Prehistory and the ancient times Traces of human presence in the area of the present-day town of Prudnik, confirmed by archaeological research, date back to the
Paleolithic era. The oldest settlements near Prudnik were formed by groups of hunters who exploited the surrounding flint deposits. Their products, found during
excavations, are typical of the
Acheulean culture, from the interglacial era. The local population of
early Slavs held trade contacts with
Rome, as documented by Roman coins found in Prudnik dating back to 700 BC–1250 AD. On a hill by the Złoty Potok river, in the western part of town, the remains of a warrior of the
Germanic Vandals tribe, who died in the 4th century AD, were excavated.
Middle Ages The area of present-day Prudnik was located at the borderlands between the local
West Slavic tribes of
Golensizi and
Opolans. The earliest written information regarding settlements near Prudnik were included in the 1233 will of a Silesian nobleman Johannes Sibote, the owner of nearby villages of
Jasiona,
Skrzypiec,
Krzyżkowice,
Czyżowice and
Lubrza. In 1253, the area was captured by the Czechs during a revenge campaign for the invasion of
Opavian Silesia by Polish dukes
Vladislaus I of Opole and
Bolesław V the Chaste. in 1260 In the Autumn of 1255, King
Ottokar II of Bohemia instructed
Vok of Rosenberg to help new settlers move into the borderland. Between 6 November and the middle of December of that year, Vok founded the
Wogendrüssel castle in the defensive bend of the
Prudnik river. The castle controlled the trade route between
Nysa and
Opava. The foundation of the castle in this place is equivalent to the foundation of Prudnik as a settlement. Prudnik was the northernmost stronghold of the
Kingdom of Bohemia. Vok's son,
Henry I of Rosenberg, obtained
Magdeburg rights for the town in 1279. After Henry's death, Prudnik was passed over to knight Jaxa de Snelwald. Prudnik belonged to the historical region of
Moravia until 1337, when the town became a part of the
Duchy of Opole in the
Upper Silesia region, and remained under the rule of local Polish dukes of the
Piast dynasty until the dissolution of the duchy in 1532, when it was incorporated into the
Austrian-ruled
Bohemian (Czech) Crown. It was located on a trade route between
Wrocław and
Vienna. In 1373, the town suffered a
plague epidemic. Several residents survived the epidemic by escaping into the nearby
Opawskie Mountains. Having returned to Prudnik, they burned down most of the buildings and started the process of rebuilding the town. The oldest known form of Prudnik's coat of arms comes from a 1399 wax seal. During the
Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, a knight known as Maćko of Prudnik (Maczke von der Neuwidnstadt) fought in the
Battle of Grunwald on 15 July 1410 alongside Polish troops. After the death of late Duke
Vladislaus II's wife, brothers
Bernard of Niemodlin and
Bolko IV of Opole took over the area of Prudnik and
Głogówek. The rule of the area was later passed over to Bolko IV's son,
Bolko V the Hussite. The first written mention of Bolko V as the ruler of Prudnik is dated 6 May 1425. Bolko V titled himself as the
Duke of Głogówek and Prudnik. During the
Hussite Wars, the town of Prudnik and nearby villages were plundered and burned down by the
Hussites. On 23 March 1464, Prudnik and villages around it were
excommunicated by
Pope Pius II for refusing to pay the debt of Duke
Konrad IV the Elder. Although local historian
Antoni Dudek has claimed that the excommunication was revoked in 16th century, the
Holy See never revealed a document that lifted the curse.
Early modern era In 1506, a Silesian
Sejm took place in Prudnik, in the presence of King
Sigismund I the Old of Poland. While in Prudnik, the King recruited 200 troops into the
light cavalry to maintain public order in
Silesia. After the death of Duke
Jan II the Good in 1532, Prudnik, along with the entire
Duchy of Opole and Racibórz, was incorporated into the Habsburg monarchy. In 1562, the Austrian-ruled Duchy of Opole and Racibórz passed a resolution that obligated
Jews to sell their houses, pay their debts, and leave the duchy in a year. On the basis of this resolution, in 1564, Jews were ordered to leave Prudnik, but Krzysztof Prószkowski, who leased the land there, let them stay until 1570. In the years 1645–1666, Prudnik belonged to the
Polish–Lithuanian House of Vasa as a
fief. As a
royal city, Prudnik became a hub of trade and industry.
Linen makers of Prudnik were exporting their products to the
Netherlands.
Tanning businesses were also started in the town. Since the 16th century, the richest noblemen of the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz were settling in the town, and Prudnik became the most important industrial and political hub of Upper Silesia. It was also the place in which the Silesian Sejms took place. The noble family of Bilitzer originated from Prudnik. The population of Prudnik was decimated during the
Thirty Years' War. In 1625, the town suffered a plague epidemic. On 12 February 1629, Emperor
Ferdinand II exiled the Protestant clergy of Prudnik, while people of the town were forced to convert to Catholicism. In 1642, the
Swedish army captured Prudnik, then they plundered it and burned it down. After the end of the war, the town was rebuilt thanks to Emperor
Ferdinand III's financial help. Soon, Prudnik would become the biggest city of Upper Silesia. Prudnik was a place of
witch trials. Because of Prudnik being located at the borderlands, the town was a sight of multiple battles during the
Silesian Wars. On 30 June 1761, King
Frederick the Great of Prussia visited the town. In February 1779, during the
War of the Bavarian Succession, Austrians led an artillery attack on Prudnik, burning down most of the town's buildings. In an act of revenge, Prussians destroyed
Krnov. Prudnik was visited by Emperor
Joseph II in August 1779. On 20 August 1788, King
Frederick William II of Prussia was passing through the town. He spent the night in the local
Town House, while his son
Frederick William III accommodated in a house by the Market Square. In the middle of the 18th century, Prudnik was considered to be the richest town of Upper Silesia. Its incomes were ten times higher than that of
Opole, the capital of the region. This was caused by the fact that the town was an owner of eleven nearby villages: Czyżowice,
Dębowiec,
Dytmarów, Jasiona, Krzyżkowice, Lubrza,
Piorunkowice,
Pokrzywna, Skrzypiec,
Szybowice,
Wieszczyna and a part of
Rudziczka. After the feudal service was abolished in the 19th century and the villages became independent, Prudnik's Town Council began to look for a source of income in
forestry. Prudnik owned one of the biggest communal forest complexes in Upper Silesia (the Prudnik Forest), with an area of more than .
19th century The start of the 19th century saw further development of the town, mainly through the accommodation of Prussian soldiers. During the
Napoleonic Wars, Prudnik was captured by the French army at the start of 1807. In accordance to Emperor
Napoleon Bonaparte's decree from 6 April 1807, an
uhlan regiment of the
Legion of the Vistula was formed in Prudnik. The regiment was made up of Polish troops returning from Italy, reinforced with recruits from
Greater Poland. Prudnik remained under French occupation until 1812, when it was captured by Russians. After the wars, in 1816 the town had a debt of 82,330 thalers, with revenues of 14,687 thalers and expenses of 14,238 thalers. The debt lasted until the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870. In 1828, the town had about 4,000 inhabitants. The first
spinning and
weaving mills for wool, linen and silk were built in the town, as well as a textile factory (known as
ZPB "Frotex" since 1945) founded by the Jewish industrialist
Samuel Fränkel. A brickyard, a brewery, mills and a vinegar factory were also built. In reference to the main professions of its inhabitants, Prudnik was nicknamed the "town of weavers and shoemakers". Despite Prudnik being one of the biggest industrial centres of Upper Silesia, no workers' protests against capitalists were recorded to take place in the town, even during the
Silesian weavers' uprising of 1844 and the
Revolutions of 1848. In preparations to the
January Uprising of 1863, the
Central National Committee designated Prudnik as a "contact point" and a "weapons collection point". Poles carried out conspiratorial activities in the vicinity of the town. After the start of the uprising, controls on the border between Prussia and Austria were tightened. Everybody arriving in Prudnik had to report to the police, and the local military garrison was put on alert and took over the duties of units from nearby cities, as they were sent to guard the Prussian–Russian border. Three Polish soldiers from Prudnik took part in the January Uprising: Hieronim Olszewski, Piotr Linowski and Antoni Strogiński. In 1876, Prudnik was connected with Nysa and
Koźle via a railway line, and in 1896, a railway line between Prudnik and
Gogolin started operating. In January 1898, the first
social democratic conference of Upper Silesia took place in Prudnik.
Early 20th century At the beginning of the 20th century, a municipal bathhouse, a Town Park and military barracks were built in Prudnik. The town became a military garrison. The Polish minority was subject to
Germanisation policies. Due to the lack of Polish schools, local Poles sent their children to schools in so-called
Congress Poland in the
Russian Partition of Poland. Local Polish activist, publicist and teacher , was investigated by the local Prussian administration and police for writing about this practice in the
Gazeta Toruńska, a major Polish newspaper in the
Prussian Partition of Poland. According to a 1 December 1910 census, among 18,864 inhabitants of Prudnik, 18,072 spoke
German, 565 spoke
Polish, 3 spoke a different language, and 224 were bilingual. During the
First World War, a military hospital operated in the
Fatebenefratelli monsatery in Prudnik. Prudnik remained part of Germany after Poland regained independence in 1918, however, Polish organizations still operated in the town in the
interbellum, including the
Union of Poles in Germany and the Polish-Catholic School Society. Prudnik was a concentration place for German militias. The town housed a secret warehouse of military equipment for paramilitary units. It was a recruitment base for
Freikorps troops. During the
Silesian Uprisings, several Polish sabotage groups operated in Prudnik and its vicinity, with a goal of hindering German military operations. During the Third Silesian Uprising in 1921, a German
kangaroo court operated in Prudnik. Poles convicted by the court were executed by shooting in a forest between Prudnik and
Niemysłowice. Field hospitals for wounded soldiers and volunteers operated in the town. , burned down in 1938 In a secret
Sicherheitsdienst report from 1934, Prudnik was named one of the main centers of the Polish movement in western Upper Silesia.
Nazi Germany increasingly persecuted local Polish activists since 1937, and carried out mass arrests in August and September 1939. After the
Munich Agreement, on 7 October 1938
Adolf Hitler arrived in Prudnik by train and then travelled to the
Sudetenland. After visiting the Sudeten territories, he returned to Prudnik and went to
Berlin by train. He was accompanied by Nazi officials and officers, including
Hermann Göring,
Heinrich Himmler,
Gerd von Rundstedt,
Erhard Milch and
Hans-Jürgen Stumpff. During the
Night of Broken Glass on 9–10 November 1938, Nazi militias burned down the
local synagogue, founded in 1877 by Samuel Fränkel.
World War II During the
Second World War, a military hospital was opened in the Fatebenefratelli monsatery again, with subsidiaries in the building of a local school and in the
Castle in nearby
Moszna. The Germans established four
forced labour camps and four working units for British and Soviet
prisoners of war. Around 400 women, mostly from German-occupied Hungary, were imprisoned in the subcamp, and some died. During the final months of the war, the town was also a stopping place of death marches of thousands of prisoners of several other subcamps of Auschwitz, The
Red Army started planning an attack on Prudnik in March 1945. It was supposed to be the most important part of the
Upper Silesian offensive. The Soviets captured the town on 17 March 1945. In April of that year, the Red Army organised a ghetto for around 9,000 German inhabitants of the town. Prudnik remained on the frontline until May 1945, as German units stationed in close proximity to the town. Around 200 thousand soldiers took part in fighting for the town. On 23 April 1945, the Market Square, Parish Square and Castle Square were bombarded by the Soviet airforce. However, it is not known whether the bombing was intentional. According to a local priest Franz Pietsch, the bombardment was caused by drunk Russians shooting out incorrect light signals. Around 15% of the buildings in Prudnik were destroyed during the war, including the Nativity of the Virgin Mary Sanctuary and the Schwedenschanze tourist shelter. The northern part of the Market Square with Town Hall was heavily damaged.
In communist Poland Polish administration took over civil rule in the Prudnik County on 11 May 1945. A part of Poles from the
Eastern Borderlands were relocated to the Prudnik and its surrounding area. Specifically, people from
Nadwórna (now Nadvirna, Ukraine), the area of
Tarnopol (now Ternopil), settled in the town, along with immigrants from Central Poland and people relocated from
Czerniowce (now Chernivtsi, Ukraine). The majority of the German inhabitants of the town were expelled to Germany, however, unlike other parts of the so-called
Recovered Territories, the surrounding region's indigenous population remained and was not
forcibly expelled as elsewhere. The first name given to the town under Polish administration was
Prądnik. It was changed to
Prudnik on 7 May 1946. The change was preceded by months of debate in the local press, and at one point both names were in use simultaneously. The first Polish mayor of the town was Antoni Błaszczyński, and the first
starosta was Józef Sopa. The Red Army terrorised the local population by robbing people and raping women, including children. On 3 June 1945, Czechoslovak militia from
Zlaté Hory arrived in Prudnik and captured the local Town Hall, announcing that the town belongs to Czechoslovakia. Polish soldiers convinced the Czechs to leave without a firefight. at the place of his imprisonment Since 1945 to 1956, a
Security Office was located at the Klasztorna Street in Prudnik. An
anti-communist military organization
Underground Home Army operated in the town and its vicinity. Since 6 October 1954 to 27 October 1955, cardinal
Stefan Wyszyński was imprisoned in the Franciscan monastery in Prudnik. The Museum of Prudnik Region and the Prudnik Forest District were founded in 1959. In the years 1964–1974, the Nowotki housing estate (since 1990 the Wyszyńskiego housing estate) was built in the southern part of the town. In the 1970s, the Jasionowe Wzgórze housing estate was built in the eastern part of town. In August 1977, Prudnik and its surrounding area were hit by a flood caused by heavy rainfall. The flood wave destroyed a railway bridge at Słowicza Street. In September 1980, 1,500 workers of ZPB "Frotex" and firefighters from the factory's fire brigade went on the biggest anti-communist strike in Opole Voivodeship. The strike lasted 5 days (5–10 September). Other factories in the town also went on strikes.
In modern Poland After the
first elections to local self-government in Poland after its restoration in 1990, Jan Roszkowski became the mayor of Prudnik. In December 1990, a monument to the Red Army was removed from the Wolności Square. A monument to Polish soldiers was erected in its place in 1996. The military garrison of Prudnik was liquidated in May 1994. In June 1997, the municipal sewage treatment plant at Poniatowskiego Street was put into operation. Prudnik was the first town in Poland to be flooded during the
July 1997 Central European flood. Water from the Złoty Potok river destroyed the pedestrian bridge at Kościuszki Street. The streets of Kochanowskiego, Morcinka, Chrobrego, Batorego, Powstańców Śląskich, Kolejowa, Ogrodowa, Nyska, as well as numerous industrial plants were flooded by water from the Prudnik river. In total, 192 people were evacuated from the town and surrounding villages. in Prudnik In 2007 and 2014, two of the biggest factories in the town were shut down: Prudnickie Zakłady Obuwia "Primus" and Zakłady Przemysłu Bawełnianego "Frotex". In 2009, the local castle tower, known as "Wok's Tower", was renovated and adapted into a scenic viewpoint. On 20 June 2015, Prudnik joined the
Cittaslow International organisation. Prudnik was flooded during the
2024 Central European floods. The water destroyed several elements of the town's historical architecture and three pedestrian bridges. Two industrial plants and sports infrastructure were flooded. == Geography ==