Wrocław

"Breslau" redirects here. For other uses, see Breslau (disambiguation).

Wrocław
Left to right: Town Hall • Market Square • New Town Hall • Ostrów Tumski • Multimedia Fountain and Centennial Hall • One of 315 Wrocław's dwarfs • University of Wrocław • Panorama from St. Elizabeth's Church • Sky Tower • Wrocław Opera • Wrocław Główny railway station •
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Wrocław – Miasto Spotkań / Wrocław – the meeting place
Wrocław
Coordinates: 51°6′N 17°2′E
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Lower Silesian
County	city county
Established	10th century
City rights	1214
Government
• Mayor	Rafał Dutkiewicz (I)
Area
• City	292.92 km2 (113.10 sq mi)
Elevation	105-155 m (−400 ft)
Population (30.06.2016)
• City	637,075
• Metro	1,164,600
• Demonym	Vratislavian
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	50-041 to 54-612
Area code(s)	+48 71
Car plates	DW
Website	www.wroclaw.pl

Wrocław (/ˈvrɒtswɑːf/; Polish pronunciation: [ˈvrɔt͡swaf], German: Breslau, pronounced [ˈbʁɛslaʊ]; Czech: Vratislav; Latin: Vratislavia) is the largest city in western Poland. It is on the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, roughly 350 kilometres (220 mi) from the Baltic Sea to the north and 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the Sudeten Mountains to the south. Wrocław is the historical capital of Silesia and Lower Silesia. Today, it is the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. At various times in history, it has been part of the Kingdom of Poland, Bohemia, Hungary, the Austrian Empire, Prussia and Germany. It became part of Poland in 1945, as a result of the border changes after the Second World War. The population of Wrocław in 2016 was 637,075 making it the fourth-largest city in Poland and the main city of Wrocław agglomeration.

Wrocław is classified as a global city by GaWC, with the ranking of high sufficiency and living standard. It was among 230 cities in the world in the ranking of the consulting company Mercer — "Best City to Live" in 2015 and the only Polish city in this ranking has been recognized as a city growing at the business center.

In 2016, the city is a European Capital of Culture and the World Book Capital. Also, Wrocław will host the Theatre Olympics, World Bridge Games and the European Film Awards in 2016, IFLA Annual Conference and World Games in 2017.

Etymology

The city's name was first recorded as "Wrotizlava" in the chronicle of German chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg, which mentions it as a seat of a newly installed bishopric in the context of the Congress of Gniezno. The first municipal seal stated Sigillum civitatis Wratislavie. A simplified name is given, in 1175, as Wrezlaw, Prezla or Breslaw. The Czech spelling was used in Latin documents as Wratislavia or Vratislavia. At that time, Prezla was used in Middle High German, which became Preßlau. In the middle of the 14th century, the Early New High German (and later New High German) form of the name, Breslau, began to replace its earlier versions.

The city is traditionally believed to be named after Wrocisław or Vratislav, often believed to be Duke Vratislaus I of Bohemia. It is also possible that the city was named after the tribal duke of the Silesians or after an early ruler of the city called Vratislav.

The city's name in various other languages is: Hungarian: Boroszló, Czech: Vratislav, German: Breslau, Hebrew: ורוצלב‎‎ (Vrotsláv), Yiddish: ברעסלוי‎ (Bresloi), Silesian German: Brassel, and Latin: Vratislavia or Budorgis or Wratislavia. The city's name in other languages is available at the list of names of European cities.

Persons born or living in the city are known as "Vratislavians" (Polish: Wrocławianie).

History

Main articles: History of Wrocław and Timeline of Wrocław

In ancient times at or near Wrocław was a place called Budorigum. It has been mapped to the ancient Claudius Ptolemy map of the years 142-147 AD.

The city of Wrocław originated at the intersection of two trade routes, the Via Regia and the Amber Road.

Settlements in the area existed from the 6th century onward, when a Slavic tribe Ślężans settled on the Oder and erected on Ostrów Tumski a gord.

The city was first recorded in the 10th century as Vratislavia, the Bohemian duke Vratislaus I founded here a Bohemian stronghold. Vratislavia was possibly derived from the duke's name Vratislav. In 990, Duke Mieszko I of Poland conquered Silesia including Wroclaw. The town was mentioned explicitly in the year 1000 AD in connection with a founding of a bishopric.

Middle Ages

The medieval chronicle, Gesta principum Polonorum, written by Gallus Anonymus in 1112-1116 AD, named Wrocław, along with Kraków and Sandomierz, as one of the three capitals of the Polish Kingdom.

During Wrocław's early history, the control over it changed hands between Bohemia (until 992, then 1038–1054), the Kingdom of Poland (992–1038 and 1054–1202), and after the fragmentation of the Kingdom of Poland, the Piast-ruled duchy of Silesia. One of the most important events during this period was the foundation of the Diocese of Wrocław by the Polish Duke (from 1025 King) Bolesław the Brave in 1000. Along with the Bishoprics of Kraków and Kołobrzeg, Wrocław was placed under the Archbishopric of Gniezno in Greater Poland, founded by Pope Sylvester II through the intercession of the Emperor Otto III in 1000 AD, during the Congress of Gniezno. In the years 1034-1038 the city was affected by Pagan reaction in Poland.

Church of Saint Giles (pl) erected in the 1220s at Ostrów Tumski, the oldest section of Wrocław

The city became a commercial centre and expanded to Wyspa Piasek (Sand Island), and then to the left bank of the River Oder. Around 1000, the town had about 1,000 inhabitants. In 1109 during Polish-German war, Prince Bolesław III Wrymouth defeated the King of Germany Henry V at the Battle of Hundsfeld, stopping the German march into Poland. By 1139, a settlement belonging to Governor Piotr Włostowic (a.k.a. Piotr Włast Dunin) was built, and another was founded on the left bank of the River Oder, near the present seat of the University. While the city was Polish, there were also communities of Bohemians, Jews, Walloons and Germans.

The oldest printed text in the Polish language – Statuta Synodalia Episcoporum Wratislaviensis printed in Wrocław by Kasper Elyan, 1475

In the 13th century, Wrocław was the political centre of the divided Polish kingdom. In April 1241, during fearing the First Mongol invasion of Poland the city was abandoned by the inhabitants and burned for strategic reasons. During the battles with the Mongols the Wrocław Castle was defended by Henry II the Pious and was never captured.

After the Mongol invasion the town was partly populated by German settlers who, in the following centuries, would gradually become its dominant ethnic group; the city, however, retained its multi-ethnic character, a reflection of its position as an important trading city on the Via Regia and the Amber Road.

With the influx of settlers the town expanded and adopted in 1242 German town law. The city council used Latin and German, and "Breslau", the Germanized name of the city, appeared for the first time in written records. The enlarged town covered around 60 hectares (150 acres), and the new main market square, which was surrounded by timber frame houses, became the new centre of the town. The original foundation, Ostrów Tumski, became the religious centre. The city adopted Magdeburg rights in 1261. The Polish Piast dynasty remained in control of the region, but the right of the city council to govern independently increased.

In 1335, Wrocław, and almost all of Silesia, was incorporated into the Kingdom of Bohemia, then a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Between 1342 and 1344, two fires destroyed large parts of the city. The city joined the Hanseatic League in 1387.

In June 5, 1443, the city was affected by an earthquake of the strength of at least 6 degrees on the Richter scale, which destroyed or seriously damaged many buildings in the city. From 1469-90 it was part of the Kingdom of Hungary and the King of Hungary Matthias Corvinus even had a mistress from the city with whom he had a son. In 1474, the city left the Hanseatic League.

In 1475, Kasper Elyan printed in Wrocław Statuta Synodalia Episcoporum Wratislaviensium, first in the history of printing in the Polish language, it contains three Catholic prayers.

Renaissance, Reformation and Counter-Reformation

Map of the city from 1562

Siege of Breslau during the Seven Years' War (Third Silesian War 1756-1763)

The Protestant Reformation reached the town in 1518 and the city became Protestant. However, from 1526 Silesia was ruled by the Catholic House of Habsburg. In 1618, it supported the Bohemian Revolt out of fear of losing the right to freedom of religious expression. During the ensuing Thirty Years' War, the city was occupied by Saxon and Swedish troops, and lost 18,000 of 40,000 citizens to plague.

The Austrian emperor brought in the Counter-Reformation by encouraging Catholic orders to settle in the city, starting in 1610 with the Franciscans, followed by Jesuits, Capuchins, and finally Ursulines in 1687. These orders erected buildings which shaped the city's appearance until 1945. At the end of the Thirty Years' War, however, it was one of only a few Silesian cities to stay Protestant.

In the year 1666 opened Municipal School of Polish (it operated until 1766).

The precise record keeping of births and deaths by the city led to the use of their data for analysis of mortality, first by John Graunt and then later by Edmond Halley. Halley's tables and analysis, published in 1693, are considered to be the first true actuarial tables, and thus the foundation of modern actuarial science.

In the year 1702 activity starts at the university.

During the Counter-Reformation, the intellectual life of the city flourished, as the Protestant bourgeoisie lost its role to the Catholic orders as the patron of the arts. The city became the centre of German Baroque literature and was home to the First and Second Silesian school of poets.

The Kingdom of Prussia annexed the town and most of Silesia during the War of the Austrian Succession in the 1740s. Habsburg empress Maria Theresa ceded the territory in the Treaty of Breslau in 1742.

Napoleonic Wars

Entry of Prince Jérôme Bonaparte to Breslau, 7 January 1807

During the Napoleonic Wars, it was occupied by an army of the Confederation of the Rhine. The fortifications of the city were leveled and monasteries and cloisters were secularised. The Protestant Viadrina European University of Frankfurt (Oder) was relocated to Breslau in 1811, and united with the local Jesuit University to create the new Silesian Frederick-William University (Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelm-Universität, now University of Wrocław). The city became the centre of the German Liberation movement against Napoleon, and the gathering place for volunteers from all over Germany, with the Iron Cross military decoration founded by Frederick William III of Prussia in early March 1813. The city was the centre of Prussian mobilisation for the campaign which ended at Leipzig.

Prussia and Germany

Oder in 1850

Market Square 1890-1900

Town Hall 1900

Napoleonic redevelopments increased prosperity in Silesia and the city. The levelled fortifications opened space for the city to grow beyond its old limits. Breslau became an important railway hub and industrial centre, notably of linen and cotton manufacture and metal industry. The reconstructed university served as a major centre of sciences, while the secularisation of life laid the base for a rich museum landscape. Johannes Brahms wrote his Academic Festival Overture to thank the university for an honorary doctorate awarded in 1881.

In 1821, (Arch)Diocese of Breslau was disentangled from the Polish ecclesiastical province (archbishopric) in Gniezno and made Breslau an exempt bishopric. On 10 October 1854, the Jewish Theological Seminary opened. The institution was the first modern rabbinical seminary in Central Europe. In 1863 the brothers Karl and Louis Stangen founded the travel agency Stangen, this was the second travel agency in the world.

The Unification of Germany in 1871 turned Breslau into the sixth-largest city in the German Empire. Its population more than tripled to over half a million between 1860 and 1910. The 1900 census listed 422,709 residents.

In 1890, construction began on the forts of Breslau Fortress. Important landmarks were inaugurated in 1910, the Kaiser bridge and the Technical University, which now houses the Wrocław University of Technology. The 1900 census listed 98% as German-speakers, with 5,363 Polish-speakers (1.3%), and another 3,103 (0.7%) speaking both German and Polish. The population was 58% Protestant, 37% Catholic (including at least 2% Polish) and 5% Jewish (totaling 20,536 in the 1905 census). The Jewish community of Breslau was among the most important in Germany, producing several distinguished artists and scientists.

Since 1912 Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wrocław and director of the Clinic of Psychiatry (Königlich Psychiatrischen und Nervenklinik) was Alois Alzheimer.

In 1912, the Wrocław University professor William Stern introduced the concept of IQ.

In 1913, the newly built Centennial Hall housed the "Ausstellung zur Jahrhundertfeier der Freiheitskriege", an exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the historical German Wars of Liberation against Napoleon and the first award of the Iron Cross.

Following the First World War, Breslau became the capital of the newly created Prussian Province of Lower Silesia of the Weimar Republic in 1919. After the war the Polish community began holding masses in the Polish language at the Church of Saint Anne, and, as of 1921, at St. Martin's and a Polish School was founded by Helena Adamczewska. In 1920 a Polish consulate was opened on the Main Square.

In August 1920, during the Polish Silesian Uprising in Upper Silesia, the Polish Consulate and School were destroyed, while the Polish Library was burned down by a mob. The number of Poles as a percentage of the total population fell to just 0.5% after the reconstitution of Poland in 1918, when many moved to Poland. Antisemitic riots occurred in 1923.

The city boundaries were expanded between 1925 and 1930 to include an area of 175 km² (68 sq mi) with a population of 600,000. In 1929, the Werkbund opened WuWa (German: Wohnungs- und Werkraumausstellung) in Breslau-Scheitnig, an international showcase of modern architecture by architects of the Silesian branch of the Werkbund. In June 1930, Breslau hosted the Deutsche Kampfspiele, a sporting event for German athletes after Germany was excluded from the Olympic Games after World War I. The number of Jews remaining in Breslau fell from 23,240 in 1925 to 10,659 in 1933. Up to the beginning of World War II, Breslau was the largest city in Germany east of Berlin.

Known as a stronghold of left wing liberalism during the German Empire, Breslau eventually became one of the strongest support bases of the Nazis, who in the 1932 elections received 44% of the city's vote, their third-highest total in all Germany.

KZ Dürrgoy, one of the first concentration camps in the Third Reich, was set up in Wrocław in 1933.

After Hitler's appointment as German Chancellor in 1933, political enemies of the Nazis were persecuted, and their institutions closed or destroyed; the Gestapo began actions against Polish and Jewish students (see: Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau), Communists, Social Democrats, and trade unionists. Arrests were made for speaking Polish in public, and in 1938 the Nazi-controlled police destroyed the Polish cultural centre. Many of the city's 10,000 Jews, as well as many others seen as "undesirable" by the Third Reich, were sent to concentration camps; those Jews who remained were killed during the Holocaust. A network of concentration camps and forced labour camps was established around Breslau, to serve industrial concerns, including FAMO, Junkers and Krupp. Tens of thousands were imprisoned there.

The last big event organised by the National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise, called Deutsches Turn-und-Sportfest (Gym and Sports Festivities), took place in Breslau from 26 to 31 July 1938. The Sportsfest was held to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the German Wars of Liberation against Napoleon's invasion.

Second World War and afterwards

Blindfolded German army officers walking to negotiate the capitulation of Festung Breslau, 6 May 1945

For most of World War II, the fighting did not affect Breslau. In 1941 the remnants of the pre-war Polish minority in the city, as well as Polish slave labourers, organised a resistance group called Olimp. The organisation gathered intelligence, carrying out sabotage and organising aid for Polish slave workers. As the war continued, refugees from bombed-out German cities, and later refugees from farther east, swelled the population to nearly one million, including 51,000 forced labourers in 1944, and 9,876 Allied PoWs. At the end of 1944 an additional 30,000-60,000 Poles were moved into the city after Nazis crushed the Warsaw Uprising. In February 1945 the Soviet Red Army approached the city. Gauleiter Karl Hanke declared the city a Festung (fortress) to be held at all costs. Hanke finally lifted a ban on the evacuation of women and children when it was almost too late. During his poorly organised evacuation in January 1945, 18,000 people froze to death in icy snowstorms and −20 °C (−4 °F) weather. By the end of the Battle of Breslau, half the city had been destroyed. An estimated 40,000 civilians lay dead in the ruins of homes and factories. After a siege of nearly three months, Festung Breslau capitulated on 6 May 1945, two days before the end of the war. In August the Soviets placed the city under the control of German anti-fascists.

Along with almost all of Lower Silesia, however, the city became part of Poland under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. The Polish name of "Wrocław" was declared official. There had been discussion among the Western Allies to place the southern Polish-German boundary on the Glatzer Neisse, which meant post-war Germany would have been allowed to retain approximately half of Silesia, including Breslau. However, the Soviets insisted the border be drawn at the Lusatian Neisse farther west.

After the war

Fighting Solidarity logo

Monument of the Orange Alternative

In August 1945, the city had a German population of 189,500, and a Polish population of 17,000; that was soon to change. Almost all of the German inhabitants fled or were forcibly expelled between 1945 and 1949 and were settled in the Soviet occupation zone and Allied Occupation Zones in Germany. The city's last pre-war German school was closed in 1963. A small German minority (about 1,000 people) remains in the city. The Polish population was dramatically increased by the resettlement of Poles during postwar population transfers during the forced deportations from Polish lands annexed by the Soviet Union in the east region, many of whom came from Lviv (Lwów), Volhynia and Vilnius Region.

Wrocław is now a unique European city of mixed heritage, with architecture influenced by Bohemian, Austrian and Prussian traditions, such as Silesian Gothic and its Baroque style of court builders of Habsburg Austria (Fischer von Erlach). Wrocław has a number of notable buildings by German modernist architects including the famous Centennial Hall (Hala Stulecia or Jahrhunderthalle) (1911–1913) designed by Max Berg. In 1948, Wrocław organised the Recovered Territories Exhibition and the World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace.

In 1963 Wrocław was declared a closed city because of a smallpox epidemic.

In 1982, during the martial law in Poland, was founded anti-communist underground organisations: Fighting Solidarity and Orange Alternative (from which it took its beginning present Wrocław's dwarfs).

In 1983 and 1997, Pope John Paul II visited the city.

PTV Echo, the first non-state television station in Poland and in the post-communist countries, began to broadcast in Wrocław on 6 February 1990.

In May 1997, Wrocław hosted the 46th International Eucharistic Congress.

In July 1997, the city was heavily affected by a flood of the River Oder, the worst flooding in post-war Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. About one-third of the area of the city was flooded. An earlier equally devastating flood of the river took place in 1903. A small part of the city was also flooded during the flood in 2010. From 2012-2015 the Wrocław water node was renovated and redeveloped to prevent further flooding. It cost more than 900 million PLN (c. 220 million euro).

Climate

Wrocław has a humid continental climate (Dfb in the Koeppen climate classification). It is one of the warmer cities in Poland. Lying in the Silesian Lowlands between Trzebnickie Hills and the Sudetes, the mean annual temperature is 9.8 °C (50 °F). The coldest month is January (average temperature −0.5 °C), with snow being common in winter, and the warmest is July (average temperature 19.9 °C). The highest temperature in Wrocław was 8 August 2015 (+38.9 °C). The lowest temperature was 8 January 1985 (−29.4 °C).

Climate data for Wrocław
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	19.7 (67.5)	20.1 (68.2)	25.4 (77.7)	32.0 (89.6)	34.4 (93.9)	38.0 (100.4)	37.9 (100.2)	39.0 (102.2)	35.3 (95.5)	28.1 (82.6)	22.0 (71.6)	19.0 (66.2)	39.0 (102.2)
Average high °C (°F)	3 (37)	5 (41)	9 (48)	14 (57)	20 (68)	23 (73)	25 (77)	25 (77)	19 (66)	14 (57)	7 (45)	3 (37)	14.0 (57.2)
Average low °C (°F)	−4 (25)	−3 (27)	−1 (30)	3 (37)	8 (46)	11 (52)	13 (55)	13 (55)	9 (48)	5 (41)	0 (32)	−3 (27)	5.0 (41)
Record low °C (°F)	−30 (−22)	−29.2 (−20.6)	−23.9 (−11)	−8 (18)	−2.1 (28.2)	1.1 (34)	5.0 (41)	3.4 (38.1)	−2 (28)	−6 (21)	−15.4 (4.3)	−22.7 (−8.9)	−30 (−22)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	30 (1.18)	32 (1.26)	39 (1.54)	38 (1.5)	54 (2.13)	69 (2.72)	75 (2.95)	65 (2.56)	43 (1.69)	38 (1.5)	41 (1.61)	38 (1.5)	566 (22.28)
Average precipitation days	14	12	12	10	13	12	14	13	11	13	15	12	151
Average relative humidity (%)	81	84	76	69	66	70	71	71	75	78	83	85	76
Mean monthly sunshine hours	54	74	125	204	250	251	251	247	166	119	67	47	1,855
Source #1:
Source #2:

Administration

Wrocław New Town Hall - seat of the city mayor

Wrocław is the capital city of Lower Silesian Voivodeship, a province (voivodeship) created in 1999. It was previously the seat of Wrocław Voivodeship. The city is a separate urban gmina and city county (powiat). It is also the seat of Wrocław County, which adjoins but does not include the city.

Wrocław was previously subdivided into five boroughs (dzielnica):

• Fabryczna ("Factory Quarter")
• Krzyki, (German: Krietern, meaning "Wranglers")
• Psie Pole (German: Hundsfeld, "Dogs' Field", named so after the alleged Battle of Psie Pole or poor quality of the fields)
• Stare Miasto (old town)
• Śródmieście (midtown)

However, the city is now divided into 48 osiedles (districts).

Wrocław is currently governed by the city's mayor and a municipal legislature known as the city council. The city council is made up of 39 councillors and is directly elected by the city's inhabitants. The remit of the council and president extends to all areas of municipal policy and development planning, up to and including development of local infrastructure, transport and planning permission. However, it is not able to draw taxation directly from its citizens, and instead receives its budget from the Polish national government whose seat is in Warsaw. The city's current mayor is Rafał Dutkiewicz, who has served in this position since 2002.

Tourism

Tourist Information Centre

The Tourist Information Centre (Polish: Centrum Informacji Turystycznej) is located on the Main Market Square (Rynek) in building No. 14.

Free wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) is available at a number of places around town.

Landmarks and points of interest

Old Town Hall in the Market Square

Salt Market Square

Christmas Market

Centennial Hall

Wrocław Fountain

Africarium-Oceanarium in the ZOO

Hydropolis

Wrocław Opera by night

Ostrów Tumski is the oldest part of the city of Wrocław. It was formerly an island (ostrów in Old Polish) known as the Cathedral Island between the branches of the Oder River, featuring the Wrocław Cathedral built originally in the mid 10th century.

The 13th century Main Market Square (Rynek) features the Old Town Hall. In the north-west corner of the market square there is the St. Elisabeth's Church (Bazylika Św. Elżbiety) with its 91.46 m tower, which has an observation deck (75 m). North of the church are the Shambles with Monument of Remembrance of Animals for Slaughter. The Salt Square (now a flower market) is located at the south-western corner of the market square. Close to the square, between Szewska and Łaciarska streets, there is the St. Mary Magdalene Church (Kościół Św. Marii Magdaleny) established in the 13th century.

The Centennial Hall (Hala Stulecia; German: Jahrhunderthalle), designed by Max Berg in 1911–13, is a World Heritage Site inscribed by UNESCO in 2006.

Other points of interest include:

• Wrocław Zoo with an Africarium-Oceanarium - the oldest and largest (in terms of the number of species and animals) zoo in Poland
• Multimedia Fountain
• Szczytnicki Park with Japanese Garden (Wrocław)
• Botanical Garden in Wrocław - founded 1811
• Olympic Stadium
• Municipal Stadium - UEFA Euro 2012 arena
• The Sky Tower (200 m)
• Poland's largest model railway "Kolejkowo" on Station Świebodzki
• Hydropolis - water multimedia museum
• University of Wrocław with Mathematical Tower
• Church of the Name of Jesus
• Wrocław water tower
• Wrocław Palace which houses the Wrocław City Museum
• White Stork Synagogue
• Old Jewish Cemetery, Wrocław
• Cemetery of Italian Soldiers
• Wrocław Main Station
• Piast Brewery
• Wrocław Opera
• Słodowa Island
• Polinka - gondola lift
• Mount Ślęża

Small passenger vessels on the Oder offer city tours, as do historic trams or the converted open-topped historic bus Jelcz 043. Another interesting way to explore the city is seeking out Wrocław's dwarfs, small bronze figurines found throughout the town.

Swimming

• Aquapark Wrocław (all year)
• Wrocław SPA Center (all year)
• Orbita (in reconstruction)
• swimming pool AWF Wrocław (all year)
• swimming pool WKS Śląsk Wrocław (all year)
• Sports center and swimming "Redeco" (all year)
• Morskie Oko (only in summer)
• Glinianki WakePark Wrocław (Pedalo, Skimboarding, Wakeboarding, Waterskiing)(only in summer)
• Królewiecki pond (only in summer)
• swimming pool Kłokoczyce (only in summer)

Shopping malls

• Wroclavia (in construction, opened in 2017)
• Galeria Handlowa Sky Tower
• Galeria Dominikańska
• Pasaż Grunwaldzki
• Arkady Wrocławskie
• Centrum Handlowe Borek
• Magnolia Park
• Futura Park
• Centrum Handlowe Korona
• Renoma, a 1930s department store of architectural interest over and above its shopping value
• Feniks
• Wrocław Market Hall
• Marino
• Aleja Bielany in Bielany Wrocławskie - the largest shopping mall in Poland

Entertainment

Świdnicka Cellar Restaurant

The city is well known for its large number of nightclubs and pubs. Many are in or near the Market Square, and in the Niepolda passage, the railway wharf on the Bogusławskiego street. The basement of the old City Hall houses one of the oldest restaurants in Europe - Piwnica Świdnicka (operating since around 1275), while the basement of the new City Hall contains the brewpub Spiż. There are many other craft breweries in Wrocław: three brewpubs - Browar Stu Mostów, Browar Staromiejski Złoty Pies, Browar Rodzinny Prost; one microbrewery - Profesja; and three contract breweries - Doctor Brew, Genius Loci and Solipiwko. Every year on the second weekend of June takes place the Festival of Good Beer - the biggest beer festival in Poland. Every year in November and December at the Market Square is held Christmas market.

Museums

The National Museum at pl. Powstańców Warszawy, one of Poland's main branches of the National Museum system, holds one of the largest collections of contemporary art in the country.

• City Museum of Wrocław (pl)
• The Museum of Bourgeois Art in the Old Town Hall
• Panorama Racławicka (Racławice Panorama)
• Museum of Architecture
• Archaeological Museum (pl)
• Museum of Natural History at University of Wrocław
• Archdiocese Museum (pl)
• Museum of Military in the Arsenal
• Princes Lubomirski Museum (pl)
• Museum of Pharmacy (pl)
• Post and Telecommunications Museum (pl)
• Geological Museum (pl)
• Mineralogical Museum (pl)
• Ossolineum Library with history of major World War II theft of collections after the takeover of Lwów by the Soviet Union

Wrocław in literature

The history of Wrocław is described in minute detail in the monograph Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City by Norman Davies and Roger Moorhouse. A number of books have been written about Wrocław following World War II.

Wrocław philologist and writer Marek Krajewski wrote a series of crime novels about detective Eberhard Mock, a fictional character from the city of Breslau. Accordingly, Michał Kaczmarek published Wrocław according to Eberhard Mock - Guide based on the books by Marek Krajewski. In 2011 appeared the 1104-page Lexicon of the architecture of Wrocław, and in 2013 a 960-page Lexicon about the greenery of Wrocław. In March 2015 Wrocław filed an application to become a UNESCO's City of Literature.

Education

University of Wrocław

Wrocław University of Technology - Faculty of Architecture

Wrocław is the third largest educational centre of Poland, with 135,000 students in 30 colleges which employ some 7,400 staff.

List of ten public colleges and universities:

• Wrocław University (Uniwersytet Wrocławski): over 47,000 students, ranked fourth among public universities in Poland by the "Wprost" weekly ranking in 2007
• Wrocław University of Technology (Politechnika Wrocławska): over 40,000 students, the best university of technology in Poland by the "Wprost" weekly ranking in 2007
• Wrocław Medical University (Uniwersytet Medyczny we Wrocławiu)
• University School of Physical Education in Wrocław
• Wrocław University of Economics (Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wrocławiu) over 18,000 students, ranked fifth best among public economic universities in Poland by the "Wprost" weekly ranking in 2007
• Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences (Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy we Wrocławiu): over 13,000 students, ranked third best among public agricultural universities in Poland by the "Wprost" weekly ranking in 2007
• Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław (Akademia Sztuk Pięknych we Wrocławiu),
• Karol Lipiński University of Music (Akademia Muzyczna im. Karola Lipińskiego we Wrocławiu)
• Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts, Wrocław Campus (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Teatralna w Krakowie filia we Wrocławiu)
• The Tadeusz Kościuszko Land Forces Military Academy (Wyższa Szkoła Oficerska Wojsk Lądowych)

Other cultural institutions:

• Alliance Française in Wrocław
• Austrian Institute in Wrocław
• British Council in Wrocław
• Dante Alighieri Society in Wrocław
• Grotowski Institute in Wrocław

Transport

Wrocław Main Station

"Polinka" - Gondola lift over the Oder

Wrocław is skirted on the south by the A4 motorway, which allows for a quick connection with Upper Silesia, Kraków and further east to Ukraine, and Dresden, Leipzig and Berlin to the west. The A8 motorway (Wrocław ring road) around the west and north of the city connects the A4 motorway with the National road 5 that leads to Poznań, Bydgoszcz and S8 express road that leads to Oleśnica, Łódź, Warsaw and Białystok. Under construction is the eastern part of the ring road.

The city is served by Wrocław–Copernicus Airport (airport code WRO) which handles flights from Ryanair, Wizz Air, Lufthansa, Eurowings, LOT Polish Airlines, SprintAir and Scandinavian Airlines.

The main rail station is Wrocław Główny supported by PKP Intercity, Przewozy Regionalne and Koleje Dolnośląskie. Journey times from Wrocław: Warsaw - 3 h 36 minutes, Gdańsk - 5 h, Kraków - 3 h 14 minutes, Poznań - 2 h 26 minutes.

Adjacent to the railway station, is a central bus station with services offered by PKS, PolskiBus.com, Eurolines and others.

The city has a river port on the Oder.

Public transport in Wrocław includes bus lines and 22 tram lines operated by Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacyjne (MPK, the Municipal Transport Company). Rides are paid for, tickets can be bought above kiosks and vending machines, which are located at bus stops and vehicles. The tickets are available for purchase in the electronic form via mobile. Tickets are one-ride or temporary (0,5h, 1h, 1,5h, 24h, 48h, 72h, 168h).

A number of private taxicab firms operate in the city.

Wrocław has a network of bike paths and a bike rental system - Wrocław City Bike.

In the summer season at the Market Square rental is Segway PT.

Religion

Wrocław Cathedral in the oldest district of Ostrów Tumski

Wrocław's population is predominantly Roman Catholic; the city is the seat of an Archdiocese. However, post-war resettlements from Poland's ethnically and religiously more diverse former eastern territories (known in Polish as Kresy) and the eastern parts of post-1945 Poland (see Operation Vistula) account for a comparatively large portion of Greek Catholics and Orthodox Christians of mostly Ukrainian and Lemko descent. Wrocław is also unique for its "Dzielnica Czterech Świątyń" (Borough of Four Temples) — a part of Stare Miasto (Old Town) where a Synagogue, a Lutheran Church, a Roman Catholic church and an Eastern Orthodox church stand near each other. Other denominations present in Wrocław include: Adventist, Baptist, Free Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses, Latter-day Saints, Methodist and Pentecostal.

In 2007, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wrocław established the Pastoral Centre for English Speakers, which offers Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, as well as other sacraments, fellowship, retreats, catechesis and pastoral care for all English-speaking Catholics and non-Catholics interested in the Catholic Church. The Pastoral Centre is under the care of Order of Friars Minor, Conventual (Franciscans) of the Kraków Province in the parish of St Charles Borromeo (Św Karol Boromeusz).

Prior to World War II, Wroclaw, then known as Breslau, had the third largest Jewish population of all German cities. Its White Stork Synagogue was built in 1840. It was only rededicated in 2010. Four years later, in 2014, it celebrated its first ordination of four rabbis and three cantors since the Second World War. The German Foreign Minister attended the ceremony.

Professional sports

The Municipal Stadium

The Wrocław area has many popular professional sports teams. The most popular sport today is football, thanks to Śląsk Wrocław - Polish Champion in 1977 and 2012.

In second place is basketball, thanks to Śląsk Wrocław - the award-winning men's basketball team (17 times Polish Champion).

Matches of Group A UEFA Euro 2012's were held at Wrocław at the Municipal Stadium.

Matches of EuroBasket 1963 and EuroBasket 2009, as well as 2009 Women's European Volleyball Championship, 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship and 2016 European Men's Handball Championship were held in Wrocław.

Wrocław was the host of the 2013 World Weightlifting Championships and will the host World Championship 2016 of Duplicate bridge and World Games 2017, a competition in 37 non-Olympic sport disciplines.

A marathon takes place in Wrocław every year in September.

Men's sports

• Śląsk Wrocław — men's football team, Polish Championship in Football 1977, 2012; Polish Cup winner 1976, 1987; Polish SuperCup winner 1987, 2012; Polish League Cup winner 2009. Now in Ekstraklasa (Polish Premier League).
• Śląsk Wrocław (previous names: BASCO Śląsk Wrocław, ASCO Śląsk Wrocław, Bergson Śląsk Wrocław, Era Śląsk Wrocław, Deichmann Śląsk Wrocław, Idea Śląsk Wrocław, Zepter Idea Śląsk Wrocław, Zepter Śląsk Wrocław, Śląsk ESKA Wrocław, PCS Śląsk Wrocław, WKS Śląsk Wrocław) — men's basketball team, 17 times Polish Champion, 6 times runner-up, 14 times third place; 12 times Polish Cup winner.
• Śląsk Wrocław — men's handball team, 15 times Polish Champion.
• WTS Sparta Wrocław — motorcycle speedway team, 4 times Polish Champion.
• KS Rugby Wrocław - rugby union team.

Women's sports

• KŚ AZS Wrocław — women's football team.
• AZS AWF Wrocław — women's handball team.
• AZS AE Wrocław — women table tennis team.

Economy

Sky Tower - the tallest building in Poland, residential complex, office and commercial space and recreation

401 Millionaires live in Wroclaw, or individuals whose annual income exceeds 1 million PLN (as per 2014).

Wrocław's industry manufactures buses, trams, railroad cars, home appliances, chemicals and electronics. The city houses factories and development centres of many foreign and domestic corporations, such as WAGO, Siemens, Bosch, Bosch-Siemens, Nokia Networks, Volvo, HP, IBM, Google, Opera Software, QAD, Bombardier Transportation, DeLaval, Whirlpool Corporation, WABCO, Tieto, PPG Deco Poland and others.

In Wrocław, offices are also located large Polish companies, including Getin Holding, Akwawit-Polmos Wrocław, Telefonia Dialog, PGS Software, Gazoprojekt, MCI Management SA, Protram, Selena, Rawplug, AB SA, Impel, Kogeneracja SA, EKO Holding, Inter-System, Supra Invest, Toya SA, has its main headquarters are also Kaufland Poland.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the city has had a developing high-tech sector. Many high-tech companies are located in the Wrocław Technology Park, such as Baluff, CIT Engineering, Caisson Elektronik, ContiTech, Ericsson, Innovative Software Technologies, IBM, IT-MED, IT Sector, LiveChat Software, Mitsubishi Electric, Maas, PGS Software, Technology Transfer Agency Techtra and Vratis. In Biskupice Podgórne (Community Kobierzyce) there are factories of LG (LG Display, LG Electronics, LG Chem, LG Innotek), Dong Seo Display, Dong Yang Electronics, Toshiba, and many other companies, mainly from the electronics and home appliances sectors, while the Nowa Wieś Wrocławska factory and distribution center of Nestlé Purina and factories a few other enterprises.

In the years 2013-15 was built Engine Business. In Wrocław Industrial Park operates over 250 companies from nearly 60 different industries. In Wrocław is a research and development center aviation industry - Global Engineering Centre, the American company UTC Aerospace Systems.

The city is the seat of Wrocław Research Centre EIT+, which contains, inter alia, geological research laboratories to the unconventional and Lower Silesian Cluster of Nanotechnology.

The following banks have their headquarters in Wrocław: Crédit Agricole Bank of Poland, Bank Zachodni WBK, Euro Bank, Santander Consumer Bank; as well as financial and accounting centers: Volvo, Hewlett-Packard, KPIT Cummins, UPS, GE Money Bank, Credit Suisse. The city is home to the largest number of leasing companies and debt collection in the country, including the largest European Leasing Fund.

Also AmRest has its headquarters in Wrocław, the largest food service company in Poland, a franchisee network of KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, La Tagliatella, and Starbucks.

Wrocław is a major center for the pharmaceutical industry: U.S. Pharmacia, Hasco-Lek, Galena, Avec Pharma, 3M, Labor, S-Lab, Herbapol, and Cezal.

In February 2013, Qatar Airways launched its Wrocław European Customer Service.

In Wrocław, there are logistics centers DHL, FedEx and UPS.

Closely related to Wrocław is Poland's largest shopping mall - Bielany Retail Park and Bielany Trade Center, located in Bielany Wrocławskie where supermarkets Auchan, Decathlon, Leroy Merlin, Makro, Tesco, IKEA, OBI, Castorama, Black Red White, factories E. Wedel, Cargill, warehouses Prologis, Panattoni, and two logistics center of Amazon.com.

Due to the proximity of the borders with Germany and the Czech Republic, Wrocław and the region of Lower Silesia is a large import and export partner with these countries.

Major corporations

Crédit Agricole Poland and European Leasing Fund

3M AB SA AmRest Bombardier Transportation Polska The Bank of New York Mellon Bank Zachodni WBK Cargill Poland CH Robinson Worldwide DHL Dolby Labs Eurobank S.A. Ernst & Young Europejski Fundusz Leasingowy SA Crédit Agricole Poland Credit Suisse DeLaval Operations Poland Fortum S.A. Qatar Airways Gigaset Communications Google

Hasco-Lek S.A. Herbapol Wrocław Hewlett Packard Hologram Industries Polska Hutmen SA IBM Impel SA Intakus SA Inter-System S.A. Kinnarps Poland KOGENERACJA S.A. LiveChat Software LG Electronics McKinsey & Company Microsoft MSI (Micro Star International) Polska Nokia Networks Opera Software PGS Software Polmos S.A. - plant vodka "Wratislavia"

PPG Deco Polska PZ Cussons Polska S.A. QAD Robert Bosch GmbH SAP Polska Santander Consumer Bank Siemens Société Générale Insurance Poland Supra Invest S.A. Swiftway Sp. z o.o. Telefonia Dialog SA Tieto United Technologies Corporation UPM Raflatac Volvo Polska sp. z o.o. WABCO Polska Whirlpool Polska S.A. Zender sp. z o.o.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Twin towns and sister cities

Wrocław is twinned with:

Breda, Netherlands Dresden, Germany, since 1963 Charlotte, North Carolina, United States Hrodno, Belarus Guadalajara, Mexico

Hradec Králové, Czech Republic Kaunas, Lithuania, Lviv, Ukraine. Ramat Gan, Israel, since 1997 Wiesbaden, Germany, since 1987

Partnerships

Vienne, French département.

Gallery

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  Market Square, Wrocław

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  Market Square, Wrocław

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  Market Square and St. Elizabeth's Church

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  Market Square, fountain

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  Historic tram "Berolina"

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  Wrocław Palace

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  University of Wrocław by night

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  Aula Leopoldina at the University of Wrocław

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  Fountain in front of the main building of University of Wrocław

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  Old University Library

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  Woodcut of Wrocław from the Nuremberg Chronicle

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  Wrocław Puppet Theater

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  National Museum

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  Wrocław water tower

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  Wrocław Market Hall

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  Grunwald Square

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  Sky Tower, 212 m - the tallest building in Poland

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  "Profile of Time" by Salvador Dalí at the Sky Tower

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  Monopol Hotel

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  Centennial Hall

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  Wrocław Fountain at Centennial Hall

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  Forests of Wrocław

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  Rędziński Bridge

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  Grunwaldzki Bridge

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  Zwierzyniecki Bridge

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  Tumski Bridge

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  Oder river in Wrocław

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  Aleksander Fredro monument, moved from Lviv

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  Bolesław I the Brave monument

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  Yard of the Wrocław Arsenal

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  Public bath, now a Spa

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  Aquapark in Wrocław

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  Tenement house with neo-gothic details

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  Moon bridge in the Japanese Garden

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  Tea house in the Japanese Garden

Notable people

See also: Category:People from Wrocław, List of people from Wrocław, and List of people from Breslau

• Alois Alzheimer
• Adolf Anderssen, chess master
• Đorđe Andrejević-Kun, painter
• Natalia Avelon, actress
• Max Berg, architect
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident
• Edmund Bojanowski, blessed of the Catholic Church
• Max Born, theoretical physicist and mathematician
• Hermann Fernau
• Władysław Frasyniuk, politician
• Hans Freeman, biochemist
• Henryk Gulbinowicz, archbishop
• Jerzy Grotowski, theater director
• Fritz Haber, chemist
• Mirosław Hermaszewski, astronaut
• Carl Gotthard Langhans, architect
• Clara Immerwahr, chemist
• Alfred Kerr, German-Jewish critic
• August Kopisch, poet
• Wojciech Kurtyka, mountaineer
• Alexander Moszkowski, satirist, writer and philosopher
• Moritz Moszkowski, composer, pianist, and teacher
• Sepp Piontek, football manager
• Manfred von Richthofen, fighter pilot
• Wanda Rutkiewicz, mountaineer
• Marlene Schmidt, Miss Germany 1961, Miss Universe 1961
• Angelus Silesius (Johann Scheffler), German religious poet
• Max Simon, Waffen-SS officer
• Daniel Speer, author
• Eva Stachniak, writer
• Edith Stein, philosopher and Roman Catholic martyr
• Charles Proteus Steinmetz, electrical engineer
• William Stern, psychologist
• August Tholuck, theologian
• Henryk Tomaszewski, mime
• Dagmara Wozniak (born 1988), Polish-American U.S. Olympic sabre fencer

See also

• Fighting Solidarity
• History of Wrocław
• Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City
• Mount Ślęża
• Province of Silesia (historic, 1815–1919)
• Jan (bishop of Wrocław)
• Wrocław football riot 2003
• Wrocław Global Forum

References

Bibliography

English language

• Davies, Norman; Roger Moorhouse (2002). Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-06243-3. 
• Till van Rahden, Jews and Other Germans: Civil Society, Religious Diversity, and Urban Politics in Breslau, 1860–1925 (2008. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press
• Gregor Thum, Uprooted. How Breslau Became Wrocław During the Century of Expulsions (2011. Princeton: Princeton University Press

Polish language

• Harasimowicz, Jan; Suleja, Włodzimierz (2006). Encyklopedia Wrocławia. Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie. ISBN 83-7384-561-5. 
• Kulak, Teresa (2006). Wrocław. Przewodnik historyczny (A to Polska właśnie). Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie. ISBN 83-7384-472-4. 
• Gregor Thum, Obce miasto: Wrocław 1945 i potem, Wrocław: Via Nova, 2006

German language

• Scheuermann, Gerhard (1994). Das Breslau-Lexikon (2 vols.). Dülmen: Laumann n. BidVerlagsgesellschaft. ISBN 978-3-89960-132-9. 
• van Rahden, Till (2000). Judenbiskupln nund andere Breslauer: Die Beziehungen zwischen Juden, Protestanten und Katholiken in einer deutschen Großstadt von 1860 bis 1925. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 3-525-35732-X. 
• Thum, Gregor (2002). Die fremde Stadt: Breslau 1945. Berlin: Siedler. ISBN 3-88680-795-9. 
• Weczerka, Hugo (2003). Handbuch der historischen Stätten: Schlesien. Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner Verlag. ISBN 3-520-31602-1. 

External links

• Municipal website (Polish) (English) (French)
• Tourist Information Centre website (Polish) (English)
• MPK Wrocław (transport company website) (Polish)
• Christmas market (Polish) (English)
• Wrocław in tripadvisor