In
1525 Prince of Prussia pays homage to the Polish
king on Krakow's Grand Square.
Most
Important Dates in Krakow's History
8th c. –
Wislanie tribe set up their state with Krakow as
its capital
999 –
Krakow province incorporated into the House of
Piasts’ realm
1000 –
Krakow got its own bishop
1038 –
King Casimir I the Renovator moved Poland’s
capital to Krakow
1241 –
Krakow demolished by Mongols
1257 –
Duke Boleslaw the Shy endowed Krakow with
self-government and trade privileges
1311 –
mutiny of Krakow burghers mercilessly squashed by
Prince Vladislav the Short
1320 –
coronation of King Vladislav I the Short, first
such event in Krakow’s Wawel Cathedral
1335 –
King Casmir III the Great founded his brand-new
city of Kazimierz near Krakow
1364 –
King Casmir III the Great founded the Krakow university
1364 –
Krakow summit of European monarchs
1386 –
Krakow wedding of Poland’s queen Jadwiga and
Lithuania’s grand duke Jagiello paves the way
to the union of the two nations
1400 –
renewal of the Krakow university thanks to the
legacy of the Saint Queen Jadwiga
1447 –
the beginning of the 45-year reign of King
Casimir IV that make Poland one of the greatest
European powers
1489 –
Veit Stoss finished his stunning altarpiece for Krakow’s basilica of Virgin Mary's
1500 –
start of the Renaissance renovation of the Wawel Royal Castle
1558 –
regular mail-coach connection established between
Krakow and Venice
1525 –
the first prince of newly born Prussia paid
homage to Poland’s King Sigismund I the Old on
Krakow’s Grand Square (see picture above)
1574 –
Henry I Valois, the first of Poland’s elective
kings, ran away from Krakow after a 4-month reign
to become France’s Henry III in Paris
1587 –
Maximillian Hapsburg’s failed 6-week siege of
Krakow made him drop his bid for the Polish
throne
1609 –
King Sigismund III Vasa moved his residence to
Warsaw
1655 –
Swedish army captured and devastated Krakow
1683 –
King John III Sobieski led his Polish army from
Krakow to Vienna, won it from besieging Turks,
saved Christian Europe, and brought back booty
now displayed in Krakow museums
1702-11 –
Krakow was being captured and recaptured, on and
on, and thus ruined by Swedish, German, Polish
and Russian troops in the course of the Northern
War
1734 –
coronation of King August III, the last one in
Krakow’s Wawel Cathedral
1768 –
Krakow became a center of the first Polish
uprising suppressed by Russian troops
1772-78 –
Russian occupation of Krakow
1791 –
Krakow enlarged by two adjacent towns, Kazimierz and Kleparz, plus
settlements around the city
1793 –
another Russian occupation of Krakow
1794 –
Krakow was the center of national uprising led by
Thaddeus Kosciuszko
1794 –
Prussian army captured Krakow and stole
Poland’s regalia that have been lost forever
1796-1809
– Austrians occupied Krakow
1809 –
Krakow incorporated into the Duchy of Warsaw
under the sway of France’s Napoleon I
1813-15 –
another Russian occupation of Krakow
1815 –
the Congress of Vienna created a tiny,
independent Republic of Krakow
1816 –
Krakow Scientific Society was launched, turned
the Science Academy in 1872
1844 –
construction of the Krakow-Myslowice railway
1846 –
9-day Krakow Revolution and subsequent Austrian
annexation of the Krakow Republic
1848 –
Second Krakow Revolution, Austrian bombardment of
the city
1850 –
10-day fierce fire destroyed a quarter of Krakow
1866 –
Vienna let Krakow to enjoy municipal
self-government
1879 – Krakow National Museum, Poland’s best
collection of art, was launched
1883 – a
pair of Krakow’s university professors, Karol
Olszewski and Zygmunt Wroblewski, achieved first
ever liquefaction of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon
dioxide
1884 –
Krakow got its first telephone lines
1893 –
Krakow’s renowned city theater moves to its
brand-new, state-of-the-art building
1901 –
Krakow got electric tramway (a year ahead of
Vienna)
1910 –
Krakow’s rapid territorial expansion began
1912 –
Krakow’s first movie house opens
1914 –
Polish Legions, a nucleus of future Polish army,
were formed in Krakow by Jozef Pilsudski,
Poland’s future head of state
1918 –
Krakow was the first piece of the reborn free
Poland when Polish authorities took control of
the city by the end of October
1926 –
the Krakow radio station went on air
1939 –
the nazi Third Reich and the communist Soviet
Union divided Poland between them and the former
set up so called General Governorship with Krakow
as capital
1945 –
the Soviet Red Army captured Krakow in January
1949 –
giant steelworks built near Krakow with the
adjoining Nowa Huta residential district
1979 –
Krakow archbishop Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II and visited his
native city
1980 -
workers went on strike at the Nowa Huta
steelworks, which helped to start the Solidarity
trade union
1989 –
collapse of communism in Poland
1991 –
the first democratic elections to the local
government since 1939
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