Oppeln

Oppeln (Polish, Oppolie), a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia, lies on the right bank of the Oder, 51 m. S.E. of Breslau, on the railway to Kattowitz, and at the junction of lines to Beuthen, Neisse and Tarnowitz. Pop. (1905) 30,769. It is the seat of the provincial administration of Upper Silesia, and contains the oldest Christian church in the district, that of St Adalbert, founded at the dose of the 10th century. It has two other churches and a ducal 15th-century palace on an island in the Oder. The most prominent among the other buildings are the offices of the district authorities, the town hall, the normal seminary and the hospital of St Adalbert. The Roman Catholic gymnasium is established in an old Jesuit college. The industries of Oppeln include the manufacture of Portland cement, machinery, beer, soap, cigars and lime; trade is carried on by rail and river in cattle, grain and the vast mineral output of the district, of which Oppeln is the chief centre. The upper classes speak German, the lower Polish.

Oppeln was a flourishing place at the beginning of the 11th century, and became a town in 1228. It was the capital of the duchy of Oppeln and the residence of the duke from 1163 to 15 3 2, when the ruling family became extinct. Then it passed to Austria, and with the rest of Silesia was ceded to Prussia in 1742.

See Idzikowski, Geschichte der Stadt Oppeln (Oppeln, 1863); and Vogt, Oppeln beim Eintritt in das Jahr 1900 (Oppeln, 1900).