Włocławek's history dates back to the late
Bronze Age – early Iron Age (1300 BCE – 500 BCE). Archaeological excavations conducted on the current city site uncovered the remains of a
settlement belonging to the
Lusatian culture, as well as evidence of a settlement of early
Pomeranian culture which had been established. Traces of additional settlements dating to the
Roman period and the early
Middle Ages have also been excavated in the area.
Middle Ages The settlement was founded in the 9th century and its early inhabitants were occupied with agriculture and crafts. In the 10th century it became part of the emerging Polish state under the
Piast dynasty. In the mid-10th century, under
Casimir I the Restorer, Włocławek was the seat of a
castellany and the administrative center of
Kuyavia. Włocławek received its
city rights in 1255. During the 14th and 15th centuries, the city was destroyed and captured several times by the
Teutonic Knights and renamed it Leslau. The
Treaty of Thorn, signed in 1411, resulted in short-lived peace for the city, however, it prospered from its involvement in the ransoming of the captured Teutonic Knights which was payable in three instalments and proved to be a hardship on the Prussian faction. Włocławek was located within the
Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship of the
Greater Poland Province. There is a possibility that
Nicolaus Copernicus, the later renowned astronomer, may have attended the local cathedral school in the late 15th century.
Modern era The city's prosperity came from river transport of grain from Kuyavia, the collection of tolls on grain floated from the more southern part of Poland to the country's main port of
Gdańsk, transport of timber from the
Narew,
Bug and upper Vistula rivers for export to Western Europe and
brewing. This is mentioned in the 1595 poem
Flis, to jest Spuszczanie statków Wisłą i inszymi rzekami do niej przypadającymi by
Sebastian Klonowic. In 1625, the Reformed Franciscans were brought to Włocławek by Bishop Andrzej Lipski, and soon their
Baroque monastery was built. The city was ravaged by the Swedes during the
Swedish invasion of Poland in 1657 and by the Russians during the
Great Northern War in 1707. After the
Treaties of Tilsit in 1807 it became part of the Polish short-lived
Duchy of Warsaw. Subsequently, after the
Congress of Vienna it became part of
Congress Kingdom of Poland in the
Russian Partition of Poland in 1815. Polish insurgents operated in the city and in its vicinity during the
January Uprising of 1863–1864. The insurgents clashed with Russian troops in Włocławek on November 8, 1863, and February 17, 1864. The oldest Polish theological journal '''' has been published in Włocławek since 1909. In 1920, Poles successfully defended the city against the invading Soviets during the
Polish–Soviet War.
World War II During
World War II, Włocławek was occupied by German troops, which entered the city on 14 September 1939. Under the
Nazi German occupation Włocławek was again renamed Leslau, annexed by decree to the German Reich on 8 October 1939 and administered from 26 October as a part of Reichsgau Posen (renamed on 29 January 1940
Reichsgau Wartheland). Already in September 1939, Germans committed a massacre of a group of local Jews and burned both synagogues. The
Einsatzgruppe III entered the city between September 23 and October 5, 1939, and afterwards carried out mass arrests of local Poles in October and November as part of the
Intelligenzaktion. Dozens of Catholic priests from Włocławek, including Auxiliary Bishop of Włocławek
Michał Kozal, and lecturers and students of the seminary were arrested, and then deported in January 1940 to the
Dachau concentration camp, where most of them were killed.
Rector of the local seminary Henryk Kaczorowski and two students Bronisław Kostkowski and Tadeusz Dulny are now considered three of the
108 Blessed Polish Martyrs of World War II by the
Catholic Church. Poles from Włocławek were also massacred in the nearby village of
Pińczata. Arrested Polish teachers, landowners and priests from the Włocławek and
Lipno counties were also imprisoned in Włocławek, and some were later also deported to concentration camps and murdered. Families of deported and murdered Poles, as well as the remaining residents of Grzywno were
expelled to the so-called
General Government in late 1939, The Germans also
robbed the precious historical collections of the Diocese of Włocławek and the Baroque Franciscan monastery The city's central square,
Plac Wolności ("Liberty Square"), was renamed
Adolf-Hitler-Platz by the Germans. By the time the war ended, nearly the entire Jewish population of more than 10,000 had been murdered. , the leading
Polish resistance movement in World War II Włocławek was captured on 20 January 1945 by
Soviet troops of the
1st Belorussian Front during the
Vistula–Oder Offensive. From February to April 1945, the Russians
looted local factories and enterprises of grain (over 200 tons), coal (over 50 tons), fuel, machinery, cars, spirits, office equipment, which were taken en masse to the Soviet Union. Mass Soviet requisitions in the county caused food shortages in Włocławek. One third of the city was destroyed, but its factories and workshops were rebuilt by the
Polish government in the following decades.
Recent period The most important industries in Włocławek today are
chemical industry, production of
furniture, and
food processing. The
dam which was constructed in 1969 regulates the water level of the
Vistula river, forming
Włocławek Reservoir. From 1975 to 1999, the city was the capital of the
Włocławek Voivodeship. The Catholic
priest Fr. (now
Blessed),
Jerzy Popiełuszko, who was associated with the workers' and trade union movement
Solidarity, and who was also a member of the opposition to the Communist regime in Poland, was
tortured and murdered by three
Security Police officers, and was thrown into the Włocławek Reservoir, close to the city. His body was recovered from the reservoir on 30 October 1984. From 2012 the city is part of the Special Economic Zone - Włocławek Economic Development Area – Industrial and Technological Park with tax-free areas and incentives for investors.
The Jewish Community in Włocławek The Jewish population increased from 218 (6.6%) in 1820 to 6,919 in 1910 (20.5%) and 13,500 in 1939. One of the founders of the
Mizracḥi movement, rabbi Leib Kowalski (1895–1925), lived and worked in Włocławek. During the interbellum period, the town had several Jewish schools (primary and high schools), two yeshivas, and three Jewish sports clubs. With the beginning of the
German occupation of Poland, Włocławek became the first town in Europe in which Jews were required to wear distinctive
yellow badges. Murders of Jews began in 1939 and the Włocławek
ghetto was created in November 1940. The Nazis deported 3,000 of Włocławek's Jews to ghettos and labor camps between December 1939 and June 1941. Some 2,000 Jews were deported to
Łódź and then to the
Chełmno extermination camp between 26 and 30 September 1941. The ghetto was burnt in late April 1942 after the remaining Jews were sent to Chelmno where they were immediately gassed. After the war nearly 1000 Jews returned to Włocławek and re-established their community. However, Jews left after disputes within the community itself, and the desire of most Jews not to live under Communism, installed by the Soviets. By the late 1960s, the community had disappeared. Today there is only very little, if any trace at all, of their once rich and lively community. There is a table for victims of Jewish ghetto in Włocławek's Rakutówek neighborhood (Polish Tablica Ofiar Getta we Włocławku) and Jewish Cemetery at Municipal/Communal Cemetery (Polish Cmentarz Komunalny we Włocławku). ==Demographics==