Głuchołazy

Głuchołazy

Main square

Flag

Coat of arms
Głuchołazy
Coordinates: 50°18′47″N 17°22′27″E / 50.31306°N 17.37417°E / 50.31306; 17.37417
Country  Poland
Voivodeship Opole
County Nysa
Gmina Głuchołazy
Town rights 1327
Government
  Mayor Edward Szupryczyński
Area
  Total 6.83 km2 (2.64 sq mi)
Population (2007)
  Total 14,879
  Density 2,200/km2 (5,600/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 48-340
Area code(s) +48 77
Car plates ONY
Website http://www.glucholazy.pl

Głuchołazy [ɡwuxɔˈwazɨ] (German: Bad Ziegenhals), (Czech: Hlucholazy) is a town in Nysa County, in Opole Voivodeship of southwestern Poland, near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the administrative seat of the Gmina Głuchołazy.

Głuchołazy has a canting arms - the shield features a goat's head in reference to its former German name, Ziegenhals, which literally means "goat's neck". The town was part of Prussia, then Germany, until 1945.

Geography

St Lawrence Church

The town is located in the historic Upper Silesia region on the northern slopes of the Opawskie Mountains, in the valley of the Biała River. As of 2013, it has 14,297 inhabitants.

History

The settlement in the episcopal Duchy of Nysa was established about 1220 by German settlers who were called by the ruling Bishop Lawrence of Wrocław to build up a stronghold against the threatening forces of the Přemyslid margrave Vladislaus III of Moravia, brother of King Ottokar I of Bohemia. The place soon became an important site of iron ore and gold mining run by the Thurzó and Fugger families, it had received town privileges already in 1263. The town was devastated in 1428 during the Hussite Wars.

After the First Silesian War and the 1742 Treaty of Breslau the Duchy of Nysa was partitioned and Głuchołazy became a Prussian bordertown, while the adjacent area around Zlaté Hory remained with Austrian Silesia. In the 19th century it became a spa town (Bad). After World War II the remaining German population was expelled and with the implementation of the Oder-Neisse line in 1945, the area was transferred to the Republic of Poland.

International relations

Tower of the Upper Gate

Twin towns — Sister cities

Głuchołazy is twinned with:

Notable people

Coordinates: 50°19′N 17°22′E / 50.317°N 17.367°E / 50.317; 17.367


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