Żabno

Żabno [ˈʐabnɔ] is a town and municipality on the river Dunajec in southern Poland, 15 km north of Tarnów. Since Poland's administrative reorganization in 1999, Żabno has been a part of Tarnów powiat which belongs to Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Before administrative reorganization in 1999 it belonged to the Tarnów Voivodeship. The latest Census on December 31, 2006 gave the population as 4262 inhabitants.

History

The first recorded mentioning of Żabno dates back to the 12th century, when Prince Bolesław V the Chaste granted the settlement to a knight known as Świętosław. Because of its location Żabno became a center of communication and trade. The town gained its first charter in 1487 and the tradition of this still remains today. By the 15th century there were two churches build, 'Church of the Holy Spirit' and the 'Church of the Holy Cross'. The town has been destroyed numerous times, in 1501 it was burned by the Tatars, and in 1655 by the Swedish. In 1799 a fire burned down almost all of the city. The first Industrial Facility in Żabno was a brick making factory which opened in 1905. During World War II, around 2000 people were sent to a work in labor camps in Germany. 30 people were sent to a concentration camp during the war out of which only 4 returned.^[1]

Currently Żabno is a town with a small-scale industrial capacity. Local industry mainly consists of metalworks and window manufacturing.

Transport

The Tarnów-Szczucin railway runs through the town. There is a provincial road nr 973 to Tarnów as well.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Żabno is twinned with:

• Bad Berka, Germany

External links

• Official website of Żabno (Polish)
• Immigrants from Żabno - club in Chicago (Polish)
• Jewish Community in Żabno on Virtual Shtetl

References

Footnotes