Nysa ( or Neiße) is a city in southern Poland on the Nysa Kłodzka river, situated in the Opole Voivodeship. With 43,849 inhabitants (2019), it is the capital of Nysa County. It comprises the urban portion of the surrounding Gmina Nysa. Historically the city was part of Upper Silesia.

One of the oldest cities in Silesia, most possibly founded in the 10th century, Nysa was historically one of the leading cities in the region, and from 1290 to 1742 the capital of an episcopally-ruled eponymous duchy. In early modern times it became a center of printing and education, place of study of several notable individuals, including King of Poland Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki. In the 19th and 20th centuries it was the location of German-operated prisoner-of-war camps for soldiers of various nationalities, including future leader of France, Charles de Gaulle.

In communist times it was best known for the ZSD plant founded in 1952, where most notably between 1959 and 1994 the ZSD Nysa van was assembled.

Nysa contains several notable heritage sights in Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles, most notably the Basilica of St. James and St. Agnes, a Historic Monument of Poland.

History

Medieval period

thumb|left|[[Basilica of St. James and St. Agnes, Nysa|Basilica of St. James and St. Agnes, a Historic Monument of Poland In 1245, it was granted staple right and two yearly fairs were established. In the early-14th century Nysa became an important trade- and craft-center of Poland, before it passed under the suzerainty of the Bohemian Crown in 1351,

thumb|left|Nysa in a 1493 woodcut from the [[Nuremberg Chronicle]]

The town's fortifications, dating from 1350, served to defend against the Hussites in 1424. During the Hussite Wars, in 1428 it was the site of the , with Poles and Czechs fighting on both sides. and Polish prince James Louis Sobieski both attended this school.

During the First Silesian War (War of the Austrian Succession), in 1741, Nysa was besieged and captured by Prussians,

World wars and interbellum

alt=A panoramic picture if Nysa made in 1905. Numerous buildings are vissable, from the left: The Jesuit church, the Basilica of St. James and St. Agnes with the bell tower, the Townhall, st. Peter and st. Paul church, the Kriegshule Neisse, and many more, on the backdrop of the Sudet mountains. |left|thumb|300x300px|A Panorama of Nysa in the 1905

During World War I and the post-war Polish Silesian Uprisings, a prisoner-of-war camp was located in the town. The city's German population was mostly evacuated before the advancing Eastern Front, with some 2,000 mostly ill people and elders remaining. The city was conquered by the Red Army on 24 March 1945. In the following years, new Polish settlers, some whom were themselves expelled or resettled from what is now western Ukraine (see: Kresy), made Nysa their new home.

After the war, Polish troops were stationed in Nysa until 2001, when they were relocated to Kłodzko. The most important monuments have been rebuilt.

Economy

thumb|290px|Nysa city budget income sources as of 2015

Until recently, Nysa was a major industrial centre in the Opole Voivodeship. The town was home to metal works, machinery production, agricultural produce and construction materials. The year 2002 saw the closure of the ZSD company. The company constructed delivery vehicles, namely the ZSD Nysa, FSO Polonez and, until recently, the Citroën C15 and Berlingo. Currently, the factory remains closed.

Recently, the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone is located by Dubois Street (ul. Dubois) and Karpacka Street (ul. Karpacka), largely revolving around agricultural goods and produce, as well as metal works.

Sports

  • Stal Nysa SA – men's volleyball team playing in Polish Volleyball League (Polska Liga Siatkówki, PLS), new in 2020 season
  • KŻ Nysa – sailing club with seat on Nysa's lake
  • AZS PWSZ Nysa – students club of AZS
  • Polonia Nysa – football club
  • Podzamcze Nysa – football club
  • AZS Basket Nysa – basketball club
  • NTSK Nysa – women's volleyball club
  • Fort Nysa – rugby and Australian rules football club
  • NTG Nysa – gymnastics club

Notable people

thumb|Triton's Fountain

thumb|Old town's Salt Market and convent

thumb|[[Kolegium Carolinum Neisse|Carolinum (high school)]]

thumb|Church of the Assumption

  • Konrad Emil Bloch (1912–2000), German-American biochemist, Nobel Prize winner
  • Emanuel Sperner (1905–1980), German mathematician
  • Marcin Bors (born 1978), Polish record producer
  • Hans-Joachim Caesar, Reichsbank director, German bank comptroller in occupied France, 1940–44
  • Emanuel Oscar Menahem Deutsch (1829–1873), scholar on the Middle East
  • Paweł Franczak (born 1991), Polish cyclist
  • Rudolf Fränkel (1901–1974), architect
  • Sigismund Freyer (1881–1944), German horse rider
  • Piotr Gacek (born 1978), Polish volleyball player
  • Bernhard Grzimek (1909–1987), zoologist and conservationist
  • Wilhelm Hasse (1894–1945), Wehrmacht general
  • Martin Helwig (1516–1574), cartographer
  • Max Herrmann-Neisse (1886–1941) German poet
  • Max Hodann (1894–1946), German physician
  • Carl Hoffmann (1885–1947), German cinematographer and film director
  • Jakub Jarosz (born 1987), Polish volleyball player
  • Valentin Krautwald (1465–1545), German religious reformer
  • Bartosz Kurek (born 1988), Polish volleyball player
  • Adam Kurek (born 1968), Polish volleyball player
  • Edmund Lesser (1852–1918), German dermatologist
  • Maria Merkert (1817–1872), founder of the Congregation of Saint Elizabeth
  • Kurt von Morgen (1858–1928), Prussian explorer and officer
  • Hans Guido Mutke (1921–2004), fighter pilot
  • Emin Pasha (Eduard Schnitzer) (1840–1892), physician and Ottoman governor of Equatoria
  • Karl-Georg Saebisch (1903–1984), German actor
  • Friedrich von Sallet (1812–1843), German satirical writer
  • Solomon Schindler (1842–1915), rabbi
  • Franz Skutsch (1865–1912), German classical philologist and linguist
  • Ryszard Wasko (born 1947), Polish artist
  • Max Ernst Wichura (1817–1866), German lawyer and botanist
  • Arnold von Winckler (1856–1945), Prussian general
  • Roman Wójcicki (born 1958), Polish footballer
  • Krzysztof Wójcik (born 1960), Polish volleyball player
  • Angela Zigahl (1855–1955), German teacher and politician
  • Ewa Wiśnierska (born 1971), member of the German paraglider team

Other residents

  • Isidor Barndt
  • Nicolaus Copernicus
  • Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff
  • Karl Rudolph Friedenthal
  • Eduard von Grützner
  • Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg
  • Christoph Scheiner
  • Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
  • Wacker von Wackenfels

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Nysa.

See also

  • Archdiocese of Wrocław
  • Dukes of Silesia
  • Nysa's monuments
  • Flag of Nysa

References

  • "NEISSE BUCH DER ERINNERUNG", Dr. Max Warmbrunn & Alfred Jahn, Gedruckt bei Druckhaus Nürnberg GmbH, 1966
  • Jewish Community in Nysa on Virtual Shtetl

Bibliography