pila

Piła is a town in northwestern Poland with 77,000 inhabitants (2001). It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship (since 1999), previously capital of Piła Voivodship (1975-1998). Piła is the largest town in the northern part of Greater Poland, and is a county capital. The town is beautifully located on the Gwda river and is famous for its green areas, parks and dense forests nearby. It is a very important road and railway hub.

City name

Piła is a Polish word which means "a saw". This was a typical name denoting a village of woodcutters belonging to a local noble.

  Schneidemhl literally means "sawmill" in English.

History

Piła was founded in 1380 under the Magdeburg Law as a small village of woodcutters. The document was most probably issued by Queen Hedwig of Poland, but it did not survive. The first mention of Piła comes from a church document dated March 31, 1451. Piła soon grew and became a private town of the Opaliński family. In 1480 Maciej Opaliński ceded the town to King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk. On March 4, 1513 the town was relocated by King Sigismund the Old. Piła was granted self-government and great economical autonomy. Because of that it soon became one of the main centres of wood industry in the area with several sawmills and a paper factory. In the 16th century the town was rented by the Bnińscy and Grkowie families, who founded the local Gothic City Hall. In 1503 the town had 153 houses, two churches and the City Hall, as well as several guilds. In 1605 King Zygmunt III Waza gave Piła to his second wife, Konstancja. In 1626 a fire destroyed most of the city (only two buildings were made of brick). Piła was rebuilt rapidly thanks to funds granted by Konstancja. New houses were constructed of brick and stone and the town was reconstructed in plain renaissance style. However, during The Deluge on July 24, 1655 the Swedish forces captured the city and pillaged it. Piła was also pillaged and damaged during the consecutive Great Northern and Seven Years' Wars. After the First Partition of Poland in 1772 it was annexed by Prussia. In 1806, together with most of Great Poland, it was recaptured by the Duchy of Warsaw, but in 1815 the Congress of Vienna granted it to Prussia again. The Polish language was banned from offices and education and the city saw a significant influx of German settlers. In 1834 the city was again struck by a fire that destroyed a large part of the city centre and the city archives. It was reconstructed shortly afterwards. In 1851 the city was connected to Berlin and Bydgoszcz by a railroad. By the end of the 19th century the city, then renamed to Schneidemhl, became one of the most important railway nodes of eastern Prussia and one of the biggest towns in the Duchy of Poznań. It was turned into a military garrison town. Until 1871 Piła belonged to the Grand Duchy of Poznań, but was incorporated into Province of Posen in the German Empire, after it was created. After World War I the city was not included in the newly-reborn Poland. After the Great Poland Uprising, the new Polish-German border ran 5 kilometres south of the city. In 1922 Schneidemhl became a centre of local administration of Grenzmark Posen-Westpreuen. The city experienced a short period of fast growth followed by a period of decline in the early thirties. High unemployment and ineffectivity of local administration led to a rising support for the NSDAP. In 1938 included in Pommern. During the World War II the city was included into the Pommerstellung line of fortifications. In 1945 the town was declared a festung by Adolf Hitler. It was captured by the joint Polish and Soviet forces after two weeks of heavy fights. The city was destroyed in 75% and almost 90% of the historical city centre was in ruins. After the war Piła was returned to Poland. The historical city centre was restored only partially. In 1975 Piła became the capital of the newly-established Piła Voivodship, which started a period of fast development of industry in the area. Currently Piła is one of the most important cities of the region. It is famous for its green areas and parks, as well as for its speedway club Polonia Piła.

Notable people

Stanisław Staszic (1755-1826), a priest and the activist of the Polish Enlightenment, who was very active also as economist in the times of the Congress Kingdom
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (1884-1945), German politician
Bishop Maximilian Kaller, first church administrator of Schneidemhl

Historical attractions

19th century building of former arsenal
St. Stanislaus Kostka's church - built in Neo-Gothic style
Holy Family's church - built in Neo-Baroque style
St. Anthony's church with the biggest in Europe seven metre tall wooden figure of Jesus (church built in 1930)
museum in house of Stanisław Staszic
two war cemeteries (prisoners from the World War I and Polish and Soviet soldiers killed during the battle of Wał Pomorski (Pommerstellung) during World War II); cemeteries are in uptown part of Piła, in Leszkw.

Historical population

style="background:#efefef;" \| Year	style="background:#efefef;" \| Inhabitants
1774	align="right" \| 1.322
1816	align="right" \| 1.992
1843	align="right" \| 4.111
1856	align="right" \| 6.060
1867	align="right" \| 7.516
1875	align="right" \| 9.724	}	valign="top" \| {\|	style="background:#efefef;" \| Year	style="background:#efefef;" \| Inhabitants
1880	align="right" \| 11.610
1900	align="right" \| 19.655
1910	align="right" \| 26.126
1925	align="right" \| 37.518
1933	align="right" \| 43.180
1939	align="right" \| 45.791	}	valign="top" \| {\|	style="background:#efefef;" \| Year	style="background:#efefef;" \| Inhabitants
1948	align="right" \| 10.700
1960	align="right" \| 33.800
1970	align="right" \| 43.700
1980	align="right" \| 58.900
1990	align="right" \| 71.100
1995	align="right" \| 75.700	}