Pabianice [pabʲaˈɲit͡sɛ] is a city in central Poland with 63,023 inhabitants (2021).[1] Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County. It lies about 10 kilometres (6 miles) southwest of Łódź and belongs to the metropolitan area of that city. It is the third largest city in the Łódź Voivodeship by population. The area of the city covers 32.9 square kilometres (12.7 sq mi), being the 10th largest in Łódź Voivodeship.

Pabianice
Zamkowa Street
Zamkowa Street
Flag of Pabianice
Coat of arms of Pabianice
Pabianice is located in Poland
Pabianice
Pabianice
Coordinates: 51°39′N 19°23′E / 51.650°N 19.383°E / 51.650; 19.383
Country Poland
Voivodeship Łódź
CountyPabianice
GminaPabianice (urban gmina)
Establishedbefore 10th century
City rights1297
Government
 • City mayorGrzegorz Mackiewicz
Area
 • Total
32.99 km2 (12.74 sq mi)
Highest elevation
203 m (666 ft)
Lowest elevation
174 m (571 ft)
Population
 (31 December 2021)
 • Total
63,023 Decrease[1]
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
95–200
Area code+48 42
Vehicle registrationEPA
Primary airportŁódź Władysław Reymont Airport
Websitehttp://www.um.pabianice.pl

According to data from 2009,[2] agricultural land constitutes 53%, of the area and forests another 9%. The city covers 6.70% of Pabianice County.

It is located in the Sieradz Land. Neighbour administrative divisions: gmina Dobroń, gmina Ksawerów, miasto Łódź, gmina Pabianice, gmina Rzgów.

Transportation

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Pabianice has seen major infrastructural changes over the past few years amidst increased investment and economic growth. The city has a much improved infrastructure with new roads. Pabianice now has a good circular road system. Pabianice bypass (express road S14) opened in May 2012. However, parts of S8 (part of the European route E67) are currently under construction and to be completed within 2012.

Near Pabianice there is an international airport: Łódź Władysław Reymont Airport (IATA: LCJ, ICAO: EPLL) located just 11 kilometres (7 miles) from the city centre.

Public transport in Pabianice includes buses, trams (streetcars), as of 2013 commuter railway Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna and regional rail PKP Przewozy Regionalne. The regional rail and light rail is operated by Polish State Railways (PKP). There are also some suburban bus lines run by private operators. Bus service covers the entire city. Currently, the Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacyjne (City Transport Company) company runs line number 41 which connects Pabianice with Łódź City.

History

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Pabianice in the interbellum

Pabianice was established in the 10th or 11th century, and was part of early Piast-ruled Poland. In 1297, Władysław I Łokietek granted town rights. Pabianice was a private church town, administratively located in the Szadek County in the Sieradz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland.[3] In 1555, Polish King Sigismund II Augustus issued a privilege, which established craft guilds in Pabianice.[4]

 
Church of Saint Mary, the town's largest church
 
Enders' Palace

Before World War II, Pabianice had a substantial Jewish population, comprising about a quarter of all residents of the town. Jews had been living in the town since the 1700s. Following the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the town was under German occupation. As part of the Intelligenzaktion, in late 1939, the Germans carried out mass arrests of local Polish intelligentsia, who were initially imprisoned in a local transit camp and the nearby Radogoszcz concentration camp, and then either deported to other concentration camps or mostly murdered in nearby forests.[5] Local Polish teachers and activists were murdered by the Germans during large massacres in the nearby Łagiewniki forest (within today's city limits of Łódź) in November and December 1939.[6] The Germans also expelled around 1,000 Poles from the town in December 1939.[7] Under German occupation nearly the entire Jewish population was murdered. Some were murdered in the town, several thousand were sent to the Chełmno extermination camp where they were immediately gassed, and others were expelled to Łódź and to forced labour camps in the area. Only about 150 survived of the 9,000 Jews thought to be living in Pabianice at the start of the war. For more on the wartime experience see Megargee.[8] The German occupation ended in 1945.

Demography

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Recently, the population of Pabianice has been steadily decreasing. Between 2002 and 2016 it fell from 72,444 to 66,265 (a decrease of about 400 people every year).[9]

Unemployment

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According to source data from 2009[10] average income per capita was on the level of 1844,96 PLN. According to source data from October 2011[11] average unemployment rate in Pabianice is on the level of 15,6%

Architecture

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Renaissance fortified manor house
 
Old, monumental, Neo-Gothic weaving mill of Krusche & Ender's.
  1. Church of St. Matthew the Evangelist
  2. Renaissance fortified manor house of Cracovian Chapter
  3. Weaver houses (Domy tkaczy)
  4. "Krusche-Ender" cotton factory buildings
  5. Old offices "Krusche-Ender" with "prządki" sculpture
  6. Old palace of Enders' family
  7. Lutheran Church of St. Peter and St. Paul
  8. Neo-Gothic Church of Saint Mary
  9. Railway station
  10. Renaissance Revival pentecostal chapel near Ludwik Waryński St. (ruins)
  11. Maria Konopnicka Special Education School Complex
  12. Pabianicki Harvard Heureka Private Schools
  13. Christian cemeteries
  14. Jewish cemetery
  15. Synagogue (destroyed)
  16. Pabianice Castle

Quarters and administrative subdivisions

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Centrum, Bugaj, Piaski, Stare Miasto, Karniszewice, Klimkowizna, Jutrzkowice, Wola Zaradzyńska Nowa, J. Salwy, Marii Konopnickiej, Jana Pawła II, Mikołaja Kopernika, Dąbrowa, Rypułtowice, Czyryczyn (formerly Sereczyn), Karolew, Zatorze.

Sport

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Club Sport Founded League Venue Head Coach
Language School Pabianice[12] Basketball 1946 First League MOSiR, ul. Grota-Roweckiego 3, Pabianice Sylwia Wlaźlak
Włókniarz Pabianice Football 1946 Łódzka Klasa Okręgowa MOSiR, ul. Grota-Roweckiego 3, Pabianice Jacek Włodarczewski
PTC Pabianice Football 1906 Łódzka Klasa Okręgowa Stadium, ul. Stefanii Sempołowskiej 6, Pabianice Jan Rykała

Notable people

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Former home and workshop of painter Bolesław Nawrocki

International relations

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Twin towns – sister cities

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Pabianice is twinned with:[13]

Former twin towns:

In March 2022, Pabianice ended its partnership with the Russian city of Gusev as a response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Local Data Bank". Statistics Poland. Retrieved 16 August 2022. Data for territorial unit 1008021.
  2. ^ "Powierzchnia i ludność w przekroju terytorialnym w 2010 r". www.stat.gov.pl (in Polish). Główny Urząd Statystyczny. Archived from the original on 2013-12-20. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  3. ^ Atlas historyczny Polski. Województwo sieradzkie i województwo łęczyckie w drugiej połowie XVI wieku. Część I. Mapy, plany (in Polish). Warszawa: Instytut Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk. 1998. p. 3.
  4. ^ Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom VII (in Polish). Warszawa. 1886. p. 805.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ Wardzyńska, Maria (2009). Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. p. 203.
  6. ^ Wardzyńska (2009), p. 204
  7. ^ Wardzyńska, Maria (2017). Wysiedlenia ludności polskiej z okupowanych ziem polskich włączonych do III Rzeszy w latach 1939-1945 (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. p. 180. ISBN 978-83-8098-174-4.
  8. ^ Megargee, Geoffrey (2012). Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos. Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indiana Press. p. Volume II, 88–89. ISBN 978-0-253-35599-7.
  9. ^ Central Statistical Office (Poland): Demographics Database. (data for 2012-present)
  10. ^ "Główny Urząd Statystyczny". www.stat.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2011-12-20.
  11. ^ "Wojewódzki Urząd Pracy". wup.lodz.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  12. ^ "PTK Pabianice". www.ptk.pabianice.com.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 5 November 2008.
  13. ^ "Miasta partnerskie Pabianic". um.pabianice.pl (in Polish). Biuro Promocji Miasta. 4 May 2005. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
  14. ^ "Pabianice zerwały współpracę z rosyjskim miastem Gusiew" (in Polish). 4 March 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2022.