Sieraków

Sieraków (Polish pronunciation: [ɕɛˈrakuf]; German: Zirke) is a town in western Poland with 8,768 inhabitants (2012). Located by the Warta River, it is situated in the Międzychód County in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Sieraków is known as a holiday destination with well-developed tourism and sport infrastructure. It is surrounded by extensive areas of forest and lakes, including the protected area called Sieraków Landscape Park.

For other places with the same name, see Sieraków (disambiguation).
Sieraków
Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary and the Bernardine monastery
Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary and the Bernardine monastery
Flag of Sieraków
Flag
Coat of arms of Sieraków
Coat of arms
Official logo of Sieraków
Wordmark
Sieraków is located in Poland
Sieraków
Sieraków
Coordinates: 52°39′0″N 16°6′0″E
Country Poland
Voivodeship Greater Poland
CountyMiędzychód
GminaSieraków
Established13th century
Town rightsbefore 1388
Government
 • MayorWitold Bruno Maciołek
Area
 • Total14.1 km2 (5.4 sq mi)
Elevation
31 m (102 ft)
Population
 (2012)
 • Total8,768
 • Density620/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
64-410
Area code+48 61
Car platesPMI
Voivodeship roads
Websitehttp://www.sierakow.pl

History
Sieraków in 1973

As part of the region of Greater Poland, i.e. the cradle of the Polish state, the area formed part of Poland since its establishment in the 10th century. It was a private town, administratively located in the Poznań County in the Poznań Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland.[1]

During the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, Sieraków, under its Germanized name Zirke was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. Following the successful Greater Poland uprising of 1806, it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw. After the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it was re-annexed by Prussia. The local population was subjected to Germanisation policies. In 1871, it also became part of Germany and was located in the Birnbaum district in the Prussian Province of Posen. According to the census of 1871, the town had a population of 2,527, of which 1,130 (44.7%) were Poles.[2]

The town was captured by Polish insurgents in the Greater Poland uprising in 1919 and was subsequently assigned to the Second Polish Republic through the Treaty of Versailles. During World War II in 1939, the town was occupied by Nazi Germany and was annexed as part of the Birnbaum district in Reichsgau Wartheland. In 1939–1940, the occupiers carried out expulsions of Poles, whose houses were then handed over to German colonists as part of the Lebensraum policy.[3] Towards the end of the war in 1945, it was captured by the Red Army and was restored to Poland.

In 1975–1998, it was administratively located in the Poznań Voivodeship.

Notable residents
  • Opaliński Castle Museum
    Opaliński Castle Museum
  • Opaliński family sarcophagus in castle's basement
    Opaliński family sarcophagus in castle's basement
  • Plac Powstańców Wielkopolskich (main square)
    Plac Powstańców Wielkopolskich (main square)
  • Jaroszewskie Lake
    Jaroszewskie Lake

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sieraków.

Major corporations

References
  1. Atlas historyczny Polski. Wielkopolska w drugiej połowie XVI wieku. Część I. Mapy, plany (in Polish). Warszawa: Instytut Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk. 2017. p. 1a.
  2. Neumann, Gustav (1874). Das Deutsche Reich in geographischer, statistischer und topographischer Beziehung (in German). Müller.
  3. Wardzyńska, Maria (2017). Wysiedlenia ludności polskiej z okupowanych ziem polskich włączonych do III Rzeszy w latach 1939-1945 (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. pp. 153, 194. ISBN 978-83-8098-174-4.
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