Poznan – trade fair city, old town hall and cathedral island

Poznań, in German Posen, is the capital of the Polish Greater Poland Voivodeship and the fifth largest Polish city with around 540,000 inhabitants. Poznan was also the capital of the Poznan Province.
In 1983 and 1997 Pope John Paul II visited the city. In 1998, as part of the Weimar Triangle, Chancellor Helmut Kohl met with the Presidents of France and Poland, Jacques Chirac and Aleksander Kwaśniewski, in Poznan.

In 1038, Bohemia invaded the Piast region, kidnapped the precious relics of St. Adalbert, and occupied Silesia. However, the invasion of the Bohemian Prince Břetislav I could not stop the economic development of Poznan, nor could the relocation of the Polish capital from Gniezno to Kraków by Casimir I the Innovator. The first castle and the oldest settlements in Poznan were on the right bank of the Warta and on the Cybina. At the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, Posen transformed from a fortified castle and a princely seat into a city based on the Western European model. Under Przemysł I, German immigrants founded a settlement under Magdeburg law opposite the old town on the left bank of the Warta in 1253.

As part of the Second Partition of Poland, Prussian troops marched into Posen on January 30, 1793. The city then belonged to the territory of the new province of South Prussia of the Kingdom of Prussia. After more than 500 years of formal coexistence, the two parts of Poznań were united in 1793.

The old town with the Old Town Hall and the Old Market as well as the cathedral, which is located on Cathedral Island, are worth seeing. It is dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. To the west, opposite the cathedral, is St. Mary's Church (Posen), a brick Gothic church. In the centre of the city is Stary Browar, a cultural and business centre opened in 2003 and set up in the building of a former brewery. The most famous feature of the city is the trade fair.

The Route of Kings and Emperors connects the city's most important sights.