Lublin is a large city in Poland in the homonymous voivodeship, of
which it is the capital. The city is located on the Bystrzyca and Lesser
Poland Ways of St. James and the Via Jagiellonica.
Lublin borders
clockwise with Kozłówka, Lubartów, Ostrów Lubelski, Łęczna, Świdnik,
Piaski, Bychawa, Bełżyce and Nałęczów.
Lublin was settled as
early as the early Middle Ages. Lublin was first mentioned in a document
in 1198. In the High Middle Ages, the Lublin Castle was besieged and
occupied several times, including by the Tatars in 1241 and the
Lithuanians in 1244. Jews have been in Lublin since 1316. Their district
lay between the castle and the old town. In the castle gate in between
there is now a Jewish cultural association. In 1317 Lublin received city
rights. In 1375 the Latin diocese of Chełm was founded, which later
became the archdiocese of Lublin. The Gothic castle chapel was built in
the 14th century and was decorated with Byzantine frescoes until 1418.
The mixture of Western and Eastern art is particularly evident here. In
1474 it was proclaimed the provincial capital. The city experienced its
cultural heyday in the 16th century. The style of the Lublin Renaissance
was developed here. At the same time, Lublin was a center of the
Calivinist Reformation in Poland. In 1569 the real union between Poland
and Lithuania was sealed at the Lublin Diet. In the second half of the
17th century, the city was repeatedly plundered by Swedes and Cossacks.
In 1795, as part of the Third Partition of Poland, Lublin passed to the
Habsburgs. In 1809 it was briefly part of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw
before falling to Russia (Congress Poland) after the Congress of Vienna.
In the Nobel Prize-winning novel The Magician of Lublin, Singer erected
a monument to Jewish life in Lublin in the 19th century.
Industrialization started around 1880 after the city received a railway
connection with Warsaw. After the First World War the city came under
the Second Polish Republic. During the Second World War, the German
occupiers established the Lublin ghetto and the concentration camp of
the same name in Majdanek. In 1944, a provisional communist government
for Poland was installed in Lublin by Stalin. The Majdanek trials took
place here in the late 1940s. In 2020, following the tradition of the
Lublin Union, the Lublin Triangle was established. Today Lublin is a
growing city with several universities and an interesting Jewish history
and Renaissance old town.
By plane
Lublin has the Lublin-Świdnik International Airport
(IATA: LUZ). Other nearby airports include Warsaw Chopin Airport (IATA:
WAW) and Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport (IATA: RZE).
By train
Direct
arrival by train is possible from Germany (via Berlin and Warsaw). The
central train station is Lublin Main Station with the listed station
building from 1877. Other train stations in the city area are Lublin
North, Lublin Zemborzyce, Lublin Zadębie, Lublin Ponikwoda, Rudnik
Przystanek, Lublin West, Lublin Zalew and Stasin Polny.
By bus
The city is approached by long-distance buses from German-speaking
countries as well as by regional buses within Poland. The central bus
station is close to the center.
In the street
From Warsaw
south-east along the S17 expressway on the way to Zamość or from Rzeszów
north along the S19 expressway to Białystok. Another expressway, the
S12, runs from Piotrków Trybunalski via Radom, Puławy, Lublin and Chełm
to Ukraine. Road 17 also passes Lublin.
By boat
Lublin cannot
be reached by ship as no navigable river flows through the city. By boat
you can get to Kazimierz Dolny, about 50km west of Lublin.
The old town is easy to explore on foot or by bike.
There are
numerous cycle routes in Lublin. Bicycles can be rented. Stations with
rental bikes are located in the center, among other places. There are a
total of 40 stations with around 800 bikes. There are around 130km of
cycle paths and around 25km of lanes for bicycles in the city area.
Districts that are further away, such as Majdanek, are connected to
the center by bus. Trolleybuses operate in Lublin. There are a total of
55 bus and 12 trolleybus lines, as well as three nightliners.
In historical times, Lublin was inhabited by Catholics, Protestants,
Jews, Orthodox and Muslims. In 1625, the construction of the Cathedral
of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist. In 1930, Jesliwas
Chachmej Lublin was founded by Rabbi Majer Szapira. Before World War II,
Lublin enjoyed great religious diversity. In 1939, out of 125,000
inhabitants of the city at that time, as many as 40,000 were Jews (they
lived mainly in what is now Wieniawa). There was also a large percentage
of Protestants and Orthodox. Currently, Lublin is dominated by
Catholicism. The city still has temples for most popular religions, and
intercultural festivals of international importance are also organized.
The following Catholic parishes operate in Lublin: Latin,
subordinate to the Archdiocese of Lublin, Greek Catholic, Polish
Catholic, Old Catholic Mariavite and the community of the Priestly
Fraternity of Saint Pius X; and also Orthodox: cathedral parish (new
style) and parish for the Ukrainian community (old style).
There
are numerous Protestant churches in Lublin, e.g. Lutheran parish, Oasis
Pentecostal church, Seventh-day Adventist church, Baptist church, New
Covenant Church, and about ten other smaller evangelical communities.
The restorationist movement is represented in the city by: 17
congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses (including a sign language
congregation and two foreign-language congregations: English and
Russian, as well as Chinese-, Turkish- and Ukrainian-speaking groups).
They have four Kingdom Halls and an Assembly Hall, the Secular
Missionary Movement "Epiphany" (Lublin Congregation), Free Bible
Students Association (Lublin Congregation) and a Mormon commune.
In Lublin, there is also a branch of the Jewish community in Warsaw, a
center of Islam and several centers of dharmic religions, e.g. Buddhist
association of the Diamond Way and the Institute of Identity Knowledge
"Chaitanya Mission".
In Lublin, there are tangible memorabilia from various eras, from the
dawn of Polish statehood, through Romanism, Gothic, Renaissance (during
which monuments in the so-called Lublin type deserve special attention)
to Baroque, Classicism, and Modernism. These memorabilia are
complemented by museum collections, the cultural offer of theaters and
cinemas. Due to the historically distant origin of the city, Lublin has
a number of monuments entered in the register of immovable monuments.
The historic architecture of Lublin focuses on the area of the Old
Town and Śródmieście. The sacral buildings of this area represent
periods of style from Gothic to Baroque. Next to the medieval Krakowska
Gate, the neo-style Lublin Castle is the second recognizable
architectural symbol of the city. The oldest preserved buildings are:
the chapel of St. Trinity and the 13th-century donjon. The Gothic
defensive tower located next to the Krakowska Gate also comes from the
14th century. Another tourist attraction is the Lublin Underground. It
is an approximately 300-meter tourist route running under the buildings
of the Old Town in Lublin. Via Jagiellonica and the Lublin Way of St.
Jacob.
Lublin is the largest scientific and cultural center on the eastern
side of the Vistula River, which translates into numerous cultural
events organized by the student community and local government
authorities. There, among others, Academic Cultural Center and local
government centers: Cultural Center, Center for the Meeting of Cultures,
"Grodzka Gate - NN Theatre" Centre, Workshops of Culture and Voivodship
Cultural Centre.
There are many libraries in the city, including
the Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna im. Hieronim Łopaciński in Lublin
and the Municipal Public Library in Lublin.
There are a number of
galleries and a dozen or so museums, including the Museum of the Lublin
Countryside, the Lublin Museum at the Castle, the Museum of the History
of the City of Lublin, the Museum of Martyrology "Under the Clock",
Wincenty Pol's Manor House, the Literary Museum of Józef Czechowicz, the
Polish Printing Remembrance Chamber and the State Museum at Majdanek.
The city has the only opera and operetta stage on the right bank of the
Vistula - the Musical Theatre. There are also the Lublin Philharmonic.
H. Wieniawski, the Lublin Chamber Orchestra and the Concert Hall at the
Music School. Karol Lipinski. The function of the opera theater is
performed by the Musical Theatre. The seat of the planned Lublin Opera
is to be the Center for the Meeting of Cultures. In 2020, the Museum of
Eastern Territories is to be established in the Lubomirski Palace.
Lublin is a center of alternative culture. The 1970s brought such
projects as the Gong 2 Theater or the Artistic Stage of the Catholic
University of Lublin and the poetic Samsara Group. Performance art is
also developing in Lublin. An element of alternative theater is the
Provisorium Theater and the Center for Theater Practices "Gardzienice".
In the city there is the "TEKTURA space for creative activities", the
Open City Festival is also held, and squats are being created.
Until June 2011, Lublin was fighting for the title of the European
Capital of Culture 2016. On October 13, 2010, the Selection Committee,
operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and National
Heritage, announced that Lublin, together with Warsaw, Katowice, Gdańsk
and Wrocław, was on the so-called shortlist.
Lublin is a place of cultural events, many of which refer to its multicultural heritage and take place in the open space of the Old Town. Among the largest events, attracting thousands of participants and having an international reputation, the following are listed: Carnaval Sztukmistrzów - a festival combining street theater and a circus, whose name was inspired by the figure of the Magician from Lublin; Night of Culture - a festival of theater performances, music concerts, exhibitions, happenings and other cultural events held in the evening and at night; East of Culture - Different Sounds Art'n'Music Festival - presenting the most interesting musical phenomena at the junction of genres, traditions and cultural influences; Jagiellonian Fair - a commercial and cultural event referring to the tradition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, during which the traditional fair is accompanied by performances and shows by artists, craftsmen and traditional handicraft manufacturers from Central and Eastern Europe; European Festival of Taste - presenting the richness and culinary heritage of the Lublin region inscribed in the broad context of the culinary culture of Europe and the Eastern Partnership countries, during which concerts, exhibitions, shows and workshops take place.
Lublin is located on the northern edge of the Lublin Upland. The
border between the Central European Plain and the Polish Uplands runs
nearby. Both of these provinces belong to Central Europe beyond the
Alps, which borders the East European Plain near Lublin.
The city
covers an area of 147 km². According to the regionalization of A.
Chałubińska and T. Wilgat, it lies in four mesoregions. To the west of
the Bystrzyca valley, there are the Nałęczów Plateau and the Bełżycka
Plain, and to the east - the Łuszczowska Plain and the Giełczewska
Height. According to J. Kondracki, Lublin lies on the Nałęczów Plateau,
the Bełżyce Plain, the Świdnica Plateau and the Giełczewska Height.
According to the geomorphological division of H. Maruszczak, the city
lies at the junction of three mesoregions - to the west of Bystrzyca,
these are the Nałęczów Plateau and the Bełżycki Plateau, and to the east
- the Łuszczów Plateau.
The Bystrzyca Valley divides the city
into two different landscape parts. The left-bank part is characterized
by a varied relief with numerous deep dry valleys accompanied by a few
loess gorges. The right bank part is flatter and less diversified.
Within the city, two watercourses flow into Bystrzyca: Czerniejówka and
Czechówka.
According to the Köppen-Geiger classification, Lublin lies in the Dfb zone - humid continental climate. The average annual air temperature ranges from +7.0 to +8.0 °C. The hottest months are July and August, with an average temperature of around +19 °C, the coldest are January and February, with an average of around −5.0 °C. The summer and growing seasons last quite long (100–110 and 210–220 days, respectively). The average annual rainfall is approx. 540 mm. The duration of the snow cover is from 70 to 90 days.
On the Nałęczów Plateau there are residential, service and
recreational areas. Residential and service buildings are located on
loess plateaus, and the recreational function is concentrated in ravines
and valleys. The spatial layout results from historical ownership
divisions. The districts of multi-family housing are Czechów, Czuby and
LSM. Single-family housing can be found in Konstantynów, Ponikwoda,
Sławina, Sławinek, Szeroki and Węglin. The service center is located in
Śródmieście. Service areas form complexes (UMCS Botanical Garden with an
open-air museum, Academic Campus). They are also located at the main
thoroughfares (al. Kraśnicka, Spółdzielczości Pracy, ul. Zana).
There are industrial and residential areas on the Łuszczowskie Plateau.
The spatial arrangement was influenced by the course of the railway line
and exit roads that run along the valleys. Mainly industrial districts
are Tatary, Wrotków and Zadębie. Mainly residential areas are the
following districts: Bronowice, Dziesiąta and Kośminek, as well as
housing estates: Majdan Tatarski and the secluded Osiedle Jagiellońskie
in Felina. In the south, a significant part of the area is occupied by
the Dąbrowa forest.
The Bełżyce Plateau is dominated by
agricultural areas. There are also suburban housing developments and
forests: Stary Gaj and Las Krężnicki.
In the valleys there are
green areas used for recreation. The estuary of the Czechówka river into
the Bystrzyca River is the central point. Sports buildings and
allotments are concentrated near the valleys. In the south, a retention
reservoir - Lake Zemborzycki - was created, which also performs
recreational functions.
The beginnings of the settlement date back to the 6th century. At
that time, there was a settlement on Czwartek, which spread to the
neighboring hills. In the early Piast period, the church of St. Nicholas
and a wooden defensive structure on the Castle Hill. In the 12th
century, this building became the center of the castellany. At that
time, Lublin belonged to the Land of Sandomierz, and more broadly - to
Lesser Poland. The first mention of Lublin comes from 1198. The city was
founded on the Magdeburg law, probably in the times of Bolesław the
Chaste around 1257, but the foundation act has not been preserved. In
the 13th century, Lublin became the main center of the emerging Lublin
region, which from the 14th century was part of the Sandomierz
Voivodeship.
The name of the city appears in sources from 1228,
immediately in its modern form. It may come from the personal name
Lubla. It would be formed from the Old Polish name Lubomir with an added
endearing suffix -la. It is also possible that the diminutive name Lubla
was combined with the possessive suffix -in. Zygmunt Sułowski supposes
that the name of the city is related to the name Lubel (Lubelnia).
Similarly, there are names Wróblin, Wróbel. According to the linguist
Maciej Malinowski, Lublin used to be called Lublin. The modern name
would be created as a result of the reduction of the vowel e. The
original root, however, was retained by the adjective lubelski. The form
Lubelin was recorded in 1231. The founder or owner of Lublin in ancient
times could have been a man named Lubel or Lubla. According to the
Chronicle of Wincenty Kadłubek, the name comes from the name of the
founder, Julia, sister of Julius Caesar.
The documented location was made on August 15, 1317 by Władysław
Łokietek. In 1341 Casimir III the Great won a victory over the Tatars in
the Battle of Lublin. A year later, he granted the city a regulatory
privilege, under which it was surrounded by walls. On February 2, 1386,
during one of the first general sejms in Lublin, Jagiełło was elected
king of Poland. In 1392, Władysław Jagiełło granted Lublin the right of
warehouse, so over the years the city became an important trade center,
important for the exchange of goods between the Crown of the Kingdom of
Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1420, Andrzej, the Bishop of
Kiev, brought the relics of the Holy Cross to the Dominican church in
Lublin. In 1474, Kazimierz Jagiellończyk established here the capital of
the newly established Lublin Voivodeship.
From the 15th to the
18th century, nobility courts were held in the city: land and town
courts. There were also sejmiks and performances of the nobility of the
Lubelskie Voivodeship. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the city
flourished thanks to the trade route from the Black Sea to Western
Europe. In 1569, the Union of Lublin was concluded in Lublin. On July
19, 1569, at the Sejm in Lublin, the Prussian prince Albrecht Frederick
Hohenzollern paid feal homage to Sigismund II August. Jan Kochanowski,
who was present at the time, described in his work Pennant or Prussian
Homage. In 1578, the city was chosen as the seat of the Crown Tribunal.
In 1588, the bishop of Luck, Bernard Maciejowski, founded a Jesuit
college in Lublin. In the First Republic of Poland, Lublin was a royal
city of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in the Lubelskie starosty of
the Lublin Voivodeship. It was counted among the most important cities,
with the right to purchase landed estates and actively participate in
the act of electing the king.
In the 16th and 17th centuries it
was the main center of the Reformation. One of the most important
communes of Polish Brethren and a Calvinist congregation operated there.
In the mid-seventeenth century, Lublin was destroyed as a result of wars
and epidemics. On the wave of nationwide national conflicts and economic
stagnation, the Lublin fairs collapsed. In 1630, the plague killed 5,000
people. victims. After 1650, most European merchants emigrated from the
city. In 1655, Lublin was plundered by the Russian-Cossack army, and in
1656 the city was plundered by the Swedes. They completed the act of
destroying Lublin's buildings and decimated the population. On April 12,
1656, the city was liberated by the army under the command of Hetman
Paweł Jan Sapieha. The following years contributed to the further
decline of Lublin, mainly due to the Northern War. In 1703, August II
granted the city a privilege equalizing its rights to Krakow.
After the northern wars, the city was expanded, mainly magnate seats and
church properties. The present layout of Krakowskie Przedmieście and pl.
Lithuanian. However, the buildings of the city still looked poor. During
the Enlightenment (1780), the Lublin Commission of Boni Ordinis was
established. It led to the restoration of tenement houses, paving the
streets and renovation of the town hall. After the announcement of the
Constitution of May 3, Teodor Gruell-Gretz became the first president of
the city. In 1792, the city was occupied by the Russian army, ending the
period of short-lived prosperity.
The partition of the
Commonwealth in 1795 meant that the Lublin region was under Austrian
rule as part of Western Galicia. Lublin was the largest city in the
Austrian partition after Kraków. At the end of the 18th century, it had
about 9,000 inhabitants. inhabitants. The nobility moved to the
countryside, foreign officials appeared. In 1809, troops of the Duchy of
Warsaw entered the city. Provisional Polish authorities were organized.
The Central Galician Government reorganized the municipal authorities.
Beniamin Finke de Finkenthal was appointed president and Teodor
Gruell-Gretz vice-president. After the peace in Schönbrunn, the Lublin
region found itself within the borders of the Duchy of Warsaw. At the
beginning of 1810, Lublin became the capital of the newly created Lublin
Department.
In 1815, Lublin found itself in the Congress Kingdom in the Russian
partition. In 1837 it became the capital of the province. In 1873, the
population of the city was 28.9 thousand. In less than a quarter of a
century (until 1897) it increased to 50.2 thousand. In 1877, the first
railway connection was built. There were also visible transformations in
social relations - a layer of wealthy bourgeoisie was formed. The urban
shape of the city was being formed - disproportions between the rich
downtown and the districts located on the outskirts were growing. During
World War I, in the summer of 1915, the occupation of Lublin by German
and Austro-Hungarian troops ended Russian rule in the city.
On
the night of November 6/7, 1918, the People's Government of the Republic
of Poland was formed under the leadership of Ignacy Daszyński. After
Poland regained independence, Lublin developed. Factories and public
buildings were built, and Lublin's culture flourished. On July 27, 1918,
the Catholic University of Lublin was founded. In 1926, a second
theological university was established - the Jesuit "Bobolanum". In
1927, the Lublin Society of Friends of Sciences (previously operating in
1818–1828) was reactivated. In 1930, Rabbi Majer Szapira founded
Yesliwas Chachmej Lublin. The aviation industry was developing
particularly dynamically. The Plage and Laśkiewicz plants produced
Lublin aircraft. Later, production moved to the nationalized Lublin
Aircraft Factory. The city has also made attempts to create its own
image. In 1934, a propaganda poster about Lublin was issued, and two
years later the coat of arms of Lublin was approved. On June 11, 1939,
the first Days of Lublin took place.
In July 1939, it was decided that in the event of the outbreak of
war, Lublin would become the temporary seat of the President of the
Republic of Poland. The first air attack on the city took place on
September 2 in the morning. On September 5, the ministries and the state
treasury were moved to the city. On the same day, the "Lublin" Army was
formed. On September 9, the Germans bombed the city. About 1,000 people
died. The mayor of Lublin, Bolesław Liszkowski, left the city on
September 9, 1939 and went to Romania. On September 18, German troops
entered Lublin. Until July 1944, the city was occupied as part of the
General Government.
In November 1939, mass repressions against
the Polish intelligentsia began, later called Sonderaktion Lublin.
Several hundred lawyers, engineers, KUL professors, teachers and clergy
were arrested, including bishops Marian Fulman and Bl. Wladyslaw Goral.
The Germans closed the Catholic University of Lublin, schools and
theaters, and stopped publishing the Polish press. Between June and
August 1940, several hundred representatives of the intelligentsia were
arrested as part of the AB Action. About 500 of them were shot in nearby
Rury Jezuickie. The Nazis established a Gestapo prison at the Lublin
Castle and the "Pod Zegarem" torture chamber. Repressions against Polish
Jews took place from the end of 1939. A concentration camp at Majdanek
and a ghetto for the Jewish population were established. About 40,000
people died during the Holocaust as part of Operation Reinhard. Lublin
Jews, who before 1939 constituted over 1/3 of the city's population. All
the so-called a Jewish town and almost all of Wieniawa, inhabited mainly
by Jews. Jewish cemeteries were liquidated.
In July 1944, the
lower commanders of the Home Army decided to start fighting in the city.
The Soviet occupation of Lublin began on July 23, 1944, and ended on
July 25, 1944. On August 2, Lublin became the seat of the Polish
Committee of National Liberation.
In the era of People's Poland, the city developed rapidly. In 1944,
the Catholic University of Lublin resumed its activity and the Maria
Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (UMCS) was established. In 1953,
the Lublin University of Technology was established. Subsequently, the
Medical University of Lublin (1949) and the University of Life Sciences
in Lublin (1955) emerged from the UMCS. In 1944, the Publishing
Cooperative "Czytelnik" was founded in Lublin. In 1957, the Lublin
Housing Cooperative was established. In the same year, the Lublin
Scientific Society was founded. In 1961, the "Cosmos" Cinema was opened.
In the period of People's Poland, a number of large industrial plants
were also erected, e.g. Truck Factory (FSC).
By 1989, the city's
population had more than tripled compared to 1939. During the period of
the People's Republic of Poland, Lublin was twice awarded the Order of
the Grunwald Cross: on August 19, 1946, with the third class, and on
July 22, 1954, with the first class.
From 8 to 24 July 1980, a
wave of strikes and workers' protests covered over 150 workplaces in the
Lublin region, 91 of which were in Lublin. These strikes are referred to
as Lublin July 1980. Their participants demanded: withdrawal of food
price increases, wage increases, improvement of working conditions and
(in some cases) independence of trade unions. The protests were ended
with written agreements between the strikers and the authorities. They
opened the way to better prepared and conducted August strikes on the
coast.
Today's Lublin covers an area of 147 km². It is more than
six times larger than when it obtained city rights in 1317. At that
time, it was allocated "100 fiefs of arable and non-cultivated land
according to the Magdeburg measure" (i.e. about 24 km²). Lublin is the
leading center on the right bank of the Vistula, the largest academic
center on the right bank of the Vistula and one of the largest in
Poland. Thanks to the funds of the European Union, a number of
investments are taking place. The city is a member of the Union of
Polish Metropolises.
In 2007, the historic architectural and
urban complex of Lublin was recognized as a historical monument. In
2015, Lublin was awarded the European Heritage Label. Many hiking trails
run through here, e.g. Via Regia, the Jagiellonian Trail or the Hasidic
Trail. In 2017, Lublin received the Europe Prize, the highest
distinction of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In
2019, the 450th anniversary of the signing of the Union of Lublin was
celebrated. In 2023, the city will be the European Youth Capital.
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland in terms of population. It
is also the most populous poviat, the poviat with the highest population
density and the largest city with poviat rights in the Lubelskie
Voivodship. There are 321,619 permanent residents (as of December 31,
2018), and a total of 338,586 registered residents (as of December 31,
2020). In addition, a large group are unregistered students. According
to estimates from 2016, the number of students was approx. 70,000. The
Maria Curie-Skłodowska University alone educated over 20,000 students of
all years. The largest population in Lublin was recorded in 1999 -
according to the data of the Central Statistical Office - 359,154
inhabitants. At the end of 2020, the unemployment rate in Lublin was
5.8%. Lublin has a large percentage of people following a plant-based
diet. In 2021, 18.5% of surveyed adults in Lublin declared themselves to
be vegan or vegetarian.
Since 1999, the number of people
permanently registered in Lublin has been decreasing. The main reason is
suburbanization. At the same time, the population of the area covering
15 communes around Lublin and Lublin itself increased. It is mainly the
inhabitants of the Lublin region and south-eastern Poland who move to
the Lublin agglomeration. The downward trend in the number of permanent
residents of the city slowed down in the second decade of the 21st
century.
The first period of the Polish political transformation passed in Lublin without major problems. The end of the 1990s was the most difficult. Lublin's industry weakened and unemployment increased. Changes in economic specializations began only in 2011. In the following years, the management of the city was changed. As a consequence, by 2018, 80 new investors started operating, and employment increased to almost 130,000. It was a record result. At the same time, industry had a small share in the employment structure (18,000).
Automotive
In the period of the People's Republic of Poland, the
Truck Factory (FSC) produced FSC Żuk and FSC Lublin cars. In the 1990s,
the factory was bought by the South Korean concern Daewoo. This is how
Daewoo Motor Polska (DMP) was created. The bad economic situation on the
Asian markets caused financial problems for the concern. This led to the
collapse of the plant in Lublin. Most of the employees have been made
redundant. The factory was bought by Intrall, but in 2007 the court
declared it bankrupt. In 2009, DZT Tymińscy purchased the rights to
produce Honker and Lublin cars as well as branches of the former DMP
plant. Production of Lublin's more modern successor, the Pasagon, began
in 2010, after taking over the production lines of the former FSC. In
2011, the manufacturer planned to expand production to 10,000 cars per
year. It was planned to export some cars. The factory was to employ 350
people.
In 2011, on the premises of the former FSC, Ursus S.A.
produced Ursus brand tractors. Since 2011, the company has been
assembling Chinese ZX Grand Tiger pick-ups in Lublin[62]. It is the
first in Poland and one of the first approvals in Europe for a car from
China. This is considered a success of Ursus engineers, who adapted the
car to the requirements of the European Union within nine months.
New technologies
At the end of the 1970s, the first fiber optic
cable in Poland was designed and created (by UMCS employees). The
optical fiber factory in Lublin (also the first in Poland) was
established in 1983.
In Lublin, there is the Lublin Science and
Technology Park, a science and research center that is a meeting place
for scientific institutions and enterprises. All universities in Lublin,
as well as the city and voivodship governments, joined the project. The
goal is to jointly invest in innovative technologies. Construction
started in 2003 and was completed in 2012.
With the support of EU
funds, the Lublin IT Upland project was created, co-implemented by the
city office, academic centers and entrepreneurs. It aims to support the
development of the high-tech industry in Lublin.
Power
engineering
The largest supplier of energy in Lublin is the heat and
power plant located in Wrotków, which is part of the PGE capital group
(Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A.). It is the largest source of
electricity and heat in the Lublin region and has the largest gas and
steam block in Poland. The basic production fuel for the BGP is
high-methane natural gas. Lublin is also the headquarters of
PGE-Energia.
In the city, especially on the outskirts, many
single-family buildings are equipped with photovoltaic panels and other
independent installations of renewable energy sources.
Other
industries
The Sipma agricultural machinery factory and the door
manufacturer, Pol-Skone, are also based in Lublin. There are also
pharmaceutical companies (BIOMED serum and vaccines factory and Polfa
Lublin), chemical and food companies operating here. Among the latter
are two listed companies: Emperia Holding S.A. and Polmos Lublin S.A.
(Stock Poland). The Lubella pasta and breakfast cereal factory and the
Solidarność confectionery producer are also thriving. There is also a
manufacturer of herbal preparations in Lublin, Herbapol, one of the
largest breweries in Poland, Perła, a branch of Indykpol (former Lubdrob
SA), a branch of POCh Polskie Odczynniki Chemiczne, and Zakłady Tobacco
in Lublin.
The main shopping street of Lublin is Krakowskie Przedmieście. In the
1990s, many boutiques and exclusive shops were opened there. Śródmieście
and the Old Town are meeting places for Lubliners in cafes, coffee bars,
restaurants and pubs. In the city center there is a shopping and
entertainment center with a cinema and an entertainment centre.
There are shops of the largest Polish and foreign chains in Lublin.
There are about 20 shopping centers, dozens of hypermarkets or
supermarkets and a similar number of electronics stores, perfumeries and
drugstores. An important point in the city is Zana Street, one of
Lublin's thoroughfares, in the Rury district. There are the headquarters
of enterprises and institutions, including the Social Insurance
Institution, banks, insurance companies, and hypermarkets. The dynamic
development of this part of the city began in the 1990s. The Gray Office
Park office building is located on this street. In close proximity to
ul. Zana is also home to the tallest building in Lublin, Metropolitan
Park.
Fair events are organized on the premises of the Lublin
International Fair, popular due to the proximity of the eastern border.
There are, among others, car, tourist, educational, wedding and
construction fairs. In 2012, the exhibition grounds were expanded
several times.
Services
Lublin is becoming a regional office
center. In the second decade of the 21st century, large office buildings
were built there, including: the Orion Office Building, the Centrum Zana
Office Park, an office and residential park on the premises of the
former Helenów depot. In 2017, Lublin moved to the 8th position on the
office market in Poland. According to city plans, the main centers of
office space are: the vicinity of the metropolitan railway station
(potential of 150,000 sqm of office space) and the vicinity of Kraśnicka
and Nałęczowska streets (an office park with an area of 80,000 sqm). It
is postulated to create an office district at the entrance from Warsaw,
with permitted high buildings (up to 200-250 meters).
There is
one 5-star hotel in Lublin, thirteen 4- and 3-star hotels, two 2-star
hotels, as well as several mansions and inns. Accommodation is also
offered by dormitories and private individuals.
Economic subzone
On the land at al. Witosa, in the vicinity of the Lublin Railway
Junction, the Lublin ring road and the airport in Świdnik, there is the
Economic Subzone in Lublin, belonging to the Euro-Park Mielec Special
Economic Zone. In 2016, the area of the economic subzone was 128 ha. It
was planned to extend the Lublin Subzone to 200 ha. The Subzone has
attracted many companies, including: Aliplast, Stokrotka, Pol-Skone,
Ball, MLP, Panattoni Europe and Modern-Expo Group.
There are several teaching hospitals in Lublin, including a
children's clinic and a military clinic. In addition, there are
provincial hospitals (provincial specialist hospital, John of God
Hospital (which was taken over by the former Railway Hospital at the end
of 2014), Oncology Center of the Lublin Region, neuropsychiatric
hospital) and government hospitals: the Ministry of Interior and
Administration hospital and the Institute of Rural Medicine.
There is an emergency notification center in Lublin that handles
emergency calls to emergency numbers 112, 997, 998 and 999.
According to the Europolis report - Green Cities Ranking for 2021,
Lublin is the most "green" city with poviat rights in all of Poland. The
capital of the Lublin region won in three out of five categories: public
transport, public health and actions to improve air quality. It was
followed by Katowice and Łódź.
The first higher education institution in Lublin was established in
the 17th century. It was the Studium generale, established at the
monastery of the Dominican Fathers and existing in the years 1644-1686,
which had the right to award the degrees of lector and bachelor of
philosophy and theology. The first rector (regent) was Father Paweł
Ruszel OP.
The first university founded in the 20th century
(1918) was the Catholic University of Lublin. The university was founded
by Fr. Idzi Radziszewski resulted in the scientific revival of the city,
the influx of students and outstanding scientists (mainly from Lviv and
Krakow). Academic life began to develop even more dynamically after
World War II, when, in 1944, the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University was
established as a counterbalance to the Catholic university. It was from
this state university that subsequent Lublin universities (the Medical
University and the University of Life Sciences) emerged. The 1990s
brought a very dynamic development of private universities.
Public universities have their seats in Lublin: the Maria
Curie-Skłodowska University, the Medical University of Lublin, the
University of Life Sciences in Lublin and the Lublin University of
Technology, as well as a number of non-public ones, among which the John
Paul II Catholic University of Lublin functions as a state university.
In 2021, the number of people studying at Lublin universities was
estimated at approx. 70,000. Taking these data into account, Lublin
probably has the largest percentage of student population among all
Polish cities.
At the end of the second decade of the 21st
century, Lublin recorded a high percentage of internationalization of
higher education compared to Polish centres. Almost 10% of the students
were foreigners. For comparison, in Great Britain or Switzerland this
indicator exceeds 15%.
There are at least 60 public and
non-public primary schools and 38 general secondary schools in Lublin.
The largest primary school in terms of the number of students and
employees is Primary School No. 51 im. John Paul II. SP 51 is located in
the Czuby Południowe district. In the school year 2021/2022, it was
attended by 1,410 students and 240 people worked there, including 167
teachers.
The first plans to launch a radio station in Lublin appeared before
World War II. In 1927, Tygodnik Ilustrowany published an article in
which, referring to the "Great plan for the expansion of the radio
network in Poland", he indicated Lublin as one of the 12 seats of radio
stations. However, the vision was not realized before 1939.
On
August 10, 1944, in Lublin, on the railway siding, the reborn Polish
Radio started broadcasting from the wagon radio station "Pszczółka". On
November 22, 1944, by a decree of the PKWN, the State Enterprise
"Polskie Radio" was established, which broadcast a program from Lublin
in the following languages: Polish, French, Russian and English. On
March 1, 1945, it was decided to transfer radio broadcasting to Warsaw.
Since then, Lublin has not had its radio station. In 1957, the local
station of Polish Radio - Polskie Radio Lublin - began broadcasting. In
the 1950s, numerous company and student radio stations were also
established. In 1964, Polish Radio Lublin moved to a new seat at ul.
Obrońców Pokoju 2, to modern emission rooms. In the years 1981–1982, the
radio station suspended broadcasting of the program due to the martial
law in Poland. In the 1980s, broadcasts of the opposition Radio
Solidarność were created in Świdnik.
The political
transformations of 1989 brought changes to the local radio market. In
December 1992, two commercial radio stations were established - Radio
Rytm and Radio Puls. In 1994, Radio Top was also established, aimed
mainly at women, as well as the radio station of the Archdiocese of
Lublin - initially under the name Catholic Radio Lublin. In 1995, the
Maria Curie-Skłodowska University began broadcasting the program of
Academic Radio Centrum. The process of formatting radio stations and
consolidation of radio groups meant that in the late 1990s local radio
stations became associated with media concerns.
The following
television stations are based in Lublin: TVP3 Lublin and Lubelska TV.
Press
The following dailies are published: "Kurier Lubelski" and
"Dziennik Wschodni", the weekly "Nowy Tydzień", "Lubelski Sport
Express", the magazine "Akcent", free press, guides and a local
supplement of "Gazeta Wyborcza".
Józef Czechowicz wrote poems devoted to Lublin. Lublin writer and editor, Marcin Wroński, b. 1972 in Lublin – graduate of the Catholic University of Lublin, author of, among others, detective stories about Commissioner Maciejewski, where the action takes place in pre-war Lublin. In Sebastian Bukaczewski's novel "Onde estas?", published in 2012, the action of which takes place in the present day, one of the narrators and main characters is the city of Lubli