Kluczbork

Kluczbork AUDKluczbork pronounciation.ogg'kludżbork (Kreuzburg O.S., Kluczborek) is a town in southern Poland with 23,554 inhabitants (2019), situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Kluczbork County and an important railroad junction. Between 1975–1998, the town was administratively part of the former Opole Voivodeship. In Kluczbork the major rail line from Katowice splits into two directions – westwards to Wrocław and northwards to Poznań. It is also connected with Fosowskie. Archaeologists have determined that a settlement existed at the location of present-day Kluczbork by 1000–800 BCE. The Germanic Sciri and Bastarnae settled in the vicinity, and were followed c. 100 BCE by Celts and various Germanic tribes, including Silingi and Vandals. The latter left Silesia c. 400 and West Slavs came to the region in the 7th century (see Silesians). In the late 10th century the Silesian territory was included in the emerging Polish state by its first historic ruler Mieszko I. In the 13th century the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star acquired territory in Silesia, including the villages of Młodoszów, Kuniów, and Chocianowice. The Knights built a settlement on November 2, 1252 . Named Cruceburg (later spelled Creutzburg, Creuzburg, Kreuzburg), it received Magdeburg rights on February 26, 1253, now accepted as the official date of the town's foundation. The Knights adjudicated in the town until 1274, when it started to be administered by a vogt of local Silesian dukes and juries were introduced. As a result of the dynastic fragmentation of Poland, Kluczbork was part of various Polish duchies ruled by the Piast dynasty: Duchy of Silesia until 1293, Duchy of Głogów until 1312, Duchy of Oleśnica until 1323 and Duchy of Legnica until 1341, when it came under direct rule of the King of Poland, Casimir III the Great. In 1356 it passed to the Czech Crown, and continued to belong to various duchies ruled by the Piast dynasty. From 1536 it was part of the Piast-ruled Duchy of Brzeg until its dissolution in 1675.