Ząbkowice Śląskie

Infobox Settlement
name = Ząbkowice Śląskie

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image_caption = The "leaning tower" in Ząbkowice Śląskie
image_shield = POL Ząbkowice Śląskie COA.svg
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position = bottom
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = POL
subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship
subdivision_name1 = Lower Silesian
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Ząbkowice Śląskie County
subdivision_type3 = Gmina
subdivision_name3 = Gmina Ząbkowice Śląskie
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Krzysztof Kotowicz
area_total_km2 = 13.67
population_as_of = 2007
population_total = 14.986
population_density_km2 = auto
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST = CEST
utc_offset_DST = +2
latd = 50 | latm = 35 | lats = | latNS = N | longd = 16 | longm = 49 | longs = | longEW = E
elevation_m = 280
postal_code_type = Postal code
postal_code = 57-200 do 57-201
blank_name = Car plates
blank_info = DZA
website = http://www.zabkowiceslaskie.pl

Ząbkowice Śląskie [IPA-pl|z|o|m|p|k|o|'|w|i|c|e|-|'|ś|l|ą|s|k|j|e] ( _de. 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 convert|63|km|mi|0 south of the regional capital Wrocław. As at 2006, it has a population of 16,242.

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. [ [http://www.frankenstein.pl/ Website describing events which might have inspired Mary Shelley's novel] ]

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.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.zabkowiceslaskie.pl/ Ząbkowice Śląskie municipal website]
* [http://www.frankenstein.pl/ Frankenstein.pl: events of 1606 involving undertakers which might have inspired the 1818 novel by Mary Shelley]
* [http://www.frankenstein.pl/dzialy/legenda/wyskoki/annales.htm "Annales Francostenen" of 1655]
* [http://www.frankenstein-schlesien.de/ Frankenstein-Schlesien.de]