{{other uses}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Rawicz | image_skyline = Rynek rawicz.jpg | imagesize = 250px | image_caption = Town Hall in Rawicz | image_shield = POL Rawicz COA.svg | image_flag = POL_Rawicz_flag.svg | pushpin_map = Poland | pushpin_label_position = bottom | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{POL}} | subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship | subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Greater Poland Voivodeship|name=Greater Poland}} | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Rawicz | subdivision_type3 = Gmina | subdivision_name3 = Rawicz | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Grzegorz Kubik | established_title = Established | established_date = 1638 | established_title3 = Town rights | established_date3 = 1638 | founder = Adam Olbracht Przyjemski | area_total_km2 = 7.81 | population_as_of = 2006 | population_total = 21301 | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | coordinates = {{coord|51|36|33|N|16|51|27|E|region:PL|display=title,inline}} | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 63-900 | area_code = +48 65 | blank_name = Car plates | blank_info = PRA | blank_name_sec2 = Highways | blank_info_sec2 = 32px|link=Expressway S5 (Poland) | blank1_name_sec2 = National roads | blank1_info_sec2 = 32px | website = http://www.rawicz.pl }} '''Rawicz''' ({{IPA|pl|ˈravit͡ʂ|lang}}; {{langx|de|Rawitsch}}) is a town in west-central Poland with 21,398 inhabitants as of 2004. It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship.{{TERYT}} It is the capital of Rawicz County.

==History== thumb|left|upright=0.7|Adam Olbracht Przyjemski, founder of Rawicz The town was founded by Adam Olbracht Przyjemski of Rawicz coat of arms for Protestant refugees from Silesia during the Thirty Years' War. In 1638 King Władysław IV Vasa granted Rawicz town rights and confirmed the town's coat of arms.<ref name=RA>{{cite web|url=http://www.rawicz.pl/rawicz/historia-miasta/rys-historyczny.html|title=Rys historyczny|website=Gmina Rawicz|access-date=4 October 2019|language=pl|archive-date=23 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923222133/http://rawicz.pl/rawicz/historia-miasta/rys-historyczny.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Rawicz was built as a precisely planned town and developed at a rapid pace.<ref name=RA/> It was located on the trade route connecting Poznań and Wrocław.<ref name=RA/> In 1640, a cloth guild was founded.<ref name=RA/> Cloth production became a leading branch of the local industry, and by the end of the 18th century Rawicz was the leading weaving town of the whole region of Greater Poland.<ref name=RA/> Rawicz was a private town of Polish nobility, administratively located in the Kościan County in the Poznań Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province.

After the destruction of Rawicz by the Swedes in 1655 during the Deluge, the town was rebuilt in an impressive way, erecting new townhouses, a Baroque church and a Catholic monastery.<ref name=RA/> The early 18th century was an unfavorable period in the town's history. In 1701 it suffered a fire, in 1704-1705 it was occupied by Sweden, foreign troops marched through it: Russians in 1707, Austrians in 1719, Saxons in 1733.<ref name=RA/> In the following decades, rapid development took place again, the construction of the castle was completed and a new Baroque town hall was built.<ref name=RA/> In the second half of the 18th century, there were two breweries, a distillery, a slaughterhouse, and a brickyard in Rawicz.<ref name=RA/>

In 1793, Rawicz was annexed by Prussia as a result of the Second Partition of Poland. After the successful Greater Poland uprising of 1806, it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw and in 1815 it was again annexed by Prussia, initially as part of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznan.<ref name=RA/> The principal industry was the manufacture of snuff and cigars. Trade involved grain, wool, cattle, hides, and timber. According to the 1910 census, the population of the town was 11,525, of whom 9,810 (85%) reported German as their sole mother tongue, while 1,661 (14%) reported Polish; the Jewish population was 362 (3%).<ref>{{cite book |title=Gemeindelexikon für die Regierungsbezirke Allenstein, Danzig, Marienwerder, Posen, Bromberg und Oppeln |location=Berlin |publisher=Königlich Preußisches Statistisches Landesamt |year=1912 |language=de}}</ref> After World War I Poland regained its independence in 1918. In 1919 the Battle of Rawicz was fought as part of the Greater Poland uprising, aiming to reincorporate the region into the reestablished Polish state. Though the city was located on the German side of the military demarcation line established following the ceasefire in February 1919, Rawicz was eventually assigned to Poland in January 1920.

On the first day of the invasion of Poland, which started World War II on September 1, 1939, the Germans entered the town, but were forced to withdraw.<ref name=RA/> They entered again on September 5.<ref name=RA/> In the following days the ''Einsatzgruppe III'' entered the town to commit crimes against Poles.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wardzyńska|first=Maria|year=2009|title=Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=IPN|pages=56–57}}</ref> Poles arrested during the ''Intelligenzaktion'' were imprisoned in the local prison.<ref>Wardzyńska (2009), p. 117</ref> In October 1939 the Germans carried out the first executions of Polish residents,<ref name=RA/> while first mass expulsions of over 500 Poles were carried out in December 1939.<ref name=mw>{{cite book|last=Wardzyńska|first=Maria|year=2017|title=Wysiedlenia ludności polskiej z okupowanych ziem polskich włączonych do III Rzeszy w latach 1939-1945|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=IPN|page=162|isbn=978-83-8098-174-4}}</ref> The expelled Poles were predominantly local activists and owners of better houses, which were then handed over to German colonists as part of the ''Lebensraum'' policy.<ref name=mw/> Also a transit camp for Poles expelled from nearby villages was operated in the town.<ref name=mw/> Despite such circumstances, the Polish resistance movement was organized in the town. In January 1945, the town was taken over by the Soviets, who imprisoned soldiers of the Polish Home Army here.<ref name=RA/> Later on, the Soviet-appointed communists organized a prison here for political opponents, of which 142 died.<ref name=RA/>

In 1973, Sarnowa was included within the town limits. From 1975 to 1998, Rawicz was administratively located in the Leszno Voivodeship.

A large prison exists in former monastery since 1820.

A 50&nbsp;billion cubic feet natural gas discovery at Rawicz in 2015 is expected to be the largest gas development in Poland for 20 years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oilvoice.com/n/San_Leon_Energy_announces_halfyear_2015_interim_results/4ce00b439084.aspx|title=OilVoice}}</ref>

==Sights==

Among the historic sights of Rawicz are the ''Rynek'' (Market Square) with the Baroque town hall, the Baroque Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the Classicist Church of Saint Andrew Bobola, the Gothic Revival Church of Christ the King, the Planty Park and historic townhouses, dating back to the 18th and 19th century. <gallery widths=145> File:Wnętrze z ławkami kościoła św. Andrzeja Boboli w Rawiczu.jpg|Interior of Saint Andrew Bobola's Church File:Rawicz,kościół.jpg|Exterior of Saint Andrew Bobola's Church File:Kościół pw. Chrystusa Króla i Zwiastowania Najświętszej Marii Panny.jpg|Church of Christ the King File:SM Rawicz Ratusz Sarnowski 2019 (2).jpg|Rawicz-Sarnowa Town Hall File:Rawicz,ul.Rynek 18.jpg|Old townhouses at the ''Rynek'' (Market Square) </gallery>

==Sports== Notable local sports clubs are speedway club Kolejarz Rawicz, who race at the Florian Kapała Stadium and football team {{ill|Rawia Rawicz|pl}}.

==Transport== thumb|Rawicz railway station

The S5 expressway bypasses Rawicz to the west. The Rawicz exit of the expressway provides quick access to Poznań and to Wrocław.

National road 36 bypasses Rawicz to the north.

Rawicz has a station on the Poznań-Wrocław railway.

==Cuisine== The officially protected traditional food originating from Rawicz is ''kiełbaska rawicka'', a local type of kiełbasa (as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland).<ref name=kr>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.pl/web/rolnictwo/kielbaski-rawickie|title=Kiełbaski rawickie|website=Ministerstwo Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi - Portal Gov.pl|accessdate=30 May 2021|language=pl}}</ref> Local traditions of meat production date back hundreds of years.<ref name=kr/>

==Notable residents== * Heinrich Gottfried Ollendorff (1803–1865), German grammarian and language educator * Wolfgang Straßmann (1821–1885), politician * Heinrich Braun (1862–1934), surgeon * Maximilian Otte (1910–1944), Luftwaffe pilot * Robert Maćkowiak (born 1970), sprinter * Arthur Ruppin (1876–1943), Zionist * Reinhard Seiler (1909–1989), Luftwaffe officer * Piotr Świderski (born 1983), speedway rider * Anita Włodarczyk (born 1985), hammer thrower * Karol Świderski (born 1997), football player * Cesar Kaskel (1833-?), Southern Unionist

== See also == * Coat of Arms of Rawicz

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category|Rawicz}} *[http://www.rawicz.pl Municipal Website] *[http://yizkor.nypl.org/index.php?id=12 Rawicz Yizkor (Holocaust Memorial) Book] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165517/http://yizkor.nypl.org/index.php?id=12 |date=2016-03-03 }} (Hebrew & English)

{{Rawicz County}} {{Gmina Rawicz}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship Category:Rawicz County Category:1638 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Category:Populated places established in 1638