The town was created on January 1, 1987, as a union of the former municipalities of Jelcz () and Laskowice (
Laskowitz). It was best known for its large
bus factory, owned by the company
Jelcz S.A., though since the bankruptcy of that company the largest employers have been
Toyota and the Mechanical Institute. The oldest traces of human settlement in present-day Jelcz-Laskowice date back to the
Neolithic period. In the
Middle Ages both Jelcz and Laskowice were part of the
Kingdom of Poland ruled by the
Piast dynasty. The first known mentions of both villages come from the 13th century, although they probably already existed in the 12th century. Laskowice was first mentioned in 1203, when it was granted by Duke
Henry the Bearded to Polish noble Leonard Włostowic, the grandson of
Piotr Włostowic. Jelcz was first mentioned as
Jalche in a 1245 deed, when
Pope Innocent IV assigned it to the
Archdiocese of Wrocław. In 1277 Duke
Bolesław II the Bald of
Legnica here captured and arrested his nephew Duke
Henryk IV Probus of Wrocław. Bolesław's grandson, Duke
Bolesław III the Generous had a castle erected on an island in the
Oder river about 1331. The village of Laskowice, on the other hand, was reestablished in 1293 in a slightly different location by Duke
Henry V. Saint Stanislaus church From 1871 to 1945 the area was part of Germany, and between 1943 and 1945, during
World War II, the nearby hamlet of
Miłoszyce was the site of the
Fünfteichen subcamp of the Nazi German
Gross-Rosen concentration camp, where
forced labourers built howitzers for the
Berthawerke, a branch of the German
Krupp company. Testing grounds still feature concrete installations east of the village of
Nowy Dwór. Howitzers were hauled on rails from the branch Berthakrupp via Laskowice, Piekary and north of Nowy Dwór. Since 1945
Soviets sent over 160 railway sorties, presumably to
Smolensk leaving very little behind them. In 1945 the area according to the results of the
Potsdam Conference became again part of
Poland. In 1949 Polish Ministry of Defense began the production of Mobile Repair Vehicles and Ambulances for military purpose. Bus production by Jelcz S.A. started in 1952. ==Sports==