Drohobych
Encyclopedia
Drohobych is a city
located at the confluence of the Tysmenytsia River and Seret
, a tributary of the former, in the Lviv Oblast
(province
), in western Ukraine
. The current estimated population is around 78 368 (as of 2010).
), Drohobych itself is a city of oblast subordinance
, thus being subject directly to the oblast authorities rather to the raion administration housed in the city itself.
period. According to one legend there was a settlement, called Bych, of the salt
-traders. When Bych was destroyed in the Cumans
raid, the survivors rebuilt the settlement at the nearby location under the current name which means the Second or Another Bych. In the time of the Kievan Rus' the Tustan fortress was built near Drohobych. However, scholars view this legend with skepticism, pointing out that Drohobych is a Polish pronunciation of Dorogobuzh
, a common East Slavic toponym applied to three different towns of Kievan Rus'.
The city was first mentioned in 1387 in the municipal records of Lviv in connection with some Martin (or Marcin) of Drohobych. Also, the chronicler's "List of all Ruthenian cities, the further and the near ones" in Voskresensky Chronicle (dated 1377–1382) mentions "Другабець" (Drugabets') among other cities in Volhynia that existed at the time such as Холмъ (Cholm), Лвовъ Великій (Lviv the Great
)
In 1392 Jogaila
ordered a construction of the first Latin Catholic municipal parish church
(Kosciół farny) using the foundations of old Ruthenian buildings that existed prior to that. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
, the city was the center of large rural starostvo (county at Ruthenian Voivodeship
).
Drohobych received the Magdeburg rights
some time in the 15th century (sources differ as to an exact year and some give 1422, 1460, or 1496 but in 1506 the right were confirmed by the king Alexander the Jagiellonian). In the 14th–16th centuries the city was a home of significant salt industry.
From the early-17th century, the Ukrainian Catholic brotherhood existed in the city, In 1648, during the Khmelnytsky Uprising
, the Cossacks stormed the city and its cathedral. Most of the local Poles, as well as the Greek Catholics and the Jews, were murdered at the time, while some managed to survive in the Bell tower
not taken in the raid. The 1772 partition of Poland
gave the city to Austria
. As the significant oil
resources were discovered in the area, the city became an important center of the oil and natural gas
industries.
Following World War I
, the area became part of the West Ukrainian National Republic until 1919, when it was taken over by the Second Polish Republic
and was located in the Lwow Voivodeship
. In 1928 the Ukrainian private gymnasium opened in the center of the city and is currently operational. In late 1920s town's population was some 40 000 and its oil refinery Polmin
was one of the biggest in Europe
, employing 800 people. Numerous visitors came there to see beautiful wooden Greek Catholic churches, among them the Church of St. Yur, which was regarded the most beautiful such construction in the Second Polish Republic, with fresco
es from 1691. Drohobych was also a major sports center (see: Junak Drohobycz
).
In September, 1939, the city was attached to Soviet Ukraine when the territory of the interwar Poland
was divided between the Nazi Germany
and the USSR. In Soviet Ukraine Drohobych became a center of the Drohobych Oblast
(province
). Its local Polish boyscouts created the White Couriers
organization, which in late 1939 and early 1940 smuggled hundreds of people from Soviet Union to Hungary
, across the Soviet-Hungarian border in the Carpathians. In early July, 1941, during the first weeks of the Nazi invasion of the USSR
, the city was occupied by the Nazi Germany
. As Drohobych had a significant Jewish population, the city became the site of a large ghetto
(Drohobych ghetto
) which the Nazis liquidated in June 1943. On August 6, 1944, the Nazi German occupation of Drohobych ended, however, it was immediately reoccupied by the Soviets. Following the war, the city remained an oblast
center until the Drohobych Oblast was incorporated into the Lviv Oblast
in 1959. In Soviet times, Drohobych became an important industrial center in Western Ukraine with highly developed oil-refining industry, machine building, woodworking industry, light industry, and food industry.
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The population of Drohobych throughout the years was:
In 1869, of the town's 16,880 inhabitants 28.7% were Ukrainian, 23.2% were Polish or Roman Catholic, and 47.7% were Jewish; in 1939, when the population was 34,600, the respective figures were 26.3%, 33.2%, and 39.9%. By 1959 Ukrainians constituted 70% of the town's population, Russians 22%, Poles 3%, and Jews 2%.
In 1931, the total population of the Drohobych district was 194,456, distributed among different languages:
In January 2007, the total population of the metropolitan area was over 103,000 inhabitants.
, chemicals
, machinery, metallurgy
, and food processing
.
with:
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
located at the confluence of the Tysmenytsia River and Seret
Seret River
The Seret is a minor river in Ukraine, a tributary of the Tysmenytsia River. The Seret flows through the center of Drohobych, a city located in Lviv Oblast in the west of Ukraine....
, a tributary of the former, in the Lviv Oblast
Lviv Oblast
Lviv Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Lviv.-History:The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on December 4, 1939...
(province
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
), in western Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. The current estimated population is around 78 368 (as of 2010).
Administrative status
Serving as the administrative center of the Drohobych Raion (districtRaion
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...
), Drohobych itself is a city of oblast subordinance
Administrative divisions of Ukraine
Ukraine is subdivided into 24 oblasts , one autonomous republic, and two "cities with special status".- Overview :...
, thus being subject directly to the oblast authorities rather to the raion administration housed in the city itself.
History
While there are only legendary accounts of it, Drohobych probably existed in the Kievan Rus'Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
period. According to one legend there was a settlement, called Bych, of the salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
-traders. When Bych was destroyed in the Cumans
Cumans
The Cumans were Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. After Mongol invasion , they decided to seek asylum in Hungary, and subsequently to Bulgaria...
raid, the survivors rebuilt the settlement at the nearby location under the current name which means the Second or Another Bych. In the time of the Kievan Rus' the Tustan fortress was built near Drohobych. However, scholars view this legend with skepticism, pointing out that Drohobych is a Polish pronunciation of Dorogobuzh
Dorogobuzh
Dorogobuzh is a historic town and the administrative center of Dorogobuzhsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, straddling the Dnieper River to the east of Smolensk and west of Vyazma. Population:...
, a common East Slavic toponym applied to three different towns of Kievan Rus'.
The city was first mentioned in 1387 in the municipal records of Lviv in connection with some Martin (or Marcin) of Drohobych. Also, the chronicler's "List of all Ruthenian cities, the further and the near ones" in Voskresensky Chronicle (dated 1377–1382) mentions "Другабець" (Drugabets') among other cities in Volhynia that existed at the time such as Холмъ (Cholm), Лвовъ Великій (Lviv the Great
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
)
Jogaila
Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...
ordered a construction of the first Latin Catholic municipal parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
(Kosciół farny) using the foundations of old Ruthenian buildings that existed prior to that. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
, the city was the center of large rural starostvo (county at Ruthenian Voivodeship
Ruthenian Voivodeship
Ruthenia Voivodeship was an administrative division of the Kingdom of Poland . Together with Bełz Voivodeship, it formed Lesser Poland Province with its capital city in Kraków. Part of Lesser Poland region...
).
Drohobych received the Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg Rights or Magdeburg Law were a set of German town laws regulating the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by a local ruler. Modelled and named after the laws of the German city of Magdeburg and developed during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, it was...
some time in the 15th century (sources differ as to an exact year and some give 1422, 1460, or 1496 but in 1506 the right were confirmed by the king Alexander the Jagiellonian). In the 14th–16th centuries the city was a home of significant salt industry.
From the early-17th century, the Ukrainian Catholic brotherhood existed in the city, In 1648, during the Khmelnytsky Uprising
Khmelnytsky Uprising
The Khmelnytsky Uprising, was a Cossack rebellion in the Ukraine between the years 1648–1657 which turned into a Ukrainian war of liberation from Poland...
, the Cossacks stormed the city and its cathedral. Most of the local Poles, as well as the Greek Catholics and the Jews, were murdered at the time, while some managed to survive in the Bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
not taken in the raid. The 1772 partition of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
gave the city to Austria
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. As the significant oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
resources were discovered in the area, the city became an important center of the oil and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
industries.
Following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the area became part of the West Ukrainian National Republic until 1919, when it was taken over by the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
and was located in the Lwow Voivodeship
Lwów Voivodeship
Lwów Voivodeship was an administrative unit of interwar Poland . According to Nazis and Soviets it ceased to exist in September 1939, following German and Soviet aggression on Poland . The Polish underground administration existed till August 1944.-Population:Its capital, biggest and most...
. In 1928 the Ukrainian private gymnasium opened in the center of the city and is currently operational. In late 1920s town's population was some 40 000 and its oil refinery Polmin
Polmin
Polmin was a Polish state-owned enterprise, which controlled excavation, transport and distribution of natural gas. Founded in 1909, it was nationalized in 1927, with headquarters in Lwów. Polmin operated a large oil refinery in Drohobycz, which in late 1930s employed around 3000 people...
was one of the biggest in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, employing 800 people. Numerous visitors came there to see beautiful wooden Greek Catholic churches, among them the Church of St. Yur, which was regarded the most beautiful such construction in the Second Polish Republic, with fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es from 1691. Drohobych was also a major sports center (see: Junak Drohobycz
Junak Drohobycz
Junak Drohobycz was a Polish soccer team, located in Drohobycz , on the historic territory of Kresy Wschodnie . It was disbanded by the Soviet occupying authorities in the fall of 1939, following Soviet attack on Eastern Poland...
).
In September, 1939, the city was attached to Soviet Ukraine when the territory of the interwar Poland
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
was divided between the Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and the USSR. In Soviet Ukraine Drohobych became a center of the Drohobych Oblast
Drohobych Oblast
Drohobych Oblast , was an oblast in the Ukrainian SSR. It had a territory of 9.6 thousands of km³, and population of 853 thousand .-History:...
(province
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
). Its local Polish boyscouts created the White Couriers
White Couriers
White Couriers was a group of around 20-30 Polish boyscouts and former soldiers of the Polish Army, most of whom had been associated with the interbellum sports club Junak Drohobycz. It existed between October 1939 and July 1940, when it was broken by the Soviet NKVD...
organization, which in late 1939 and early 1940 smuggled hundreds of people from Soviet Union to Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, across the Soviet-Hungarian border in the Carpathians. In early July, 1941, during the first weeks of the Nazi invasion of the USSR
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, the city was occupied by the Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. As Drohobych had a significant Jewish population, the city became the site of a large ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
(Drohobych ghetto
Drohobych ghetto
Drohobych ghetto was a ghetto created by Nazi Germany for the local Jews following their take over of the region during the German invasion of Russia.-Drohobych:...
) which the Nazis liquidated in June 1943. On August 6, 1944, the Nazi German occupation of Drohobych ended, however, it was immediately reoccupied by the Soviets. Following the war, the city remained an oblast
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
center until the Drohobych Oblast was incorporated into the Lviv Oblast
Lviv Oblast
Lviv Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Lviv.-History:The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on December 4, 1939...
in 1959. In Soviet times, Drohobych became an important industrial center in Western Ukraine with highly developed oil-refining industry, machine building, woodworking industry, light industry, and food industry.
Demographics
- 1931 — 32,300 inhabitants
- 1959 — 42,000 inhabitants
- 1978 — 65 998 inhabitants
- 1989 — 77 571 inhabitants
- 2001 — 79,119 inhabitants
- 2010 — 78 368 inhabitants
In 1869, of the town's 16,880 inhabitants 28.7% were Ukrainian, 23.2% were Polish or Roman Catholic, and 47.7% were Jewish; in 1939, when the population was 34,600, the respective figures were 26.3%, 33.2%, and 39.9%. By 1959 Ukrainians constituted 70% of the town's population, Russians 22%, Poles 3%, and Jews 2%.
In 1931, the total population of the Drohobych district was 194,456, distributed among different languages:
- Polish: 91,935 (47.3%)
- Ukrainian: 79,214 (40.7%)
- Yiddish: 20,484 (10.5%)
In January 2007, the total population of the metropolitan area was over 103,000 inhabitants.
Economy
Industries currently based in the city include oil-refineriesRefinery
A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value.-Types of refineries:Different types of refineries are as follows:...
, chemicals
Chemical industry
The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into more than 70,000 different products.-Products:...
, machinery, metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
, and food processing
Food processing
Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...
.
Sights
- St. George's Church, DrohobychSt. George's Church, DrohobychSt. George's Church in Drohobych is one of the oldest and best preserved timber churches of Galicia. The church, dating from ca. 1500, consists of three parts. The central block is square in plan and comprises the nave. Two other blocks contain the double apse and the narthex...
(ca. 1500) - Ascension Church, Drohobych (late 15th century)
- Holy Cross Church, Drohobych (early 16th century)
- City Hall, Drohobych (1920s)
- Synagogue, Drohobych (1842–1865)
- St. Peter's and Paul's Monastery, Drohobych
Politics
- Hryhoriy Kossak, Ukrainian military leader (born here)
- Zenon KossakZenon KossakZenon Kossak was an activist in the Ukrainian militant nationalist movement for independence from interwar Poland.Kossak was born in Drohobych in Galicia...
, Ukrainian military and political leader (born here) - Andriy MelnykAndriy MelnykAndriy Melnyk , Ukrainian military and political leader.-Life:Born near Drohobych, Galicia into a peasant family. Between 1912 and 1914 he studied at the Higher School of Agriculture in Vienna...
, Ukrainian military and political leader (born near Drohobych)
The Arts
- Ivan FrankoIvan FrankoIvan Yakovych Franko was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, political activist, doctor of philosophy, the author of the first detective novels and modern poetry in the Ukrainian language....
, Ukrainian poet and writer, born in Nahuievychi, near Drohobych - Bruno SchulzBruno SchulzBruno Schulz was a Polish writer, fine artist, literary critic and art teacher born to Jewish parents, and regarded as one of the great Polish-language prose stylists of the 20th century. Schulz was born in Drohobycz, in the province of Galicia then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and spent...
, Polish-Jewish writer, graphic artist and literary critic
Other fields
- Yuriy DrohobychYuriy DrohobychYuriy Drohobych, was a philosopher, astrologist, writer, medical doctor, rector of the University of Bologna, professor of Kraków Academy, first publisher of a Ukrainian printed text...
, first doctor of medicine in Ukraine, 1481–1482 rector of the University of BolognaUniversity of BolognaThe Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the world, the word 'universitas' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088... - Yaroslav PopovychYaroslav PopovychYaroslav Popovych is a Ukrainian cyclist with the UCI ProTour team . He was born in Drohobych, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. Under-23 road race champion in 2001, Popovych turned professional in 2002 with , where he performed particularly strongly in the Giro d'Italia, finishing third in 2003...
, cyclist (born here)
Twin towns — Sister cities
Drohobych is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with:
| City | Country | Year of Signing |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo, New York Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the... |
||
| Muscatine, Iowa Muscatine, Iowa Muscatine is a city in Muscatine County, Iowa, United States. The population was 22,886 in the 2010 census, an increase from 22,697 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Muscatine County... |
||
| Olecko Olecko Olecko is a town in Masuria, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of Poland, near Ełk and Suwałki. It is situated at the mouth of the Lega river into the Great Olecko Lake on its south-western shore... |
Poland | |
| Legnica Legnica Legnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county... |
Poland |
External links
- Drohobych Info - biggest news site
- Interactive map of Drohobych
- Drohobych - city portal
- Drohobych.com - Drohobych city administration website
- Drohobych in Verkhovna RadaVerkhovna RadaThe Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
of Ukraine database - Drohobych the King's city
- Drohobych.Net
- Stories by Irene Frisch, a Drohobych-born Holocaust Survivor
- Drohobych in Encyclopedia of Ukraine
- Seminary of Blessed Martyrs Severyn, Yakym and Vitalij of Ukrainian Greek Catholic ChurchUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchThe Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
, in DrohobychDrohobychDrohobych is a city located at the confluence of the Tysmenytsia River and Seret, a tributary of the former, in the Lviv Oblast , in western Ukraine...