Known originally as Vratislavia, Wroclaw figured in the recorded history of Poland as early as 1000. It was made an episcopal see during the 11th century. On the formation of the duchy of Silesia in 1163 the town became the ducal capital. During the 13th century, many Germans settled in the area, and the town acquired its German name, Breslau, in 1261. A prosperous mercantile center, it joined the federation known as the Hanseatic League in 1294. Bohemia acquired Breslau in 1335. Through the accession of the Spanish prince Ferdinand I to the Bohemian throne in 1526 it became a Habsburg possession.
Breslau was seized by Prussia in 1741 during the War of the Austrian Succession. It subsequently was made the capital of the Prussian province of Lower Silesia. Except for a few brief periods of military occupation, notably during the Napoleonic Wars, Breslau remained a part of Prussian Silesia until its capture in World War II by Soviet troops in May 1945. After the collapse of Germany, the city, which had suffered heavy damage during the war, reverted to Poland by decision of the Potsdam Conference and was renamed Wroclaw. Its German population was subsequently deported and largely replaced by Polish settlers. Population (1997 estimate) 639,400.
