Editing Zgorzelec (section)

==History==
Up until 1945, the modern-day towns of Zgorzelec and [[Görlitz]] were a single entity; their history up to that point is shared. The date of the town's foundation is unknown.<ref name=hist/>

===Middle Ages===
In the [[Early Middle Ages]], the area was inhabited by the Bieżuńczanie tribe,<ref>{{cite book|last=Bena|first=Waldemar|year=2006|title=Szlakiem grodzisk słowiańskich i średniowiecznych zamków|language=pl, de|location=Zgorzelec|pages=9–10}}</ref> one of the old [[Polish tribes]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://encyklopedia.interia.pl/historia/news-plemiona-polskie,nId,2084506|title=Plemiona polskie|website=Encyklopedia Internautica|access-date=13 December 2020|language=pl}}</ref> which together with the [[Sorbs|Sorbian]] [[Milceni]] tribe, with which it bordered in the west, was subjugated in 990 by the [[Margraviate of Meissen]], a [[frontier march]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. It was conquered by Polish Duke, and future King, [[Bolesław I the Brave]] in 1002, whose goal was to decisively unite all Polish tribes, and remained part of [[Kingdom of Poland|Poland]] during the reign of the first Polish kings Bolesław I the Brave and [[Mieszko II Lambert]] until 1031, when the region fell again to the Margraviate of Meissen. Zgorzelec/Görlitz was first mentioned in a document from the King of [[Kingdom of Germany|Germany]], and later [[Holy Roman Emperor]], [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]] in 1071 as a small village named Goreliz in the region of [[Upper Lusatia]].<ref name=hist>{{cite web|title=History of Zgorzelec and Görlitz|url=http://www.it.zgorzelec.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=557&Itemid=55|access-date=30 December 2016}}</ref> In 1075, the region, within the [[Holy Roman Empire]], passed to rule of the [[Duchy of Bohemia]] ([[Kingdom of Bohemia|kingdom]] from 1198). In the 13th century the village gradually turned into a town. It became rich due to its location on the [[Via Regia]], an ancient and medieval trade road. In 1319 it became part of the [[Piast]]-ruled [[Duchy of Jawor]], the southwesternmost duchy of fragmented Poland, and later on, became part of [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] and the [[Holy Roman Empire]] again.

In the following centuries, from 1346, it was a wealthy member of the [[Six-City League of Upper Lusatia]], consisting of the six Lusatian cities [[Bautzen]], Görlitz, [[Kamenz]], [[Lubań]], [[Löbau]] and [[Zittau]]. The town of [[Gorlice]] in southern Poland was founded during the reign of [[Casimir the Great]] in 1354 by [[ethnic Germans|ethnic German]] colonists from Görlitz, in the last phases of [[Ostsiedlung|eastward settlement by Germans]] (in this case by [[Walddeutsche]]). In 1469, along with the Lusatian League, the town recognized the rule of King [[Matthias Corvinus]] and passed to [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]], and in 1490 it fell back to Bohemia then ruled by Polish prince [[Vladislaus II of Hungary|Vladislaus Jagiellon]].<ref>Gustav Köhler, ''Der Bund der Sechsstädte in der Ober-Lausitz: Eine Jubelschrift'', G. Heinze & Comp., Görlitz, 1846, p. 30 (in German)</ref> The town brokered international trade between German states in the west and [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Poland]], [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]], Hungary and [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Muscovy]] in the east,<ref name=hist/> and in 1510 King [[Sigismund I the Old]] allowed free trade in all of Poland and Lithuania for the town.

===Modern period===
[[File:Fotothek df rp-e 0130071 Görlitz. Dreiradenmühle, aus, Die Mühle vom 23.6.1927.jpg|thumb|left|The ''Tricycle Mill'' in the 1920s]]
After suffering for years in the [[Thirty Years' War]], the region of Upper Lusatia (including Görlitz) passed to [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]] (1635), whose [[Prince-elector|Electors]] were also Kings of Poland from 1697. One of the two main routes connecting [[Warsaw]] and [[Dresden]] ran through the city at that time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dresden-warszawa.eu/pl/prolog/informacja-historyczna/|title=Informacja historyczna, Dresden-Warszawa|access-date=June 1, 2019}}</ref>

In 1815, after the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the [[Congress of Vienna]] awarded Görlitz to the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] and subsequently the city became part of the [[German Empire]] in 1871. The city was a part of the Prussian province of [[Silesia]] from 1815 to 1919.

===20th century===
During [[World War I]], the Germans operated a [[prisoner-of-war camp]] in present-day Zgorzelec, in which initially [[Russians|Russian]], [[French people|French]] and [[British people|British]] POWs were held, and then from 1916 to 1919 around 6,500 [[Greeks|Greek]] soldiers were [[Internment|interned]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lr-online.de/lausitz/weisswasser/als-tausende-griechen-in-goerlitz-zuflucht-suchten-36825432.html|title=Als Tausende Griechen in Görlitz Zuflucht suchten|website=LR Online|access-date=31 October 2020|language=de}}</ref> After the abolition of the Kingdom of Prussia in the aftermath of [[World War I]], Görlitz became a part of the newly established [[Province of Lower Silesia]] in the [[Free State of Prussia]].

[[File:Zgorzelec Stalag VIIIA.jpg|thumb|left|Memorial to the victims of the German [[Stalag VIII-A]] POW camp]]
On 26 August 1939, a few days before [[invasion of Poland|Germany invaded Poland]] and sparked [[World War II]], a temporary [[prisoner-of-war camp]] intended for [[Polish people|Poles]] was established in present-day Zgorzelec, which was soon converted into the large [[Stalag VIII-A]] POW camp.<ref name=jlag27>{{cite journal|last1=Lusek|first1=Joanna|last2=Goetze|first2=Albrecht|year=2011|title=Stalag VIII A Görlitz. Historia – teraźniejszość – przyszłość|journal=Łambinowicki rocznik muzealny|location=Opole|language=pl|volume=34|page=27}}</ref> The first 8,000 Polish POWs were brought to the camp on 7 September 1939.<ref name=jlag28>Lusek, Goetze, p. 28</ref> Also Polish civilians, including women, were held in the camp, which served as a transit camp for Poles, who were deported to Germany either to [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] or to [[Nazi concentration camps]].<ref>Lusek, Goetze, p. 27-28</ref> Among them were especially Polish activists and [[intelligentsia]] from [[Silesia]], [[Greater Poland]] and [[Pomerania]], arrested during the ''[[Intelligenzaktion]]''.<ref name=jlag28/> After being brought to the town in [[Rail freight transport|freight trains]], the prisoners were marched from the train station to the camp, while the local German population and [[Hitler Youth]] stood in lines and insulted them.<ref name=jlag28/> Poor sanitary conditions led to frequent epidemic outbreaks in the camp.<ref>Lusek, Goetze, p. 29</ref> During the war also POWs of various other nationalities were held in the camp, including the [[Czechs]], [[Lithuanians]], [[Jews]], French, [[Belgians]], Russians, [[Italians]], Britons, [[Canadians]], [[Australians]], [[New Zealanders]], [[South Africa]]ns, [[Yugoslavs]], [[Slovaks]], [[Americans]]. The French composer [[Olivier Messiaen]] was one of its inmates.<ref>{{cite web | title=European Center Memory, Education, Culture | website=Meetingpoint Music Messiaen e.V. | date=17 April 2020 | url=https://www.meetingpoint-music-messiaen.net/en/european-center-memory-education-culture/ | access-date=27 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Stalag VIII A | website=Meetingpoint Music Messiaen e.V. | date=2 May 2019 | url=https://www.meetingpoint-music-messiaen.net/en/stalag-viii-a/ | access-date=27 May 2020}}</ref> Most POWs were evacuated by the Germans in February 1945 in a [[death march]], during which POWs who either were unable to walk or tried to escape were murdered.<ref>Lusek, Goetze, p. 44</ref> In November 1941, also the Stalag 368 POW camp was founded in the town, but was relocated to [[Beniaminów]] in the following months.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Megargee|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Overmans|first2=Rüdiger|last3=Vogt|first3=Wolfgang|year=2022|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=372–373|isbn=978-0-253-06089-1}}</ref>

[[File:Zgorzelec 190906 15 dom kulturny.jpg|thumb|''Miejski Dom Kultury'' is one of the cultural and community centers of Zgorzelec, and the place of signing of the [[Treaty of Zgorzelec]]]]

In the wake of German defeat, operation groups arrived in the town on 10 to 12 May 1945 on the right Oder bank of Görlitz to secure Polish takeover of the town district. Polish administration was officially implemented on 21 May.<ref name="Opiłowska">{{cite thesis|title=Kontinuitäten und Brüche deutsch-polnischer Erinnerungskulturen : Görlitz-Zgorzelec 1945 - 2006|lang=de|author=Elżbieta Opiłowska |publisher= Frankfurt (Oder), Univ.}}</ref> On 2 June 1945, Polish military closed the bridge in Görlitz to block Germans from returning to their homes in [[Silesia]]. Early in the morning on 21 June, the Polish ordered the Germans to leave their homes on the eastern part of Görlitz.<ref name="Opiłowska"/>

The [[Potsdam Conference]] confirmed Polish rule and henceforth, the [[Oder-Neisse]] line as the Polish-East German border divided Görlitz (lying on the [[Lusatian Neisse]]) between the two countries. The German part retained the name [[Görlitz]], while the Polish part was initially known by its other historic Polish name Zgorzelice,<ref>{{Cite Polish law|title=Rozporządzenie Ministra Obrony Narodowej w porozumieniu z Ministrem Administracji Publicznej z dnia 21 sierpnia 1945 r. o utworzeniu nowych, o zmianach istniejących dotychczas rejonowych komend uzupełnień i o ustaleniu ich zasięgu terytorialnego.|year=1945|volume=33|number=196}}</ref><ref name="Opiłowska"/> later changed to the also historic name<ref>{{cite book|last=Jordan|first=Jan Pětr|year=1845|title=Vollständiges Taschenwörterbuch der polnischen und deutschen Sprache/Dokładny słowniczek polsko-niemiecki i niemiecko-polski|language=pl,de|location=Leipzig|page=706}}</ref><ref>{{cite map|author=Wojskowy Instytut Geograficzny|title=Mapa Operacyjna Polski|map=Zgorzelec (Görlitz)|year=1935|scale=1:300,000|language=pl}}</ref> Zgorzelec. Polish and Greek settlers arrived in the town. Zgorzelec had a difficult start as a Polish town because almost all of the infrastructure facilities were located in the part remaining German.<ref name="Opiłowska"/> The [[Treaty of Zgorzelec]], between [[Poland]] and [[East Germany]], was signed in the town's community center in 1950.

Starting in 1948, some 10,000 [[Ethnic Greek|Greek]] [[refugees of the Greek Civil War]], mainly communist [[Partisan (military)|partisans]], were allowed into Poland and settled mainly in Zgorzelec. There were Greek schools, a Greek retirement home, and even a factory reserved for Greek employees. The majority of these refugees later returned to Greece, but a part remains to this day (see [[Greeks in Poland]]). The Greek community of Zgorzelec was instrumental in the building of [[The Orthodox Parish of Saints Constantine and Helen in Zgorzelec|The Orthodox Church of Saints Constantine and Helen]] in 2002. Since 1999, an annual international Greek Song Festival has been held in Zgorzelec.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greece.pl/polski/grecypol.htm |title=Ambasada Grecji w Warszawie – Grecy w Polsce |publisher=www.greece.pl |access-date=2009-06-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030302141305/http://www.greece.pl/polski/grecypol.htm |archive-date=2 March 2003 }}</ref>

In 1972, the Polish-East German border was opened for visa-free travel, resulting in intense movement between Zgorzelec and Görlitz, which lasted until 1980, when East Germany unilaterally closed the border due to anti-communist protests and the emergence of the [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] movement in Poland. Until 1975 Zgorzelec was administratively located in the Wrocław (Lower Silesian) Voivodeship, and in 1975–1998 it was located in the [[Jelenia Góra Voivodeship]].

===Recent history===
[[File:Zgorzelec-Wroclawska.jpg|thumb|right|Reconstructed Postal Square, seen from the river]]
Since the [[fall of communism]] in 1989, Zgorzelec and Görlitz have developed a close political relationship. Two of the numerous bridges over the Neisse river that had been blown up by retreating German forces in World War II have been rebuilt, reconnecting the two towns with one bus line. There is also common urban management and annual common sessions of both town councils. In 2006 the towns jointly applied to be the [[European Capital of Culture]] in 2010. It was hoped that the jury would be convinced by the concept of Polish-German cooperation, but the award fell to [[Essen]], with Görlitz/Zgorzelec in second place.