Głuszyca


Głuszyca is a town in Wałbrzych County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. As of 2019, the town has a population of 6,361. It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Głuszyca, close to the Czech border. The town lies approximately south-east of Wałbrzych, and south-west of the regional capital Wrocław. It is located within the historic region of Lower Silesia.

History

The settlement was mentioned as Wustendorf in the Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis from around 1300 as a village owned by the bishopric. It was probably founded in the late 13th century during the reign of Duke Bolko I the Strict of the Piast dynasty,, named "Neu-Gerhardisdorf“ as a German settlement.
After devastations of the town in the wake of the Hussite Wars, the town was resettled by miners from Saxony.
Along with the region, it became part of Kingdom of Prussia in the 18th century. During World War II, the Germans created several forced labour camps in the village, subject to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. Thousands of people, women and men were imprisoned there. In 1945 it was assigned to Poland. The totality of the town's population was expelled, completely changing its traditional language and culture. A new Polish name was given to the town.

The local textile factories were heavily devastated because of their use by Germany for armaments production. In 1946 production started thanks to specialists from Łódź and soon Głuszyca became one of the leading centers of the cotton industry in the region. Głuszyca was granted town rights in 1962.

Transport

There is a train station in the town.