Chodzież is a town in west-central Poland with 17,976 inhabitants as of December 2021,

After bloody fighting the insurgents again captured the town on January 8, 1919. The German occupation, both in Chodzież and the whole country, was a period of terror directed against Polish citizens. In one notable example, on 7 November 1939, 44 Polish men, including the town's mayor Tadeusz Koppe and the gmina's wójt Marian Weyhan, Local Poles were also subjected to expulsions and deportations to forced labour in Germany, and a transit camp for Poles expelled from the region was located in the town. Hundreds of Poles were expelled already in December 1939. Houses of expelled Poles were handed over to German colonists as part of the Lebensraum policy, and as a result, Germans formed 56% of the town's populace in 1943. Local Polish resistance leaders were imprisoned and tortured in the local prison and in the Gestapo station in Poznań. Bronisław Maron, tortured, died there in 1944, while his wife and daughter were deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, where his wife was also murdered. From 1975 to 1998, it was administratively located in the Piła Voivodeship.

The city administration has received prizes and awards on several occasions to recognize the city's cleanliness and aesthetics. In 1974, the city was awarded the title of "the Polish Master of Economics." Later, in 1979, it was awarded the Labor Medal, 1st Class, by the Council of State for the city's achievements in production. The current construction of an urban purification plant will help transform Chodzież into an ecologically clean center for tourism and relaxation. In recent years, the rate of economic development in the city have decreased somewhat, with industry playing a smaller role and the economic development of Chodzież and the region becoming more associated with recreation. Chodzież's natural environment attracts tourists.

Sports

The local football club is Polonia Chodzież, and the athletics club is Gontyniec Chodzież.

The town's sports facilities include an indoor swimming pool, a football stadium and tennis courts. Sailing and motorboat contests take place each year on the municipal lakes. These lakes have European and world-class rank: in 1993, motorboat contests took place in the class 0..350. In addition, every May, the Grzmylita Run promotes sport for the masses.

Culture

A brass orchestra was founded right after the end of the German occupation. First it was connected to the ceramics factory, but currently it works with the Chodzież cultural institute. In the 1970s, the annual jazz workshops began, which allowed new talents to be discovered through encounters between young people and artists from Poland and abroad.

The annual National Children's Song Festivals began in 1991. In 1995, Chodzież was the co-organizer of the XIII National Voluntary Fire Department Brass Orchestra Festival.

Twin towns

  • Nottuln, Germany

People

  • Trojan of Łękno, chief judge for the province of Kalisz between 1434 and 1450.
  • Dagobert Friedländer (1826–1904), Jewish banker and member of the House of Lords of Prussia representing Bromberg.
  • Michaelis Machol (1845–1912), rabbi in Cleveland, Ohio from 1879 to 1907
  • Hugo Friedlander (1850–1928), mayor of Ashburton, New Zealand 1879–1881, 1890–1892, and 1898–1901.
  • Leo Maximilian Baginski (1891–1964), German entrepreneur, inventor and marketing specialist
  • Adam Harasiewicz (born 1932), Polish classical pianist
  • Zdzisław Szlapkin (born 1961), Polish former Olympic racewalker

References

  • Current official website