About Blaszki

The first mention about Błaszki originate from 14th century. Under the date of 1386 in Files of Sieradz is found the entry informing about existence of a village called Błaszkowice.
In 1496 Błaszki was the property of the nobility. It belonged to the administrative district and province of Sieradz and it possessed the parish church. In 1497 the benefice of Błaszki became Jan Łaski who was later the archbishop of Gniezno and the primate of Poland.
In 1521 from his recommendations Błaszki achieved the description of in which we read: “The village of Błaszki is the property of inhabitants, it possesses the wooden church under the invocation of Saint Mary, the presbytery, the curacy and the house to the church – service.”
In the middle of 16th century Błaszki became the property of the family of Zaręba. They had been living here till the end of that century.
On 1st March 1653 the king Jan Kazimierz granted Błaszki the law of performing a Sunday market.
The first mention about Błaszki as a town originated only from 1722. In that time the owners of Błaszki were the Radoszewsky’s family. But in the 18th century the new owners of the town became the Lipsky’s family, contributing to its wide development. They bought the church – grounds and were founding the streets. The development of the town in the late 18th century plans of building a new church of brick were made.
On 26th October 1779 a foundation stone was put under the construction. But in 1787 the building works were interrupted by a great fire which ravaged considerable part of the town. Thanks to the financial help of the squire and the nearby landlors the burnt part of the temple was rebuilt and bells were built. In that year building of the church was finished.
In 1825 the road Kalisz – Sieradz was built.
In 1827 in the town there were 91 houses with 1361 inhabitants, in 1859 there were 178 houses with 2 854 inhabitants, and in 1876 the number of inhabitants grew up to 3 600. In 1897 the fire brigade came into being in the town.
The progressive development of the town was stopped by a double fire in 1904, which destroyed the northern side of Kaliska Street and part of Down Market. Similarly in 1930 the fire ravaged the buildings of Upper Market. The destroyed streets were rebuilt very quickly. It was the contribution of the contemporary mayor of Błaszki, who between the years of 1919 – 1927 became the originator and creator of many objects and municipat investments.
In 1916 on the Market was built the edifice of The Cooperative Companionship “Błaszkowianka” with theatrical room, and the new building of school, the habitable house for the teachers and the baths in 1925. The old building of a school was also rebuilt. Until the Second World War the town went through its own full bloom. The number of inhabitants reached 5 400 people.
During The Second World War this number went down considerably, when in 1940 the German occupants deported all Jewish population.
The Polish inhabitants also suffered. They were taken away to Reich on the obligatory works, also to concentration camps. The town was liberated on 21st January 1945.