From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ząbkowice Śląskie [zɔmpkɔˈvit͡sɛ ˈɕlɔ̃skjɛ] (German: Frankenstein in Schlesien) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Ząbkowice Śląskie County, and of the smaller administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Ząbkowice Śląskie.
The town lies approximately 63 kilometres (39 mi) south of the regional capital Wrocław. As at 2006, it has a population of 16,242.
[edit] History
The town was established as Frankenstein in the early 13th century, following the Mongol invasion, and received town rights around 1280. As from 1335 it belonged to Bohemia, and from 1742 to Prussia.
In the early 1600s the plague killed about one third of the population, and it has been speculated that events at that time may have inspired the Frankenstein story.[1]
In 1858 the town burned down and had to be rebuilt. On this occasion, the upper part of the 15th-century leaning tower was reconstructed in a straight manner. The town was a county seat from 1816 to 1945. After World War II the town passed to Poland (along with most of Silesia) and was renamed Ząbkowice Śląskie in 1946, after the German population had fled or been expelled.
[edit] External links
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Coordinates: 50°35′N 16°49′E / 50.583, 16.817
Poland
