Jan Matejko
Jan Alojzy Matejko was a Polish painter known for paintings of notable historical Polish political and military events. His works include large oil on canvas paintings like Rejtan, Union of Lublin or Battle of Grunwald, numerous portraits, a gallery of Polish kings, murals in St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków, he is referred to as the most famous Polish painter or the "national painter" of Poland. Matejko spent most of his life in Kraków, his teachers at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts included Wojciech Korneli Stattler and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz. He became a director at this institution, renamed the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts. A number of his students became prominent painters themselves, including Maurycy Gottlieb, Jacek Malczewski, Józef Mehoffer and Stanisław Wyspiański. Matejko was born on 24 June 1838, in the Free City of Kraków, his father, Franciszek Ksawery Matejko, a Czech from the village of Roudnice, was a graduate of the Hradec Králové school who became a tutor and music teacher.
He first worked for the Wodzicki family in Kościelniki, Poland moved to Kraków, where he married the half-German, half-Polish Joanna Karolina Rossberg. Jan was the ninth child of eleven children, he grew up in a kamienica building on Floriańska Street. After the death of his mother in 1845, Jan and his siblings were cared for by his maternal aunt, Anna Zamojska. At a young age he witnessed the Kraków revolution of 1846 and the 1848 siege of Kraków by the Austrians, the two events which ended the existence of the Free City of Kraków, his two older brothers served in these battles, under General Józef Bem. Matejko attended St. Ann's High School. From his earliest days Matejko showed artistic talent, but had great difficulty with other academic areas, he never mastered a foreign language. Despite that, because of his exceptional skill, he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków from 1852 to 1858, his teachers included Władysław Łuszczkiewicz. He selected historical painting as his specialization, finished his first major work, Tsars Shuyski before Zygmunt III, in 1853.
During this time, he began exhibiting historical paintings at the Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts. His seminal project for his graduation in 1858 was Sigismund I the Old ennobles the professors of the Jagiellonian University. After graduation, Matejko received a scholarship in 1859 to study with Hermann Anschütz at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich; the following year he received a scholarship to study at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna as well, but after a few days and a major quarrel with Christian Ruben, Matejko returned to Kraków. and opened a studio at his family home in Floriańska Street. It would however be years. In 1860 Matejko published an illustrated album, Clothing in Poland, a project reflecting his intense interest in historical records of all kinds and his desire to promote such interest among Polish people, to intensify their patriotism, his financial situation improved when he sold two paintings, Death of Wapowski during the crowning of Henry Valois and Jan Kochanowski mourning his daughter Urszulka, which settled his debts.
In 1862 he finished Stańczyk. Received without much applause, in time this would become known as one of Matejko's most famous masterpieces, it marks a visible transition in Matejko's art style, from illustrating history to creating a philosophical and moral commentary of it. During the January Uprising of 1863, in which he did not participate because of poor health, Matejko gave financial support, donating most of his savings to the cause, transported arms to the insurgents' camp, his Skarga's Sermon, finished in May 1864, was displayed in the gallery of the Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts, which gained him much publicity. On 5 November that year, in recognition for his contributions to recreating historical themes, he became a member of the Kraków Scientific Society. Soon afterward, on 21 November, he married Teodora Giebultowska, with whom he would have five children: Beata, Tadeusz and Regina. Helena, his daughter an artist, helped victims in World War I and was awarded the Cross of Independence by president Stanisław Wojciechowski.
At that time Matejko started to gain international recognition. In 1865, Matejko's painting Skarga's Sermon was awarded a gold medal at the yearly Paris salon. In 1867, his painting Rejtan was awarded a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris and acquired by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria for 50,000 franks, his next major painting was the Union of Lublin, created in the years 1867-1869. Once again applauded in Paris, it won Matejko a Cross of the French Légion d'honneur. and was purchased by the Sejm of Galicia. Union... was followed by Stefan Batory at Pskov, finished in 1871. In 1872 he visited Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire, a
Bretislav I
Bretislav I, known as the "Bohemian Achilles", of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1035 until his death. Bretislav was the son of his low-born concubine Božena; as an illegitimate son could not obtain a desirable wife by conventional means, he chose to kidnap his future wife Judith of Schweinfurt, a daughter of the Bavarian noble Henry of Schweinfurt, Margrave of Nordgau, in 1019 at Schweinfurt. During his father’s reign, in 1019 or 1029, Bretislav took back Moravia from Poland. About 1031, he invaded Hungary; the partition of Bohemia between Oldřich and his brother Jaromír in 1034 was the reason why Bretislav fled beyond the Bohemian border, only to come back to take the throne after Jaromír’s abdication. In 1035, Bretislav helped Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II in his war against the Lusatians. In 1039, he invaded Lesser and Greater Poland, captured Poznań, sacked Gniezno, brought the relics of St. Adalbert, Radim Gaudentius and the Five Brothers back with him. On the way back, he regained part of Silesia, including Wrocław.
His main goal was to set up an archbishopric in Prague and create a large state subject only to the Holy Roman Empire. His raid had an unintended enduring influence on Polish history, as the plundering and destruction of Gniezno pushed the next Polish rulers to move their capital to Kraków, which would retain this role for many centuries ahead. In 1040, the German King Henry III invaded Bohemia, but was forced to retreat after he lost the Battle at Brůdek; the following year, Henry III invaded again, skirted the border defences and laid siege to Bretislav in Prague. Forced by a mutiny among his nobles and betrayed by Bishop Šebíř of Prague, Bretislav had to renounce all of his conquests save for Moravia and recognize Henry III as his sovereign. 1042 Emperor Henry III granted Bretislav Silesia as lien. In 1047, Emperor Henry III negotiated a peace treaty between Bretislav and the Poles; this pact worked in Bretislav's favour, as the Polish ruler swore never again to attack Bohemia in return for an annual subsidy to Gniezno.
Bretislav was the author of decrees concerning the rules of Christianization, which included a ban on polygamy and trade on holidays. It was in 1030. In 1054, he established rules for the ducal succession and issued the famous Seniority Law that introduced agnatic seniority for order of succession. Younger members of the dynasty were supposed to govern fiefs, but only at the duke's discretion; the result of this succession policy was the relative indivisibility of the Czech lands, but bitter conflicts over succession and territorial primacy between members of the dynasty. It was ended by the elevation of Bohemia to the status of a kingdom under Ottokar I of Bohemia, which led to the establishment of primogeniture as the ruling principle for succession rights. Bretislav's eldest son Spytihněv was to succeed him as Duke of Bohemia with control over it domains. Moravia was divided between three of his younger sons; the Olomouc Appanage went to Vratislaus. The youngest son, Jaromír, became Bishop of Prague.
Bretislav died at Chrudim in 1055 during preparations for another invasion of Hungary and was succeeded by his son Spytihněv II as Duke of Bohemia. His sons Otto and Vratislav were shut out of the government by Spytihněv, but after his death both gained control of Moravia and Bohemia, respectively. Bretislav married the daughter of Margrave Henry of Schweinfurt; the House of Přemysl wished to confirm its good relationship with the Babenbergs through a marriage to Judith in 1020. Judith was a desirable bride, but Oldřich of Bohemia had only one son, he was of illegitimate birth, thus complicating the prospect of a marriage with the high-born Judith. Bretislav solved the problem by kidnapping Judith from a monastery in Schweinfurt, although he was never punished for the crime, he married Judith some time later. Their first son Spytihněv was born after ten years, which led to the hypothesis that the kidnapping happened in 1029, although Judith may have given birth to daughters before her first son.
In all, there were four sons from the marriage that survived into adulthood: Spytihněv II, Duke of Bohemia Vratislaus II of Bohemia Conrad I, Duke of Bohemia Otto I of Olomouc Jaromír, Bishop of PragueAncestry Bretislav I was buried in the old St. Vitus Church in Prague, founded by Wenceslaus I in 930, his tomb is now situated in the Chapel of St. Wenceslaus in the St. Vitus Cathedral built in the 1344–66 period. Bretislav I was depicted in the fresco composition of the Přemyslid dynasty at the Znojmo Rotunda, painted in the 1134–61 period. Berend, Nora. Central Europe in the High Middle Ages:Bohemia and Poland, c.900-c.1300. Cambridge University Press. Krzemieńska, Barbara. Břetislav I.: Čechy a střední Evropa v prvé polovině XI. století. Prague: Garamond. ISBN 80-901760-7-0. Krzemieńska, Barbara. "Břetislav I." pp. 324–329. Krofta, Kamil. "Bohemia to the Extinction of the Premyslids". In Tanner, J. R.. W.. N. Cambridge Medieval History:Victory of the Papacy. Vol. VI. Cambridge University Press. Mahoney, William.
The History of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. ABC-CLIO. Pánek, Jaroslav. A History of the Czech Lands. Charles Universi
Polish Crown Jewels
The only surviving original piece of the Polish Crown Jewels from the time of the Piast dynasty is the ceremonial sword – Szczerbiec. It is on display along with other preserved royal items at the Wawel Royal Castle Museum in Kraków. Several royal crowns were made, including several during the 16th Century, a "Hungarian Crown", a "Swedish Crown" used by the Vasa kings, others that were subsequently lost or destroyed; the crown regalia used by the Saxon kings, some remainders of older Polish monarchs which were appropriated by king Augustus II the Elector of Saxony. In AD 1000, during his pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Adalbert in Gniezno, the capital of Poland until about 1040, Emperor Otto III recognized Duke Bolesław I the Brave as King of Poland, crowning him and presenting him with a replica of the Holy Lance known as Saint Maurice's Spear; this relic, together with the vexillum attached to it, was the first insignia of the nascent Kingdom of Poland, a symbol of King Bolesław's rule, of his allegiance to the Emperor.
It remains unknown what images, if any, were embroidered on the vexillum. Starting from 1320 the regalia of the Polish kings were kept in the treasury of the Wawel Cathedral. In 1370 Louis I of Hungary decided to transfer the Polish regalia to Hungary and they were returned in 1412 to Andrzej of Rożnów embassy by Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg. During the reign of the Jagiellons the regalia were moved from the cathedral to the Wawel Castle and placed in the specially prepared Crown Treasury. In the 17th century they were brought to Warsaw for the coronations of the Polish Queens. During the Deluge in 1655, the royal insignia were evacuated from the castle by Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski, Grand Marshal of the Crown and hidden in the old castle in Stará Ľubovňa, they were stored there until 1661. In 1703 during the Great Northern War they were hidden again, first in Silesia in Moravia. During the double election of 1733, the regalia were stolen by the follower of Stanisław I Leszczyński, Franciszek Maksymilian Ossoliński, Grand Treasurer of the Crown, who concealed them in the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw.
In 1734, they were recovered from the hideout and deposited in the Jasna Góra Monastery, where they remained till 1736. In 1764, with the consent of the Sejm, the royal insignia were transported to Warsaw for the coronation of King Stanisław II August. Returned to the Wawel Castle, where they were kept till the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. On 15 June 1794 the Prussian Army entered Kraków and captured Wawel Castle, subsequently turning it into a fortress. Shortly thereafter, the city commandant, general Leopold von Reuts began a correspondence with Berlin on the fate of furnishings of the Polish kings' residence. In the greatest secrecy, by order of king Frederick William II of Prussia, he was commanded to transfer the content of the Crown Treasury to the Secret Councillor Anton Ludwig von Hoym, to secure its transport via Silesia to Berlin; the locksmith brought by the Prussians broke the locks of the treasury and opened all the boxes. The valuables were transported in 1794 and found their place in the collection of the Hohenzollerns in Berlin.
In 1800 the valuables were stored in the Berlin City Palace, where they were admired by Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, as he informed Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz. In 1809 the Polish regalia were valued at 525,259 thalers and shortly after, on 17 March 1809, in accordance with the decision of Frederick William III of Prussia, all of them were melted down; the obtained gold was reused to make coins, while precious stones and pearls were handed to the Directorate of Maritime Trade in Berlin. According to an inventory of the State Treasury at the Wawel performed in 1633 by the Jerzy Ossoliński, Great Crown Chancellor the Crown Regalia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth consisted of: the Crown of Bolesław I the Brave, according to a legend handed over to the first Polish monarch by Emperor Otto III, made for Władysław I the Elbow-high the so-called "Queens Crown" made for Jadwiga of Kalisz the so-called "Hungarian Crown" made for John II Sigismund Zápolya according to Crown of Saint Stephen the so-called "Homagial Crown" for receiving homages, made for Władysław II Jagiełło the so-called "Funebralis Crown" intended for funeral ceremonies of the Polish monarchs, made for Stephen Báthory three sceptres and three silver orbs a silver chain with the relic of the holy cross the Ruthenian crosses and relics Latin Bible copied on parchment rhinoceros horn Szczerbiec, the coronation sword, used in crowning ceremonies of most kings of Poland Grunwald Swords, two Teutonic Order swords received at the Battle of Grunwald by King Władysław Jagiełło the sword of Bolesław the Bold the sword of Sigismund I the Old three hats fringed with pearls a large chest with jewel boxes, which contained a large ruby, a 0.94 carats diamond, 200 diamonds, a large emerald, among others.
A private treasury of the Vasas consisted of: the "Swedish Crown" made for King Sigismund II Augustus the "Muscovy Crown" made in about 1610 for Prince Władysław Vasa's coronation as a Tsar of Russia a silver White Eagle heraldic base for the royal crown.
Oldřich, Duke of Bohemia
Oldřich, a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1012 to 1033 and again in 1034. His accession to the Bohemian throne marked the start of a phase of stability after a long period of internal dynastic struggles. Under his rule, the Moravian lands were reconquered from Polish occupation. Oldřich was the third son of Duke Boleslaus II of Bohemia and one of his father's two wives: Adiva or Emma of Mělník. Upon the death of his father, his eldest brother Boleslaus III succeeded as duke, however, he soon entered into a fierce conflict with his younger brothers Oldřich and Jaromír. In 1001, both had to flee to the Bavarian court at Regensburg; when Boleslaus III was deposed by the rival Vršovci dynasty the next year and the Polish ruler Bolesław I the Brave invaded Bohemia, King Henry II of Germany intervened. As a part of Henry's expedition to Prague, Boleslaus's brothers were able to return to Bohemia, Jaromír was installed as Bohemian duke in 1004. In the German–Polish War of 1002-18, Duke Jaromír remained a loyal supporter of the German king.
Henry did not take action when he was deposed and blinded by his brother Oldřich on 12 April 1012. While Jaromír fled to Poland, Oldřich recognised the suzerainty of the German king, he secured his rule by suppressing the Vršovci insurgents. Oldřich and his son Bretislaus sought to win back Moravia, once conquered from the Poles by Oldřich's grandfather Duke Boleslaus I. Bretislaus and his wife Judith of Schweinfurt took up residence in Olomouc. In 1029, the Bohemian forces, backed by Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II drove the Poles out of the eastern lands. However, Bretislaus's efforts to occupy adjacent territories in what is today Slovakia by marching against the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary failed in 1030 due to the jealousy of the emperor, who reached an agreement with King Stephen I. In the following year, Bohemian forces refused to take the field for the emperor. In 1032, Duke Oldřich did not appear, his absence raised the ire of the emperor and Conrad, busy with events in Burgundy, charged his son Henry III with punishing the recalcitrant Bohemian.
Oldřich was arrested and sent to Bavaria. He was again replaced by his brother Jaromír. However, when Oldřich was pardoned the next year, he returned to Bohemia and had Jaromír captured and deposed, he drove out Jaromír's son from Moravia. Oldřich died abruptly on 9 November 1034 and examination of his skeleton reveal his skull to have suffered a fatal blow. Jaromír renounced the throne in favour of his nephew Bretislaus. According to legend rendered by the medieval chronicler Cosmas of Prague, Duke Oldřich about 1002 married a Božena, daughter of Křesina, after discarding his first wife on the grounds that they were childless. Together they had a son: Bretislaus I, Duke of Bohemia from 1035 until his deathThough his parents were married, Bretislaus remained an heir, his grandfather was Duke Boleslaus II. Wolverton, Lisa. Hastening Toward Prague: Power and Society in the Medieval Czech Lands. University of Pennsylvania Press. Krofta, Kamil. "Bohemia to the Extinction of the Premyslids". In Tanner, J.
R.. W.. N. Cambridge Medieval History:Victory of the Papacy. Vol. VI. Cambridge University Press
Archbishop of Cologne
The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop representing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany and was ex officio one of the electors of the Holy Roman Empire, the Elector of Cologne, from 1356 to 1801. Since the early days of the Catholic Church, there have been ninety-four bishops and archbishops of Cologne. Seven of these ninety-four retired by resignation, including four resignations which were in response to impeachment. Eight of the bishops and archbishops were coadjutor bishops. Seven individuals were appointed as coadjutors by the Pope. One of the ninety-four moved to the Curia. Additionally, six of the archbishops of Cologne were chairmen of the German Bishops' Conference. Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki is the Archbishop of Cologne, since his 2014 transfer from Berlin, where he had been Cardinal Archbishop. All names before Maternus II are to be approached with considerable skepticism, as little contemporary evidence is available.
Maternus was present at a council in Rome in 313. The bishops between Severinus and Charentius are apocryphal. Domitianus was the Bishop of Maastricht; the given dates of office before Gunther are conjectural, at best. Maternus I c. 88–128 Paulinus Marcellinus Aquilinus Levoldus c. 248–285 Maternus II c. 285–315 Euphrates c. 315–348 Severinus c. 348–403 Ebergisil I? c. 403–440 Solatius c. 440–470 Sunnovaeus c. 470–500 Domitianus fl. c. 535 Charentinus fl. c. 570 Eberigisil II? c. 580–600? Remedius c. 600? –611? Solatius c. 611? –622 Cunibert c. 623–663 Bodatus c. 663–674 Stephen 674–680 Adelwin 680–695 Giso 695–708 Anno I 708–710 Faramund 710–713 Agilolf 713–717 Reginfried 718–747 Hildegar 750–753 Bertholm 753–763 Rikulf 763–784 Hildebold 784–818 Hadbold 818–842 Hildwin 842–849 Günther 850–864 Hugo Welf 864 Wilbert 870–889 Hermann I 890–924 Wigfried 924–953 Bruno I 953–965 Volkmar 965–969 Gero 969–976 Warin 976–984 Ebergar 984–999 Heribert 999–1021 Pilgrim 1021–1036 Hermann II 1036–1056 Anno II 1056–1075 Hildholf 1076–1078 Sigwin 1078–1089 Hermann III 1089–1099 Friedrich I 1100–1131 Bruno II von Berg 1131–1137 Hugo von Sponheim 1137 Arnold I 1138–1151 Arnold II von Wied 1152–1156 Friedrich II von Berg 1156–1158, nephew of Bruno II von Berg above Rainald of Dassel 1159–1167 Philipp von Heinsberg 1167–1191, he gained the title of Duke of Westphalia and Angria in 1180, from on held in personal union by all incumbents of the Cologne see until 1803.
Bruno III von Berg 1191–1192, brother of Friedrich II above Adolf I von Berg 1192–1205, nephew of Bruno III above Bruno IV von Sayn 1205–1208 Dietrich I von Hengebach 1208–1215 Engelbert II von Berg 1216–1225, nephew of Bruno III above Heinrich I von Mulnarken 1225–1237 Ferdinand August von Spiegel 1824–1835 Clemens August II Droste zu Fischering 1835–1845 Johannes von Geissel 1845–1864 Paul Melchers 1866–1885 Philipp Krementz 1885–1899 Hubert Theophil Simar 1899-1902 Anton Hubert Fischer 1902–1912 Felix von Hartmann 1912–1919 Karl Joseph Schulte 1920–1941 Josef Frings 1942–1969 Joseph Höffner 1969–1987 Joachim Meisner 1988–2014 Rainer Maria Woelki since 2014 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne Cologne Cathedral List of Bishops and Archbishops of Cologne Archdiocese of Cologne List of Bishops and Archbishops of Cologne Cologne Cathedral
Germany
Germany the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north and the Czech Republic to the east and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, Luxembourg and the Netherlands to the west. Germany includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,386 square kilometres, has a temperate seasonal climate. With 83 million inhabitants, it is the second most populous state of Europe after Russia, the most populous state lying in Europe, as well as the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is a decentralized country, its capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while Frankfurt serves as its financial capital and has the country's busiest airport. Germany's largest urban area is the Ruhr, with its main centres of Essen; the country's other major cities are Hamburg, Cologne, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Dresden, Bremen and Nuremberg. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity.
A region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. After the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, the German Confederation was formed in 1815; the German revolutions of 1848–49 resulted in the Frankfurt Parliament establishing major democratic rights. In 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the revolution of 1918–19, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic; the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 led to the establishment of a dictatorship, the annexation of Austria, World War II, the Holocaust. After the end of World War II in Europe and a period of Allied occupation, Austria was re-established as an independent country and two new German states were founded: West Germany, formed from the American and French occupation zones, East Germany, formed from the Soviet occupation zone.
Following the Revolutions of 1989 that ended communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe, the country was reunified on 3 October 1990. Today, the sovereign state of Germany is a federal parliamentary republic led by a chancellor, it is a great power with a strong economy. As a global leader in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the world's third-largest exporter and importer of goods; as a developed country with a high standard of living, it upholds a social security and universal health care system, environmental protection, a tuition-free university education. The Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1957 and the European Union in 1993, it is part of the Schengen Area and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999. Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G7, the G20, the OECD. Known for its rich cultural history, Germany has been continuously the home of influential and successful artists, musicians, film people, entrepreneurs, scientists and inventors.
Germany has a large number of World Heritage sites and is among the top tourism destinations in the world. The English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine; the German term Deutschland diutisciu land is derived from deutsch, descended from Old High German diutisc "popular" used to distinguish the language of the common people from Latin and its Romance descendants. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz "popular", derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- "people", from which the word Teutons originates; the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a coal mine in Schöningen between 1994 and 1998 where eight 380,000-year-old wooden javelins of 1.82 to 2.25 m length were unearthed. The Neander Valley was the location where the first non-modern human fossil was discovered.
The Neanderthal 1 fossils are known to be 40,000 years old. Evidence of modern humans dated, has been found in caves in the Swabian Jura near Ulm; the finds included 42,000-year-old bird bone and mammoth ivory flutes which are the oldest musical instruments found, the 40,000-year-old Ice Age Lion Man, the oldest uncontested figurative art discovered, the 35,000-year-old Venus of Hohle Fels, the oldest uncontested human figurative art discovered. The Nebra sky disk is a bronze artefact created during the European Bronze Age attributed to a site near Nebra, Saxony-Anhalt, it is part of UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme. The Germanic tribes are thought to date from the Pre-Roman Iron Age. From southern Scandinavia and north Germany, they expanded south and west from the 1st century BC, coming into contact with the Celtic tribes of Gaul as well
Kraków
Kraków spelled Cracow or Krakow, is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, economic and artistic life. Cited as one of Europe's most beautiful cities, its Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site; the city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second most important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was being reported as a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 965. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918 and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and artistic centre; the city has a population of about 770,000, with 8 million additional people living within a 100 km radius of its main square. After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany at the start of World War II, the newly defined Distrikt Krakau became the capital of Germany's General Government.
The Jewish population of the city was forced into a walled zone known as the Kraków Ghetto, from which they were sent to German extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz never to return, the Nazi concentration camps like Płaszów. In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, was elevated to the papacy as Pope John Paul II—the first Slavic pope and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years; that year, UNESCO approved the first sites for its new World Heritage List, including the entire Old Town in inscribing Kraków's Historic Centre. Kraków is classified as a global city with the ranking of high sufficiency by GaWC, its extensive cultural heritage across the epochs of Gothic and Baroque architecture includes the Wawel Cathedral and the Royal Castle on the banks of the Vistula, the St. Mary's Basilica, Saints Peter and Paul Church and the largest medieval market square in Europe, the Rynek Główny. Kraków is home to Jagiellonian University, one of the oldest universities in the world and traditionally Poland's most reputable institution of higher learning.
In 2000, Kraków was named European Capital of Culture. In 2013 Kraków was approved as a UNESCO City of Literature; the city hosted the World Youth Day in July 2016. The name of Kraków is traditionally derived from Krakus, the legendary founder of Kraków and a ruler of the tribe of Lechitians. In Polish, Kraków is an archaic possessive form of Krak and means "Krak's". Krakus's name may derive from "krakula", a Proto-Slavic word meaning a judge's staff, or a Proto-Slavic word "krak" meaning an oak, once a sacred tree most associated with the concept of genealogy; the first mention of Prince Krakus dates back to 1190, although the town existed as early as the 7th century, inhabited by the tribe of Vistulans. The city's full official name is Stołeczne Królewskie Miasto Kraków, which can be translated as "Royal Capital City of Kraków". In English, a person born or living in Kraków is a Cracovian. While in the 1990s the English version of the name was written Cracow, the most widespread modern English version is Krakow.
Kraków's early history begins with evidence of a Stone Age settlement on the present site of the Wawel Hill. A legend attributes Kraków's founding to the mythical ruler Krakus, who built it above a cave occupied by a dragon, Smok Wawelski; the first written record of the city's name dates back to 965, when Kraków was described as a notable commercial centre controlled first by Moravia, but captured by a Bohemian duke Boleslaus I in 955. The first acclaimed ruler of Poland, Mieszko I, took Kraków from the Bohemians and incorporated it into the holdings of the Piast dynasty towards the end of his reign. In 1038, Kraków became the seat of the Polish government. By the end of the 10th century, the city was a leading centre of trade. Brick buildings were constructed, including the Royal Wawel Castle with St. Felix and Adaukt Rotunda, Romanesque churches such as St. Adalbert's, a cathedral, a basilica; the city was sacked and burned during the Mongol invasion of 1241. It was rebuilt identical, based on new location act and incorporated in 1257 by the high duke Bolesław V the Chaste who following the example of Wrocław, introduced city rights modelled on the Magdeburg law allowing for tax benefits and new trade privileges for the citizens.
In 1259, the city was again ravaged by the Mongols. A third attack in 1287 was repelled thanks in part to the new built fortifications. In 1335, King Casimir III of Poland declared the two western suburbs to be a new city named after him, Kazimierz; the defensive walls were erected around the central section of Kazimierz in 1362, a plot was set aside for the Augustinian order next to Skałka. The city rose to prominence in 1364, when Casimir III of Poland founded the University of Kraków, the second oldest university in central Europe after the Charles University in Prague. King Casimir began work on a campus for the Academy in Kazimierz, but he died in 1370 and the campus was never completed; the city continued to grow under the joint Lithuanian-Polish Jagiellon dynasty. As the capital of the Kingdom of Poland and a member of the Hanseatic League, the city attracted many craftsmen and guilds as science and the arts began to flourish; the royal chancery and the University ensured a first flourishing of Polish literary culture in the city.
The 15th and 16th centuries were known as Poland's Złoty Golden Age. Many works of Pol
