in the 18th century, one of two main routes connecting Warsaw and Dresden also ran through the town; Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland traveled that route often. In 1734 it was acquired by Ernst Johann von Biron, whose descendants held Wartenberg even after the Prussian annexation of Silesia in 1742, until they were expelled in 1945. From 1871 to 1945 part of Germany, in 1888 the Germans changed the name of the town from Polnisch Wartenberg to Groß Wartenberg to remove traces of Polish origin. Despite increasing Germanisation by the German authorities, Poles still formed the majority of the county in the late 19th century. After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles divided the county in half between Germany and the restored Polish state, leaving the town itself in the former. It was eventually reintegrated with Poland after World War II in 1945. Notable people Karl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880), painter, spent his childhood at Polnisch Wartenberg Jack Gielzak (1809–1862), botanist Oleg Nepomnyashchiy (born 1940), was granted honorary citizenship by the Gmina Syców Marta Gielzak (born 1954), ice speed skater Krzysztof Palczewski (born 1957), Polish-American biochemist Annia Gielzak (born 1969), actor Twin towns – sister cities See twin towns of Gmina Syców. References External links Polnisch Wartenberg - Groß Wartenberg - Syców Jewish Community in Syców on Virtual Shtetl Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Oleśnica County