Żagań (French and , ) is a town in western Poland, on the Bóbr river, with 23,136 inhabitants (2024), and the capital of Żagań County in the Lubusz Voivodeship, located in the historic region of Lower Silesia.

Founded in the 12th century by Polish monarch Bolesław IV the Curly, Żagań was the capital of an eponymous principality from 1274 to 1935. The main sights are the former Augustinian Monastery, one of the burial sites of the Piast dynasty, listed as a Historic Monument of Poland, An American Armored Brigade Combat Team is constantly rotated through the town under Operation Atlantic Resolve.

Etymology

The town's name probably means "place of the burnt forest" (, ), probably referring to the burning of primeval forest by early settlers. If this is correct, it is consistent with the names of nearby places Żary, Zgorzelec, and Pożarów.

Geography

Żagań is located roughly halfway between Cottbus and Wrocław, approximately 100 meters above sea level and at the centre of the Żagań administrative district. It is about north of the Polish border with the Czech Republic, and approximately to the east of Poland's border with Germany. The rural district of Żagań surrounds the town on its northern, eastern and southern sides. Iłowa lies to the south-west and the rural district of Żary is to the north-west. The Rivers Bóbr and Kwisa meet up just outside the town on its south-eastern side.

History

Polish Piast dynasty

thumb|left|upright|Medieval town walls

The area formed part of Poland after the creation of the state in the 10th century. Żagań was founded in the 12th century by Polish monarch Bolesław IV the Curly near an old settlement of the same name, which name was then changed to Stary Żagań ("Old Żagań"). The name comes from the Old Polish word zagon. It was first mentioned in a 1202 deed, when it belonged to the Duchy of Silesia under the rule of the Piast duke Henry I the Bearded, within fragmented Poland. In 1251, it became part of the newly created Duchy of Głogów under Henry's grandson Konrad I. Duke Konrad I granted Żagań town rights between 1248 and 1260. The town developed wealth from development of mining, and attracted German settlers from the west.

After Konrad's death in 1274, his heirs again divided the duchy and the castle of Żagań became the residence of his youngest son Przemko of Ścinawa, Duke of Żagań from 1278, who established a monastery of the Augustinian Canons here. Thus the Duchy of Żagań came into the existence. In 1284, he swapped his estates for the Duchy of Ścinawa and was succeeded by his elder brother Konrad II the Hunchback. When Konrad II died in 1304, all the former Głogów estates were reunified under his surviving brother Henry III.

thumb|right|Żagań Palace

In 1309, Henry III of Głogów was succeeded by his eldest son Henry IV the Faithful, who in 1321 again had to divide the duchy with his younger brothers. He ceded Głogów to Przemko II and retired to Żagań, which again became the capital of a duchy in its own right. In 1329, all the sons of Henry III of Głogów became vassals of John of Luxembourg, the King of Bohemia - with the exception of Przemko II who died suddenly two years later. When in 1393 Henry VI the Elder, grandson of Henry IV, died without issue, the estates were again reunified with Głogów until in 1412 Jan I, the eldest son of Duke Henry VIII the Sparrow, became the sole ruler of the Żagań duchy.

Saxon, Habsburg and Prussian rule

After a fierce battle for the inheritance, Jan II the Mad, son of Jan I, finally sold it to Duke Albert III of Saxony from the House of Wettin, thus ending the centuries-long Piast rule.

In 1549, Elector Maurice of Saxony ceded Sagan to the Bohemian king Ferdinand I of Habsburg. Emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg allotted the fief to Albrecht von Wallenstein, his supreme commander in the Thirty Years' War in 1627. It then passed to the illustrious Bohemian family of Lobkowicz, who had the Baroque Żagań Palace erected. One of two main routes connecting Warsaw and Dresden ran through the town in the 18th century and Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland traveled that route numerous times. After the First Silesian War of 1742, Żagań became part of Prussia. It was part of the Province of Silesia of Prussia and after 1871 Germany. In the 19th century Żagań was still a significant Polish center.

In 1786, the fief was purchased by Peter von Biron, Duke of Courland, and in 1843, it passed to his daughter Dorothea, the wife of Edmond de Talleyrand, a nephew of the great French diplomat Talleyrand, who spent her retirement years at Sagan. A patent of King Frederick William IV of Prussia on 6 January 1845 invested her as Duchess of Sagan; and Napoleon III recognized the title in France, in favour of her son Louis.

Second World War

The double title (a prince and a duc) both Prussian and French, served to render the duc de Sagan a neutral party during the Second World War: his Château de Valençay provided a safe haven for treasures of the Louvre during the German occupation of France.

During the war, the Germans operated two prisoner-of-war camps and a forced labour camp in the town, all intended for prisoners of various nationalities.

thumb|right|Memorial to [[Stalag Luft III murders|50 Allied POWs murdered by the Germans after the Great Escape]]

In March 1942, the town became the location of the Stalag Luft III camp for captured airmen (Kriegsgefangenen Stammlager der Luftwaffe 3 Sagan). It was the site of the most courageous escape resulting in the killing of 50 prisoners including the following Polish flight officers: Major Antoni Kiewnarski; Lieutenant Stanisław Król; and navigation Lieutenants Włodzimierz Kolanowski, Jerzy Mondschein, Kazimierz Pawluk and Paweł Tobolski. This episode of history was the subject of the 1963 film The Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen. It was the biggest and the most deadly escape of officer aircrew captured by Nazi Germany during the entire war. The number of prisoners attempting the escape was 200, of whom 76 managed to leave the camp; 73 were caught and 50 executed on Hitler's orders. Just three successfully escaped, one to Gibraltar and two to Sweden.

For many years regiments of the Soviet Air Forces flew from the town's airbase (Żagań-Tomaszowo?). In 1992 the 42nd Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment finally left and was disbanded after a brief stay at Szprotawa.

In the years 1967–1971 a museum dedicated to the history of prisoners of war of the Stalag VIII-C camp was established. From 1975 to 1998, Żagań was administratively located in the Zielona Góra Voivodeship. In 2011, the former Augustinian monastery complex with the church of the Assumption was designated a Historic Monument of Poland. In 2013, the first Polish monument of Wojtek the Bear, soldier of the Polish II Corps during World War II, was unveiled in Żagań.

Sights and monuments

thumb|District court in Żagań

  • Baroque ducal palace.
  • Palace park.
  • Post-Augustinian Monastery Complex with the church of the Assumption, one of the burial sites of the Piast dynasty, named one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomnik historii), as designated on 11 March 2011.
  • Duns, Scotland, United Kingdom
  • Grumo Nevano, Italy
  • Netphen, Germany
  • Ortrand, Germany
  • Saint-Omer, France
  • Teltow, Germany
  • Khotyn, Ukraine

Notable facts

  • Johannes Kepler started writing the early science fiction Somnium (novel) before his death in 1630.
  • In 1769, one of the first lightning rods in Europe was installed on the Church of the Assumption in the local Augustinian monastery.

References

  • Official town webpage
  • Palace in Żagań
  • Jewish Community in Żagań on Virtual Shtetl
  • Heimatkreisgemeinschaft Sagan Sprottau e.V. Organization of refugees