Leszno our City

Leszno

The first mention about Leszno dates back to 1393. Since its beginnings, it was a private town of the noblemen and was granted the location privilege in 1547 by King Sigismund the Old.

The golden age of Leszno came in the 16th and 17th centuries when the town was a robust centre for reformation, education and printing. Recognised as a tolerance refuge at that time, Leszno was a town where Catholics, Lutherans Unity of Brethren, and Jews lived together. As a result of the second partition of Poland, Leszno was incorporated into Prussia, and came back to the country in 1920, following the victory won in the Wielkopolskie Uprising. The town suffered irrecoverable losses of many beautiful buildings during three fires which occurred in the 18th century.

Currently, Leszno is situated between Poznań and Wrocław next to the S5 dual carriageway road. Located on 31.86 sq km, it is the largest town in the south-west of the Wielkopolska Region, with its number of inhabitants in 2022 reported to be 63 thousand. Up to 1998, Leszno was the provincial capital of the Leszczyńskie Province.

When it comes to sport, Leszno is associated with speedway, gliding and equestrian sport. Fogo Unia Leszno is recognised as the most awarded speedway club in Poland. Having the Europe longest grass airport, Leszno also has its Aero Club Leszczynski and the gliding school which is the biggest of this kind in the whole country.

Legend about Leszno

Likewise every town and city, Leszno also has its own legend.

The legend dates back to the beginnings of the Polish state.

Legend has it that in 965, in a wood that was situated on the area of today’s Leszno, the entourage of King Mieszko I’s wife-to-be Dobrawa had a stop when suddenly it was attacked by a wild animal, an aurochs probably it was, and a heroic behaviour of knight Filip Wieniawita saved the life of Poland’s future queen. In recognition for the knight’s deed and as gratitude, the Prince gave Wieniawita property on the Wschowa land along with a settlement called Leszczno. From that name the Wieniawici called themselves and later took their surname of Leszczyńscy.

Over time, the Leszczyńscy became a powerful aristocratic family which was spoken about: “That who does not know the Leszczyńscy, they do not know Poland.” It was the family background of Stanisław Leszczyński who was twice King of Poland, the only such case in the Polish history. Having been granted the location privilege in 1547, Leszno chose its coat of arms in the form of half a head of bison against golden background (the Leszczyńscy’s coat of arms) and a golden axe against red background in the other half.