Bystrzyca Kłodzka (; ) is a historic town in Kłodzko County, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwestern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Gmina Bystrzyca Kłodzka. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 9,773. During the Napoleonic Wars, the town was occupied by French forces and housed a garrison of the Grande Armée until 1813.

thumb|St Michael Archangel Church

By 1818 the County of Kladsko was formally dissolved and Habelschwerdt was incorporated into the Prussian Province of Silesia. Although it was made the administrative seat of a rural district (Landkreis), comprising the southeastern parts of the former county, it was also struck by high taxes. It was not until the mid-19th century when the town fully recovered. The city hall was yet again rebuilt, the city moat and parts of the walls were leveled and the settlement expanded into new areas. After 1877, Habelschwerdt was connected to Glatz and Breslau (Wrocław) by a railroad. In 1885, Habelschwerdt had a population of 5,597, while by 1939 it rose to 6,877. Its population was overwhelmingly Catholic. The end of the 19th century saw the whole Kłodzko Valley turned into one of the most popular tourist regions. Countless hotels, sanatoria and spa were opened to the public in the nearby towns of Glatz, Bad Reinerz (present-day Duszniki-Zdrój) and Bad Landeck (Lądek-Zdrój), as well as in the town itself. The area of former Kladsko county became a popular place among the rich bourgeoisie of Breslau, Berlin, Vienna and Kraków.

A labour camp of the Reich Labour Service was operated in the town under Nazi Germany. During World War II the town was spared the fate of many other towns and did not suffer great damage. There were no important industrial centres in the area, and most of the Kłodzko Valley was not captured by the Red Army until after the capitulation of Germany. After the war the town once again became part of Poland due to the new borders dictated by the Potsdam Agreement. It was renamed to its historic Polish name Bystrzyca, and the adjective Kłodzka was added to distinguish it from other Polish settlements of the same name. In the following years, local Polish anti-communist resistance organizations were active in Bystrzyca Kłodzka.

In 1961 the town limits were expanded by including Niedźwiedna as a new district. In 1964, the only Phillumenist Museum (Muzeum Filumenistyczne) in Poland was founded in Bystrzyca Kłodzka. On 28 June 1972 the Catholic parishes of Bystrzyca Kłodzka were reassigned from the traditional Hradec Králové diocese (est. 1664; Ecclesiastical Province of Bohemia) to the Archdiocese of Wrocław. Between 1975 and 1998 Bystrzyca belonged to Wałbrzych Voivodeship. It continues to be one of the principal mountain resorts of the area. Thanks to its historical landmarks as well as virgin landscapes, Bystrzyca Kłodzka remains one of the most popular centers for tourism and winter sports in Lower Silesia.

In September 2024, the town was badly affected by the 2024 Central European floods.

Sports

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

Notable people

thumb|upright|[[Holy Trinity Column]]

  • Titus Ullrich (1813–1891), poet and art critic
  • Rudolf Bial (1834–1881), violinist, composer, conductor
  • Hermann Stehr (1864–1940), poet
  • Andreas Hönisch (1930–2008), cleric
  • Georg Katzer (1935–2019), composer
  • Jan Liwacz (1898–1980), blacksmith who created the Arbeit Macht Frei sign over Auschwitz
  • Marek Magierowski (born 1971), diplomat and journalist
  • Marcin Marciniszyn (born 1982), sprinter
  • Hanson Milde-Meissner (1899–1983), composer

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Bystrzyca Kłodzka.

<gallery mode=packed>

2014 Bystrzyca Kłodzka, Brama Wodna 03.JPG|Brama Wodna ("Water Gate")

2014 Bystrzyca Kłodzka, wójtostwo 02.JPG|Wójtostwo

Bystrzyca Kłodzka, Rynek 13, 01.JPG|Market Square (Rynek)

2015 Muzeum Filumenistyczne w Bystrzycy Kłodzkiej 05.JPG|Phillumenist Museum

Bystrzyca Kłodzka, kościół św. Michała, 01.JPG|Old Town

Bystrzyca Kłodzka, Sempołowskiej 13 3.JPG|High school

2017 Komisariat policji w Bystrzycy Kłodzkiej.jpg|Police station

</gallery>

References

  • bystrzyca.info.pl
  • bystrzycaklodzka.pl
  • bystrzyca.pl