Kościan () () is a town on the Obra canal in west-central Poland, with a population of 23,952 inhabitants as of June 2014. Situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, it is the capital of Kościan County.

History

thumb|upright|left|[[Gothic architecture|Gothic Holy Spirit Church]]

Kościan was founded in the 12th or 13th century, when it was part of the Duchy of Greater Poland of the fragmented Polish realm. It was granted town rights in the second half of the 13th century, which were later confirmed by King Władysław Jagiełło in 1400. Kościan was annexed by Prussia in the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. After the successful Greater Poland uprising of 1806, it was regained by Poles and included with the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw. The 12th Polish Infantry Regiment was formed in Kościan in 1806. In 1815 it was reannexed by Prussia. In 1918, Poland regained independence, and shortly afterwards the Greater Poland uprising broke out, which goal was to reunite the town and region with the reborn Polish state. On 29–30 December 1918, local Polish scouts stole more than 900 machine guns, rifles and pistols from a German military warehouse and Kościan was liberated.

World War II

thumb|Memorial at the site of public executions of Poles carried out by the Germans on October 2 and October 23, 1939

During the German occupation of Poland (World War II), the Polish population was subject to mass arrests, executions, expulsions, deportations to Nazi concentration camps and confiscation of property. In Kościan, the Germans operated a prison for Poles from both the town and the region, many of whom were later transported to the infamous Fort VII in Poznań. On November 7 and 9, 1939, 66 Polish craftsmen, merchants, farmers, local officials and workers, previously held in the local prison were massacred in the nearby forest. Further such massacres were carried out by the Germans in December 1939 and in January and February 1940. The local high school principal was among Polish teachers and principals murdered in the Dachau concentration camp. Over 50 Poles, including local activists, intelligentsia and the families of victims of executions, were expelled in 1939, while 2,139 Poles were expelled in 1940, and their houses were then handed over to German colonists as part of the Lebensraum policy. 534 patients of the local psychiatric hospital were gassed by the Germans in January 1940, and afterwards patients from psychiatric hospitals in Germany were transported to Kościan and also gassed. The occupiers established and operated a forced labour subcamp of the Stalag XXI-D prisoner-of-war camp in the town.

The Polish resistance movement was active, including local units of the Union of Armed Struggle/Home Army, Narodowa Organizacja Bojowa and the Pakt Czterech secret scouting organization. Two Polish underground newspapers were printed in the town. In mid-1941, the Gestapo crushed the Pakt Czterech organization and arrested its members, who were then sent to Nazi concentration camps, however, they survived. In October 1941, the Gestapo arrested the founders of the local unit of the Narodowa Organizacja Bojowa, who were then sentenced to death and executed the following year. In 1944, the Germans arrested Leon Ciszak and Franciszek Bawor, leaders of the local units of the Union of Armed Struggle and Home Army, who were then imprisoned in the notorious camp in Żabikowo and soon sent to concentration camps. Bawor died in the Mauthausen concentration camp, whereas Ciszak survived and returned to Kościan after the war.

Transport

Kościan is bypassed to the west by the S5 expressway.

Kościan has a station on the Poznań-Wrocław railway line.

Buses connect Kościan to Poznań and to Leszno.

Sports

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

Notable people

  • Dezydery Chłapowski (1788–1879), general and political activist
  • Klemens Koehler (1840–1901), physician
  • Józef Surzyński (1851–1919), composer
  • Feliks Stamm (1901–1976), boxing coach
  • Izabella Zielińska (1910–2017), pianist
  • Rafał Bryndal (born 1960), satirist and journalist
  • Jarosław Jaromi Drażewski (born 1961), musician
  • Waldemar Brygier (born 1970), journalist
  • Bartosz Jurecki (born 1979), handball player
  • Michał Jurecki (born 1984), handball player
  • Krystian Klecha (born 1984), speedway rider
  • Maria Stenzel (born 1998), volleyball player
  • Adam Szłapka (born 1984), politician
  • Tomasz Nowak (born 1985), footballer
  • Zofia Nowakowska (born 1988), singer

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Kościan is twinned with:

{|class="wikitable"

|- valign="top"

|

  • Alzey in Germany <small>(since 1990)</small>
  • Istra in Russia <small>(since 2001)</small>
  • Krimpen aan den IJssel in Netherlands <small>(since 1994)</small>

||

  • Nederlek in Netherlands <small>(since 1994)</small>
  • Rakovník in Czech Republic <small>(since 2005)</small>
  • Wernshausen in Germany <small>(since 1996)</small>

|}

<gallery>

File:Ratusz w Kościanie.jpg|Town hall, which currently houses the Regional Museum

File:Kościół Św. Ducha na Placu Niezłomnych - panoramio.jpg|Christ Church built in 1666

File:Kościański Canal in Koscian (3).jpg|Kościański Canal

File:Pomnik Jana Pawła II na Placu Niezłomnych - panoramio.jpg|District court and Pope John Paul II Monument

File:Pomnik Floriana Marciniaka - panoramio.jpg|Florian Marciniak Monument

File:Park miejskikoscian.jpg|Municipal park

</gallery>

References

  • Official town website