Rawicz

Rawicz (ˈravit͡ʂ; Rawitsch) is a town in west-central Poland with 21,398 inhabitants as of 2004. It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999); previously it was in Leszno Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Rawicz County. The town was founded by Adam Olbracht Przyjemski of Rawicz coat of arms for Protestant refugees from Silesia during the Thirty Years' War. In 1638 King Władysław IV Vasa granted Rawicz town rights and confirmed the town's coat of arms. Rawicz was built as a precisely planned town and developed at a rapid pace. It was located on the trade route connecting Poznań and Wrocław. In 1640, a cloth guild was founded. Cloth production became a leading branch of the local industry, and by the end of the 18th century Rawicz was the leading weaving town of the whole region of Greater Poland. Rawicz was a private town of Polish nobility, administratively located in the Kościan County in the Poznań Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown. After the destruction of Rawicz by the Swedes in 1655 during the Deluge, the town was rebuilt in an impressive way, erecting new townhouses, a Baroque church and a Catholic monastery. The early 18th century was an unfavorable period in the town's history. In 1701 it suffered a fire, in 1704-1705 it was occupied by Sweden, foreign troops marched through it: Russians in 1707, Austrians in 1719, Saxons in 1733. In the following decades, rapid development took place again, the construction of the castle was completed and a new Baroque town hall was built. In the second half of the 18th century, there were two breweries, a distillery, a slaughterhouse, and a brickyard in Rawicz. In 1793, Rawicz was annexed by Prussia as a result of the Second Partition of Poland. In 1807 the town was recovered by Poles as part of the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw and in 1815 it was again annexed by Prussia, initially as part of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznan. The principal industry was the manufacture of snuff and cigars.