Historical outline
The Konin County history dates back to the second half of the 14th century. The shaping of the county had been a result of long-lasting historical process.
Konin obtained the location privilege according to German Magdeburg law before 1293 (probably between 1280 and 1290). In the course time, it became an important municipal centre of the eastern Wielkopolska (Grand Poland). Initially, in the feudal division period it was a part of the Ląd castellany.
During the forming of the state monarchy (reign of Kazimierz the Great), the judicial county and the seat of County Starost was established in Konin. In the sources from the second half of the 14th century there appeared the administrative areas, called the "districts". The Konin district is mentioned in the documents dated 1362, 1384 and 1386.
With time, the counties started to expand their authorities beyond the judicial power. They were becoming the territorial units and the district offices, being a territorial part of voivodeships.
Initially, Konin had its separate town county chiefs. Not before the end of 14th century, Konin begins to be ruled by the general Wielkopolska county chiefs. It may be assumed that since that time the Konin county chiefs had become a kind of administrators of the Royal demesne.
Konin County included the territory of Ląd castellany and was a part of Calisia Voivodeship. It more or less matched the today's boundaries of the Konin and Koło counties, and partially the Słupca and Turek counties. This arrangement survived practically until the partitions in the 18th century. Konin County was one of the smallest counties in the Voivodeship with the area of 2,100 square kilometers.
In 1793, following the Second Partition of Poland, Konin together with the county became a part of the Prussian Kingdom. It was included into the so-called Southern Prussia, newly-established to incorporate the annexed territories. Initially, it was a part of the Poznań Department and included nine towns: Brudzew, Golina, Koło, Konin, Lądek, Rychwał, Tuliszków, Władysławów, Zagórów and 242 other places.
After the Third Partition in 1795, when the Republic of Poland completely disappeared from the map of Europe, the Southern Prussia was divided into three departments, Poznań, Kalisz and Warsaw. Until 1806, Konin County was totally included in the Kalisz Department.
During the Napoleonic Era, Konin and the county were a part of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. In 1810, county had 9 towns and 236 villages; its whole area was 31.3 square miles, i.e. about 1 750 square kilometers. The 1808 census showed the urban population to be 8 800, and the rural - 32 800 people.
Further changes in territorial and administration division were introduced after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Based on the decisions of 16th January 1816, the so-called Congress Polish Kingdom was established, being in fact a part of the Russian Empire.
Initially, the former departments were renamed for voivodeships, which consisted of districts, which in turn consisted of counties. The latter were also constituencies for deputies to Parliament and the seats of first instance civil courts. The counties were divided into communes (gmina), where the smallest administrative unit was the rural commune possessing at least homesteads. At that time, Konin was both the capital of district and the county and was included in the Kalisz Voivodeship.
On 1st January 1845, the Kalisz Guberniya was dissolved, and its territory - including the Konin County - were incorporated in the Warsaw Guberniya.
In 1863, during the January Uprising, the National Government re-established the Polish administration. The Konin region included in the Kalisz Voivodeship was the westernmost county, directly bordering Prussia-annexed territory.
Following the defeat of the uprising, the Kalisz Guberniya was re-established. The Konin County was reduced in size, having ceded part of its territory to newly-established Słupca and Turek counties in 1867. Further in 1870, the Russian reform caused many small towns to lose municipal rights. They were transformed into settlements and communes, or incorporated in the other communes. During that process the following towns from the Konin area lost their municipal rights: Golina, Kleczew, Ślesin, Sompolno, Kazimierz Biskupi, Skulsk.
Until the 1st World War Konin County had the area of about 18,5 square miles and comprised 12 communes (Brzeźno, Dobroszyn, Golina, Gosławice, Kramsk, Piorunów, Rzgów, Sławoszewek, Stare Miasto, Tuliszków, Władysławów, Wysokie) with 389 villages, granges and settlements.
According to the 1877 data, after the enfranchisement of 1863, the landowners' property was 93 158 morgas (a unit of land measure, equal to about 1.4 acres) and the peasants' property - 92 582 morgas. At that time there were 78 estates in the county and over 8 000 peasants' farms. Small and dwarf farms were majority. The number of landless people was increasing. At the same time, the tendency to increase the overall area of the farms at the expense of the landowners.
Prior to the 1st World War, the county had 11 distilleries; there were 60 - 70 small industrial plants (mostly metal and food processing). In 1912, the Gosławice sugar mill and refinery was commissioned. In majority of the localities, there were saw mills, brickyards, tanneries, breweries, grain mills.
In 1895 Konin county was inhabited by 73 281 Roman Catholics, 15 174 Protestants, 6 668 Jews and 102 Orthodox.
Shortly after the outbreak of the 1st World War, in early autumn of 1914, Konin was occupied by the Germans. This occupation lasted until November 1918. The districts (Kreise) were introduced in the occupied territories. Usually, Kreise comprised one or two counties. The previous county borders were usually left unchanged. The Konin Kreise comprised two counties, Konin and Słupca. Apart from the central administrative authorities, the basic foundation of local-government were laid - City Councils in towns and County parliaments (Seymik).
On 12th November 1918, the Temporary Civil Authority of Konin and Słupca County was established. Initially, the function of the county chief was performed by the commissars of the Polish Government and the office was called the Konin and Słupca Commissariat. Only after a year, the county chiefs replaced the commissars. The self-government agencies: County Parliament and County Department closely cooperated with the County Chief's office and directly subjected to it.
For a few weeks Konin was a seat of two counties - Konin and Słupca. On 31st December 1918, it was divided into two separate units: Konin County and Słupca County. This arrangement lasted until 1932, when the Słupca County, for economic reasons, was again incorporated in the Konin County.
During the Second Republic, the Konin County was a part of Łódź Voivodeship. The decision to include the Konin County in the Wielkopolska (Poznań Voivodeship) was made on 1st April 1938. In 1939, the town of Tuliszków with a part of the commune and the Władysławów commune were separated from the Konin County. In the 1930's, county had 35 communes (9 urban and 26 rural) and 420 communities (gromada). After the incorporation of the Słupca county, the area increased to 2 383 square kilometers, and the population to 210 745 people. Nationalities at that time were as follows: 88% Polish, 8,9% German, 2,9% Jewish.
The county was typically of agricultural character. More than 72% of population earned their living in the agriculture sector. Only 7% of the farms were owned by landowners. In the 1930's the county boasted of 43 dairy plants, 19 distilleries, 17 saw mills, 18 oil mills, 142 windmills, many grain mills, tanneries, etc. The development of the county was interrupted by the outbreak of the 2nd World War. Konin and the county were occupied by the nazis from September 1939 to January 1945. County was included in the territory annexed to the Reich, first within the Reichsgau Posen, and then the Reichsgau Wartheland ("Warta Country"). The Nazi Reichsgau Wartheland was divided into three regencies and 36 rural and 6 urban counties. The county was run by the landrat, with the seat in Konin. From 26th October 1939 (the end of temporary military rule), the county was a part of the Inowrocław regency.
The Konin county was among the agricultural ones, and was divided into smaller territorial and administrative units - the rural and urban districts (Bezirk), with the seats in towns and villages.
After 1945, the pre-war arrangement was re-established. The Konin County (including the territory of former Słupca County) had the area of 2 152 square kilometers and population of 167 400 inhabitants. It comprised 20 communes and 340 communities. It belonged to the Poznań Voivodeship. In 1948, the communes of Pyzdry, Ciążeń, Dłusk and Szymanowice were separated from the Konin County.
In 1955 Słupca was made a separate county again. The newly-established Słupca County took two towns (Słupca and Zagorów) and 12 communities. In 1957, next few communities were detached from the Konin County and included in the Słupca County. Following these adjustments, Konin county had the area of 1 361 square kilometers, and 110 900 population.
In the beginning of the 1970's, Konin County (excluding the Konin town) comprised 13 communes (Stare Miasto, Rychwał, Grodziec, Rzgów, Golina, Kazimierz Biskupi, Kleczew, Wilczyn, Skulsk, Ślesin, Gosławice, Kramsk, Krzymów) and 19 communities.
Since the turn of the forties and fifties, rapid industrialization connected with construction of lignite mines and power stations swept through the region. The county population grew. The economic significance of the region increased.
These were the reasons behind the decision to establish the new Konin Voivodeship as a part of the administration reform that took effect on 1st June 1975. The new territorial unit comprised the eastern part of former Poznań Voivodeship and small bordering areas of the Bydgoszcz and Łódź voivodeships. The Konin Voivodeship existed for nearly a quarter of century, until the new administration reform in 1999.
On 1st January 1999 the Konin County once again appeared on the administration map of Poland. The county is comprised by 5 urban-rural communes (Golina, Kleczew, Rychwał, Sompolno, Ślesin) and 9 rural communes (Grodziec, Kazimierz Biskupi, Kramsk, Krzymów, Rzgów, Skulsk, Stare Miasto, Wierzbinek, Wilczyn). The town of Konin has been separated, and as an urban commune it has also a status of so-called town county.
Written by Janusz Gulczyński,
MA in history. Works at the District Museum in Gosławice.
Author of many papers on the Konin region and the Konin Town.
A poet.
