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Wągrowiec town (Poland)

Wągrowiec county, Wielkopolskie voivodship

Last modified: 2018-12-15 by rob raeside
Keywords: wagrowiec |
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[Wagrowiec city flag] image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 25 Nov 2008
adopted 28 Sep 2002 See also:

Wągrowiec city flag

Wągrowiec - urban commune, Wągrowiec County, Wielkopolskie Voivodship - German name: Wongrowitz.
Wągrowiec is a town in northwestern Poland, 50 km from both Poznań and Bydgoszcz.
Since the 18th century it has been the a seat of a powiat. It is currently attached to the Greater Poland Voivodship. The town is situated in the middle of the historical
region of Pałuki and the Chodzież lake area (Pojezierze chodzieskie), on the river Wełna and its tributaries Nielba and Struga, as well as on the shores of Durów Lake. Wągrowiec is constituted as a gmina miejska, or municipal commune. The city is also the seat of the rural commune of Wągrowiec, as well as of powiat of Wągrowiec.
Area: 17.91 sq.km (6.9 sq.mi); Population: 24,681 (2006).

Wągrowiec is an important rail and road junction. There are several notable industries in the town, including the machinery factories (a branch of the Hipolit Cegielski factory in Poznań and a branch of the Zremb machinery factory), major food processing plants (a mill, meat canning factory and a milk yard) and a furniture factory. The town is also a centre of tourism, with several hotels along the shores of the lake.

The town was founded as a small village called Prostynie by the Cistercian monks from the monastery in Łekno in 1319.
In 1381 the name of Wągrowiec is mentioned for the first time in connection with the place. By that time the town received city laws, most likely modeled after the Magdeburg Law. At the end of the 16th century, King Władysław Jagiello gave the city the privileges of market and fair, and in 1396 the Cistercian monastery was moved in.

The town soon started to prosper. In the 15th and 16th centuries it was an important centre of trade, commerce, and manufacture (mostly textiles). This prosperity came to a halt during the Deluge, when in 1656 the town was captured, pillaged and burnt by the forces of Charles X of Sweden. After the Partitions of Poland, Wągrowiec in 1793 was annexed by Kingdom of Prussia and was confiscated from  the Cistercians in 1797. Initially a part of the newly created province of South Prussia, it was in 1807 transferred to the Duchy of Warsaw, a state allied to the Napoleonic France.
After Napoleon's defeat and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Wągrowiec was again annexed by Prussia; this time it was made a part of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznań.

In 1835 the Cistercian monastic order was dissolved, and its property was confiscated by the Prussian authorities.
On February 9, 1849, the autonomy of the Duchy was cancelled, and Wągrowiec - under the Germanized name of Wongrowitz - became part of the province of Posen. In 1888 a railroad line linking Wągrowiec with Poznań was opened.
After World War I, Wągrowiec found itself again within the borders of a Polish state, the Republic of Poland.
This did not happen without a struggle, though: in the years 1918-19 Polish inhabitants of Wągrowiec fought in the Greater Poland Uprising.

Following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the end of the Polish Defence War of 1939, the town was annexed to the German Reich. Many of its Polish inhabitants were expelled to the more easterly areas of the General Government as part of the implementation of 'Lebensraum policies. Wągrowiec was liberated in January 1945. (wiki)

Arms and flag adopted on September 28, 2002 (resolution # 35/2002).
"Arms: the shield divided into four fields: on the upper right field (gold) an armored arm with the silver sword.
On the lower right field (silver-white) a red stylized monogram "W".
On the upper left field (blue) an image of the Cistercian monk and on the lower left field a silver axe with the blade turned to the right.
The letter "W" corresponds to the name of the town and the axe comes from the noble Coat of Arms "Topór".

Flag: rectangular piece of cloth in the ratio of 5:8, identical on both sides and composed of two equal horizontal bands: white over blue.
On the left side of the white band, near the hoist, the Arms of the town are placed.
The ratio of the height of the Arms to the length of the flag is 2:5."
Chrystian Kretowicz, 25 Nov 2008


Wągrowiec city Coat of Arms

[Wagrowiec city Coat of Arms] image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 25 Nov 2008
adopted 28 Sep 2002