Wroclaw is a town with a more colourful and torrid history than most. Located at the crossroads of Central Europe it has found itself embroiled in more than its fair share of fracas and power struggles. Today it is a town rising from the ashes of World War II and Communism, and once again is emerging as a cosmopolitan centre of commerce Ò a face that has defined its character through so much of history.

The first permanent settlers in Wroclaw were the Slavic Slezan tribe, who built a stronghold on the island of Ostrow Tumski sometime in the 9th century. (Ostrow Tumski is no longer an island since an arm of the river Odra was filled in 1810). Later this settlement was absorbed into Czech territory from where the name Wroclaw is thought to have been derived Ò after a Czech leader by the name of Wrocislaw. It wasnÌt until around 990AD that Prince Mieszko I, of the Piast dynasty and founder of the Polish state, seized control of Wroclaw and incorporated the region of Silesia into Poland.

By 1000 Wroclaw must have already been a town of some prominence as King Boleslaw the Brave established one of three bishoprics here, the other two being established in Krakow and Kolobrzeg: as a result the town became the religious centre of Silesia. Wroclaw continued to grow in the next two centuries mainly due to its thriving trade economy and craftsmanship; however in 1241, along with most of southern Poland, the city fell foul of the marauding Tartar army and was razed to the ground.

The town leaders used this misfortune as an opportunity to rebuild the city around a massive Market Square on the south side of the river Ò the same Market Square that you can still see today. This ambitious building program was a success and soon Wroclaw was enjoying a healthy revival; however in 1336, the last of the Piast Princes died and the duchy of Silesia was annexed to Bohemia - despite the efforts of King Casimir III of Poland to hold onto it. His failure to do so meant that it was six hundred years until Wroclaw was returned to Polish hands.

Wroclaw, or Prezzla as it begins to be known as, continued to flourish under Bohemian rule and in 1387 gained admittance into the Hanseatic League, a powerful conglomeration of trading cities (think of it as a medieval version of G8!). The winds of change picked up again in the 16th century when King Ludwig died in battle, leaving no heirs, and the Bohemian estate elected Duke Ferdinand, of the Austrian line of Habsburgs, as King. Now Wroclaw was under Austrian rule.

The early 17th century saw a marked downturn in fortunes for Wroclaw, as both the Thirty YearsÌ War (1618-48) and the plague took their toll on the city Ò indeed this period saw the population reduced by half. However when the warring factions of Europe eventually signed the Treaty of Westphalia and bring an end to the fighting, it was business as usual for Wroclaw and an economic and cultural revival began.

The next chapter in the cityÌs colourful history began in 1741 when King Frederick the Great II seized Lower Silesia and brought it under Prussian rule. It was he who officially gave the city its German name of Breslau (or Prezzla), although it had been used for many centuries before by the large ethnic German population. Wroclaw spent the next two hundred years in German hands and by the end of the 19th century it was the third largest Prussian city behind Berlin and Hamburg, and began to be heavily industrialised.

When the Nazis seized power in 1933 the last vestiges of the cityÌs Polish origins were all but gone, and the 20,000 Poles still living there (along with the Jews) were politely asked to leave. Wroclaw, or Breslau as it had then been known for 200 years, was so Germanised by that time that it eventually became the last stronghold of the Nazis. It was the last town to surrender to the Soviets, after a 14-week siege, on May 6th 1945.

After the war, as a result of the Potsdam conference, Wroclaw was handed back to Poland as the whole country was effectively shifted westwards. The remainder of the German residents were expelled and the city was re-populated by Poles from Lwow (now the Ukranian town of Lviv), which was lost to the Soviet Union, Wilno (now the Lithuanian town of Vilnius) as well as many arrivals from Warsaw and Poznan. The new settlers, or ÎpioneersÌ as they were called inherited, a foreign city that was 70% destroyed.

In the sixty years since the war Wroclaw has had to undergo a painful rebuilding process, as well as having to survive and recuperate from the terrors and hardships of Communism and Soviet oppression. In 1989 however, when Poland held itÌs first elections and saw off the Russian regime, the city put the dark times behind it, and the last decade has seen its successful re-emergence as the economic, cultural and academic centre it has been for so much of history.