Lubin (Polish:[ˈlubin]ⓘ; German: Lüben, Silesian: Lubin) is a city in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the administrative seat of Lubin County, and also of the rural district called Gmina Lubin, although it is not part of the territory of the latter, as the town forms a separate urban gmina. As of 2021, the city had a total population of 70,815.[1]
Geography
Lubin is situated on the Zimnica river in the Lower Silesian historical region, about 71 kilometres (44 miles) northwest of Wrocław and 20 km (12 miles) north of Legnica.
The city is one of the major industrial locations in Lower Silesia, with the headquarters of the third-largest Polish corporation, the KGHM Polska Miedź mining company.
History
Piast dynasty rule
Ruins of the Piast Castle
The area of Lubin lies midway between the main settlements of two West Slavic Ślężanie tribes, the Dziadoszanie and the Trzebowianie, whose lands were both subdued by Mieszko I of Poland about 990. It is unclear which of the two tribes, if either, founded the town. One legend states that the town derives its name from Luba, a young man credited with slaying a giant bear that had been terrifying the inhabitants. A papal bull dated to circa 1155 mentions Lubin as one of 13 Silesian castellanies.
In the late 15th century the Lubin parish church was rebuilt in its present-day Gothic style, its high altar was moved to Wrocław Cathedral in 1951. Under the rule of Duke George I of Brieg (died 1521) and his widow Anna of Pomerania, the reformer Caspar Schwenckfeld, born in nearby Osiek, made the town a centre of the Protestant Reformation in Lower Silesia. With Lower Silesia, Lubin in 1526 fell under suzerainty of the Habsburg monarchy. It was devastated several times during the Thirty Years' War. Lubin remained part of the Piast-ruled Duchy of Legnica until 1675, when it was incorporated to the Habsburg-ruled Bohemia.
Late modern period and World War II
Conquered in the Silesian Wars by King Frederick II of Prussia in the mid-18th century, the town became a part of Prussia and later, in 1871, Germany. In 1871, after creation of the German Empire, it was connected by rail to Legnica (Liegnitz) and Głogów (Glogau). In reports on their parishes at the end of the 18th century, local pastors wrote about native Poles, who spoke a local dialect of the Polish language. The native Polish population was subjected to planned Germanisation, which lasted until the 1930s. A labour camp of the Reich Labour Service was operated in the town under Nazi Germany.[2]
During World War II about 70% of the town's buildings were destroyed. In 1945 between the days of 8–10 February Red Army soldiers mass-murdered 150 German pensioners in an old-people's home and 500 psychiatric hospital patients in Lubin.[3] The city eventually became again part of Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the 1980s. The remaining German population of the city was either expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, or prohibited from returning home by the communist authorities.[citation needed]
Discovery of copper deposits
Construction of mining facilities in 1965
In 1957 Jan Wyżykowski discovered and in 1959 documented in Lubin the largest copper ore deposits in Europe and one of the largest in the world. Soon copper mines were built and the KGHM company was established.
From 1975 to 1998 it belonged to the former Legnica Voivodeship. In 1982 the city saw significant demonstrations against the martial law declared by the Communist regime, which were put down by its death squads, resulting in the murder of three people.[4][5]
Education
Uczelnia Zawodowa Zagłębia Miedziowego
I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Mikołaja Kopernika w Lubinie
II Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Lubinie
Technikum nr 1 im. Bolesława Krupińskiego w Lubinie
Zagłębie Lubin – women's handball team playing in the Women's Superliga (top division) as of season 2024–25, Polish Champions in seasons 2010–11, 2020–21 and 2021–22.
The list includes the 107 urban municipalities governed by a city mayor (prezydent miasta) instead of a town mayor (burmistrz) · Cities with powiat rights are in italics · Voivodeship cities are in bold
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