Krosno Odrzańskie

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Krosno Odrzańskie

	(Coat of arms)

Basic Information
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Lubusz
Population	12.145
Latitude Longitude	52°02' N 15°06' E
Economy and Traffic
Administration
Mayor	Andrzej Chinalski
Municipal Website

Not to be confused with Krosno in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship

Krosno Odrzańskie (German: Crossen an der Oder) is a city on the east bank of Oder River, at the confluence with Bober. The town in Western Poland with 12,500 inhabitants (2002) is the capital of Krosno County. It is assigned to the Lubusz Voivodeship (since 1999), previously part of Zielona Góra Voivodeship (1975-1998).

[edit] History

It was first mentioned as Crosno in 1005 and was chartered as a town in 1201. Due to its important strategic location the town played an important role in the protective system at the western borders of Poland during the 11th to 13th centuries. A stone castle was built by the Silesian Piasts in the 13th century. The duchess of Silesia Hedwig of Andechs took refuge in it during the Mongol attacks. The town changed hands several times, once it went as payment to Brandenburg soldiers.

Crossen a. d. Oder in 1900

When the Silesian Piast Henry of Głogów died in 1476, his widow Barbara von Brandenburg, daughter of Brandenburg Elector Albert Achilles, inherited the territory of Krosno, while the area was part of Bohemian lien in 1482. Several claims ended when the emperor Ferdinand I renounced all rights to Krosno in 1538, thereby finalizing the Krosno district's belonging to Brandenburg. Since then the Brandenburg, later Brandenburg-Prussia and Prussia Hohenzollern electors held the title Duke of Silesia and showed the black Silesian eagle along with other states belonging to Brandenburg.

The emperors held on to further Silesian territory, also inherited by Brandenburg, until in 1742 that became part of Brandenburg-Prussia as well. The Krosno district was part of Prussia and Germany (as Lower Silesia) and remained so until 1945, when it was conquered by Soviet Union and handed to Poland.

Due to war and expulsion, the population was reduced from 10,800 in 1939 to 2,000 in 1946.

[edit] Famous People

Parish Church (Fara)

Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff (1699-1753) painter and architect
Johann Friedrich Schönemann (1704-1782), theater director
Rudolf Pannwitz (1881-1969), author
Hans Egidi (1890-1976), former president of court
Alfred Henschke ps.Klabund (1890-1928), author
Tomasz Kuszczak - Poland national football team and Manchester United goalkeeper
Aneta Pastuszka - Olympic canoer