Bochnia is one of the oldest cities of
Lesser Poland. The first known source mentioning the city is a letter of 1198, in which
Aymar the Monk,
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, confirmed a donation by the local magnate Mikora Gryfit to the
monastery of the
Order of the Holy Sepulchre in
Miechów. The discovery of major deposits of
rock salt at the site of the present mine in 1248 led to the grant of city privileges (
Magdeburg rights) on 27 February 1253 by
Bolesław V the Chaste. In the original founding document, the German name of the town (Salzberg) is mentioned as well, since many Bochnia's residents were German-speaking settlers from
Lower Silesia. Due to its salt mine and favourable location, Bochnia, which belonged to the
Kraków Voivodeship, was one of main cities of
Lesser Poland. In the 14th century, during the reign of King
Casimir the Great, a town hall was built, a
defensive wall with four gates, a hospital and shelter for miners, and the construction of St. Nicolas Basilica began. In appreciation of Casimir's influence on the development of Bochnia, monument to him was erected in town's market square in the late 19th century. In the 15th century, a school was opened, and in 1623, Bernardine Abbey was founded in Bochnia. At that time, many pilgrims from Lesser Poland,
Silesia,
Spiš and
Orava visited the town, to see a miraculous painting of St. Mary, kept at a local Dominican church. In 1561 Bochnia burned down in a fire and its salt deposits were depleted, leading to the town's decline. During the
Deluge, in 1655 Bochnia was captured by the
Swedes, in 1657 by the Transylvanians, and in 1662, by the
Cossacks. By the 1660s, there were only 54 houses still standing. In 1702, the town was destroyed in the
Great Northern War. Fires caused further damage in 1709 and 1751. In 1772, Bochnia was annexed by the
Habsburg monarchy (Austria) in the
First Partition of Poland, and remained part of
Galicia (the
Austrian Partition of Poland) until 1918. It became the seat of the , one of the roughly 18 (the exact number varied) primary subdivisions of Galicia until 1860. The Austrians liquidated both abbeys, and tore down the town hall together with the defensive wall. In 1867, was created and the town began a slow recovery spurred by construction of the
Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis. In 1886, first public library was opened, in the late 19th century, the waterworks, and in 1913, a movie theater. Poland regained independence in 1918, and in the
Second Polish Republic, Bochnia belonged to
Kraków Voivodeship and was the capital of a county. In 1918, the
Polish 15th Wolves Infantry Regiment was formed in Bochnia. The town housed a small garrison of the
Polish Army, with 3rd Silesian Uhlans Regiment stationed there from 1924.
World War II , December 18, 1939 During the German
invasion of Poland, which started
World War II, on September 6–7, 1939, Bochnia was defended by several Polish units. The
Einsatzgruppe I entered the town shortly after to commit various crimes against the population. One of the first mass executions in occupied Poland took place in the town: the Germans shot 52
Poles as a reprisal for killing two German police officers. In 1939 the Germans operated a Dulag transit camp for some 1,000 Polish prisoners of war in the town. At the outbreak of
World War II, an estimated 3,500
Jews lived in Bochnia, comprising about 20% of the total population. During the
German occupation of Poland, Bochnia was the site of a
Nazi Jewish ghetto (the Bochnia Ghetto) to which Jews from surrounding areas were forced to move by the Nazis. The entire Jewish community was murdered in the
Holocaust apart from 200 forced laborers employed at a plant headed by Gerhard Kurzbach, a
Wehrmacht soldier, who ordered them to work overtime and thereby saved them from deportation. It is estimated that approximately 15,000 Jews were deported from Bochnia, with at least a further 1,800 killed in the town and its surroundings. Those Poles were mainly old people, ill people and women with children.
Recent period Although Poland was liberated from Germany, it fell to the Soviet sphere of influence, and the Soviets installed a communist regime, which remained in power until 1989. The
Polish anti-communist resistance movement was active in Bochnia. In the following decades, Bochnia grew larger, with several villages incorporated into the town, mostly in the 1970s. In 1984, a by-pass of the European route E40 was completed, redirecting the traffic from congested center of the town. From 1975 to 1998 it was administratively part of the
Tarnów Voivodeship. ==Landmarks==