{{Short description|Town in Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland}} {{Other places}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Żerków | image_shield = POL Żerków COA.svg | image_flag = POL Żerków flag.svg | image_skyline = Żerków church.jpg | image_caption = Church of Saint Stanislaus | pushpin_map = Poland | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{POL}} | subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship | subdivision_name1 = Greater Poland | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Jarocin | subdivision_type3 = Gmina | subdivision_name3 = Żerków | established_title = First mentioned | established_date = 1257 | established_title2 = Town rights | established_date2 = 1283 or earlier | area_total_km2 = 2.03 | population_as_of = 2010 | population_total = 2122 | population_footnotes = <ref name=gus/> | population_density_km2 = auto | coordinates = {{coord|52|4|N|17|34|E|region:PL|display=title,inline}} | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 63-210 | registration_plate = PJA | blank_name = Climate | blank_info = Dfb | website = http://www.zerkow.pl }} '''Żerków ''' ({{IPAc-pl|'|ż|e|r|k|u|f}}) is a town in Jarocin County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland,{{TERYT}} with 2,122 inhabitants (2010).<ref name=gus/> It is located {{convert|53|km}} east of the regional capital of Poznań.
The town is near the Żerków-Czeszewo Landscape Park.
==History== [[File:Żerków kz01.jpg|thumb|left|Memorial to Poles fallen in the fights for Poland's independence in World War I, Greater Poland Uprising, Polish–Soviet War and World War II]] The oldest known mention of Żerków comes from a document of Duke Bolesław the Pious from 1257, and in a document of Duke and future King of Poland Przemysł II from 1283 it was already referred to as a town. Żerków was a private town of Polish nobility, administratively located in the Pyzdry County in the Kalisz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province.<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Atlas historyczny Polski. Wielkopolska w drugiej połowie XVI wieku. Część I. Mapy, plany|year=2017|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Instytut Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk|page=1b}}</ref> In 1574, the newly elected King Henry of Valois stopped in Żerków before his royal coronation in Kraków. In 1623 the town was visited by King Sigismund III Vasa and prince royal (and future king) Władysław IV Vasa.<ref>D. Flisiak, JAKOB STEINHARDT (1887-1968) Życie i działalność, CHRZAN 2022, s. 27.</ref>
The Radomicki noble family erected the Baroque Church of Saint Stanislaus, which is the town's greatest historic landmark. {{Historical populations|1905|1631|1921|1549|1931|1569|2010|2122 |source=<ref>Otto Dalchow: ''Die Städte des Warthelandes. Ein Beitrag zur Siedlungskunde und zur Landeskunde der Provinz Posen''. Noske, Borna / Leipzig 1910, S. 122.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Wiadomości Statystyczne Głównego Urzędu Statystycznego|volume=X|year=1932|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny|page=202}}</ref><ref name=gus>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|url=https://stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/PUBL_l_ludnosc_stan_struktura_31_12_2010.pdf|title=Stan i struktura ludności oraz ruch naturalny w przekroju terytorialnym w 2010 r.|year=2011|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny|page=102|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113152513/https://stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/PUBL_l_ludnosc_stan_struktura_31_12_2010.pdf|archive-date=13 November 2011}}</ref>}}
Following the Second Partition of Poland Żerków became a part of Prussia. After the successful Greater Poland uprising of 1806, it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw. It was re-annexed by Prussia in 1815, and from 1815 until 1920 it was a part of the Province of Posen. As a consequence of the Treaty of Versailles, the town became a part of the newly founded Second Polish Republic.<ref>D. Flisiak, JAKOB STEINHARDT (1887-1968) Życie i działalność, CHRZAN 2022, s. 28.</ref>
After the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II, it was occupied by Germany in 1939. All residents of Jewish origin were expelled from the town soon after the arrival of the Germans. Żerków was used by the Germans as a resort spot for soldiers. In the years 1941–44 the Jewish cemetery was destroyed and its tombstones used as construction material.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://fzp.net.pl/historia/zabytki-kultury-zydowskiej-na-ziemi-jarocinskiej | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006172234/http://fzp.net.pl/historia/zabytki-kultury-zydowskiej-na-ziemi-jarocinskiej | archive-date=2012-10-06 | title=Zabytki kultury żydowskiej na Ziemi Jarocińskiej | Forum Żydów Polskich }}</ref> In 1943, the Germans renamed the town ''Bergstadt'' to erase traces of Polish origin. In 1945, the German occupation ended and the historic name was restored.<ref>D. Flisiak, JAKOB STEINHARDT (1887-1968) Życie i działalność, CHRZAN 2022, s.28-29</ref>
In 1962 a telecommunication tower of reinforced concrete similar to that at Piątkowo, Poznań was built. {{clear|left}}
==Sports== The local football team is GKS Żerków.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gkszerkow.futbolowo.pl|title=GKS Żerków – strona klubu|trans-title=GKS Żerków – club page|accessdate=26 December 2020|language=pl}}</ref> It competes in the lower leagues.
== People == * Albert Wojciech Adamkiewicz * Heinrich Graetz * Jakob Steinhardt * Henry Heppner
==References== {{reflist}}
== Further reading == *{{cite web |url=http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/Content/17897/lukaszewicz.djvu |title=Strażnica Ostrów i miasto Żerków |last=Łukaszewicz |first=Maksymilian |trans-title=Ostrów Watchtower and the Town of Żerków |location=Poznań |year=1891 |language=pl}}
{{Gmina Żerków}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship Category:Jarocin County Category:Historic Jewish communities in Poland