Grabów nad Prosną (Grabów upon the Prosna River) is a town of rich history and tradition. In the early Middle Ages it consisted of a royal village, a fortified castle and a market settlement outside the town walls. The first documented record of Grabów as a royal village located upon the Prosna River dates back to 1264. Its leaseholder was then Beniamin Zaremba, the wojewoda (governor) of Poznań Province. The castle in Grabów is mentioned in documents dating from 1366. The record of the name Grabów – which included both the settlement and the castle – dates back to 1391. The town took its name probably from its location in a hornbeam (Polish: grab) forest near the Prosna River. On 20 August
Grabów was a royal town located on important trade routes, a seat of a district known as non-city starosty (Polish: starostwo niegrodowe). At the beginning it was connected with the area of Wieluń, and till the end of 18th century it was part of the Province of Sieradz. It developed as a centre of crafts (particularly cloth making and brewery), commerce, agriculture and metallurgy using meadow ores. The Church played a vital part in Grabów’s history, especially from mid-17th century, when the Franciscan order was brought to the town. In the years 1815-1918 Grabów was a frontier town on the Prussian side of the Prussian- and later German-Russian border, owing to which the town lost its importance and turned into a rural settlement. In 1918 Grabów became part of reborn Poland. Its inhabitants actively took part in the national uprisings of 1830-1831, 1863-1864, 1918-1919. On 21 January 1945 Grabów was liberated from the Nazi occupation.
Many fires, epidemics and devastation brought on by the warring or passing armies resulted in migrations of the local population. That is why Grabów never had a stable number of inhabitants. It can be assumed that until the end of 17th century its population was between 300 and 400. The Poles predominated, even though there were also greater numbers of Jews and Germans, particularly after the second partition of Poland in 1793. In the second half of the 19th century, Grabów had a population of approx. 1500-1900.
The town’s coat of arms, depicted on seals as early as the 15th century and officially approved in 1939, is charged with a pelican: a white bird standing in a green nest, feeding three nestlings with its own blood. According to a legend, during one of the plagues mothers fed their children with their own blood in despair.
This town and commune on the Prosna River is a perfect spot for those who are tired of the hustle and bustle of city life. Unlike popular crowded resorts, so very often overrated, here the tourists can enjoy peace and quiet in natural surroundings. Our commune offers a plethora of attractions, and visitors craving cultural events will not be bored. Our commune boasts a range of interesting spots, well-known but not banal, which are really noteworthy emblems of the Grabów area. And those give only a foretaste of real cultural adventure, which tastes best when discovered en route by oneself.
