Grodzisk Wielkopolski

Church of Saint Saint Hedwig, High Duchess consort of Poland

The settlement was first mentioned in 1257 by the name of Grodisze in a document by Przemysł I of Greater Poland. It was referred to as a village belonging to the Cistercians.

The exact date when the town received its charter is unknown. Documents say that the town definitely had its town charter in 1303. It was a private town of Polish noble families of Ostroróg and Opaliński,[2] administratively located within the Poznań Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown.

The first Jews settled in the town at the beginning of the 16th century. The first document to back this up was in 1505, mentioning the Jew Abraham of Grodzisk In Yiddish and Hebrew, the town is known as גרידץ (Gritz or Gritza)

Stanisław Ostroróg as a Lutheran in 1563 gave the local church to Protestants and he also founded a new school in the town.[2] Grodzisk became an important printing center for the Polish Reformation, however in 1594 Jan Ostroróg as a supporter of Catholicism reintroduced Catholicism in the town.[2]

In 1593, the census for Grodzisk Wielkopolski said that the population was approximately 1,160. The town charter was renewed with the inclusion of a new town about 150 metres from the old town. In 1601, the first privileges for the brewery were awarded. The town quickly became important for the production of beer (Grodziskie style). At the end of the 18th century, there were 53 breweries in the city. In 1626, the mayor of the city changed to the Opaliński family. They remained as mayors until 1775.

Michał Drzymała in Grodzisk in 1908

In 1793, the town was annexed by Prussia in the Second Partition of Poland. Grodzisk was an important insurgent center during the Polish Kościuszko Uprising in 1794.[2] In 1807 it became part of the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw, and in 1815 it was reannexed by Prussia, under the Germanized name Grätz. In the Greater Poland uprising (1848) during the Revolutions of 1848 a battle was fought between the Polish insurgents and Prussian troops in the present-day district of Doktorowo.[2] From 1887 to 1918, it was the seat of Kreis Grätz.

Commemorative well "of the blessed Bernard"

In November 1918, after World War I, Poland regained independence, and in December local Poles formed armed units in attempt to rejoin Poland.[2] Poles took control of the town without fighting, however volunteers from Grodzisk participated in the Greater Poland uprising in other places, as well as in the Polish–Soviet War.[2] The town was confirmed as part of Poland in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, and was until 1932 the seat of a county or powiat.

During World War II, the town was under German occupation. In Młyniewo, a nearby village, a transit camp was formed for onward transport to Nazi concentration camps, initially for Jews and later for Poles and French, Serbian, English and Soviet prisoners of war.[2] Poles were also subjected to expulsions, the first of which was carried out in November 1939,[3] nevertheless, the Polish resistance movement was active in the town.[2] On January 27, 1945, the city was taken by the Red Army, and afterwards restored to Poland.

After World War II, beer production declined and was discontinued in 1993. In 1999, Grodzisk again became a powiat seat when the powiats were reintroduced in the Polish administrative reforms.

As well as Grodziskie beer, Grodzisk is also known for its mineral water. A commemorative pump stands in the central market square in front of the town hall.

A historical museum called Muzeum Ziemi Grodziskiej is located in the town.

The local football team is Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski. It plays in the lower leagues, but in the 1990s and 2000s it competed in the Ekstraklasa, the country's top flight, finishing 2nd in 2003 and 2005. Dyskobolia is also two-times winner of the Polish Cup.

• Jonathan Alexandersohn (d.1869), rabbi
• Rudolf Mosse (1843–1920), publisher and philanthropist
• Albert Mosse (1846–1925), German judge and legal scholar
• Michał Drzymała (1857–1937), Polish national activist

• 
  Town hall
• 
  Sacred Heart church
• 
  Craft guild
• 
  Monument to fallen Polish insurgents of 1848
• 
  District court
• 
  Park

• Grodzisk Wielkopolski official website

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