In a medieval document written in Latin and issued in Wrocław in 1266, which was signed by Silesian Duke Henry III the White, the village is listed under the name Lesnitz.[2]
Since the German name Lissa was also carried by Leszno, Leśnica was referred to as Deutsch Lissa as opposed to Polnisch Lissa.[3]
History
Leśnica Castle, first built as a residence of the Piast dynasty in the 12th century, later a bourgeois residence, today a cultural center
Leśnica was first mentioned in 1201, when it was part of medieval Piast-ruled Poland, although it was founded earlier with a stronghold and castle of the Piast dukes built in the 12th century. Duke Bolesław I the Tall died in the castle in 1201. Leśnica was granted a town charter in 1261, which was degraded before 1700.[4]
The settlement was incorporated into Breslau (today's Wrocław) in 1928.[3]
During World War II, Nazi Germany operated a subcamp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in the district, in which mostly Poles were imprisoned, but also some Ukrainians, Russians, Germans, Frenchmen, Czechs, Yugoslavs,[5] and a forced labour subcamp of the city's juvenile prison.[6] The still living prisoners of the subcamp of Gross-Rosen were evacuated to the main camp in a death march in January 1945.[5]
In 1991, after reforms in the administrative division of Wrocław, Leśnica became one of the city's 48 districts.[7]
