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Poznan

Poznan
Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Poznan (Latin: Posnania, German: Posen) is a city in west-central Poland with over 578,000 inhabitants (1999).
Located by the Warta River, it is one of the oldest Polish cities, an important historical center and the capital of Greater Poland, the cradle of the Polish state, and Poland's capital in the mid-tenth century during the early Piast dynasty.
Poznan's impressive cathedral is the earliest church in the country, containing the tombs of the first Polish rulers: Duke Mieszko I, King Boleslaus the Brave, King Mieszko II, Duke Casimir I the Restorer, Duke Przemysl I and King Przemysl II.
Today the city is a vibrant center for trade, industry, and education.
Poznan is Poland's 5th largest city and 4th biggest industrial center.
It is also the administrative capital of the Greater Poland Voivodship. Voivodship: Greater Poland
Municipal government: Rada miasta Poznania
Mayor: Ryszard Grobelny (2005)
Area: 261,3 km²
Population: 578 900 (2002)
- density: 2215/km²
Founded: 8th century
- City rights: 1253
Area code: +48 61
Car plates: PO
Twin towns Assen, Brno, Hannover, Jyväskylä, Kharkiv, Nablus, Nottinghamshire, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Rennes, Shenzhen, Toledo
Municipal Website: (http://www.city.poznan.pl/)

Name of the city Often spelled Poznan, in English, without the special characters, in Polish language, it is also referred to as Stoleczne Miasto Poznan (name used on special occasions), German Posen (Haupt- und Residenzstadt Posen between 20 August 1910 and 28 November 1918), Latin: Posnania, civitas Posnaniensis.
Earliest surviving reference to the city were by Thietmar in his chronicles: episcopus Poznaniensis ("Bishop of Poznan", 970) and ab urbe Poznani ("by" or "from the city Poznan", 1005).
Early spellings include: Posna and Posnan.
The name probably comes from a personal name Poznan and means the Poznan's town.
It is also possible the name comes directly from the verb poznac which means "to know, to recognize".

Local government districts of Poznan The Poznan metropolitan area, consisting of the autonomous towns of Poznan, Ostrów, Ostrówek, Srodka, Chwaliszewo, Lacina, was integrated into one city in 1793-1800.
The rapidly growing city annexed the neighboring villages of Grunwald, Lazarz, Górczyn, Jezyce, Wilda, Winogrady in 1900, and Piatkowo and Rataje in later years. Today, Poznan is divided into five districts, which are further divided onto several dozens of neighborhoods.
The districts are: Stare Miasto, Nowe Miasto, Jezyce, Grunwald, Wilda

Culture
The annual Malta Theater festival is probably the most characteristic cultural event of the city.
Henryk Wieniawski Violin Festival is held every 5 years.
Annual classical music festival is held in the city, on which the Basel Boys Choir took part several times.

History
Poznan has played many roles in the history of Poland.
It is one of Poland's oldest cities and a significant historical center.
It was the capital of Greater Poland, the cradle of the Polish state, and Poland's capital in the mid-tenth century during the early Piast dynasty.
Poznan's impressive cathedral is the oldest church in the country, containing the tombs of the first Polish rulers, Duke Mieszko I and King Boleslaus the Brave.
Poznan was the capital city of the Greater Poland region and one of the biggest Polish cities.
Lubranski Academy, the second Polish university (not a "full" university, in fact, as science students had to go to Cracow) was established in 1519.
Poznan was the capital of the Greater Poland area when it came under control of Prussia in 1793, its administrative area renamed to South Prussia.
The area was liberated by the armies of Napoleon and by local Polish resistance fighters, and was part of the Duchy of Warsaw from 1807 to 1815.
Poznan was capital of the Poznan department.
Following the defeat of Napoleon, Greater Poland was again under Prussian jurisdiction, as the capital of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznan.
From the time of the Revolutions in the mid 1800s, it was an official Prussian province (see Province of Posen), as well as a part of the German Empire after the unification of German states in 1871 (but it was outside of German Confederation).
As an effect of the Great Poland Uprising (1918-1919), the area was restored to Poland and made the capital of Poznan Voivodship.
During World War II Poznan suffered the Nazi occupation and repressions.
After the war the city has been capital of the surrounding area through administrative district boundary changes in 1957, 1975 and 1999, currently administrating Greater Poland Voivodship, one of 16 provinces in the country.

Education
Poznan is home to few state-owned universities and a number of smaller, mostly private-run colleges and institutions of elementary & higher education.
Adam Mickiewicz University (abbreviated UAM) is one of the most influential and biggest universities in Poland.

Economy
Poznan has been an important center of trade since the Middle Ages.
Starting in the 19th century, local heavy industry began to grow.
Several major factories were built, including the steel mill and railway factory of Hipolit Cegielski.
Today Poznan is one of the major centers of trade with Germany.
Many Western-European companies started their Polish branches in Poznan, or in the nearby localities of Tarnowo Podgórne and Swarzedz.

Municipal politics
Since 1989 (the end of the communist era), Poznan municipality and metro area have invested heavily in infrastructure, especially transportation and improved public administration.
This has effected in a massive investment from foreign companies in Poznan itself, as well as in communities west and south of Poznan (namely, Kornik and Tarnowo Podgorne).

Investment into transportation was mostly in the public transport area.
Limiting car access to the city center, building new tram lines (inc. Poznanski Szybki Tramwaj) and investing in new rolling stock (such as modern Combino trams by Siemens and Solaris low-floor buses) actually increased ridership, including present development of a Karlsruhe-style light rail system for commuters.
External links:

This page was retrieved and condensed from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poznan) in July, 2005
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

Hui Chin and I arrived in Poznan the morning after the death of Pope John Paul II., in 2005.
R.I.P.
It was a very sombering experience.
The people of Poznan, the people of Poland were grieving for their "Papa", probably somewhat more than the rest of the world, especially Catholics were mourning the passing of their Pope.
R.I.P. and God Bless You - Pope John Paul II.

Some of my photos of Poznan.

You can click on these photos for an enlargement


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