History of Oswiecim

Land of Oświęcim became part of the newly established Duchy of Cieszyn, and in ca. 1315, an independent Duchy of Oświęcim was established. In 1327, John I, Duke of Oświęcim joined his Duchy with the Duchy of Zator, and soon afterwards, his state was attached to the Kingdom of Bohemia (see vassal), where it remained for over a century. In 1445, the Duchy was divided into three separate entities - those of Oświęcim and Zator, as well as the Duchy of Toszek. In 1457 Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon bought the rights to Oświęcim. On 25 February 1564, King Zygmunt August issued a bill, making former Duchies of Oświęcim and Zator part of the Kingdom of Poland. Both lands were attached to the Krakow Voivodeship, making Silesian County of that province. The town later became one of the centres of Protestant culture in Poland.

Like other towns of Lesser Poland, Oświęcim prospered in the period known as Polish Golden Age. Good times ended in 1655, during the catastrophic Swedish invasion of Poland. Oświęcim was burned and afterwards the town declined, and in 1772 (see Partitions of Poland), it was annexed by the Habsburg Empire, as part of the province of Galicia, where it remained until late 1918. After the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the town was close to the borders of both Russian-controlled Congress Poland, and the Kingdom of Prussia. In the 1866 war between Austria and the Prussian-led North German Confederation, a cavalry skirmish was fought at the town, in which an Austrian force defeated a Prussian incursion.

In the second half of the 19th century, Oświęcim became an important rail junction. In the same period, the town burned in several fires, such as the fire of 23 August 1863, when two-thirds of Oświęcim burned, including town hall and two synagogues. New town hall was built in 1872-75, and in another fire (in 1881), the parish church burned with a school and a hospital. In 1910, Oświęcim became the