Transport

Środa lies on the main railway line from Poznań to Katowice (via Jarocin). There is also a steam railway which runs to Zaniemyśl, to the southeast.

National Road 11 bypasses the town to the south. National Road 11 connects Kołobrzeg on the Baltic Sea coast to Bytom via the city of Poznań.

The nearest airport is Poznań-Ławica Airport.

Notable people born or raised in Środa Wielkopolska

  • Monika Buczkowska (born 1992), operatic soprano
  • Arthur Greiser (1897–1946), German Nazi SS officer executed for war crimes
  • Klaus von Klitzing (born 1941), German physicist, winner of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physics
  • Franz Mertens (1840–1927), Polish-Austrian mathematician
  • Rafał Wieruszewski (born 1981), Polish sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Środa Wielkopolska is twinned with:

  • Hoyerswerda, Germany
  • Prostějov, Czech Republic
  • Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine, France

References

  • Official town website
  • Gallery of Środa Wielkopolska