Koźmin Wielkopolski

History

A medieval Polish settlement existed at the site as early as the 12th century. The oldest known mention of Koźmin comes from 1232, it was a village owned by the Knights Templar. It was granted town rights between 1251 and 1283. The castle, located along present-day Zamkowa Street, is still in use today; it houses a school and the Muzeum Ziemi Koźminskiej (Museum of the Koźmin Land). Koźmin was a private town located in the Pyzdry County in the Kalisz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. The town changed owners several times; it was the property of the Górkas, a prominent Greater Poland family, in the 16th century, and later belonged to the Sapieha family. It was considered one of the most powerful towns in Greater Poland in the 15th and 16th century. In 1939–1940, the German gendarmerie carried out expulsions of Poles, who were deported to the General Government in the more-eastern part of German-occupied Poland, while their houses, shops and workshops were handed over to German colonists as part of the Lebensraum policy. The occupiers operated a Nazi prison for women in the town. The Polish resistance was active in Koźmin. The Orły ("Eagles") Polish underground newspaper was printed in Koźmin, and distributed in Koźmin and other nearby towns. Janusz Podlewski, commander of the local unit of the Home Army, was arrested by the Gestapo in July 1944, and then imprisoned in various prisons and the Mauthausen concentration camp, where he was liberated by American troops. One of the best-preserved Jewish cemeteries in Greater Poland is located in Koźmin Wielkopolski, along Wierzbowa Street. It includes more than 250 graves, dating back as far as 1806. The cemetery is maintained by a local teacher, Jerzy Fornalik, who is also the author of a…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  59
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  57
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  52
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  48
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  45
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  44
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  41
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  40

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2026-01-21
  5 km E of Polkowice, Poland
• M 4.5 — 2025-10-21
  1 km WSW of Grębocice, Poland
• M 4.5 — 2025-09-12
  3 km NE of Lubin, Poland
• M 4.3 — 2025-08-13
  4 km NNW of Rudna, Poland
• M 3.8 — 2025-07-22
  5 km NW of Szlichtyngowa, Poland
• M 4.2 — 2025-06-24
  3 km NE of Grębocice, Poland