Płońsk

History

According to archaeological research, the Płońsk stronghold was built in the late 10th century within the early Polish state. Dating back to 1155, is the first historical record confirming the existence of Płońsk. Around the castle a group of inhabitants was formed, most of whom initially worked on the land. As a result of the fragmentation of medieval Piast-ruled Poland, it was part of the duchies of Masovia and Płock, and then it was a royal town of the Polish Crown, administratively located in the Płock Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province. In 1400, Siemowit IV of Masovia, granted it town rights under Chełmno law, then merchants and craftsmen started to come to the town. Płońsk was located on a trade route connecting Toruń with Brześć. In 1872–1875 astronomer Jan Walery Jędrzejewicz established an astronomical observatory and meteorological station in Płońsk. After his death, the astronomical observatory was moved to Warsaw in 1898. It was a centre of the garment industry. The Jews lived mostly within the city, whilst the Poles were more scattered and tended to live in the countryside. On 16 October 1886 David Ben Gurion was born in Płońsk. Like him, also many other Jewish residents of the city immigrated to Palestine for Zionist reasons, spurred on by the idea of building a Jewish homeland. On 14–17 August 1920, the Poles successfully defended the town during a Soviet invasion. According to the 1921 Polish census, the town had a population of 9,220, 58.1% Polish and 41.9% Jewish. During the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Germany invaded the town and the Einsatzgruppe V entered the town to commit various crimes against the populace. Under German occupation the town was annexed directly to Nazi Germany…

Most-observed species

• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  19
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  18
• White Stork

  Ciconia ciconia (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16
• Ground-elder

  Aegopodium podagraria L. · Magnoliopsida
  14
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  14
• Common Crane

  Grus grus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13
• Barn Swallow

  Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  13
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  12