Wapno

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Wapno

	(Coat of arms)


Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Greater Poland
Municipal government	Rada Gminy Wapno
Mayor	Andrzej Bąk
Area	44.2 km²
Population - city - urban - density	3,256 (1997) circa 2500 73.6/km²
Founded	13th century (?)
City rights	?
Latitude Longitude	52°54'41'' N 17°28'04'' E
Area code	+48 67
Car plates	PWA
Twin towns	Amelinghausen
Municipal Website

Wapno is a town in the powiat of Wągrowiec, in the Greater Poland Voivodship, close to the border with Żnin. Wapno is Polish for gypsum and reflects the large gypsum and lime deposits in the area. There are also large deposits of rock salt that were mined extensively beginning in the nineteenth century.

Wapno lies in the so-called Gniezno Lake District, and is close to several lakes. The town is 20 km north of the town of Wągrowiec.

[edit] Municipal organization

The present municipality (gmina) of Wapno includes the following villages in addition to the town of Wapno itself:

Aleksandrowo
Graboszewo
Komasin
Podolin
Rusiec
Srebrna Góra
Stołężyn

[edit] History of Wapno

The town is first mentioned in 1299, in an entry in the Codex Diplomaticus Majoris Poloniae, which records the appearance of one Count Adam of Wapno at a trial in the court of one Count Rozal, concerning the rights of the Cistercian monastery in Łękno vis-a-vis the village of Dębogóra. At that time, Wapno was part of the Kuyavian principality headed by Duke Władyslaw I Łokietek (Vladislaus the Short), who became the second king of Poland upon his election in 1330.

Under Prussian rule, Wapno was part of the Province of Posen (Prowincja Poznańska), Bydgoszcz District. After World War I, it became part of the Second Polish Republic. Under the German General Government (1939-1945), it was briefly (1944-1945) renamed Salzhoff — "Saltville."

On September 29, 1977, a saltmine underneath the town center collapsed, forcing the evacuation of around 1000 residents.