Brzeg Dolny (; ) is a town in Wołów County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is located north-west of Wrocław on the Oder River, and is the site of a large chemical plant complex, PCC Rokita SA. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 12,395. There was a ferry crossing the Oder River in Brzeg Dolny.
The Dyhrns had built a palace for their residence, which stayed in their possession until the early 1780s, when Count Wilhelm von Dyhrn (1749–1813) sold it to the minister of Silesia Karl Georg von Hoym (1739-1807), who had married Baroness Antoinette Louise von Dyhrn und Schönau (1745–1820). The new owners subsequently modernized the Baroque palace and the adjoining park according to the plans of Carl Gotthard Langhans. Langhans also directed the construction of a large neo-classical pavilion perpendicular to the central structure, which became known as the “Little Palace.” Following these changes, the grand complex remained much the same until 1849, when it passed into the hands of Tony von Lazareff. She had it refashioned to resemble a Renaissance château overlooking the Loire. The river bank garden was also given Renaissance character.
In 1742, after the First Silesian War, the duchy became part of Prussia and remained in Prusso-German possession until 1945.
In 1860, the first sisters of Charity of St. Charles Borromeo came to Dyhernfurth. In close proximity to the Chapel of St. Hedwig, the nuns established a small convent and a hospital, which would eventually expand into the town hospital of present day.
In 1834 the printing house published its last book. After it formally closed in 1840, the Jewish community rapidly diminished as printers went elsewhere for work; by 1885 there were only 35 Jews left in the town. In 1927 the synagogue was transformed into a fire station, in 1936 the last burial was performed at the Jewish cemetery, and in November 1938, the cemetery was demolished.
The plant initially produced shells and aerial bombs using a 95:5 mix of tabun and chlorobenzene, designated "Variant A" before switching in the latter half of the war to "Variant B," an 80:20 mix of tabun and chlorobenzene designed to make the mixture disperse more easily. Large scale manufacturing of the agent resulted in problems with the product's degradation over time and only around 12,500 tons of material were manufactured before the plant was overrun by the advancing Soviet forces.
There were numerous deaths, in the first camp often due to tabun poisoning, either during forced labor or caused deliberately by the Germans who tested tabun on prisoners, whereas in the second camp due to wretched food, ubiquitous violence and abysmal conditions, which led to frequent diseases. Subsequently, the Soviet government had the plant dismantled and taken back to Russia.
In January 1945, as the Soviets launched their massive offensive into eastern Germany, Count Thassilo von Saurma-Hoym, a descendant of Karl Georg von Hoym, left the Dyhernfurth palace along with his family and fled westward. In February, the palace was set on fire, probably by Soviet soldiers. When the town was handed over to Poland, its German population was expelled, in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement. It was repopulated by Poles, expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, particularly from Stanisławów and Sniatyn.
Post-war period
After the war the original Polish name Brzeg was restored, and the adjective Dolny was added to distinguish it from the more populous town of Brzeg.
Considerable effort was required to adapt the contaminated and badly damaged factory buildings to production. It was not until 1946 that the plant started producing Sodium hypochlorite. The new plant was named Rokita in June 1947.
The historic palace was rebuilt in the 1950s, albeit with its shape altered. The adjoining pavilion has, however, managed to survive unchanged. Today, the complex functions as a cultural center and the seat of municipal government.
A new bridge over the Oder river was built in 2013.