John STRZELECKI

1835 - BEF 1900

• BIRTH: 1835, Inowroclaw Inowrazlaw, Posen Pl
• DEATH: BEF 1900, Inowroclaw Inowrazlaw, Posen Pl

• MARRIAGE: 1862, Inowroclaw, Posen, PL

1. +Vincent STRZELECKI

INDEX

[N958] Inowroclaw (German: Inowraclaw and Inowrazlaw during the 19th century, Hohensalza during the early 20th century; rarely also Inowratzlaw or Jungbreslau) is a town in northern Poland.

According to the 2004 Census estimate the town has a total population of 77,641. Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, Inowroclaw was previously in the Bydgoszcz Voivodeship (19751998). Inowroclaw is an industrial town located about 40 km southeast of Bydgoszcz known for its saltwater baths and salt mines. The town is the 5th largest in its voivodeship, and is a major railway junction, where the west-east line (Poznan' - Torun') crosses the Polish Coal Trunk-Line from Chorz©dw to Gdynia.

The town was first mentioned in 1185 as Novo Wladislaw, possibly in honor of Wladyslaw I Herman or settlers from Wloclawek. It is known that many inhabitants of Wloclawek settled in Inowroclaw, fleeing flooding. In 1236, it was renamed Juveni Wladislawia; two years later it was incorporated by Casimir Conradowicz. From 1466 to 1772, Inowroclaw was the capital of Poland's Inowroc?aw Voivodeship, which covered northern Kuyavia. The town's development was aided by the discovery of extensive salt deposits in the vicinity during the 15th century.

Inowroclaw was annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772 during the First Partition of Poland and added to the Netze District. The city was a headquarters for Napoleon Bonaparte during his invasion of Russia. Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Inowroclaw (as first Inowraclaw and later Inowrazlaw) was administered as part of Prussia's Province of Posen. It flourished after the establishment of a railway junction in 1872 and a spa in 1875. The city and the region were renamed Hohensalza on December 5, 1904. It was electrified in 1908.

Following the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I, the name Inowroclaw was restored along with Polish rule on January 10, 1920. High unemployment led to violent confrontations between workers and the police in 1926 and hunger strikes killed 20 in 1930. Inowroclaw was part of Poznan' Voivodeship until 1925, when it became an independent urban district. This district was briefly annexed to Great Pomerania during the reform of Polish regional administration just prior to World War II. Captured by the German 4th Army on September 11, 1939, Inowroclaw was again renamed Hohensalza and initially administered under the military district (Milit©Prbezirk) of Posen before being incorporated into Nazi Germany first as part of the reichsgau of Posen (1939) and then as part of Reichsgau Wartheland (1939-1945.) The first days of Nazi occupation, involving mass arrests and executions of local Poles, became known as "Bloody Sunday" in Poland. More than 1000 families were expelled on November 30, 1939. Between 1940 and 1945, Hohensalza was used as a resettlement camp for Poles and an internment camp for Soviet, French, and English POWs.

Inowroclaw returned to Poland and its original name following the arrival of the Soviet Red Army on January 21, 1945. The last German air raid occurred on April 4, 1945, when a single aircraft dropped four fragmentation bombs and fired on travelers waiting at the Inowroc?aw train platform. Between 1950 and 1998, the town was part of Bydgoszcz Voivodeship, but the 1999 reforms left it part of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship.

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# The Romanesque church of the St Virgin Mary, dating back to the end of the 12th century or beginning of the 13th century, built from granite stones and brick. In 1834 it was destroyed by fire, and partially reconstructed in 1950s. Since 13 July 2008 the St Virgin Mary's church is also the Minor Basilica (in Polish: Bazylika Mniejsza Imienia Najswietszej Maryi Panny)
# The Gothic church of St. Nicholas, first built in the middle of 13th century, the present church was built after damage in 15th century, and rebuilt in the 17th century
# The Neo-Romanesque church of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, built between 1898 and 1900, consecrated in 1902, the largest church in the city, with an imposing 77-metre high tower. The north side of the transept collapsed in a construction disaster in 1909 and was not rebuilt until 1929.
# The garrison church of St. Barbara and St. Maurice