Mława

Mława ([ˈmwava]; Yiddish: מלאווע‎ Mlave) (German: Mielau) is a town in north-central Poland with 30,957 inhabitants in 2012. It is the capital of the Mława County.[1] The town is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously it was part of the Ciechanów Voivodeship (since 1975).

Mława
Mława ratusz
Flag
Coat of arms
Mława
Location of Mława in Poland
Mława
Location of Mława in Masovian Voivodeship
Coordinates: 53°07′N 20°22′E
Country Poland
Voivodeship Masovian
CountyMława County
GminaMława (urban gmina)
Established15th century
Town rights1429
Government
 • MayorSławomir Kowalewski
Area
 • Total35.5 km2 (13.7 sq mi)
Highest elevation
180 m (590 ft)
Lowest elevation
135 m (443 ft)
Population
 (2012)
 • Total30,957
 • Density870/km2 (2,300/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
06-500 to 06-501
Area code(s)+48 023
Car platesWML
ClimateDfb
Websitewww.mlawa.um.gov.pl

During the invasion of Poland in 1939, the battle of Mława was fought to the north of the city.

History
Mława in the early 20th century
Town square in Mława under German occupation during World War I

The first mention of Mława comes from July 2, 1426, when three princes of Mazovia - Siemowit V, Trojden II and Władysław I came here to a session of a local court. It is not known if Mława had already been an urban center, as there are no sources which would prove it. Three years later, Mława was incorporated as a town[2] It was a royal town, located in the Płock Voivodeship.[3] In 1521 during the Polish-Teutonic War, the town was captured and looted by the Teutonic Knights. In 1659 the town was burned by the Swedish troops, and in 1795, following the Partitions of Poland, Mława became part of the Kingdom of Prussia.

In 1807 it was included in the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw. After Napoleonic Wars, in the 1815 Congress of Vienna Mława (along with the entire province) was incorporated into the Russian Partition of Poland, as part of the initially autonomous Congress Poland, where it remained until World War I. Since the town was located along the pre-1914 imperial Russian-German border, Mława was a place of heavy fighting between the two opposing armies. During the interbellum, the town was assigned to the Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–39). The government of the Second Polish Republic constructed several fortifications there due to proximity of the German border.[4][5]

Historic townhouses destroyed during the invasion of Poland in 1939 and dismantled by the Germans in 1940

In the opening stages of World War II, the advancing German army faced strong resistance from the Polish Army in the battle of Mława otherwise known as the Defence of the Mława between September 1 and September 3, 1939. The Einsatzgruppe V entered the town on September 10, 1939, and carried out first mass arrests among local Poles, who were afterwards imprisoned in the local prison.[6] Also on September 10, the Germans expelled 69 Jews from the town.[7] The Germans carried out mass searches of Polish offices, courthouses and organizations,[8] and mass arrests of local Polish intelligentsia, including local officials, teachers and priests, as part of the Intelligenzaktion, continued in the following months, many were afterwards murdered in the Soldau concentration camp.[9] Local disabled people were murdered in Ościsłowo, on February 20, 1940.[10] Shortly after the beginning of the occupation of Poland, Mława was annexed to Nazi Germany on 26 October 1939 and administered as part of Regierungsbezirk Zichenau.

The town (known as Mielau in German) gave its name to the Truppenübungsplatz "Mielau" military training range built by prisoners of the Soldau concentration camp nearby and nicknamed the New Berlin. The facility was used by the Nazis for repairing and refitting army tanks in Operation Barbarossa, and for testing anti-tank weapons and artillery on an area of 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi). Some fifteen villages around Krzywonoś were completely dismantled to make room for it and 25,000 people were expelled in the area.[11] Similar Nazi German military ranges in occupied Poland included the SS-Truppenübungsplatz Heidelager located in Pustków and the SS-Truppenübungsplatz Westpreußen located in Dziemiany.

Jews who had survived the ghetto were liquidated to Auschwitz. The last deportation was on December 10, 1942.

Prior to the arrival of the Soviets in 1945, Mława was the location of the German massacre of 364 prisoners of the forced labour camp adjacent to the Truppenübungsplatz "Mielau".[12]

In 1991, between 26–27 June, the town saw the a series of violent devastations and looting incidents when a group of youth estimated at 200 individuals, including young females, invaded the homes of the local Roma residents causing them to flee.[13] Not a single Roma person was injured in the riot,[13] but the material losses were substantial affecting up to 40% of residences.[13] Many perpetrators were arrested on-site; a number of them sentenced to jail after a trial.[13] The violence was described as motivated by racism and jealousy.[14][15] The incident that triggered the riot was the killing of a Polish pedestrian struck along with his companion in a hit-and-run by a Romani male driver.[13] The event triggered major discussions around the status of the Romani people in Poland, economic disparity, and the direction of the ongoing transitional political, social and economic reforms as the country adjusts after the end of the PRL era.

Sights
Historic sights of Mława (examples)
Holy Trinity Church
Józef Piłsudski Park
Old bank building
Typical Art Nouveau townhouse

Among the historic sights of Mława are the Baroque town hall, Gothic-Baroque Revival Holy Trinity Church, the Józef Piłsudski Park, Baroque Saint Lawrence Church and many Art Nouveau townhouses

Industry

There is a large LG factory manufacturing TV sets and monitors located in the city. Mława was the first site of deployment for CONVAERO Polska's Bio-Dry™ technology project, where an annual throughput of 96,000 tonnes of MSW shredded is processed to achieve a 25% reduction in moisture and results in an easily separated and recycled end material [16]

Sport

Mława is home to Mławianka Mława, a men's football team, which played on the second tier in the 2004–2005 season.

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Twin towns — Sister cities

Mława is twinned with:

Notable people
gollark: I have no idea what's in that that you're complaining about.
gollark: You could presumably use those, though. They exist.
gollark: Also, why only program against Windows APIs and not make it cross-platform with... I don't really know, SDL or something?
gollark: I don't think so, anyway. Obviously I'm not an actual lawyer.
gollark: Well, you can't say "yes this is under the GPL" but also "by the way you also can't do these things which the GPL lets you do".

See also

References
  1. "Wolfram|Alpha: City Data for Mlawa, Poland: demographics, maps". Wolframalpha.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-09. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
  2. "Local history - Information about the town - Mława - Virtual Shtetl". Sztetl.org.pl. 1939-09-04. Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
  3. Adolf Pawiński, Mazowsze, Warszawa 1895, p. 37 (in Polish)
  4. Richard M. Watt, Bitter Glory: Poland and Its Fate, 1918–1939 Hippocrene Books, 1998. ISBN 0781806739.
  5. Witold Kaczynski, Pozycja Mława. Zarys historyczny.
  6. Maria Wardzyńska, Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion, IPN, Warszawa, 2009, p. 112 (in Polish)
  7. Wardzyńska, p. 123
  8. Wardzyńska, p. 111
  9. Wardzyńska, p. 224, 228, 230-231
  10. Wardzyńska, p. 236
  11. Praca Zbiorowa (5 June 2012). "Nosarzewo Borowe : Truppenübungsplatz "Mielau"". Polska Niezwykła Mazowieckie (przewodnik) (in Polish). Wydawnictwo Demart publishing. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  12. Janusz Dębski, Uroczystości na 68 rocznicę mordu na Kalkówce Archived 2014-08-14 at the Wayback Machine Mazowieckie Media, Kurier Mławski.pl 2013-01-17.
  13. Krzysztof Napierski (30 June 2011). "Mławski incydent dał nam doświadczenie na przyszłość" [The Mlawa incident gave us experience for the future] (reprint). Wywiad z Romanem Kwiatkowskim (Prezesem Stowarzyszenia Romów w Polsce) w "Głosie Mławy" (Interview with Roman Kwiatkowski, President of the Roma Society of Poland) for the "Voice of Mlawa" magazine. Stowarzyszenie Romow w Polsce (Roma Society of Poland, homepage). Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  14. "Poles Vent Their Economic Rage on Gypsies". The New York Times. July 25, 1991. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  15. "Hooligans and the Neighbors' Cow". New York Times. July 29, 1991. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  16. "Mlawa, Poland | The Power of Waste". Convaero. Archived from the original on 2012-05-17. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
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