Local history
Information about the town – Polska / wielkopolskie
Until the 18th century – Kingdom of Poland, Gniezno District, Gniezno Province,
1793 - 1807 – Prussia, South Prussia Province,
1807 - 1815 – The Duchy of Warsaw, Poznań Department,
1815 - 1919 – Prussia (Germany), the Grand Duchy of Posen, then Poznań Province, Bydgoszcz Regency, Gniezno County,
1919 - 1939 – Poland, Poznań Province, Gniezno County,
1939 - 1945 – Germany (The Third Reich), Reichsgau Wartheland Province (‘Kraj Warty’), Inowrocław Regency, Gniezno County,
1945- 1998 – Poznań Province,
Since 1999 – Wielkopolska Province, Gniezno County.
The beginnings of a settlement in the place of today’s Gniezno and its region come from the Mesolithic period. The origin of the town could be associated with the existence of the castle erected on so-called Lech Hill at the end of the 18th century. Gniezno was a central town in the country of Polans and an important center of a pagan cult. In the 10th and 11th centuries it became the first capital city of a united Polish country. Next to a huge fortified castle, an autonomous settlement and a hamlet extended outside city walls adjoining the border. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the latter was attached to a settlement outside the city walls and strengthened. Ancillary settlements of a different kind appeared around the town center. Also, three little castles were built to make defensive potential of the center stronger. In 1000, Emperor Otto III met Duke Bolesław I Chrobry in Gniezno. One of the results of the meeting for the town was the establishment of the first archbishopric in Poland. In 1025, after the death of Bolesław I Chrobry, Gniezno started to fall into decline. In 1038, the town was completely plundered and devastated by Bretislaus I, Duke of Bohemia. It lost its social status and the archiepiscopal seat for the benefit of Krakow. The latter was restored to Gniezno at the beginning of the 12th century. The seat of castellany was also placed there. The importance of the town increased in the period of regional disintegration in Poland, especially in the reign of King Mieszko III the Old. The fact that in the 13th and 14th century’s coronations of Polish kings took place there can prove its significance. Gniezno was one of the first Polish towns that received a foundation charter before 1243. It was founded in the place of a market settlement on Panieńskie Hill. It was a town chartered according to the Magdeburg law. Location in a convenient place for defense and at intersecting communications routes created favorable conditions for development. In 1331 Gniezno was destroyed by the Order of Teutonic Knights.
The 15th and 16th centuries brought a considerable development of the town. It belonged to a group of the greatest centers in western Poland. Burgesses grew wealthy through trade with Poznań, Toruń and Prussia. Craft played an important part. About 1580, the town imposed a tax on around 100 craftsmen, mainly tailors, furriers, shoemakers and bakers. Also the brewing industry mattered a lot. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Gniezno was many times destroyed by the fires. The largest losses were caused by conflagrations in 1520 and 1619. In 1655, the town suffered greatly during Polish-Swedish wars. The Swedes occupied the town again in 1709. In 1760, a fire consumed the town almost completely. Over the next decades it was gradually rebuilt. Its significance increased for a while after establishing Gniezno Province in 1768. In 1793, it was within Prussia borders. In 1794, it was temporarily captured by Polish insurgents and made an important center of craft and trade. 64 shoemakers, 57 tailors, 35 butchers, 14 furriers, 11 carpenters and several dozen other craftsmen ran workshops. There were eight windmills, a grinding mill and a tannery. Each burgess could brew beer. 150 dives worked in the town thanks to a privilege. At the beginning of the 19th century, the tanning and dyeing industry started to develop. In 1843, a big tannery was set up, in 1856 – a factory of agricultural machines. In the second half of the 19th century, among larger active enterprises in Gniezno, one can note that there was a brewery, brickyard, steam mill, tobacco factory, two dye works, a machine factory and iron foundry. A sugar factory was established in 1882 outside the town. Trade played an important part as well. Gniezno fairs, known in the Wielkopolska, where traders sold horses and oxen were very popular. About 5,000 head of horses and a few thousand oxen were driven there. People also dealt in corn, flour, spirits and crafts. Rail links with Bydgoszcz, Poznań, Oleśnica and Jarocin in 1872 and 1875 contributed to the development of Gniezno.
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