Konin

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Konin
	Image:POL Konin COA.svg
	(Coat of arms)

Image:POL Konin map.svg
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Greater Poland
Mayor	Kazimierz Pałasz
Area	82 km²
Population - city - urban - density	80,355 (2005) 979/km²
City rights	1284 or 1292
Municipal Website

Image:Konin kosciol sw andrzeja.jpg

Konin is a town on the Warta river in central Poland with 80,355 inhabitants (2005).

It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the capital of Konin Voivodeship (1975-1998). It is the capital of Konin County.

1 History
2 Economy
- 2.1 Major corporations
3 Education
4 Sports
5 Politics
- 5.1 Konin constituency
6 References
7 Famous people from Konin
8 External links

[edit] History

In the 17th century, epidemics, fires and war with Sweden provoked the decline of the town. In 1815, with the dissolution of the Duchy of Warsaw, Konin was returned in the Royaume de Congrès controlled by Russia. In 1853, the town participated in the January Insurrection. The repression of the Tsarist authorities was severe and the town went on to fear the statue of the Regional Centre for a long time.

The economic situation of the town did not improve when Poland regained its independence in 1918. The living conditions of residents were miserable. There was no network for distribution of water, and no sewers. The town did not benefit from the Industrial Revolution. The inter-war econonomic crisis was harshly felt. The situation did not begin to improve until the désenclavement of the town, thanks to the opening of the Poznań-Warsaw steel-tipped route (railway?) and the construction of the canal in the Gopło lake which relied on the Warta River, which borders the town.

During the Second World War, Konin was part of the land annexed by Nazi Germany (Reichsgau Wartheland). In the town's surrounding forests, the Nazis carried out mass executions of Poles, mostly Jews. Jews had represented 30% of Konin's population prior to the war. A descendant of Konin Jews, Theo Richmond, wrote Konin: A Quest, the most extensive history of Jewish life in the town ever to appear in English.