DZIERZONIW

German Reichenbach, city, Walbrzych wojewdztwo (province), southwestern Poland, on the Pilawa River. The community was founded as Reichenbach in the 12th century and received town rights in the 13th. The Duke of Ziebice (Mnsterberg) pledged the town to Bohemia (1335), whence it passed to the Habsburgs. In 1742 it was surrendered, with Silesia, to Prussia; it returned to Poland in 1945 and was renamed for the Polish priest Jan Dzierzon. Dzierzoniw is a heavy industrial city located in Lower Silesia and is the major trading centre for its surrounding area. Pop. (1992 est.) 38,000.