{{Short description|Town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Strzelin | image_skyline = SM Strzelin Kościół św Gotarda (6) ID 596978.jpg | image_caption = St. Godehard's Rotunda, Strzelin | image_shield = POL Strzelin COA.svg | image_flag = Flag of Strzelin.svg | pushpin_map = Poland | pushpin_label_position = top | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{POL}} | subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship | subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Lower Silesian Voivodeship|name=Lower Silesian}} | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Strzelin | subdivision_type3 = Gmina | subdivision_name3 = Strzelin | established_title = Town rights | established_date = 1292 | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Dorota Pawnuk | area_total_km2 = 10.34 | population_as_of = 2019-06-30<ref>{{cite web |title=Population. Size and structure and vital statistics in Poland by territorial division in 2019. As of 30th June|url=https://stat.gov.pl/en/topics/population/population/population-size-and-structure-and-vital-statistics-in-poland-by-territorial-division-in-2019-as-of-30th-june,3,26.html|website=stat.gov.pl|publisher=Statistics Poland|date=2019-10-15|access-date=2020-02-14}}</ref> | population_total = 12460 | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | coordinates = {{coord|50|47|N|17|4|E|region:PL|display=title,inline}} | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 57-100 | blank_name = Car plates | blank_info = DST | website = http://www.strzelin.pl }} '''Strzelin''' ({{IPA|pl|ˈstʂɛlʲin}}; {{langx|de|Strehlen}},<ref>{{Cite web|title=Strzelin {{!}} Virtual Shtetl|url=https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/s/209-strzelin|access-date=2020-08-30|website=sztetl.org.pl}}</ref> {{langx|cs|Střelín}}) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland.{{TERYT}} It is located on the Oława river, a tributary of the Oder, about {{convert|39|km|mi|abbr=off}} south of the region's capital Wrocław. It is part of the Wrocław metropolitan area.

The town is the seat of Strzelin County and also of the smaller municipality (gmina) of Strzelin. It is known for its extensive granite quarries, and contains Europe's deepest granite quarry. It is 123 meters deep and covers 19.5 ha

==History== thumb|left|Medieval town walls The settlement dates back to the beginnings of the Polish state.<ref name=ST>{{cite web|url=http://www.strzelin.pl/asp/pl_start.asp?typ=14&menu=18&strona=1&sub=41|title=Historia|website=Urząd Gminy i Miasta w Strzelinie|access-date=August 18, 2019|language=pl}}</ref> In the 12th century the Romanesque St. Godehard's Rotunda was built.<ref name=ST/> The town was mentioned in the 13th and 14th centuries by its Old Polish name of ''Strelin''. The name of the town derives from the Polish word ''strzała'', meaning "arrow".<ref name=ST/> The town's coat of arms is an example of canting, as it depicts an arrow, alluding to the town's name. It was granted town rights in 1292 by Duke Bolko I the Strict of the Piast dynasty, who also built defensive walls.<ref name=ST/> [[File:Strzelin, Poland - panoramio (23).jpg|thumb|left|Renaissance residence of the Piast dukes]] As a result of the fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies, it became part of the Duchy of Legnica, remaining under rule of the Piasts until 1675. In the 15th century, the Hussites captured and plundered Strzelin three times.<ref name=ST/> After that, in the 15th and 16th centuries the town flourished. The town's wealth came from clothmaking, shoemaking, tanning, brewing, metalworking.<ref name=ST/> Strzelin was plundered many times by troops from various countries during the Thirty Years' War.<ref name=ST/> In the 17th century Strzelin was located in a still predominantly Polish-speaking area.<ref>Borowicz D., ''Mapy narodowościowe Górnego Śląska od połowy XIX wieku do II Wojny Światowej'', Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, Wrocław, 2004, p. 33 (in Polish)</ref> Strzelin was inhabited mainly by Poles and, as a result of immigration, by Germans and Jews.<ref name=ST/>

After the death of the last Piast duke George William in 1675, the town was incorporated into the Habsburg-ruled Bohemian (Czech) Kingdom and the period of religious tolerance ended.<ref name=ST/> The town's self-government was limited and the tax pressure increased.<ref name=ST/> In 1742 the town was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. Afterwards the last remains of the town's autonomy were liquidated and a Germanisation action took place.<ref name=ST/> During the Napoleonic Wars, in 1807 Polish Uhlans marched through the town, and in 1815 also Russian troops.<ref name=ST/> In the 19th century new factories were established: a brick factory in 1868, a sugar factory in 1871. In 1871, a railway line connecting Strzelin with regional capital Wrocław was opened.<ref name=ST/> Soon the town gained railway connections with other cities in Lower Silesia.<ref name=ST/>

During World War II, the Germans brought thousands of prisoners of war to the town and the surrounding area: Poles, Frenchmen, Belgians, Russians, Englishmen and Yugoslavs.<ref name=ST/> Near the end of the war, in January 1945, the German authorities displaced all the town's population.<ref name=ST/> The German mayor of the town ordered to blow up the town hall tower and the tower of the Holy Cross church.<ref name=ST/> On one of the town's squares, Germans hanged six Polish workers, who were hiding in the abandoned town.<ref name=ST/> It was severely damaged in the course of the Lower Silesian Offensive of the Red Army against the Wehrmacht in February 1945. In May 1945 Strzelin was handed over to the Polish administration.<ref name=ST/>

As of 2019, the town has a population of 12,460.

{{multiple image|align = right|perrow = 2|total_width=350 | image1 = RatuszStrzelin.jpg | image2 = Strzelin, Książąt brzeskich, kostel.jpg | image3 = 2016 Kaplica szpitalna w Strzelinie 1.jpg | image4 = 2016 Budynek urzędu pocztowego w Strzelinie 6.jpg | caption1 = Town Hall Tower | caption2 = Exaltation of the Holy Cross church | caption3 = Hospital Chapel of St. George | caption4 = Post office }}

==Notable people== * Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915), physician, immunologist and Nobel Laureate * Johann von Ravenstein (1889–1962), Wehrmacht general * Błażej Augustyn, footballer for Zenit Miedzyborz, born 1988 * Michał Masłowski, footballer for the Polish team, born 1989

==Twin towns – sister cities== See twin towns of Gmina Strzelin.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.strzelin.pl/ Official town homepage] {{in lang|pl}} * [http://www.telewizjastrzelin.pl/ TelewizjaStrzelin, a local TV station] * [http://www.strzelin.net/ strzelin.net, a local news site] * [http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/city/strzelin/ Jewish Community in Strzelin] on Virtual Shtetl * [http://pttk-strzelin.pl/ PTTK Strzelin]

{{Strzelin County}} {{Gmina Strzelin}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Category:Populated riverside places in Poland Category:Strzelin County Category:Sites of Nazi war crimes in Poland