Opole (pronounce: [ɔ:pɔlε], GermanOppeln) is a town in southern Poland on the Oder River. It has a population of 129,553 and is the capital of the Opole Voivodship. It is the historical capital of Upper Silesia. Opole has a large German minority.
As a result of regional division of Poland following the death of Boleslaus III the Wrymouth, since 1283 Opole and all adjoining lands were a separate duchy, that initially shared the fate of Poland and then the fate of the rest of Silesia. Although the last ruler to hold the title of Duke of Opole was Jan Kazimierz II, who abdicated in 1668, the duchy continued to be an unit of administrative division until 1742, ruled by the AustrianHabsburgs as Kings of Bohemia.
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.
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.
Abraham of Oppeln, who became influential at Breslau about the middle of the fifteenth century, was martyred there in 1453, during the persecution caused by the charge of host desecration (comp.
In the Silesian diet of 1557, Ferdinand I., as Duke of Oppeln, proposed that the Jews be expelled; the estates concurred, and in 1565 all Jews were forced to leave the city and the territory of Oppeln.
The total population of Oppeln is 30,200, of whom 750 are Jews.
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