Gryfów Śląski

Gryfów Śląski

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Coat of arms
Gryfów Śląski
Coordinates: 51°1′38″N 15°25′9″E / 51.02722°N 15.41917°E / 51.02722; 15.41917
Country  Poland
Voivodeship Lower Silesian
County Lwówek Śląski
Gmina Gryfów Śląski
Area
 • Total 6.63 km2 (2.56 sq mi)
Population (2006)
 • Total 7,128
 • Density 1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi)
Climate Dfb
Website http://www.gryfow.pl

Gryfów Śląski [ˈɡrɨfuf ˈɕlɔ̃skʲi] (German: Greiffenberg; Greifenberg in Schlesien) is a town in Lwówek Śląski County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Gryfów Śląski. As at 2006, the town has a population of 7,128. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany.

St Jadwiga Church

The town is located between Zgorzelec and Jelenia Góra, on the Kwisa river. It lies approximately 16 kilometres (10 mi) south-west of Lwówek Śląski, and 114 kilometres (71 mi) west of the regional capital Wrocław.

The settlement of Gryfów Śląski arose from a castle built by the Piast Duke Bolesław I the Tall of Silesia near the border with Upper Lusatia. It received town privileges by Duke Bolesław II the Bald in 1242. The ruins of the medieval Gryf Castle, a possession of the House of Schaffgotsch from 1400 on, are still visible south of the town. In 1274 Gryfów became part of the Silesian Duchy of Jawor, which finally was incorporated by the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1392. After the First Silesian War it was annexed by Prussia in 1742. In 1865 the Greiffenberg station opened on the Silesian Mountain Railway line from Görlitz to Reibnitz (Rybnica).

After World War II the region was placed under Polish administration by the Potsdam Agreement under territorial changes demanded by the Soviet Union. Most Germans fled or were expelled and replaced with Poles expelled from the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union or Ukrainians forced to settle in the area through Operation Vistula in 1947.

Notable people

Twin towns

Gryfów Śląski is twinned with Bischofswerda in Germany, Raspenava in the Czech Republic and Gryfice in Poland.

References

    Coordinates: 51°01′38″N 15°25′09″E / 51.02722°N 15.41917°E / 51.02722; 15.41917

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