Odolanów () is a town in the Greater Poland Voivodeship of Poland, about south-west from Ostrów Wielkopolski, with over 5000 inhabitants. History The first written document that mentions Odolanów dates back to 1301, when it was part of the fragmented Piast-ruled Kingdom of Poland and the location hosted a castle on the border between Greater Poland and Silesia. A settlement arose next to the castle, which acquired city rights in 1403 from King Władysław II Jagiełło. It was a royal town of the Polish Crown, administratively located in the Kalisz County in the Kalisz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown. In 1629 on the east side of the town king Sigismund III Vasa founded the New Town also called Konstancja (after the king's second wife). Nowadays it is a part of Odolanów named Górka. At the end of the 17th century there were 18 shoemakers, 8 tailors, 3 millers, 3 tradesmen and 9 other craftsmen in the town. The majority of the population were tilthing and breeding cattle. Until 1793, the town and surrounding villages belonged to princes, kings, or noblemen. Monarchs granted land to various rich feudals as fief or land tenancy. During this time, Odolanów was under the administrative influence of Kalisz. In 1793 Odolanów was annexed by Prussia in the Second Partition of Poland. In 1807 it was regained by Poles and became part of the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw, and then in 1815 it was reannexed by Prussia. The citizens took part in the Greater Poland uprising (1848) during the Spring of Nations, fighting against better armed Prussians in the battle of Odolanów on 21 April 1848. They also supported the Polish January Uprising of 1863, delivering weapons and clothes to the insurgents. From 1871 it was part of Germany, however, despite the Germanisation led by the German Empire, Odolanów preserved its Polish character – in 1910 at least 72.5% of inhabitants were speaking Polish. In addition to Poles, Jews and Germans also lived there. The Protestant church built in 1780 and the 1835 synagogue are monuments of Odolanów’s once multicultural society. In 1909 the rail connection between Odolanów and Ostrów Wielkopolski was opened. The events shortly after World War I (Republic of Ostrów and the Greater Poland Uprising) are an important part of the town’s history. On 12 November 1918, a day after Poland declared independence, a Worker’s and Soldier’s Council