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Lubliniec is situated at an altitude of 217 m in the western part of the Śląskie (Silesia) voivodship of southern Poland. By the turn of the 13th to the 14th century, Lubliniec had obtained the status of a town. Until 1532 it was part of the Duchy of Opole (Oppeln), originally as a fief of the Bohemian Crown (since 1327) and later as fief of Habsburg (since 1526). It became part of Austria in 1532 and passed to Prussia in 1742. After World War I, Upper Silesia was divided in 1921, and the eastern part, including Lubliniec, was incorporated into Poland. Occupied by Germany again during World War II, it returned to Poland in 1945.

The mathematician Richard COURANT (1888–1972) was born in Lubliniec. He studied in Göttingen under David Hilbert. After his return to Göttingen after World War II, he founded the Mathematical Institute, which he headed as director from 1920 until 1933. In 1933 he emigrated first to England and then, in 1934, to the United States, where he built up the Applied Mathematics Research Centre in New York. He is best known for his work on mathematical physics. His influencial book, 'Methoden der mathematischen Physik' ('Methods of Mathematical Physics'), was published in 1924 (with Hilbert).