The region was part of Poland after the establishment of the state in the 10th century. The first information about the terrains of today's Szprotawa comes at 1000 from the chronicle of bishop Thietmar of Merseburg, who accompanied the emperor Otto III on pilgrimage to the grave of holy Adalbert in Gniezno. Iława, currently a district of Szprotawa, is one of the two hypothetical locations where emperor Otto III and Polish ruler Bolesław the Brave could have met. The area was part of medieval Poland, and later on, it was part of the Polish Duchy of Głogów, created as a result of the fragmentation of Poland. It was ruled by the Piasts and Jagiellons, including future Kings of PolandJohn I Albert and Sigismund I the Old, until its dissolution in 1506. Szprotawa received town rights around 1260. Szprotawa was granted town rights around 1260 by Piast Duke Konrad I of Głogów, who also erected new town walls. In the 13th century, Szprotawa was settled by Germans as part of the Ostsiedlung. In 1304, Szprotawa gained full city rights and privileges, including the internal organization of the City Council "Concilium Magistratus". In 1331, together with the Duchy of Głogów, Szprotawa, although ruled by the Polish Piast dynasty, became a fief of the Bohemian Crown. In 1506 it was incorporated into the Bohemian Kingdom, although Polish King Sigismund I the Old still claimed the duchy and the town until renouncing claims in 1508. It was since ruled by the Jagiellonian dynasty until 1526 and afterwards it was held by the House of Habsburg. Since the Middle Ages, the town's wealth was primarily attributable to trade, mainly in cattle, salt and grain, from Silesia and Greater Poland to German states. From the 14th century also hammer mills were located there. After the First Silesian War in 1742 Szprotawa, under the Germanized name Sprottau, fell to Prussia, like almost all Silesia. After the reorganization of Prussia in 1815, Sprottau became part of the province of Silesia, and from 1816, was the seat of the district of Sprottau, part of the government district of Liegnitz. With the Unification of Germany in 1871, Sprottau was incorporated into the German Empire. In the first half of the 20th century, the city had an economic boom in the iron, textile and wax goods industry. The Wilhelmshütte iron and enamel companies of Aktiengesellschaft furnace employed more than 400 people. In 1939, the city had 12,578 inhabitants. During World War II the Germans established two labour units of the prisoner-of-war camp in Żagań, intended for Italian and Soviet POWs. During the Second World War, 90 percent of Sprottau was destroyed. The city was occupied by the Red Army in the spring of 1945. After the war, the redrawn borders forced upon Germany and Poland by the Soviet Union in the Potsdam Agreement placed the town, once again, inside Poland.
