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Piła (former German name Schneidemühl) is a town in northwestern Poland with 77,000 inhabitants (2001). Situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship (since 1999), previously capital of Piła Voivodship (1975-1998). Piła is the largest town in the northern part of Greater Poland, at now is capital of a county. The town is beautifully located on the Gwda river and is famous for its' green areas, parks and dense forests nearby. It is a very important point of roads and rail roads.

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City name

Piła is a Polish word which means "a saw". It was a typical name denoting a village of woodcutters belonging to a local noble. The former German name of the town, Schneidemühl, literally means "sawmill" in English. Between 1871 and 1945 the city was primarily referred to under its German name. After World War II the German name was gradually changed to Pila.

History

Piła was founded in 1380 on the Magdeburg Law as a small village of woodcutters. The document was most probably issued by Queen Hedwig of Poland , but it did not survive. The first mention of Piła comes from a church document from March 31, 1451. Piła soon grew and became a private town of Opaliński family. In 1480 Maciej Opaliński ceded the town to king Kazimierz Jagiellończyk. On March 4, 1513 the town was relocated by king Sigismund the Old. Piła was granted self-government and vast economical autonomy. Because of that it soon became one of the main centres of wood industry in the area with several sawmills and a paper factory.

In 16th century the town was rented by Bnińscy and Górkowie families, who founded the local Gothic City House. In 1503 the town had 153 houses, two churches and the City House, as well as several guilds. In 1605 king Zygmunt III Waza gave Piła to his second wife, Konstancja. In 1626 a fire destroyed most of the city (only two buildings were made of brick). Piła was rebuilt rapidly thanks to funds granted by Konstancja. New houses were constructed of brick and stone and the town was reconstructed in plain renaissance style. However, during The Deluge on July 24, 1655 the Swedish forces captured the city and pillaged it. Piła was also pillaged and damaged during the consecutive Great Northern and Seven Years' Wars.

After the First Partition of Poland in 1772 it was annexed by Prussia. In 1806, together with most of Great Poland, it was recaptured by the Duchy of Warsaw, but in 1815 the Congress of Vienna granted it to Prussia again. The Polish language was banned from offices and education and the city saw significant influx of German settlers. In 1834 the city was again struck by a fire that destroyed large part of the city centre and the city archives. It was reconstructed shortly afterwards.

In 1851 it was connected to Berlin and Bydgoszcz by a railroad. By the end of 19th century the city, then renamed to Schneidemühl, became one of the most important railway nodes of eastern Prussia and one of the biggest towns in the Duchy of Poznań. It was turned into a military garrison town. Until 1871 Piła belonged to the Grand Duchy of Poznań, but was incorporated into Province of Posen of German Empire, after it was created.

After the World War I the city was not included into newly-reborn Poland. After the Great Poland Uprising the new Polish-German border ran 5 kilometres south of the city. In 1922 Schneidemühl became a centre of local administration of Grenzmark Posen-Westpreußen. The city experienced a short period of fast growth followed by a period of decline in the early thirties. High unemployment and ineffectivity of local administration led to a rising support for the NSDAP. In 1938 included in Pommern. During the World War II the city was included into the Pommerstellung line of fortifications. In 1945 the town was declared a festung by Adolf Hitler. It was captured by the joint Polish and Soviet forces after two weeks of heavy fights. The city was destroyed in 75% and almost 90% of the historical city centre was in ruins.

After the war Piła was returned to Poland. The historical city centre was restored only partially. In 1975 Piła became the capital of the newly-established Piła Voivodship, which started a period of fast development of industry in the area. Currently Piła is one of the most important cities of the region. It is famous for its green areas and parks, as well as for its speedway club Polonia Piła.

Notable people

• Stanisław Staszic (1755-1826), a priest and the activist of the Polish Enlightenment, who was very active also as economist in the times of the Congress Kingdom
• Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (1884-1945), German politician
• Bishop Maximilian Kaller, first church administrator of Schneidemühl

Historical attractions

• 19th century building of former arsenal
• St. Stanislaus Kostka's church - built in Neo-Gothic style
• Holy Family's church - built in Neo-Baroque style
• St. Anthony's church with the biggest in Europe seven metre tall wooden figure of Jesus Christ (church built in 1930)
• museum in house of Stanisław Staszic
• two war cemeteries (prisoners from the World War I and Polish and Soviet soldiers killed during the battle of Wał Pomorski (Pommerstellung) during World War II); cemeteries are in uptown part of Piła, in Leszków.

Historical population

Economy

Major corporations

• Philips Lighning Poland SA, Piła
• Winkowski sp. z o.o., Piła

Education

• Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu

Sports

• PPTS Nafta Gaz Piła - women's volleyball team playing in Polish Seria A Women's Volleyball League: 4th place in 2003/2004 season.
• Polonia Piła - speedway club Polonia Piła
• MKP - fourth division football club.

Politics

Piła constituency

Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from Piła constituency

• Ajchler Romuald, SLD-UP
• Beger Renata, Samoobrona
• Gawłowski Andrzej, SLD-UP
• Kalemba Stanisław, PSL
• Pijanowska Grażyna, SLD-UP
• Piosik Stanisław, SLD-UP
• Skowyra Józef, LPR
• Stec Stanisław, SLD-UP
• Szejnfeld Adam, PO

External links:

• Internet Portal of Piła
• Our city - Piła
• Internet info Piła
• Powiat of Piła

Pila is also the plural form of the Roman weapon, the pilum.

• Towns in Poland