The name Trzciel comes from the old Slavic word "trzcielina", which meant a cane stalk. Trzciel is a former
Slavic stronghold, which became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century under its first historic ruler
Mieszko I of Poland. During the
Thirty Years' War refugees from
Silesia and
Brandenburg settled in the town and founded the New Town (
Nowe Miasto) district. During the
Swedish invasion of Poland (the "Deluge"), in 1655, Trzciel was captured and occupied by the Swedes. As a result of the
Second Partition of Poland Trzciel was annexed by
Prussia in 1793. In 1806 French Emperor
Napoleon stopped in the town. After the successful
Greater Poland uprising of 1806, it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived
Duchy of Warsaw, and then it fell to Prussia again in 1815. In 1820 the first
German mayor took office. Trzciel was subject to heavy
Germanisation policies. In 1871 along with Prussia it became part of Germany. Local
Poles took part in the
Greater Poland uprising (1918–19), aiming at reuniting the town with Poland after regaining independence in 1918. Despite being part of historic
Greater Poland, the cradle of the Polish state, due to being almost exclusively inhabited by German-speakers only the part of Trzciel east of the rail-line, including the train station, was assigned to Poland. The town remained thus divided between
Germany and
Poland until the German
invasion of Poland in 1939. During
World War II the Germans established a
forced labour camp for Jews in the town. In January 1945 the town was captured by the Soviets, and after the defeat of
Nazi Germany it was finally reintegrated with Poland. Zygmunt Wałęza was appointed the first Polish mayor of Trzciel after 125 years. ==Notable people==