The first permanent settlement in the area of today's Wadowice was founded in the late 10th century or early 11th century. According to a local legend, the town was founded by a certain Wad or Wład, a short form for the Slavic name of
Ladislaus (). The town was first mentioned as
Wadowicze in St. Peter penny register in the years 1325–1327. In 1327 it is also mentioned (under the same name) in a
fief registry sent from prince
John I Scholastyk of Oświęcim to
Bohemian king
John I, Count of Luxemburg. At this time it was a trading settlement belonging to the
Dukes of Silesia of the
Piast dynasty, and according to some historians it was already a municipality. In 1430 a great fire destroyed the town. It was soon rebuilt and granted
city rights, along with a
city charter and a self-government, based on the then-popular
Kulm law. The privileges, granted by Prince
Kazimierz I of Oświęcim led to a period of fast reconstruction and growth. The administrative division of the region in the times of
regional division was complicated. Initially, between 1313/1317 and 1445, Wadowice belonged to the
Silesian
Duchy of Oświęcim and after 1445 to the
Duchy of Zator. In 1482
Władysław I of Zator inherited only half of his father's lands and created a separate
Duchy of Wadowice, which lasted until his death in 1493. The following year his brother and successor,
Jan V of Zator abdicated. At the same time the land was subject to
Bohemian overlordship, which lasted until the following year, when the Duchy was bought by the
Kings of Poland and incorporated as a
Silesian County. Finally, the county was incorporated into the
Kraków Voivodeship of the
Lesser Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland in 1564. In the 16th–17th centuries Wadowice was a regional centre of crafts and trade. Among the most notable sons of the town was
Marcin Wadowita, a theologian, philosopher and a
deacon of the
Kraków Academy. He was also the founder of a hospital and a basic school in Wadowice. However, several plagues and fires halted the prosperity and the town's growth was eventually halted as well.
Late modern period In the effect of the
First Partition of Poland, Wadowice was annexed by
Austria, incorporated into the newly established
Kingdom of Galicia, under direct Austrian rule, and renamed
Frauenstadt. The town's growth started soon afterwards, after a road linking
Vienna with
Lviv was built. The town became a seat of a
communal administration and since 1867 – a county site. Small industries were developing slowly during the 19th century. New inhabitants settled in the area, attracted by the industry, new military barracks and various administrative institutions. In addition, a new hospital and a regional court were erected in the town centre. Finally, in the last 25 years of the 19th century partial liberalisation of the
Austro-Hungarian monarchy led to creation of various Polish cultural and scientific societies. After
World War I and the dissolution of the monarchy, Wadowice became part of the newly reborn
Poland. The seat of a
powiat remained in the town and in 1919 the inhabitants of the area formed the 12th Infantry Regiment that took part in the
Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1920. In 1920 Karol Wojtyła was born in Wadowice (he became the bishop of
Kraków, then
Pope John Paul II, and was canonized after his death).
World War II memorial After the
Polish Defensive War of 1939,
Germany occupied the area and on 26 October Wadowice was annexed by
Nazi Germany. On 29 December of the same year the town was renamed to
Wadowitz. Initially the Polish
intelligentsia was targeted by harsh
German racial and cultural policies and hundreds of people from the area, most notably priests, teachers and artists, were murdered in mass executions (see
Intelligenzaktion). Many were imprisoned in the infamous
Montelupich Prison in Kraków and then
murdered in the Krzesławice Fort of the
Kraków Fortress in December 1939. Hundreds more were
expelled and resettled to the
General Government in order to make place for
German settlers in accordance with the
Lebensraum policy. Germany also established and operated a Nazi prison in the town. Between 1941 and 1943 a
ghetto was established in the town. Almost the entire local
Jewish population (more than 2,000) was exterminated, mostly in the nearby
Auschwitz concentration camp. In addition, the Germans set up a
prisoner-of-war camp for
Allied soldiers and a penal camp that served as a transfer camp for various
German concentration camps. Despite German terror, the
Home Army units were active in the area, most notably in the town itself and in the Beskid mountains to the south of it. After the German occupation, the town returned to Poland, although with a
Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the
Fall of Communism in the 1980s.
Present After the war, in 1945 Wadowice retained its
powiat town status and until 1975 served as a notable centre of commerce and transport in the
Kraków Voivodeship. After that the town was transferred to the newly created
Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship. After the
peaceful transformation of the political and economical system in Poland (in 1989), most of the local industry was found inefficient and went bankrupt. However, the ecological and historical heritage of the area as well as its status as the birthplace of
Pope John Paul II led to fast growth of tourism. Currently more than 200,000 people visit Wadowice every year and this number is rising. == Economy ==