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POLSKA POLAND
województwo: Dolnośląskie voivodship: Lower Silesia
powiat: Dzierżoniów county: Dzierżoniów

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Bielawa

lv: Belava cs: Bělava lt: Beliava de: Langenbielau
el: Μπιελάβα
bg, ru, uk: Белява mk, sr: Бјелава be: Бялява

4416 Bielawa Bielawa (German: Langenbielau) is situated at an elevation of 306 m along the Bielawica stream in the eastern foothills of the Owl Mountains (Polish: Górie Sowie; German: Eulengebirge) in southeastern Lower Silesia, about 5 km southwest of the district town Dzierżoniów and about 55 km southwest of the Lower Silesian capital, Wrocław. The municipality has a population of about 29,500 (2020).

The settlement was most likely founded in the early 13th century as a forest village typical for German settlers in the Thuringian, Saxon and Silesian regions. The first written mention of Bela dates from 1288. Since 1290/1291 it belonged to the Piast duchy of Świdnica. In 1368 it came in possession of the Bohemian Crown. Since the 17th century, the name Langenbielau replaced the former name Bielau. After the First Silesian War in 1742, Langenbielau and most of Silesia fell to Prussia. Langenbielau has been a center of cotton weaving since the beginning of the 18th century. After the reorganization of Prussia, Langenbielau became part of the newly founded district Reichenbach (today Dzierżoniów) in 1816. Since 1874, Langenbielau has tried unsuccessfully to be granted city rights. It only received these in 1924. In 1945, after the end of World War II, the German population was expelled and replaced by Polish setllers who had lost their previous homes in those eastern part of Poland that had been ceded to the Soviet Union. From 1975 Bielawa was part of the voivodeship Wałbrzych, which in 1999 was merged with the voivodeships Wrocław, Jelenia Góra and Legnica into the contemporary voivodeship of Lower Silesia (Dolnośląskie).
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielawa; http://fallingrain.com/world/PL/72/Bielawa.html]


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