Paczków

Beginnings of Paczków

The panorama of Paczków and the monuments of this unique town put us in the past and invite us to a history excursion. The city of Paczków (the name comes from the surname Pakosław) appeared on Silesia’s map among the former Slavic settlements of the „Ślężanie“ tribe in the mid-13th century .

According to former sources Paczków was founded by a Roman leader Lucca who decided, as he came back from long journey around the year 300, to settle in this area. The settlement founded by and named after him was to develop so rapidly that it has become a big city already in 791. Lucca was to build here a temple which he entirely devoted to a Roman God. According to tradition the present church is situated exactly at the place where the aforementioned building has already been placed.

The documented development of the settlement in the Sudeten foothills is dated between the 12th and 13th century. Bishop Wawrzyniec started in this area the localization of new villages. After the Tatar invasions this mission was continued by his successor – the bishop of Wroclaw Tomasz I. He was it who gave his consent for the localization of the city on the 8th March 1254 by signing an agreement with two Flemings from Nysa – Henryk and Wilhelm – concerning the foundation of the market settlement. This document was signed in Nysa which was an administrative centre at that time. The new settlement got his name from the already existing village called Paczków that from this time on was called Stary Paczków [Old Paczków]. The city became not only a market place but completed also diverse defence tasks. Since the beginning Paczków has been a castle whose task it was to defend the south-west border of the Episcopal principality.

The town was also defended by a castle in the 13th century which was raised by Bolek Wysoki at the river from the side of the place Kozielno. The fortified building did not remain till the present time – it was namely destroyed at the beginning of the 15th century.

Fortification of the castle

Due to city defence tasks Paczków was most probably already fortified at the times of the localization. Initially, the fortifications possibly consisted of timber and earth. At about 1350 the bishop Przecław put a double stone wall around the city. The first, inner wall consisted of stones and had 30 circular shell structures. In a distance of 7 - 8 meters of it an external wall was raised which apart from stones consisted of bricks. There were three gates within the walls: the Lower Gate (Wroclaw), the Upper Gate (Kłodzko) und the Łaziebna Gate (Ziębicka). The fourth gate (Nysa) was only erected during the Renaissance. Apart from that, the so-called Dead Gate situated nearby the parish church and paving the way to the nearby cemetery was broken through.

At the same time the erection of the church started, which according to tradition was raised at the same place as the disassembled timber temple. The works started in 1350 (took around 30 years) and most probably they were led once again by the bishop Przecław from Pogorzela.

The erection of city walls very likely was a result of the events which took place in 1318 where Paczków was attacked by the troops of Jan Wustehube from Chałupki. The assailants seized even the church und killed several people during a mass.

Over the centuries, the fate of the city and its inhabitants was characterized by changing fortune. Due to its location and ties with the diocese of Wroclaw, Paczków was under the Czech, Austrian and Prussian rule over centuries.

In the first centuries of its existence the city had to experience disasters typical of the Middle Ages: hunger (1325), flood (1333) and epidemic (1438). In 1428 Paczków suffered an occupation by the Hussite army which treated the inhabitants extremely badly and caused massive destructions. The second half of the 15th century gave the town an opportunity to develop quickly in terms of economic growth whereby bishops played a key role giving the town several privileges. Guilds started to occur: weavers (1464 and 1476), butchers and bakers (1471), furriers (1481) and forgers (1483). In 1483 a salt market was also established in Paczków.

Heyday and its end

The end of the 15th century and the first half of the 16th century were characterized by additional works at the fortification of the town. In 1526 Paczków and the whole Silesia region came under rule of the Austrian Habsburger. At that time the town experienced the heyday by being an important centre for trade and the production of tissues what was of fundamental importance for the richness of the merchants. Paczków was entitled to organize four fairs every year and, accordingly, started to grow rapidly. Nearby the patrician blocks of flats, which were built instead of the old timber houses, new public buildings started to be erected e.g. the brewery (1551) and the catholic school (1557). Around the end of the 16th century two water supply lines were raised in the town.

The end of the town’s importance and richness was caused by the cholera epidemic which decimated the inhabitants of this castle in the years 1603-1607 and the heyday of Paczków was finally stopped by the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). The number of inhabitants went down to 700 people. In addition, the town was destroyed by fire in 1634 and its economy was run to ruin during the occupation. Generally there was no more trade and craft in this town.

As the inhabitants of Silesia began to prepare for the defence in front of the Turkish invasions in the second quarter of the 16th century, it has been decided to convert the stone church into a citadel – the place of the ultimate defence. That was realized in the 30s of the 16th century. The reconstruction of the church was very likely implemented by the well-known architect Jakub Parr who modernized the castle in Bolków later on and reconstructed the ducal castle in Brzeg.

The following years were characterized by a turbulent period of time. The wars destroyed the economy and households as well as depopulated the town. The well-known proverb in the 17th century: „Look for me in Paczków“ meant an abandoned place where it is quite difficult to meet a person. Disasters occurred against which the people were helpless. The time went by and, accordingly, diminished the traces of the defeats. New generations rebuilt the destroyed facilities, reinforced the fortifications and improved the municipal buildings. Once again mills started to rattle, ponds to be filled with fish and everyone could hear the noise coming from the weaver workstations. Shoemakers, potters, butchers and bakers did their work. The merchants brought and sold their goods. And in front the town hall a hat could have been put on – as a sign of the beginning fair.

The 19th century – the development of the industry

Paczków remained the property of bishops from Wroclaw and was a part of the Nysa principality until the secularization of this principality, i.e. till 1810.

Since the first half of the 19th century the town started to flourish. The industry of Paczków developed in a dynamic way. Apart from the mills, tanneries, breweries and trade workshops already existing for a long time, new companies started their commercial activity – candles factory, production plant of drawing devices, soap factory, production plant of golden frames, two brickworks, later on a gas works, dairy and municipal water supply plant. The revival of the economic development was reinforced by the erection of the railway line in 1874, which enabled the connection between Nysa and Kamieniec Ząbkowicki.

Also in the 19th century the municipal fortification was repaired and put in order thoroughly. In 1846 the external remains of walls were ruined and one year later the buildings and bridges were demolished. The moat of the fortification was filled up at the location of which municipal buildings were erected.

World Wars and the comeback to Polish territory

The World War I has left no significant scars in Paczków. Similar to it the World War II which started on the 1st of September 1939 and reached Paczków only before the end of the war. All in all the town was bombed by 3 plane bombs out of which one destroyed the Saint Jan cemetery church. As a result of the acts of war 15% of the municipal buildings sustained damages. This is significantly less than for instance in the town of Nysa, where 55% of the town was destroyed. Mid-March 1945 a considerable part of the inhabitants was evacuated because of the information about the approaching frontline. Many inhabitants of Paczków abandoned the town voluntarily. At the beginning of 1945 Paczków came under the occupation of the 59th Army of General Iwan Korownikow (1st Ukrainian frontline) as a result of the Prague operation of the Red Army. After the frontline left the town many inhabitants of Paczków came back to their town.

Despite its turbulent and sometimes tragic times Paczków finally came back to the Polish territory. However, the arrival of new immigrants after the war, who were not emotionally engaged with Paczków, led to a neglection and even to a destruction of the listed buildings of the town. In 1956 a reconstruction plan for Paczków has been approved following the historical-municipal study and the reconstruction plan of the old town. The renovations of the monuments have been started in the years 1974-75.

Nowadays Paczków consisting of more than 8000 inhabitants is commonly referred to as the Polish Carcassonne, whereby this comparison is likely attributable to the defence walls in the Middle Age. These walls belong to the best kept monuments of the municipal fortification architecture. This comparison is based on the central municipal planning complex, which perfectly maintained the forms and proportions. Thanks to this Paczków fascinates everyone through its historical flair and draws tourists’ attention by means of many very well kept monuments as well as with the mysterious atmosphere of the Middle Ages.