Ziębice () is a town in Ząbkowice County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Ziębice.

Founded in the Middle Ages, Ziębice was the seat of a local line of the Piast dynasty from 1322 to 1521. It contains an Old Town with a preserved Market Square and the landmark Romanesque-Gothic Saint George Basilica, listed as a Historic Monument of Poland.

As of 2019, the town has a population of 8,708.

History

The area became part of the emerging Polish state under its first historic ruler Mieszko I in the 10th century. The town was first mentioned in 1234 under the Old Polish spelling Sambice. This Polish town was probably destroyed in 1241 during the first Mongol invasion of Poland. According to records, a new town under German town law, called Munsterberck (1253) or Sambiz videlicet Munsterberg (1268). The town became home of a German-speaking population as the result of Ostsiedlung. As a result of the fragmentation of Poland, it formed part of the duchies of Silesia until 1290, Świdnica until 1322, and afterwards it was the capital of a small eponymous duchy, remaining under the rule of the Piast dynasty until 1521. In 1344, a court was established in the town by the Piast dukes. In 1871, it became part of the German Empire along with the bulk of Silesia. Following Germany's defeat in World War II, in 1945, it became again part of Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s. The German population was expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. In the following years, the Polish anti-communist resistance was active in Ziębice, including the nationwide Home Army-NIE-Freedom and Independence Association.

Demographics

Culture

Ziębice hosts Poland's only Museum of Home Appliances.

Sports

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

Notable people

  • Karl Denke (1860–1924), serial killer
  • Edyta Górniak (born 1972), singer
  • Janusz Kamiński (born 1959), cinematographer
  • Karl Weigert (1845–1904), pathologist

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Ziębice.

<gallery widths=140 heights=140>

2014 Ziębice, kościół św. Jerzego 01.JPG|Gothic Saint George Basilica

Brama Paczkowska.JPG|Medieval Paczkowska Gate

Pomnik orła ziębicach(2).jpg|Piast Eagle monument

Ziębice, cukrownia, 06.JPG|Ziębice Sugar Refinery

</gallery>

References

  • Jewish Community in Ziębice on Virtual Shtetl