Wołów (, ) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Wołów County and Gmina Wołów. , the town has a population of 12,373. It is part of the larger Wrocław metropolitan area.

Etymology

The town's name is derived from the Polish word wół ("ox").

History

The area around Wołów has been settled since prehistoric times. It became part of the emerging Polish state in the late 10th century under Mieszko I of Poland. The town was first mentioned in 1157 when a wooden castle founded by Senior Duke of Poland Władysław II the Exile is documented, which developed into a castle complex, which was again mentioned in 1202. Two villages developed near the castle, one of them called Wołowo. Probably in the second half of the 13th century the town was founded near Wołowo and partially on the soil of the second village. Wołów received Magdeburg town rights about 1285 at the time of German Ostsiedlung in the region; a Vogt is mentioned in 1288. From 1473 dates the oldest known seal of the town, which already shows an ox, as do all later seals. Wołów was ruled by local Polish dukes until 1492, and soon after, in 1495, it came into the possession of the Czech Podiebrad family, then in 1517 it came into the hands the Hungarian magnate Johann Thurzó, before returning to Piast rule in 1523, by passing to the Duchy of Legnica.

In 1742 Wołów was annexed by Prussia. During World War II, the Germans operated a youth prison in the town, with multiple forced labour subcamps in the region, including one in the town itself. In 1943–1945, the Germans carried out mass executions of Allied prisoners of war in the forest in the present-day district of Gancarz.

In 1962, the town was the site of the Wołów bank robbery, one of the largest bank robberies in Poland.

Transport

Wołów lies at the intersection of vovoideship roads 343, 340, 339 and 338.

Wołów has a station on the Zielona Góra-Wrocław railway line.

Sports

The local football team is MKP Wołów. It competes in the lower leagues.

Notable people

  • Jan II the Mad (1435–1504), Polish House of Silesian Piasts dynasty Duke of Żagań-Przewóz since 1439, died in Wołów and was buried in the local parish church
  • Maria Cunitz (1610–1664), astronomer, the most notable female astronomer of the early modern era
  • Oskar Müller (1896–1970), German politician
  • Mirosław Hermaszewski (1941-2022), first Polish national in space

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Wołów.

References

  • Official site of Wołów