Lublin

Lublin[a] is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 338,586 (December 2020).[2] Lublin is the largest Polish city east of the Vistula River and is about 170 km (106 mi) to the southeast of Warsaw by road.

One of the events that greatly contributed to the city's development was the Polish-Lithuanian Union of Krewo in 1385. Lublin thrived as a centre of trade and commerce due to its strategic location on the route between Vilnius and Kraków; the inhabitants had the privilege of free trade in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Lublin Parliament session of 1569 led to the creation of a real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, thus creating the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Lublin witnessed the early stages of Reformation in the 16th century. A Calvinist congregation was founded and groups of radical Arians appeared in the city, making it an important global centre of Arianism.[6]

Until the partitions at the end of the 18th century, Lublin was a royal city of the Crown Kingdom of Poland. Its delegates and nobles had the right to participate in the royal election. In 1578, Lublin was chosen as the seat of the Crown Tribunal, the highest appeal court in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and for centuries, the city has been flourishing as a centre of culture and higher learning.

The city is viewed as an attractive location for foreign investment, and the analytical Financial Times Group has found Lublin to be one of the best cities for business in Poland.[7] The Foreign Direct Investment ranking placed Lublin second among larger Polish cities in the cost-effectiveness category. Lublin is noted for its green spaces and a high standard of living;[8] the city has been selected as the 2023 European Youth Capital.[9] Its historical Old Town is one of Poland's national monuments (Pomnik historii) tracked by the National Heritage Board of Poland.[10]

Archaeological finds indicate a long presence of cultures in the area. A complex of settlements started to develop on the future site of Lublin and in its environs in the sixth to seventh centuries. Remains of settlements dating back to the sixth century were discovered in the centre of today's Lublin on Czwartek ("Thursday") Hill.

The period of the early Middle Ages was marked by an intensification of habitation, particularly in the areas along river valleys. The settlements were centred around the stronghold on Old Town Hill, which was likely one of the main centres of Lendians tribe. When the tribal stronghold was destroyed in the 10th century, the centre shifted to the northeast, to a new stronghold above Czechówka valley and, after the mid-12th century, to Castle Hill. At least two churches are presumed to have existed in Lublin in the early medieval period. One of them was most probably erected on Czwartek Hill during the rule of Casimir the Restorer in the 11th century.[11] The castle became the seat of a castellan, first mentioned in historical sources from 1224, but was quite possibly present from the start of the 12th or even 10th century. The oldest historical document mentioning Lublin dates from 1198, so the name must have come into general use some time earlier.[11]

The location of Lublin at the eastern borders of the Polish lands gave it military significance. During the first half of the 13th century, Lublin was a target of attacks by Mongols, Ruthenians, and Lithuanians, which resulted in its destruction.[11] It was also ruled by Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia between 1289 and 1302.[11] Lublin was founded as a town by Władysław I the Elbow-high or between 1258 and 1279 during the rule of the prince Bolesław V the Chaste.[11] Casimir III the Great, appreciating the site's strategic importance, built a masonry castle in 1341 and encircled the city with defensive walls.[12] From 1326, if not earlier, the stronghold on Castle Hill included a chapel in honor of the Holy Trinity. A stone church dating to 1335–1370 exists to this day.[11]

In 1392, the city received an important trade privilege from the king Władysław II Jagiełło. With the coming of peace between Poland and Lithuania, it developed into a trade centre, handling a large portion of commerce between the countries. In 1474, the area around Lublin was carved out of Sandomierz Voivodeship and combined to form the Lublin Voivodeship, the third voivodeship of Lesser Poland.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the town grew rapidly. The largest trade fairs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were held in Lublin. In the 16th century, the parliaments (Sejm) of the Kingdom of Poland were held in Lublin several times. On 26 June 1569, one of the most important proclaimed the Union of Lublin, which united Poland and Lithuania. Lublin as one of the most influential cities[11] of the state enjoyed voting rights during the royal elections in Poland.

Some of the artists and writers of the 16th century Polish renaissance lived and worked in Lublin, including Sebastian Klonowic and Jan Kochanowski, who died in the city in 1584. In 1578, the Crown Tribunal, the highest court of the Lesser Poland Province, was established in Lublin.[11]

Since the second half of the 16th century, Protestant Reformation movements devolved in Lublin, and a large congregation of Polish Brethren was present in the city. One of Poland's most important Jewish communities was established in Lublin around this time.[11] Jews established a widely respected yeshiva, Jewish hospital, synagogue, cemetery, and education centre (kahal) and built the Grodzka Gate (known as the Jewish Gate) in the historic district. Jews were a vital part of the city's life until the Holocaust, during which they were relocated by Nazi Germany to the infamous Lublin Ghetto and ultimately murdered.[11]

The yeshiva became a centre of learning of Talmud and Kabbalah, leading the city to be called "the Jewish Oxford."[11] In 1567, the rosh yeshiva (headmaster) received the title of rector from the king along with rights and privileges equal to those of the heads of Polish universities.

The city declined due to the disastrous Deluge, when it was invaded by Russo-Cossack forces in 1655, and Sweden in 1656.

After the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, Lublin was located in the Austrian empire, then following the Austro-Polish War of 1809 it was part of the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw, and then in 1815 it became part of the Congress Poland in the Russian Partition of Poland.

At the beginning of the 19th century, new squares, streets, and public buildings were built. In 1877, a railway connection to Warsaw and Kovel and Lublin Station were constructed, spurring industrial development. Lublin's population grew from 28,900 in 1873 to 50,150 in 1897 (including 24,000 Jews).[13]

Russian rule ended in 1915, when the city was occupied by German and Austro-Hungarian armies. After the defeat of the Central Powers in 1918, Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland - the first government of independent Poland operated in Lublin for a short time. In the interwar years, the city continued to modernise and its population grew; important industrial enterprises were established, including the first aviation factory in Poland, the Plage i Laśkiewicz works, later nationalised as the LWS factory. The Catholic University of Lublin was founded in 1918.

In 1921, Roman Catholics constituted 58.9% of the city's population, Jews - 39.5%. In 1931, 63.7% of the inhabitants were Roman Catholic and 34.7% Jewish.[14]

In early September 1939, during the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II, the Polish government evacuated a portion of the Polish gold reserve from Warsaw to Lublin, and then further east to Łuck,[15] before the city was occupied by Germany, and found itself in the newly formed General Government territory. The Polish population became a target of severe Nazi persecutions focusing on intelligentsia and Polish Jews. In November 1939, during the Intelligenzaktion, the Germans carried out mass arrests of hundreds of Poles, including teachers, judges, lawyers, engineers, lecturers and students of the Catholic University of Lublin, priests, and lecturers of the local theological seminary.[16] The occupiers also closed down the Catholic University of Lublin.[16] Arrested Poles were held in a prison established in the Lublin Castle, and many were afterwards deported to concentration camps.[16]

On December 23–25, 1939, the Germans carried out massacres of 31 Poles in several locations in Lublin.[17] Among the victims were lawyers, professors, school principals, starosts of Lublin and Lubartów counties and other well-known and respected citizens of the region.[17] In January and February 1940, the occupiers arrested 23 Capuchin friars and 43 Jesuit friars.[18] Persecution of Polish intelligentsia was continued with the AB-Aktion. On June 24, 1940, the Germans carried out mass arrests of over 800 Poles in Lublin, who were then imprisoned in the castle, along with dozens of Poles who were arrested at the same time in other towns in the region, including Biała Podlaska, Chełm, Puławy.[19] Many of the prisoners were then deported to the Sachsenhausen and Auschwitz concentration camps, while around 500 Poles were murdered in five large massacres carried out in the present-day district of Rury in 1940.[20] Among the victims of the massacres were both men and women: doctors, engineers, local officials, lawyers, judges, activists, military officers, parliamentarians, Polish resistance members, policemen, teachers and school and university students.[19]

An attempt to "Germanise" the city led to an influx of the ethnic Volksdeutsche, increasing the number of German minority from 10 to 15% in 1939 to 20–25%. Near Lublin, the so-called 'reservation' for the Jews was built based on the idea of racial segregation known as the "Nisko or Lublin Plan".[21]

The Germans established and operated a Baudienst forced labour camp for Poles in Lublin.[22] Many Poles from or associated with Lublin, including 94 lecturers, alumni and students of the Catholic University of Lublin were murdered by the Soviets in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940.[23]

The Jewish population was forced into the newly established Lublin Ghetto near Podzamcze. The city served as headquarters for Operation Reinhardt, the main German effort to exterminate all Jews in occupied Poland. The majority of the ghetto inmates, about 26,000 people, were deported to the Bełżec extermination camp between 17 March and 11 April 1942. The remainder were moved to facilities around the Majdanek concentration camp established at the outskirts of the city. Almost all of Lublin's Jews were murdered during the Holocaust in Poland. The secret Polish Council to Aid Jews "Żegota", established by the Polish resistance movement operated in the city.[24] There are also known cases of local Polish men and women, who were captured and sent to either forced labour or concentration camps by the Germans for sheltering and aiding Jews.[25] Poles who saved Jews in other places in the region were also temporarily imprisoned in the local castle, before being sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp.[26]

After the war, some survivors emerged from hiding with the Christian rescuers or returned from the Soviet Union, and re-established a small Jewish community in the city, but their numbers were insignificant. Most surivors left Poland for Israel, the United States and other countries.[27]

In the first years of the occupation, many expelled Poles from Gdańsk and German-annexed Pomerania were deported to Lublin,[28] and later on, in 1943, around 9,000 expelled Poles from the nearby Zamojszczyzna region were brought to Lublin and imprisoned in the Majdanek concentration camp and in a transit camp at Krochmalna Street; many were afterwards deported to forced labour in Germany.[29] In August 1943, thanks to efforts of the Polish Rada Główna Opiekuńcza charity organisation, around 2,200 people were released from those two camps.[29] Many of the released people, including hundreds of kidnapped Polish children, were extremely exhausted or sick, and were taken to local hospitals,[29] which quickly became overcrowded.[30] Many exhausted children died soon.[30] Lublin pharmacists and residents organized help for the children, and after leaving the hospital, the people were taken in by the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, which resulted in an epidemic typhus outbreak, which caused many deaths among the population.[30]

On 24 July 1944, the city was taken by the Soviet Army and became the temporary headquarters of the Soviet-controlled communist Polish Committee of National Liberation established by Joseph Stalin, which was to serve as the basis for a puppet government. The Soviets carried out arrests of Polish resistance members, including the regional delegate of the Polish government-in-exile Władysław Cholewa and the commander of the regional branch of the Home Army Colonel Kazimierz Tumidajski, who was eventually killed in Russian captivity in 1947.[31] The capital of new Poland was moved to Warsaw in January 1945 after the Soviet westward offensive.

In the postwar years, Lublin continued to grow, tripling its population and greatly expanding its area. A considerable scientific and research base was established around the newly founded Maria Curie-Sklodowska University. A large automotive factory, Fabryka Samochodów Ciężarowych (FSO), was built in the city.

Lublin has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with cold, damp winters and warm summers.

The Lublin region is a part of eastern Poland, which has benefited less from the economic transformation after 1989 than regions of Poland located closer to Western Europe. Despite the fact that Lublin is one of the closest neighbour cities for Warsaw, the investment inflow in services from the Polish capital has secured a steady growth due to relatively fast connection, while external investments are progressing, enabling nearby satellite municipality Świdnik for large-scale industrial investments.[citation needed ]

Lublin is a regional centre of IT companies. Asseco Business Solutions S.A., eLeader Sp z o.o., CompuGroup Medical Polska Sp. z o.o., Abak-Soft Sp. z o.o. and others have their headquarters here. Other companies (for example Comarch S.A., Britenet Sp. z o.o., Simple S.A., Asseco Poland S.A.) outsourced to Lublin, to take advantage of the educated specialists. There is a visible growth in professionals eager to work in Lublin,[citation needed ] due to reasons like quality of life, culture management, the environment, improving connection to Warsaw, levels of education, or financial, because of usually higher operating margins of global organisations present in the area.[citation needed ]

The large car factory Fabryka Samochodów Ciężarowych (FSC) was acquired by the South Korean Daewoo conglomerate in the early 1990s. With Daewoo's financial troubles in 1998 related to the Asian financial crisis, the production at FSC practically collapsed and the factory entered bankruptcy.[43] Efforts to restart its van production succeeded when the engine supplier bought the company to keep its prime market.[citation needed ] With the decline of Lublin as a regional industrial centre, the city's economy has been reoriented toward service industries. Currently, the largest employer is the Maria Curie-Sklodowska University.

The price of land and investment costs are lower than in western Poland. However, the Lublin area has to be one of the main beneficiaries of the EU development funds.[44] Jerzy Kwiecinski, the deputy secretary of state in the Ministry for Regional Development at the Conference of the Ministry for Regional Development (Poland in the European Union — new possibilities for foreign investors) said:

In the immediate financial outlook, between 2007 and 2013, we will be the largest beneficiaries of the EU — every fifth Euro will be spent in Poland. In total, we will have at our disposal 120 billion EUR, assigned exclusively for post-development activities. This sum will be an enormous boost for our country.[45]

In September 2007, the prime minister signed a bill creating a special economic investment zone in Lublin that offers tax incentives. It is part of “Park Mielec” — the European Economic Development area.[46] At least 13 large companies had declared their wish to invest here, e.g., Carrefour, Comarch, Safo, Asseco, Aliplast, Herbapol, Modern-Expo and Perła Browary Lubelskie.[47][48] At the same time, the energy conglomerate, Polska Grupa Energetyczna, which will build Poland's first nuclear power station, is to have its main offices in Lublin.

Modern shopping centers built in Lublin like Tarasy Zamkowe (Castle Terraces), Lublin Plaza, Galeria Olimp, Galeria Gala, the largest shopping mall in the city, covering 33,500 square meters of area. Similar investments are planned for the near future such as Park Felin (Felicity) and a new underground gallery ("Alchemy") between and beneath Świętoduska and Lubartowska Streets.[49]

There is a public TV station in the city: TVP Lublin which owns a 104-meter-tall concrete television tower.[50] The station put its first program on the air in 1985. In recent years it contributed programming to TVP3 channel and later TVP Info.

The radio stations airing from Lublin include 'Radio eR - 87.9 FM', Radio 'Eska Lublin' - 103.6 FM, Radio Lublin (regional station of the Polish Radio) - 102.2 FM, [ Radio Centrum (university radio station)] - 98.2 FM, Radio 'Free' (city station of the Polish Radio) - 89,9 FM, and Radio 'Złote Przeboje' (Golden Hits) Lublin - 95.6 FM.

Local newspapers include Kurier Lubelski daily, regional partner of the national newspaper Dziennik Wschodni daily, Gazeta Wyborcza [ Lublin Edition] daily (regional supplement to the national newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza), [ Metro] (daily, free) and Nasze Miasto Lublin weekly (free).

The Lublin Airport (Port Lotniczy Lublin) (IATA: LUZ) is located about 10 km (6.2 miles) SE of Lublin. With approximately 8 destinations and over 450 000 passengers served in 2018, it is the biggest airport in Eastern Poland. There is a direct train and bus link from the airport to downtown.

From Lublin Główny railway station, ten trains depart each day to Warsaw, and three to Kraków, as in other major cities in Poland. Lublin has also direct train connections with Rzeszów, Szczecin, Gdynia and other Polish cities and towns in the region as Nałęczów, Chełm or Zamość. The express train to Warsaw takes about two hours.[51]

There are other smaller stations in Lublin for local trains:

Lublin is located at the intersection of expressways S12, S17 and S19. Expressway S17 between Lublin and Warsaw is currently finishing construction and should be ready by the second half of 2020. S19 between Lublin and Rzeszów is currently under construction and should be finished by 2023. The rest of the planned expressway network around the city that will be built in the coming years consists of S12 to the east in the direction Chełm, S19 north towards Białystok and S17 southeast towards Zamość. The expressway bypass of Lublin allows transit traffic to avoid the city centre.

Long-distance buses depart from near the Castle in the Old Town and serve most of the same destinations as the rail network.

Lublin is one of only four towns in Poland to have trolleybuses (the others are Gdynia, Sopot and Tychy).[52]

Lublin is the largest city in eastern Poland and serves as an important regional cultural capital. Since then, many important international events have taken place here, involving international artists, researchers and politicians. The frescos at the Holy Trinity Chapel in Lublin Castle are a mixture of Roman Catholic motifs with eastern Byzantine styles, reinforcing how the city connects the west with the east.

The premier museum in the city is the National Museum of Lublin, one of the oldest and largest museums of Eastern Poland, as well as the Majdanek State Museum with 121,404 visitors in 2011.[53]

Lublin is a city with a proactive approach towards filmmaking industry. The city is featured at some of the most notable films, and that include Oscar-winning The Reader which was partially filmed at the Nazi Majdanek concentration camp.[54]

In 2008, Lublin collaborated with Ukrainian Lviv, to film and distribute promotional materials which painted both cities as attractive to the filmmaking industry. Films were handed out between filmmakers present at Cannes Festival.[55] This was sponsored by the European Union. There are numerous movie theatres in Lublin including a few multiplexes, i.e. Cinema City and Multikino chains, also smaller venues like Cinema Bajka, Cinema Chatka Żaka, Cinema Perla, Cinema Grazyna and Cinema Medyk.

The Lublin Film Fund has been active since 2009, actively caring for cultivation of cinematographic talents in Lublin and promoting the city by provision of financial and organizational support. Numerous feature films have been partially financed by the fund, including Kamienie na Szaniec, Panie Dulskie, Volta and award-winning Carte Blanche.[56]

There are many cultural organizations in Lublin, either municipal, governmental and/or non-governmental. Among the popular venues are municipal theatres and playhouses such as:

Fringe theatres:

There are numerous art galleries in Lublin; some are run by private owners, and some are municipal, government, NGO, or associations' venues. The Labyrinth Gallery (formerly "BWA", is the Artistic Exhibitions Office - Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych).

Lublin's Old Town shares several traditions with Lesser Poland, mostly the dialect and historic architecture that brings a unique ambience comparable with Kraków. It is, however, a distinct experience, which benefits from artistic renovation, that progressed somehow slower and more modestly focusing more on quality and less on commercialization. Historic buildings, including ruined townhouses that await for new owners, create a unique atmosphere of the renaissance city. Lublin's Old Town has cobbled, narrow streets and mostly medieval layout and design. Many venues around Old Town enjoy an architecture applicable for restaurants, art hotels, pubs galleries, and clubs. Apart from entertainment, the area houses small businesses and prestigious offices. There are several historic churches in the Old Town, including the landmark Renaissance St. Stanislaus Basilica and Baroque St. John the Baptist Cathedral.

Catering to students, who account for 35% of the population, the city offers a vibrant music and nightclub scene[57] Lublin has many theatres and museums and a professional orchestra, the Lublin Philharmonic.[58][59][60][61]

In the Old Town and the immediate surrounding, over 100 unique restaurants, fine-dining venues, cafes, pubs, clubs and other catering outlets are located. In the latter half of the 2010s, the robust international community gathered around Lublin's Medical University has impacted the growth of restaurants offering various world cuisines.

Lublin aims to be known as the Polish Capital of Festivals.[11] Most years, Lublin increases the number of festivals held in the city. The most significant of them include:

In 2007, Lublin joined the group of Polish cities as candidates for the title of European Capital of Culture. Lublin was shortlisted, but ultimately Wrocław was chosen. Lublin is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission Intercultural cities programme.

There are five public schools of higher education:

Lublin is home to private higher education establishments.

It is home to one of the oldest still-functioning schools in Poland, The Staszic School, which was established in 1586. The school has many notable alumni, such as Bolesław Prus, one of the most influential Polish writers and novelists, and Lesław Paga, the co-founder of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Lublin is the capital of the province called Lublin Voivodeship, a province (voivodeship) created in 1999. The city is a separate urban gmina and city county (powiat).

Lublin is governed by the municipal legislature known as the city council (Rada Miasta) and the city's mayor (Prezydent Miasta). The city council is made up of 31 councillors directly elected by the city's inhabitants. The remit of the council and president extends to all areas of municipal policy and development planning, up to and including the development of local infrastructure, transport, and planning permission. The city's current mayor is Krzysztof Żuk, who has served in this position since 2010.[73]

Lublin has an official flag, a 5:8 rectangle divided into three horizontal stripes: white (top), green (narrow, middle), and red (bottom). In the central part, there is the coat of arms of Lublin. It is also allowed to hang the flag in the form of a vertical ribbon: then white should be on the left side or near the spar.

Lublin is divided into 27 administrative divisions (dzielnica):[74] Abramowice, Bronowice, Czechów Południowy, Czechów Północny, Czuby Południowe, Czuby Północne, Dziesiąta, Felin, Głusk, Hajdów-Zadębie, Kalinowszczyzna, Konstantynów, Kośminek, Ponikwoda, Rury, Sławin, Sławinek, Stare Miasto, Szerokie, Śródmieście, Tatary, Węglin Południowy, Węglin Północny, Wieniawa, Wrotków, Za Cukrownią, Zemborzyce.

Lublin is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the EU Intercultural cities programme.[75] In 2017, Lublin was awarded the Europe Prize by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.[76] In 2023, Lublin was selected as the European Youth Capital[77] by international jury of the European Youth Forum. Lublin is a signatory of the European charter for equality of women and men in local life.[78]

Two settlements outside of Poland were created that were named Lublin. Lublin, Wisconsin is a village in Taylor County in the United States, while Lublin, Moldova was a Jewish agricultural colony founded during the Russian Empire in what is now the village of Niemirówka in 1842.

Lublin is twinned with:[79]

Former twin towns:

Juliusz Osterwa Theatre

Lublin Cathedral

Interior of the Cathedral

Trinitarian Tower

St. Stanislaus Basilica

Courtyard of the Dominican Abbey

UMCS Botanical Gardens

14th-century Holy Trinity Chapel

Frescoes inside the chapel

Grodzka Gate

A street fair in the Old Town

440th anniversary of the Union of Lublin

Birthplace of composer Henryk Wieniawski

House of poet Sebastian Klonowic

Zemborzyce Lake

Saints Peter and Paul church

Transfiguration church

The first part of a bypass road around Lublin

Radio & TV tower in Lublin