Nysa, Poland


Nysa

(Flag)	(Coat of arms)


Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Opole
Municipal government	Rada Miasta Nysa
Mayor	Jolanta Barska
Area	27,5 km²
Population - city - urban - density	47 793 none 1737,9/km²
Founded	12th century
City rights	1223
Latitude Longitude	50° 28'17,9 N 17° 20'2,8 E
Area code	+48 77
Car plates	ONY
Twin towns	Lüdinghausen, Jeseník, Šumperk, Kolomyia, Ingelheim am Rhein, Baltiysk
Municipal Website

Nysa (-Polish, German: Neisse or Neiße) is a town in southwestern Poland on the Nysa Kłodzka river with 52,000 inhabitants (2004), situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Nysa County.

[edit] History

St. Jacob's and St. Agnes' Church in Nysa

Nysa is one of the oldest towns in Silesia. It was probably founded in the 10th century and afterwards became the capital of a principality of its name, which around 1200 became part of the Bishopric of Wrocław. The town's fortifications from 1350 served to defend against the Hussites in 1424. During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) it was besieged three times. The first Silesian War (1740/1741, War of the Austrian Succession) ended Austrian sovereignty over Silesia and left the town in the hands of King Frederick II of Prussia, who laid the foundations of its modern fortifications. On 25 August 1769 Nysa was the site of a meeting between Frederick II and Emperor Joseph II, co-regent in the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria. During the Napoleonic Wars Nysa was taken by the French in 1807. Nysa retained its mostly Catholic character within the predominantly Protestant province of Upper Silesia in the Kingdom of Prussia. Because of its many churches from the Gothic and Baroque periods the town was nicknamed "the Silesian Rome".