Wrocław

The title of this article is ambiguous. For other meanings, see Breslau (disambiguation).

Wrocław (PolishAudio-Datei / Hörbeispiel Wrocław? /i [ˈvrɔtswaf], Silesian Brassel, Latin Vratislavia or Wratislavia), located in southwestern Poland, is with 641,607 inhabitants (June 2019) the fourth largest city in the country after Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź, administrative seat of the powiat of the same name as well as capital of the Lower Silesia Voivodeship. The actual number of inhabitants is estimated at up to 825,000.

As the capital of the historic region of Silesia, the district-free city on the Oder (Odra) is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop and a Protestant diocesan bishop. With numerous companies, universities, research institutes, theatres and museums, Wroclaw is the economic, cultural and scientific centre of Lower Silesia.

In its eventful history, Wroclaw had a majority German-speaking population from the 13th century until the end of the Second World War. After the death of the last Piast duke Henry VI, Wroclaw had belonged to Bohemia, and thus to the HRR, at times also to Hungary. Later Wroclaw belonged to Austria, Prussia and the German Empire. In 1945, according to the Potsdam Agreement, Wroclaw was placed under Polish administration, which had the entire German population of the city deported. Wroclaw was then settled by new Polish citizens, mostly from central Poland or from the parts of the country that had fallen to the Soviet Union. The de facto affiliation to Poland was also formally confirmed in 1991 with the Two-plus-Four Treaty. With its numerous historic buildings, parks and squares, the city today attracts visitors from all over the world. Wroclaw was one of the venues of the European Football Championship in 2012 and European Capital of Culture in 2016, as well as the venue for the European Film Awards.

Wroclaw from the tower of the Elisabeth ChurchZoom
Wroclaw from the tower of the Elisabeth Church

Geography

Topographical situation

Wroclaw is located in the Lower Silesian Plain on the upper reaches of the Odra River at an altitude of 111 metres between the Katzengebirge mountain range in the north and the foothills of the Sudeten Mountains in the south. Four tributaries of the Odra River flow through the city area: Ohle (Oława), Lohe (Ślęza), Weide (Widawa) and Schweidnitzer Weistritz (Bystrzyca). Built between numerous canals, the city is situated on twelve islands, connected by 100 to 300 bridges, depending on the criteria used. Due to the numerous bridges and footbridges, the city is also called the Venice of Poland.

City area

The city covers an area of 293 square kilometres, of which 114 square kilometres (39%) are built-up. Of these, 29 square kilometres are purely residential. Wroclaw is the major city with the most green spaces in Poland: 25 m² of green space per inhabitant.

City breakdown

Wroclaw is divided into five city districts, whose administrative importance was largely reduced in favour of the city administration after the administrative reform in 1990.

Borough

Extension

Area
in km²

Resident
30 June 2008

Stare Miasto (Old Town)

Old town with Nicolai and Schweidnitz suburbs

6,8

54.884

Śródmieście (city centre)

City centre on the right bank of the Oder with Cathedral Island and Elbing

16,0

122.647

Psie Pole (Dog Field)

all suburbs north of the (new) Oder river

97,7

92.904

Krzyki (Krietern)

Inner city and suburbs south of the old Oder and old town

54,3

165.592

Fabryczna (factory district)

Mixed areas, outskirts and suburbs in the west, left of the Oder river

118,9

196.776

Climate

Wroclaw is located in the temperate zone. The climate in the region is characterized by cool winters and warm summers. The warmest month is July (Ø 25.5 °C), January is the coldest month of the year (Ø 2.9 °C). Wroclaw is one of the warmest cities in Poland. The climate in Wroclaw is similar to that of Berlin, for example, with somewhat colder and drier winter months and similar average annual precipitation (Ø 539 mm). The record cold temperature in Wroclaw is minus 32.0 degrees Celsius, measured on 11 February 1956, and the previous highest temperature was measured on 8 August 2015 with a maximum temperature of 38.9 °C. The summer is warm with highs around 25 °C; on average 56 days 25 °C to 30 °C are measured, on average 12 days above 30 °C. In addition, it is slightly changeable with occasional showers or thunderstorms, but this is also the sunniest time with seven to eight hours daily.

Wroclaw

Climate diagram

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

 

 

29

 

3

-3

 

 

24

 

5

-3

 

 

36

 

9

0

 

 

32

 

15

4

 

 

59

 

20

8

 

 

62

 

23

12

 

 

95

 

26

14

 

 

59

 

25

13

 

 

46

 

20

9

 

 

36

 

14

5

 

 

32

 

8

1

 

 

29

 

4

-2

Temperature in °C, precipitation in mm

Source: wetterkontor.de

 

Monthly average temperatures and precipitation for Wroclaw

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Max. Temperature (°C)

2,9

4,5

8,9

15,2

20,2

23,2

25,5

25,2

20,0

14,2

8,1

3,9

Ø

14,4

Min. temperature (°C)

−3,4

−2,7

0,0

3,8

8,4

11,8

13,8

13,3

9,3

5,1

1,2

−2,2

Ø

4,9

Temperature (°C)

−0,1

0,9

4,3

9,6

14,4

17,5

19,7

19,2

14,5

9,4

4,6

1,0

Ø

9,6

Precipitation (mm)

29

24

36

32

59

62

95

59

46

36

32

29

539

Sunshine hours (h/d)

1,8

2,9

4,2

6,6

8,0

8,2

8,3

8,1

5,6

3,8

2,1

1,6

Ø

5,1

Rainy days (d)

8

7

7

8

9

9

10

10

7

8

8

8

99

Humidity (%)

84

80

76

69

70

70

72

71

77

82

86

85

Ø

76,8


Temperature

2,9

−3,4

4,5

−2,7

8,9

0,0

15,2

3,8

20,2

8,4

23,2

11,8

25,5

13,8

25,2

13,3

20,0

9,3

14,2

5,1

8,1

1,2

3,9

−2,2

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

 


Precipitation

29

24

36

32

59

62

95

59

46

36

32

29

 

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Source: wetterkontor.de

Wroclaw and its neighbouring towns on a map from 1905Zoom
Wroclaw and its neighbouring towns on a map from 1905

Map of the city districtsZoom
Map of the city districts

Politics

City President

Jacek Sutryk has been the city president since 2018. His predecessor was Rafał Dutkiewicz for 16 years. The 2018 election resulted in the following:

  • Jacek Sutryk (Koalicja Obywatelska) 50,2 % of the vote
  • Mirosława Stachowiak-Różecka (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) 27.5% of the vote
  • Katarzyna Obara-Kowalska (Bezpartyjny Wrocław) 7.4% of the vote
  • Jerzy Michalak (Electoral Committee Jerzy Michalak) 6,9 & of the votes
  • Zbigniew Antoni Jarząbek (Kukiz'15) 2.4% of the vote
  • Marta Lempart (Wiosna) 2.3% of the vote
  • Others 3,3 % of the votes

Sutryk was thus elected on the first ballot.

City Council

Wroclaw has been the capital of the Lower Silesia Voivodeship since 1999. The city council consists of 37 members and is directly elected. The 2018 city council election resulted in the following:

  • Koalicja Obywatelska (KO) 35.0% of the vote, 17 seats
  • Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS) 26.6% of the vote, 13 seats
  • Electoral Committee Rafał Dutkiewicz - Alliance for Wroclaw 14.2% of the vote, 7 seats
  • Bezpartyjny Wrocław 7.9 % of the vote, no seat
  • Election Committee Jerzy Michalak 5.9% of the vote, no seat
  • Kukiz'15 3.6% of the vote, no seat
  • Partia Zieloni 2.7% of the vote, no seat
  • Electoral Committee for All 2.6% of the vote, no seat
  • Others 1,5 % of the votes, no seat

City coat of arms

Main article: Wroclaw coat of arms

  • The coat of arms granted to the city by Emperor Charles V was used from 1530-1938 and 1945-1948, and was depicted on the flag of Wroclaw before 1938. It has been in use again since 1990: squared; instead of a central shield occupied by an erect silver bowl, in it the head of John the Baptist. In the first field in red a left-turned, gold-crowned, ­double-tailed, silver lion (the Bohemian lion), in the second field in gold a black eagle, whose breast is covered with a rising silver crescent (breast moon) (the Silesian eagle), in the third field in gold a black "W" (from the city name Wratislavia and the city founder Wratislaw), in the fourth field in red the head of John the Evangelist with a golden nimbus; the neck is covered by a golden pectoral ornament in the shape of an overturned crown. The two St. Johns, together with St. Hedwig, are special patrons of the Silesian Church.
  • During the period of National Socialism, a town coat of arms designed by the artist Mjölnir was used from 1938 to 1945: divided; above in gold a red-armoured black eagle, its breast covered with a rising silver crescent (the Silesian eagle), below in red the Iron Cross with the year 1813.
  • Under the communist government of Poland in 1948-1990 a city coat of arms was used with the following image: on the right in red the half silver but uncrowned Polish eagle, on the left in gold the half black Silesian eagle.

Twinning

The twelve twin cities of Wroclaw are

City

Country

since

Breda

Netherlands NiederlandeNoord-Brabant, Netherlands

1991

Charlotte

United States Vereinigte StaatenNorth Carolina, United States

1991

Dresden

Germany DeutschlandSaxony, Germany

1963, updated 1991

Guadalajara

Mexico MexikoJalisco, Mexico

1995

Hradec Králové (King's Hradec)

Czech Republic TschechienBohemia, Czech Republic

2003

Hrodna (Grodno)

Belarus WeißrusslandBelarus

2003

Kaunas

Lithuania LitauenLithuania

2003

Lille

France FrankreichHauts-de-France, France

2013

Lviv (Lviv)

Ukraine UkraineUkraine

2003

Ramat Gan

Israel IsraelTel Aviv, Israel

1997

Vienne Department

France FrankreichNouvelle-Aquitaine, France

1990

Vilnius

Lithuania LitauenLithuania

2014

Wiesbaden

Germany DeutschlandHesse, Germany

1987



Breslau dwarf at the Hietzig fountain in the inner old town of Dresden.Zoom
Breslau dwarf at the Hietzig fountain in the inner old town of Dresden.

Development over the last 500 years

Zoom

1530–1938

Zoom

1938–1945

Zoom

1948–1990

Zoom

since 1990


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