Namysłów

Sister cities

• Linz am Rhein
• Kisköre
• Hlučín
• Yaremche
• Nebelschütz

History

The town began to develop during the 13th century, but was destroyed in 1241 during the first Mongol invasion of Poland. It was refounded by Polish Duke Bolesław II the Bald in 1249. During the medieval Ostsiedlung it was colonized by Germans, who used the Germanized name Namslau. According to German linguist Heinrich Adamy the town's name is derived from the Polish name namysł, which means "thinking". According to another theory, the name of the city comes from the old Polish name Namysł. In medieval manuscripts and documents such as the Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis it appeared under the Latinized name Namislavia. Located within the fragmented Kingdom of Poland, until 1294 it was part of the Duchy of Wrocław, then the Duchy of Głogów, in years 1312–23 it was briefly the seat of the Duchy of Namysłów, then it was part of the Duchy of Brzeg until 1338, then the revamped Duchy of Namysłów again until 1341, and afterwards it came directly under the rule of King Casimir III of Poland until 1348. A castle, first documented in 1312, was a residence of Casimir III in 1341. The Treaty of Namysłów, in which Casimir renounced his claims to Silesia to King Charles IV of Bohemia, was signed in the town in 1348. The town was a center of brewing After a lengthy siege, the town was sacked by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War. In 1703 Leopold I, granted the castle to the Teutonic Knights, who subsequently created a commandery. Namslau passed to the Kingdom of Prussia in the 1742 Treaty of Breslau (Wrocław). During the Seven Years' War, it was occupied by Austrian and Russian troops. The town was occupied by French troops from 1806–07 during the Napoleonic Wars; the castle was secularized in 1810. Namslau became part of the new Prussian Province…