Bochnia is a town on the river Raba in southern Poland, administrative seat of Bochnia County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Bochnia is most noted for its salt mine, the oldest functioning in Europe, built in the 13th century, a World Heritage Site and a Historic Monument of Poland.

As of December 2021, Bochnia has a population of 29,317 The town housed a small garrison of the Polish Army, with 3rd Silesian Uhlans Regiment stationed there from 1924.

World War II

thumb|right|Execution of 56 Polish hostages in Bochnia during German [[occupation of Poland, December 18, 1939]]

During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II, on September 6–7, 1939, Bochnia was defended by several Polish units. The Einsatzgruppe I entered the town shortly after to commit various crimes against the population. One of the first mass executions in occupied Poland took place in the town: the Germans shot 52 Poles as a reprisal for killing two German police officers. In 1939 the Germans operated a Dulag transit camp for some 1,000 Polish prisoners of war in the town.

At the outbreak of World War II, an estimated 3,500 Jews lived in Bochnia, comprising about 20% of the total population. During the German occupation of Poland, Bochnia was the site of a Nazi Jewish ghetto (the Bochnia Ghetto) to which Jews from surrounding areas were forced to move by the Nazis. The entire Jewish community was murdered in the Holocaust apart from 200 forced laborers employed at a plant headed by Gerhard Kurzbach, a Wehrmacht soldier, who ordered them to work overtime and thereby saved them from deportation. It is estimated that approximately 15,000 Jews were deported from Bochnia, with at least a further 1,800 killed in the town and its surroundings. Those Poles were mainly old people, ill people and women with children.

Recent period

Although Poland was liberated from Germany, it fell to the Soviet sphere of influence, and the Soviets installed a communist regime, which remained in power until 1989. The Polish anti-communist resistance movement was active in Bochnia. In the following decades, Bochnia grew larger, with several villages incorporated into the town, mostly in the 1970s. In 1984, a by-pass of the European route E40 was completed, redirecting the traffic from congested center of the town. From 1975 to 1998 it was administratively part of the Tarnów Voivodeship.

Landmarks

thumb|An underground church in the [[Bochnia Salt Mine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.]]

Salt mine

The Bochnia Salt Mine (Polish: kopalnia soli w Bochni) is one of the oldest salt mines in the world and the oldest one in Poland and Europe. The mine was established between the 12th and 13th centuries after salt was discovered in Bochnia. The mines measure in length and in depth at 16 different levels. Deserted chambers, shafts and passages form a so-called underground town, which is now open to sightseers. The largest of the preserved chambers has been converted into a sanatorium.

Other landmarks

  • St. Nicholas Basilica - built in the 1st half of the 15th century, and then reconstructed after the fires that occurred in the years 1447, ca. 1485 and 1655. Late Gothic with Baroque and Rococo interior
  • Stanisław Fischer Museum - former Dominican monastery, Baroque
  • Art Nouveau railway station
  • Statues of Leopold Okulicki and Casimir III of Poland
  • The older parts of the cemetery at Oracka Street
  • Jewish cemetery

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Bochnia - pomnik króla Kazimierza III na rynku.jpg|Main square with the Casimir the Great monument

File:Bochnia ul. Kazimierza Wielkiego 31 33. Budynek UR A 378.jpg|Powiat Office

File:Bazylika św. Mikołaja w Bochni wraz z dzwonnicą.jpg|St. Nicholas' Basilica

File:Bochnia dawny klasztor dominikanow 2.jpg|Stanisław Fischer Museum

File:Bochnia szyb Sutoris A-238 n.jpg|Bochnia Salt Mine

File:Bochnia - budynek sądu rejonowego.jpg|Local courthouse

</gallery>

Transport

Road transport

The A4 motorway, which is also a part of the European route E40, passes north to the town. Other roads include: national road 75, national road 94 and voivodeship road 965.

Rail transport

The railway line 91 (Kraków-Medyka) passes through the town.

Education

Bochnia Academy of Economics (Wyższa Szkoła Ekonomiczna w Bochni) is a privately owned collegiate-level institution of higher education in the city, founded in 2000. It grants bachelor's degrees (licencjat) in two fields of knowledge: economics, finance and accounting.

Sports

The local football club is . It competes in the lower leagues.

Twin towns – sister cities

Bochnia is twinned with:

  • Bad Salzdetfurth, Germany
  • Kežmarok, Slovakia
  • Roselle, United States

Notable residents

  • Stanislaus of Szczepanów (1030–1079), Poland's first native saint
  • Ralph Modjeski (Rudolf Modrzejewski) (1861–1940), engineer, born 1861 to actress Helena Modjeska, builder of 30 major bridges in the USA
  • Roman Vetulani (1849–1908), Polish scholar
  • Ludwik Stasiak (1858–1924), Polish painter, writer and publicist
  • Elżbieta Ciechanowska (1875–1948), Polish women's rights and labor activist, musician and poet
  • Salo Landau (1903–1944), Dutch national chess champion

See also

  • Bochnia Salt Mine
  • Wieliczka Salt Mine

References

  • Official website
  • Jewish Community in Bochnia on Virtual Shtetl