Września

For other places with the same name, see Września (disambiguation).
Września

Town hall

Coat of arms
Września
Coordinates: 52°20′N 17°35′E / 52.333°N 17.583°E / 52.333; 17.583
Country  Poland
Voivodeship Greater Poland
County Września County
Gmina Gmina Września
Established 1256
Town rights 1375
Government
  Mayor Tomasz Kałużny
Area
  Total 12.73 km2 (4.92 sq mi)
Highest elevation 110 m (360 ft)
Lowest elevation 90 m (300 ft)
Population (2006)
  Total 28,617
  Density 2,200/km2 (5,800/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 62-300
Area code(s) +48 61
Car plates PWR
Website http://www.wrzesnia.pl

Września [ˈvʐɛɕɲa] (German: Wreschen) is a town in central Poland with 28,600 inhabitants (1995). It is situated in the Września County, Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Poznań Voivodeship (1975–1998), on the Wrześnica River.

History

The city was first mentioned in 1256. Early sources speak of Wressna (1317) or Wresna (1364). Września was granted town privileges in the 14th century. The town was burned down 1664 (other sources speak of 1656) in the war against Sweden. The majority of inhabitants were Poles, but since mid-17th century there have also been German settlements. The city was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1793, following the Second Partition of Poland. In 1807 it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw, but fell back to Prussia in 1815.

Children from Września who participated in the school strike in response to the banning of the Polish language.

Września is known in Poland for a school strike by Polish children in May 1901 in response to the intensification of Germanization (i.e. prohibition of the Polish language at school). The Polish language had long been tolerated in the schools, so the introduction of German as mandatory language led to protests. The controversy led to drawn-out protests between parents and authorities. For refusing to speak German, Polish children were severely beaten by Prussian teachers for several hours. Parents who tried to break into the school and protect their children from Prussian teachers were punished later by a Prussian court stating that their actions were "atrocious acts against the state".[1] The strike spread to neighboring cities and eventually ended in 1904.

In 1905 the town was inhabited by about 7000 people of which 65.4% were Poles, 28.9% Germans and 5.5% Jews. In the surrounding county, Poles comprised 85.6% of the population. The hundred-year-long Prussian rule came to an end with the outbreak of the Wielkopolska Uprising in 1918. In 1920, the city once again became part of Poland. It was around this time that construction of the district office building was completed.

With the invasion of Poland and the outbreak of the Second World War, the German Wehrmacht occupied the city on September 10, 1939. It was incorporated into Reichsgau Wartheland as a part of the district or county (kreis) of Wreschen. The synagogue was destroyed in 1940 and a camp for French POWs operated in the area. Additionally, from April 1941 to 1943 a forced labor camp for Jews operated in the vicinity of the town.[2] Following the arrival of the Red Army and the end of the war it was made part of the People's Republic of Poland. In Września there is an antique coach house at the Kosciuszko Street.

Jewish community

Among the members of the community special mention may be made of Rabbi Ẓebi Hirsch, and his father Rabbi Aaron Mirels,[3] and the Bible commentator Rabbi Meïr Löb Malbim.

Ẓebi Mirels, was the author of the "Mispar Ẓeba'am", and presented a Hebrew hymn to General Möllendorf when the latter was sent by king Frederick William II of Prussia to receive the allegiance of the new province of southern Prussia.[4] Rabbi Aaron Mirels, the author of the "Bet Aharon", is buried in the cemetery at Jelenia Góra in Silesia. In Września, Malbim wrote his first work, the collection of annotations on the first chapters of the Shulḥan 'Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, which laid the foundation of his renown as a scholar. The musical director, Louis Lewandowski was also born in Września on April 3, 1821.

Education

People

Monuments

See also

External links

References

  1. Zwangsarbeit in NS-Staat German Federal Archive (Bundesarchiv) Accessed 9-30-11.
  2. Kaufmann, "Die Letzte Vertreibung der Juden aus Wien und Niederösterreich", pp. 79 et seq., Vienna, 1889
  3. Das Jahr 1793", p. 16, note, Posen, 1895
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Września.

Coordinates: 52°19′N 17°34′E / 52.317°N 17.567°E / 52.317; 17.567

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, December 05, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.