Poznań

Poznań (German, Posen), city in western Poland, capital of Wielkopolskie Province, a port on the Warta River. The city is a major rail junction and an important industrial and commercial centre hosting a major international trade fair each year. Its chief industries are food processing, metal production, and engineering, and the manufacture of textiles, chemicals, and ceramics. Adam Mickiewicz University (1919), a technical university, a Gothic cathedral, a 16th-century city hall, and many historic churches and museums are in the city.

Poznań is one of the most ancient cities in Poland: in 968 it became the first bishopric there. After the partitions, the city passed to Prussia in 1793, became part of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in 1807, came under Prussian rule again in 1815, and reverted to Poland in 1919. In 1956 workers staged large-scale protest demonstrations here, which led to changes in the leadership of the Polish Communist Party. Population 573,000 (2005 estimate).