About the town » Chocianów, Powiat polkowicki, Lower Silesia, Poland

Chocianów is a town in Polkowice County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Chocianów. The town lies approximately 14 kilometres south-west of Polkowice, and 85 kilometres west of the regional capital Wrocław. As of 2006, it has a population of 8,215. It developed from a castle called Chodzenow built in 1297 by Duke Bolko I the Strict of Świdnica, who had to secure his lands against the claims of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia. Prior to World War II, Chocianów was in Germany and was known by its German name of Kotzenau. It received its town privileges in 1894. The town had a population of 4,301 in 1939, but with war deaths and the expulsion of most Germans after the war the population was down to 1,707 in 1946.