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80-628: The Park lies within Greater Poland Voivodeship , across the Poznań County and the Śrem County . It stretches along the banks of the Warta river, and takes its name from the village of Rogalin , which is famous for its historic palace of the Raczynski family and oak trees. About 2000 magnificent oaks are found on the banks of the river Warta near Rogalin , among numerous oxbow lakes . It

160-605: A crucial role in the Christianization of Poland . In the testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth , which initiated the period of fragmentation of Poland (1138–1320), the western part of Greater Poland (including Poznań) was granted to Mieszko III the Old . The eastern part, with Gniezno and Kalisz , was part of the Duchy of Kraków , granted to Władysław II the Exile . However, for most of the period

240-478: A demand intentionally excessive to serve as an initial negotiating bargain, actually aiming to restore the 17 voivodeships existing prior to 1975 as an ultimate compromise. As Poland was at the time governed under political cohabitation, the opposition party constituting the political background of the President decided to capitalize on the popular discontent which erupted against the government on an unanticipated scale;

320-514: A fast connection for the two cities also to Poznań. This route was the first in Poland, adapted for use by the European high-speed transportation system. The Poznań Główny railway station is the second busiest railway station in Poland. In the near future the government expects to construct a high-speed rail line in the shape of a Y connecting Kalisz and Poznań from Łódź , Warsaw and Wrocław . Poznań

400-525: A fierce battle in the Lubusz Voivodeship regarding the seat of the institution. There have also been numerous attempts to relocate some of the existing public institutions under various pretexts from one city to another, in some cases successful, as well as of merging a pair of equal institutions of a type existing in both cities, in order to make one of them a branch of the other, with obscure or no justification in most cases for such merger. Nevertheless,

480-456: A general local majority consensus prevails that the compromise, although unsatisfactory for any of the two cities, spared both of them the fate of a number of cities which lost in 1999 entirely the status of a voivodeship capital and all voivodeship-level institutions, along with the associated attractiveness and prestige of the city as a place to live, crucial for its growth, with the ensuing profoundly detrimental phenomena. The Lubusz Voivodeship

560-621: A smaller Poznań Voivodeship). The present-day Greater Poland Voivodeship, again with Poznań as its capital, was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Poznań , Kalisz , Konin , Piła and Leszno Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The voivodeship contains 7 cities and 106 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2019 ): Towns: The relief of Greater Poland, geological conditions and soil have been shaped by two glaciations: The highest elevation

640-437: Is Poznań ; other important cities include Kalisz , Konin , Piła , Ostrów Wielkopolski , Gniezno (an early capital of Poland) and Leszno . It is bordered by seven other voivodeships: West Pomeranian to the northwest, Pomeranian to the north, Kuyavian-Pomeranian to the north-east, Łódź to the south-east, Opole to the south, Lower Silesian to the southwest and Lubusz to the west. Greater Poland, sometimes called

720-633: Is Europe's largest group of monumental oak trees, located within the Rogalin Landscape Park. Their trunks reach a circumference of up to 9 metres, and all those reaching over 2 m in circumference are protected by law. Traces of human settlement in the area of the Park date back to the 9th century BC, there are numerous archaeological sites from the turn of the Antiquity and the Middle Ages, connected with

800-625: Is Greater Kobyla Mountain (284 m) in the Ostrzeszowski Hills, the lowest area is located in the valley of the Warta River at the mouth of its tributary the Noteć (21 m) in the north-western part of the region. Agriculturally fertile soils account for around 60% of the province's area, while 20%, the rest of the non-forested or urban areas, is mostly wetland soil (muck-peat and alluvial soils). An area of approximately 800,000 hectares (2,000,000 acres)

880-550: Is a voivodeship ( province ) in western Poland . It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Gorzów Voivodeship and Zielona Góra Voivodeship , pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province's name recalls the historic Lubusz Land ( Lebus or Lubus ), although parts of the voivodeship belong to the historic regions of Lower Silesia , Greater Poland and Lusatia . The functions of regional capital are shared between two cities: Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra . Gorzów serves as

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960-428: Is a land of forests and lakes; forests cover 48% of the area. The river Oder , flowing through the voivodeship, is one of the few large European rivers retaining broadleaved and riparian forests . Areas with the highest natural values are protected as national parks ( Drawa National Park and Warta Mouth National Park ), landscape parks and wildlife reserves . The 19th century Muskau Park , located on both sides of

1040-711: Is a memorial to the victims of the Stalag Luft III murders of Allied POWs, perpetrated by Nazi Germany in World War II. There are multiple other memorials to victims of Nazi Germany in the region. The garrison town of Żagań hosts Poland's oldest monument of Wojtek , the soldier bear of the Polish II Corps . One of the world's tallest Christ statues, the Christ the King Statue is located in Świebodzin , whereas Słubice hosts

1120-403: Is covered by forests, this represents around 25.8% of the total surface area of the region. In the lake districts of the northern and central parts of the province there are about 800 lakes; 58% of which cover an area of at least 10 hectares (25 acres) and 8%, with an area exceeding 100 hectares (250 acres). The largest reservoir is the natural Greater Powidzkie Lake (1,036 ha (2,560 acres)) in

1200-410: Is divided into 14 counties ( powiats ): 2 city counties and 12 land counties. These are further divided into 82 gminas . The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population). The gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 10.8 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 2.2% of Polish economic output. The GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power

1280-465: Is mined intensively at a salt mine in Kłodawa (this mine alone accounts for about 20% of domestic production). Throughout the province there are significant deposits of aggregates, gypsum, ceramic materials, and lacustrine chalk. In Kościan the largest and most modern, a natural gas production site is in operation. It supplies raw material for Kościańska Zieme, and Zielona Gora CHP. It is estimated that at

1360-442: Is named after the region called Greater Poland or Wielkopolska [vjɛlkɔˈpɔlska] . The modern province includes most of this historic region, except for some western and northern parts. Greater Poland Voivodeship is second in area and third in population among Poland's sixteen voivodeships, with an area of 29,826 square kilometres (11,516 sq mi) and a population of close to 3.5 million. Its capital city

1440-633: Is rich in historic architecture ranging from Romanesque and Gothic to Renaissance , Baroque and Art Nouveau . Numerous towns possess preserved historic market squares and town halls. The voivodeship is abundant in palaces, including in Antonin (often visited by Fryderyk Chopin ), Czempiń , Kobylniki , Kołaczkowo (former home of Nobel Prize -winning novelist Władysław Reymont ), Objezierze (visited by writers Adam Mickiewicz and Józef Ignacy Kraszewski ) and Śmiełów (former place of stay of Adam Mickiewicz). There are numerous World War II memorials in

1520-592: Is the place of origin of the Grodziskie beer style. Other traditional Polish beers , officially protected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland, are produced in Bojanowo , Czarnków and Miłosław . Football and speedway enjoy the largest following in the province, with top football clubs being Lech Poznań and Warta Poznań , and Poland's most accomplished speedway team being Unia Leszno . Since

1600-453: Is the port of arrival for most international travellers as it plays host to Ławica International Airport , which has recently seen the second-highest passenger growth rate in the country. The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 40.4 billion € in 2018, accounting for 8.1% of Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 19,700 € or 65% of the EU27 average in

1680-666: Is Łukasz Mikołajczyk, whilst the present marshal is Marek Woźniak. The Sejmik of Greater Poland consists of 39 members. Greater Poland Voivodeship is divided into 35 counties ( powiats ): 4 city counties and 31 land counties. These are further divided into 226 gminas . The counties are listed in the following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population). Protected areas in Greater Poland Voivodeship include two National Parks and 12 Landscape Parks . These are listed below. Greater Poland Voivodeship boasts 11 Historic Monuments of Poland : The province

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1760-672: The Bohemian Crown in 1373, Poland made a peaceful attempt to regain the northern portion of the area. In 1402, the Bohemian rulers reached an agreement with Poland in Kraków . Poland was to buy and re-incorporate the northern outskirts of the present Lubusz Voivodeship, but eventually the Bohemian rulers sold the area to the Teutonic Order , who in turn sold it back to Brandenburg in 1454 to raise funds for war against Poland . The southern part of

1840-529: The Gross-Rosen concentration camp and a subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp , in which mostly Jewish and Polish, but also French, Russian, Czech, Italian, Greek, Yugoslav, Dutch, Romanian, Hungarian, Lithuanian and German prisoners were held. Obrzyce was the place of Aktion T4 murders of mentally ill and disabled people. The region was the site of fierce fighting during the war in 1945. Under

1920-739: The Knights Templar and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the past, contains the Castle of the Order of St. John , and several other medieval structures. Major museums dedicated to the history of the region are located in Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra. There are museums dedicated to Allied prisoners of war at the former German POW camps in Dobiegniew and Żagań. In Żagań, there

2000-477: The Middle Ages , including the current regional capitals of Zielona Góra and Gorzów Wielkopolski . The youngest towns are Łęknica , Czerwieńsk , Nowa Sól , Szlichtyngowa and Zbąszynek , all either first mentioned or established in the later periods. Following the fragmentation of Poland into smaller provincial duchies, various portions of the present Lubusz Voivodeship were part of various duchies, initially

2080-540: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland , and the Saint Michael's Honey Fair held annually in Gorzów Wielkopolski. The southern part of the voivodeship with Zielona Góra is one of the leading winemaking regions of Poland, and other traditional beverages from the voivodeship are beer , mead , nalewki and vodka . Various types of traditional Polish kiełbasa , also designated as traditional foods by

2160-565: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland . Among the most known local snacks are the St. Martin's croissant from Poznań and Kalisz andruts . Notable centers of traditional meat production include Grodzisk Wielkopolski , Krotoszyn , Kruszewnia , Nowy Tomyśl , Ostrzeszów , Rawicz , Trzcianka and Złotniki , whereas centers of traditional cheese and quark production include Wągrowiec , Gniezno , Kępno , Oborniki , Witkowo , Witoldzin and Września . Grodzisk Wielkopolski

2240-601: The Netze District . In the second partition (1793) the whole of Greater Poland was absorbed by Prussia, becoming part of the province of South Prussia . It remained so in spite of the first Greater Poland Uprising (1794) , part of the unsuccessful Kościuszko Uprising directed chiefly against the Russian Empire . More successful was the Greater Poland Uprising of 1806 , which led to the region's becoming part of

2320-489: The Oflag II-C , Stalag III-C , Stalag VIII-C and Stalag Luft III major German prisoner-of-war camps for Polish, French , British, Belgian, Canadian, Serbian, Italian , American, Australian, New Zealander, Soviet, Norwegian, Czech, Slovak, South African, Dutch, Greek, Yugoslav, Senegalese , Algerian and Moroccan POWs were operated in the territory. The latter was the site of the "Great Escape" in 1944. There are museums at

2400-505: The Piotrków statute, with those of "Lesser Poland" in the separate Wiślica statute.) In 1768, a new Gniezno Voivodeship was formed out of the northern part of Kalisz Voivodeship. However more far-reaching changes would come with the Partitions of Poland . In the first partition (1772), northern parts of Greater Poland along the Noteć (German Netze ) were taken over by Prussia , becoming

2480-540: The Polish–German border , has entered the UNESCO World Heritage List . The voivodeship abounds in lakes, especially in its central and northern parts; around those lakes numerous bathing resorts, holiday centres and farms offering tourist services have been established. The voivodeship, especially its northern part, is a notable for production of honey, with several varieties listed as traditional foods by

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2560-746: The Warsaw Governorate between 1844 and 1867). Within the Prussian empire, western Greater Poland became the Grand Duchy of Posen (Poznań), which theoretically held some autonomy. Following an unrealized uprising in 1846 , and the more substantial but still unsuccessful uprising of 1848 (during the Spring of Nations ), the Grand Duchy was replaced by the Province of Posen . The authorities made efforts to Germanize

2640-521: The "cradle of Poland," formed the heart of the 10th-century early Polish state . Poznań and Gniezno were early centers of royal power, but following the region's devastation by pagan rebellion in the 1030s, and an invasion by Bretislaus I of Bohemia in 1038, the capital was moved by Casimir the Restorer from Gniezno to Kraków . The two cities are seats of Poland's oldest diocese ( Poznań , est. in 968) and archdiocese ( Gniezno , est. in 1000), playing

2720-568: The 17 voivodeships existing prior to the 1975 reform . As a consequence, the original draft made no provision for a separate Lubusz voivodeship – Gorzów was to become along with Kostrzyn , Strzelce Krajeńskie and Drezdenko a part of West Pomeranian Voivodeship , Zielona Góra was to be included along with Krosno, Nowa Sól, Żagań, Gubin and Żary in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship , while a narrow horizontal strip encompassing Międzyrzecz , Sulęcin , Świebodzin , Słubice and Sulechów

2800-576: The 18th century, Wschowa was an important royal city of Poland , as it often hosted Polish kings and several sessions of the Polish Senate, hence being dubbed the "unofficial capital of Poland". King Augustus III of Poland also often stopped in Brody . In 1701, the Kingdom of Prussia was established, which included Brandenburg-held Lubusz Land, and various areas were eventually gradually annexed by Prussia in

2880-843: The Gniezno Lake District. Wielkopolska Region lies within the basin of the Oder River , 88% of the province's surface water drains into the Warta river basin, and the remaining 12% is drained by a multitude of other river systems, including the Barycz, Ladislaus Trench and Obrzycy waterways. The quality of river waters is generally poor, but their condition is gradually improving and should soon be classed as 'clean'. The main mineral energy resources in Greater Poland are lignite , natural gas , oil and peat . Brown coal deposits are currently mined in

2960-554: The Konin area, and form the basis for the province's power industry (the Pątnów-Adams-Konin coal-fired power stations account for more than 10% of the national electricity production). The region also has significant quantities of peat deposits; it is calculated that there are ca. 886,000 hectares (2,190,000 acres) of land covered with an average thickness of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) of peat. An abundance of raw materials used in

3040-492: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland, are produced in the Nowa Sól , Wschowa , Zielona Góra , Żagań and Żary counties in the southern part of the Lubusz Voivodeship, whereas Siedlisko, Nowa Sól County produces a variety of traditional cheeses and quarks . The voivodeship contains 3 cities and 40 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (as of 2021): Towns: Lubusz Voivodeship

3120-840: The Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw (forming the Poznań Department and parts of the Kalisz and Bydgoszcz Departments). However, following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Greater Poland was again partitioned, with the western part (including Poznań) going to Prussia. The eastern part joined the Russian-controlled Kingdom of Poland , where it formed the Kalisz Voivodeship until 1837, then the Kalisz Governorate (merged into

3200-596: The Nazis being imprisoned or executed, including at the notorious Fort VII concentration camp in Poznań. The Polish population was also subjected to expulsions , kidnapping of children and forced labour . Germany also operated the Stalag XXI-A , Stalag XXI-C , Stalag XXI-D and other prisoner-of-war camps for Polish, French, British, Moroccan, Algerian, Dutch, Belgian, Serbian, Italian, American, Norwegian, and Soviet POWs. Poznań

3280-470: The Silesian Greater Poland agro-climatic region where the average annual temperature is about 8.2 °C, and in the north drops to around 7.6 °C. It is slightly warmer in the south and west where the average temperature is usually about 8.5 °C. The number of days with snow can reach up to 57 days in and around the Kalisz district. The growing season is one of the longest in Poland. On

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3360-446: The boundaries of the former Roman Empire is located in Konin . In addition to traditional nationwide Polish cuisine , Greater Poland Voivodeship is known for its variety of regional and local traditional foods and drinks, which include especially various meat products (incl. various types of kiełbasa ), cheeses , honeys , beverages and various dishes and meals, officially protected by

3440-700: The breakthrough reconciliation accord known as the Paradyż Agreement, brokered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Zielona Góra-Gorzów and formalized in a document signed during a highly publicized local summit in the Gościkowo-Paradyż Abbey on 13 March 1998. This compromise agreement, was negotiated and concluded between the delegations of both rival cities, composed of the respectively aligned most powerful local and national scene politicians and business people, with its most important provision being

3520-606: The control of Władysław I the Elbow-High in 1314, and thus became part of the reunited Poland of which Władysław was crowned king in 1320. In the reunited kingdom, and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , the country came to be divided into administrative units called voivodeships . In the case of the Greater Poland region these were Poznań Voivodeship and Kalisz Voivodeship . The Commonwealth also had larger subdivisions known as prowincja , one of which

3600-471: The current voivodeship remained part of the duchies of Żagań and Głogów, ruled by the houses of Piast and Jagiellon , with the Żagań duchy eventually passing to houses of foreign background, including Czech, Saxon and French, whereas other areas were gradually incorporated directly into the Kingdom of Bohemia . In 1635, most of the south-western part of the present Lubusz Voivodeship passed from Bohemia to Saxony , and from 1697 formed part of Poland-Saxony . In

3680-592: The duchies of Greater Poland and Silesia , and later also Legnica , Głogów , Lubusz and Żagań , ruled by various lines of the Piast dynasty . Overtime, portions of the present Lubusz Voivodeship were lost by Poland. In 1250 the Lubusz Land was acquired by the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg . In 1319–1326 it was contested by various Polish and German rulers, before falling back to Brandenburg. After Brandenburg passed to

3760-537: The establishment of the province, several international sports competitions were co-hosted by the province, including the EuroBasket 2009 and UEFA Euro 2012 . Szczypiorno , Kalisz is considered the cradle of Polish handball . 52°20′02″N 17°14′50″E  /  52.33389°N 17.24722°E  / 52.33389; 17.24722 Lubusz Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship ( Polish : województwo lubuskie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ luˈbuskʲɛ] )

3840-437: The fairway. Frequent floods and the changing course of the river current prevented intensive farming in the wide Warta valley, which contributed to the preservation of its natural landscape. Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( Polish : Województwo wielkopolskie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ vjɛlkɔˈpɔlskʲɛ] ) is a voivodeship , or province , in west-central Poland . The province

3920-531: The following centuries, starting with the south-eastern part of the current voivodeship in 1742, followed by eastern portions (western outskirts of Greater Poland) in 1793 (briefly regained by Poles in 1807–1815 as part of the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw ), and the south-western part in 1815. Within Prussia and Germany the territory was divided between the provinces of Neumark / Brandenburg , South Prussia / Posen , and Silesia / Lower Silesia . During World War II ,

4000-571: The ford across the Warta River and the Warta swamps. The present-day villages were founded during the full Middle Ages, but they did not retain their original urban layout. In the mid-17th century, after the period of destruction caused by wars and natural disasters, a period of settlement of emigrants from Germany and the Netherlands began, establishing new settlements in previously unoccupied, marshy or wooded places. The rapid decline in forest cover in

4080-432: The local administration exercised through the 49 existing voivodeships established in 1975 was inefficient, anachronistic, impractical, detrimental to maintaining regional identity, and untenable. However, the reform draft accepted by the government surprised the public and caused widespread outcry, as its authors foresaw creation of only 12 large voivodships, thus going much further than the widely expected reconstitution of

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4160-518: The local elites in Zielona Góra was in turn to become a single capital centre, reverting to the situation before 1975, while any prospect of sharing the governing institutions was for a long time treated with their hostility. In spite of that, the looming threat of a "everybody lose" scenario set to materialize in case of a possible implementation of the original reform draft, paved the way for neutralizing this argument through forcing both rival sides into

4240-418: The most obvious mean readily available for the opposition was a presidential veto, which in fact ensued. In order to salvage the reform from being killed altogether, the government was, in the face of lacking the supermajority required to overturn the veto at the time, forced to reconsider the original shape of the reform and to reconcile it with the reservations of the President and his political background, with

4320-407: The north, Greater Poland Voivodeship to the east, Lower Silesian Voivodeship to the south, and Germany ( Brandenburg and Saxony ) to the west. The first leaders of the Polans, Mieszko I and especially Bolesław I the Brave added a number of surrounding territories to the newly established core Polish state, and Lubusz Land came under Polish rule. Part of the historic province was located on

4400-425: The other one as the voivodeship capital, and hoping to use the engineered scare as the main argument in the ongoing discussions against creating the Lubusz voivodeship, The animosity, existing indeed between the cities, has been historically rooted in a widespread perception among Gorzów inhabitants that the 1950 decision to designate Zielona Góra as the voivodeship capital instead of their larger and more populous city,

4480-445: The partitions were adopted. In the 18th century, extensive drainage works were carried out in the area of the Park, creating a system of canals and regulated watercourses with water objects, draining the sparse wetlands. In the nineteenth century, the Prussian government carried out regulatory works on the Warta River, significantly shortening its course from Śrem to Poznań by building ditches eliminating meanders, narrowing and deepening

4560-442: The production of numerous medicines was recently discovered in the muds of Błażejewo , Oderbank and Mechnacz . In addition, very large deposits of brown coal have been discovered in the vicinity of Kościan , these however are not currently being extracted and probably never will be extracted, due to the expense that would be incurred in adapting the site to build a coal mine and the need to resettle thousands of people. Rock salt

4640-424: The province of Posen-West Prussia (1922–1938), whose capital was Schneidemühl ( Piła ). Following the German invasion of 1939, Greater Poland was incorporated into Nazi Germany , becoming the province called Reichsgau Posen , later Reichsgau Wartheland ( Warthe being the German name for the Warta river). The Polish population was oppressed, with many former officials and others considered potential enemies by

4720-452: The province's southern plains this season constitutes around 228 days, while north of Gniezno and Szamotuły this gradually declines to 216 days. Precipitation ranges from 500 to 550 mm. Despite this the region is still faced with a deficit in rainfall, particularly in the eastern part of the province (around Słupcy, Kazimierz Biskupi, Kleczew) where sometimes experience only 450 mm of rainfall per year, this threatens steppization of

4800-484: The province, including memorials at the sites of Nazi massacres of Poles, and museums at the sites of the former Chełmno extermination camp , Fort VII concentration camp in Poznań, and prison camp in Luboń . Poland's largest church, the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń , is located in the voivodeship. There is an underground touristic route in the Kłodawa Salt Mine , considered the world's deepest underground tourist route. The oldest preserved European signpost beyond

4880-402: The rate local gas reserves are being exploited, the reserves in Kościan will be enough for about 20 years of operation, thus practically allowing for local independence against the effects of gas crises. Wielkopolska is influenced by oceanic air masses that affect the mildness of the climate. The farther east one travels the more distinctly continental the climate becomes. The area is situated in

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4960-416: The region occurred as a result of settlement in the years 1400–1523 – when the forest area decreased by approx. 30% – and was deepened in the years 1600–1800 by another 20%. At the end of the 18th century, the Prussian administration introduced planned forest management and artificial renewal of cut forests, and in the Second Polish Republic, the principles of forest management developed in Greater Poland during

5040-503: The region, particularly after the founding of Germany in 1871, and from 1886 onwards the Prussian Settlement Commission was active in increasing German land ownership in formerly Polish areas. Following the end of World War I, the Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919) ensured that most of the region became part of the newly independent Polish state, forming most of Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939) . Northern and some western parts of Greater Poland remained in Germany, where they formed much of

5120-408: The region. Throughout the province there is typically a prevailing westerly wind. Greater Poland is a major transport hub within Poland ; a great deal of traffic from Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union passes through Poznań and Konin to reach Germany and other EU member states. To the south runs the international route from Gdańsk via Poznań and Leszno to Prague and then to

5200-492: The result of a compromise adjustment increasing the number of voivodeships to 16, with Lubusz Voivodeship included among the four additional ones created according to the agreement. The path leading to such and outcome was far from smooth. The government made an effort to highlight and exploit the decades-long animosity between the approximately same-size two principal cities, spreading scare against its inevitable re-ignition and explosion in any of these two cities after designating

5280-444: The same year. The GDP per employee was 72% of the EU average. The Greater Poland voivodeship's government is headed by the province's voivode (governor) who is appointed by the Polish Prime Minister . The voivode is then assisted in performing his duties by the voivodeship's marshal, who is the appointed speaker for the voivodeship's executive and is elected by the sejmik (provincial assembly) . The current voivode of Greater Poland

5360-479: The seat of the centrally-appointed voivode , or governor, and Zielona Góra is the seat of the elected regional assembly ( sejmik ) and the executive elected by that assembly, headed by a marshal ( marszałek ). In addition, the voivodeship includes a third city ( Nowa Sól ) and a number of towns. The region is mainly flat, with many lakes and woodlands. In the south, around Zielona Góra, grapes are cultivated. Lubusz Voivodeship borders West Pomeranian Voivodeship to

5440-506: The site of the camps in Dobiegniew and Żagań , and there is a memorial to the victims of the Stalag Luft III murders in Żagań. Particularly infamous camps in the region were the Oderblick labor education camp in Świecko and the Sonnenburg concentration camp in Słońsk , in which Polish, Belgian, French, Bulgarian, Dutch, Yugoslav, Russian, Italian, Ukrainian, Luxembourgish, Danish, Norwegian, Czech, Slovak and other prisoners were held, and many died. There were also eleven subcamps of

5520-410: The south of Europe. There is also a major highway in the province, the A2 motorway , which when completed will run from the western border of Poland with Germany, through Poznań to Warsaw and then via Belarus to Moscow. The main railway hubs located in Greater Poland are Poznań, Piła and Ostrów Wielkopolski . PKP Intercity operate a number of trains a day between Warsaw and Berlin which provide

5600-446: The terms laid down by Joseph Stalin in the Potsdam Agreement , the borders of Poland and Germany were redrawn and the area of the Lubusz Voivodeship fell within the new borders of Poland. In 1998, the government of Jerzy Buzek decided to introduce an administrative reform , with its principles including the restoration of counties and a steep reduction in the number of voivodeships. A general consensus existed among scholars that

5680-479: The two parts were under a single ruler, and were known as the Duchy of Greater Poland (although at times there were separately ruled duchies of Poznań, Gniezno, Kalisz and Ujście ). It was one of the leading and fastest developing regions of Poland, with municipal rights modeled after Poznań and Kalisz becoming the basis of municipal form of government for several towns in the region, as two of five local Polish variants of medieval town rights. The region came under

5760-515: The unjust favoring of their own seat, the city of Zielona Góra; a sentiment reinforced further by the surprise relocation of the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gorzów to Zielona Góra in 1992, renamed as a result the Roman Catholic Diocese of Zielona Góra-Gorzów , and finally and perhaps most importantly, by the historical, perpetual and almost sacred rivalry between the motorcycle speedway clubs located in both cities. The objective of

5840-517: The unusual arrangement to divide and distribute the governing institutions of the voivodeship more or less equally between the two cities. On the basis of this broadly supported agreement, an effective public pressure endorsed jointly by the two centers was successfully exerted on the central government which ultimately acquiesced to the demand of establishing Lubusz Voivodeship. Nevertheless, creating any new type of public institution at voivodeship level in Poland continues to ignite almost automatically

5920-995: The voivodeship Furthermore, there are several preserved old towns with historic town halls and market squares (i.e. Zielona Góra , Wschowa , Świebodzin and Bytom Odrzański ). Of the historic town halls, the one in Kargowa was the site of an armed defense against the annexation by Prussia in the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. Several towns contain entirely or partly preserved medieval town walls with towers and gates, i.e. Kożuchów , Strzelce Krajeńskie , Gorzów Wielkopolski , Wschowa. There are multiple castles, including Piast Royal and Ducal castles in Krosno Odrzańskie , Kożuchów , Międzyrzecz and Żagań . There are also numerous palaces, including at Brody , Dąbrówka Wielkopolska , Glisno , Jędrzychowice , Kalsk , Mierzęcin , Trzebiechów , Żary . The village of Łagów , which hosted

6000-471: The western bank of the Oder River , where the main settlement Lubusz, later known as the German town of Lebus , was located. The entire territory of the present Lubusz Voivodeship was part of Poland by 1002. The oldest towns in the region, dating back over 1,000 years, include Trzciel , Skwierzyna , Iłowa , Szprotawa , Jasień , Krosno Odrzańskie , Międzyrzecz and Żary , with most other towns also founded in

6080-552: Was 17,600 euros or 58% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 67% of the EU average. The sole airport in the voivodeship is the Zielona Góra Airport . The A2 , A18 and S3 highways pass through the province. Protected areas in Lubusz Voivodeship include two national parks and eight landscape parks . These are listed below. There are four Historic Monuments of Poland and one World Heritage Site in

6160-557: Was declared a stronghold city ( Festung ) in the closing stages of the war, being taken by the Red Army in the Battle of Poznań , which ended on 22 February 1945. After the war, Greater Poland was fully within the Polish People's Republic , as Poznań Voivodeship . With the reforms of 1975 this was divided into smaller provinces (the voivodeships of Kalisz , Konin , Leszno and Piła , and

6240-560: Was named Greater Poland . However, this prowincja covered a larger area than the Greater Poland region itself, also taking in Kuyavia , Masovia and Royal Prussia . (This division of Crown Poland into two entities called Greater and Lesser Poland had its roots in the Statutes of Casimir the Great of 1346–1362, where the laws of "Greater Poland" – the northern part of the country – were codified in

6320-555: Was taken by the anticlerical communist government due to a hidden motivation of punishing Gorzów for becoming the see of the newly established Roman Catholic apostolic administration governing the majority of the Recovered Territories , with the ensuing discrimination of the city by the voivodeship authorities in the years 1950-1975 in terms of establishing any new public cultural and educational institutions, other public investments or public funds allocations, in vivid contrast to

6400-460: Was to be assigned to the Greater Poland Voivodeship as a bizarre sort-of corridor to the German border. However, mass protests broke out as a result in the cities such as Bydgoszcz, Koszalin, Opole or Kielce. Many of the people opposing the draft reform initially demanded retaining as many as 25 voivodeships (including the 2 ones seated in Gorzów and Zielona Góra), a number nevertheless widely regarded as

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