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Poznań, the capital of the Polish voivodship Greater Poland, is situated at an altitude of 60–154 m at the Warta river. At a population of about 578,900 (2002) it is Poalnd's 5th largest city and the 4th biggest industrial centre of the country.

Mieszko I, the first known duke of the Polans, built one of his castles in Poznań The Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul is the oldest Polish cathedral, founded in Poznań during the latter half of the 10th century. The city would become the capital of Greater Poland. Mieszko's son, Bolesław I ('the Brave'), was crowned king in 1025 and the kingdom of Poland was formed. Greater Poland became the 'cradle of the Polish state', and both Mieszko I and Bolesław I are buried in Poznań. Poznań (in German: Posen) was the capital of the Greater Poland area when it came under the control of Prussia in 1793 and had its administrative area renamed to South Prussia. During the Greater Poland Uprising of 1806, local Polish resistance fighters rebelled, thereby assisting the efforts of Napoleon while simultaneously driving out the occupying Prussian forces. The city became part of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807 (see map) and was capital of the Poznań department. Napoleon's defeat led to the Congress of Vienna (1815), where the boundaries of Europe were redrawn by the victors. Greater Poland was returned to Prussia and became the capital of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Posen (see map). From the time of the Revolutions in the mid 1800s, it was an official Prussian province and became part of the German Empire after the unification of German states in 1871. Shorty after Germany's defeat in World War I, the Great Poland Uprising (1918–1919) occurred, leading to the creation of the Second Polish Republic, where Poznań became the capital of Poznań Voivodeship. During World War II, the Polish population was severely repressed by the Nazi occupation forces. Since the war's end, Poznań has become the capital of the surrounding area through administrative district boundary changes in 1957, 1975, and 1999. Poznań currently administrates Greater Poland Voivodeship, one of 16 provinces in the country. The Poznań riots of 1956 played a significant role in liberalising the post war communist regime.
[Text adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poznan]

The residence castle [left] in Romanesque revival style was built in 1905–1910 for German Emperor Wilhelm II, King of Prussia. However, the emperor only visited the castle once, in 1913. During the Second Polish Republic it was used by the Ministry for the former Prussian territories and temporarily also was home of a museum for ecclesiastical art. During World War II the castle was used as the office of the Gauleiter for the Warthegau. After World War II the building was at first used by the city administration of Poznań and today is home of the culture centre "Zamek" ('Castle').