Stęszew
Stęszew is a town in western Poland, with 5,248 inhabitants. It is located in Poznań County, within the Greater Poland Voivodeship.
Stęszew was once an important stop in a trade route from Silesia. In 1370 king Casimir III the Great granted the settlement city rights. The town developed rapidly until the Swedish Deluge and Seven Years' War. Eventually, in 1793, Stęszew became part of Prussian-ruled Poland after the Second Partition. In 1799 the town was sold by Countess Dorota Jabłonowska to Prince William I of the Netherlands. From 1922 the town was within Poznań Voivodeship. During World War II, under Nazi occupation, the locals were resettled or forced into labor and concentration camps. The liberation of Stęszew and neighbouring villages took place in January 1945.
