Lubin (; ) is a city in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the administrative seat of Lubin County, and also of the rural district called Gmina Lubin, although it is not part of the territory of the latter, as the town forms a separate urban gmina. As of 2021, the city had a total population of 70,815.

During World War II about 70% of the town's buildings were destroyed. In 1945 between the days of 8–10 February Red Army soldiers mass-murdered 150 German pensioners in an old-people's home and 500 psychiatric hospital patients in Lubin. The city eventually became again part of Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the 1980s. The remaining German population of the city was either expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, or prohibited from returning home by the communist authorities.

In the following years, the Polish anti-communist resistance was active in Lubin, including the nationwide Freedom and Independence Association and local Sokół Group.

Discovery of copper deposits

thumb|right|Construction of mining facilities in 1965

In 1957 Jan Wyżykowski discovered and in 1959 documented in Lubin the largest copper ore deposits in Europe and one of the largest in the world. Soon copper mines were built and the KGHM company was established.

From 1975 to 1998 it belonged to the former Legnica Voivodeship. In 1982 the city saw significant demonstrations against the martial law declared by the Communist regime, which were put down by its death squads, resulting in the murder of three people.

Education

  • Uczelnia Zawodowa Zagłębia Miedziowego
  • I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Mikołaja Kopernika w Lubinie
  • II Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Lubinie
  • Technikum nr 1 im. Bolesława Krupińskiego w Lubinie

Sports

thumb|Stadium of [[Zagłębie Lubin]]

  • Zagłębie Lubin – men's football team playing in the Ekstraklasa (top division) as of season 2024–25, Polish Champions in seasons 1990–91 and 2006–07.
  • Zagłębie Lubin – men's handball team playing in the Polish Superliga (top division) as of season 2024–25, Polish Champions in season 2006–07.
  • Zagłębie Lubin – women's handball team playing in the Women's Superliga (top division) as of season 2024–25, Polish Champions in seasons 2010–11, 2020–21 and 2021–22.

Transport

Major roads running through Lubin:

  • Expressway S3 (highway), part of the European route E65 – Lubawka-Legnica-Lubin-Zielona Góra-Gorzów Wielkopolski-Szczecin-Świnoujście
  • National road 36 – Rawicz-Lubin-Prochowice

Lubin has a general aviation airport which is available for public use, it has a 1000m concrete/asphalt runway.

thumb|Buses of Lubin public transport

Public transport:

  • Lubin currently has free public transport within the city, with the main busses running approximately every 20 minutes.
  • Lubin also has the PKS station which offers affordable coach type buses. These buses run between several other cities such as Wrocław, Legnica.

Passenger trains were reinstated in 2019 with a reopened main station which offers national and international connections such as to Berlin with EuroCity services and a newly built station serving the stadium.

Notable people

  • William I of Württemberg (1781–1864), the second King of Württemberg from 1816 until his death, was born in Lüben, where his father Frederick I served as a commander in the Prussian Army
  • Dieter Collin (1893–1918), World War I flying ace
  • Gerd von Tresckow (1899–1944), Wehrmacht officer, resistance fighter 20 July plot, elder brother of Henning von Tresckow
  • Rudolf von Gersdorff (1905–1980), Wehrmacht officer, one of the few German military anti-Hitler plotters to survive the war
  • Peter Schumann (born 1934), founder of the Bread and Puppet Theater
  • Tadeusz Maćkała (born 1962), politician
  • Kasia Wilk (born 1982), musician
  • Mariusz Jurkiewicz (born 1982), handball player
  • Natalia Czerwonka (born 1988), speed skater
  • Arkadiusz Woźniak (born 1990), football player
  • Adrian Błąd (born 1991), football player
  • Filip Jagiełło (born 1997), football player
  • Mieszko Fortuński (born 1992), professional pool player

Twin towns – sister cities

Lubin is twinned with:

  • Rhein-Lahn (district), Germany

References

  • Official Lubin website
  • Lubin Iniquity 1982
  • Zaglebie Lubin football club