On multicultural Kalisz trail

Kalisia, as one of the places on the amber route, was mentioned for the first time in the work of the Alexandrian scholar Ptolemy around the 2nd century A.D. According to the scholars, Kalisia of Ptolemy can be identified with today's Kalisz. The favourable location at the crossroads of the trade routes from the north to the south and from the west to the east of the continent favoured the development of Kalisz and it openness to newcomers representing various peoples, nations, religions and cultures.
In the early Middle Ages, the fortified settlement in Zawodzie played a significant role in the Piast state. At the court of Mieszko III the Old (Polish: Mieszko III Stary) there were Jewish Münzmeisters (mint masters)
In the first half of the 13th century, the settlement was moved 1.5 km north to the so-called New Town. The town was granted municipal autonomy in about 1257 by Bolesław the Pious (Polish: Bolesław Pobożny) – the Duke of Gniezno-Kalisz. It was done according to the German town law called the Środa Śląska Law (after Środa Śląska in Silesia). Initially among its citizens there was a significant number of people of German origin. At the end of the 13th century they constituted about 25% of the total population of the town. With time this population was assimilated and polonized.
In the autonomous town, according to the prevailing custom, the Jews were assigned a place to live, the so-called district. Its main axis was Żydowska Street (currently Złota), where a synagogue was built. A cemetery was located outside the city, in the Rypinek settlement. In 1264 Duke Bolesław the Pious granted the Jews from his district the so-called Statute of Kalisz – taking them under the protection of the duke. This statute became the law in force after unification of Polish territories by Władysław the Elbow-high (Polish: Władysław Łokietek). Confirmed by successive rulers, it was valid until the end of the 18th century. It was one of the most important acts of Polish liberalism in the history of Europe.
In the 16th century the followers of various fractions of Protestantism appeared in Kalisz and the surrounding area, mainly craftsmen and merchants escaping persecution from Western Europe.
In the middle of the 18th century merchants from Macedonia trading in wine arrived in Kalisz. They brought with them Orthodoxy. They were quickly polonized and for the Kalisz citizens they were Greeks – because of their religion, or Hungarians – in connection with excellent trade in Hungarian wine. The Orthodox cemetery was founded by the Wrocławski Route.

After the second partition of Poland (1793) Kalisz belonged Prussia. The Prussians started to organise the town according to German designs and brought a large number of officials and craftsmen.
After the third partition Kalisz belonged to Russia. The favourable economic situation in the Kingdom of Poland attracted crowds of immigrants from the German duchies. In the mid-1820s, they constituted almost 30% of the town's population.
The unfavourable political and economic situation in the second half of the 19th century made some migrants leave Kalisz in quest of a job. Those who remained underwent the processes of assimilation and polonization to some degree. In 1909 the Kalisz inhabitants – protestants, descendants of emigrants, constituted 11% of the town's population.
In the 19th century, the Jewish community experienced a demographic boom. Its wealthy representatives were counted among the first fortunes of the Kingdom of Poland. In the mid-19th century Jews constituted 36% of the inhabitants of Kalisz. At the beginning of the 20th century, the supporters of the Reform Judaism built the so-called progressive synagogue by Krótka Street and established a cemetery by the current Podmiejska Street.
In the first half of the 19th century, the Orthodox community consisted of a small Macedonian diaspora, few Russian and military officials. An Orthodox church was organized for them in the buildings of the former monastery of the Poor Clares. Later on churchgoers attended the regimental Orthodox church located in the building of the former Cadet Corps (currently the Centre for Culture and Art). After the fall of the January Uprising the population of Russians – soldiers, officials and teachers – increased in the town in order to russify the Poles. For the needs of the garrison an Orthodox army cemetery was organized in the Majków district. In the second half of the 19th century the St Peter and Paul Orthodox cathedral was built in the central point of the town. The numerical growth of the Russian (Orthodox) population was significant. In the first decade of the 20th century it constituted over 14% of the town's inhabitants.
Regaining independence in 1918 was the beginning of the arduous reconstruction of the town after its destruction in 1914. The events of the First World War and the revival of the Republic of Poland had a decisive influence on the ethnic and religious shape of Kalisz.

The number of followers of Protestantism decreased significantly, they constituted only 2.9% of the town's inhabitants. Only those who felt they were Polish stayed in Kalisz.
Only a few Orthodox believers remained in the town. Among them there were Russians, as well as Ukrainians, volunteers in the Petlura army fighting against the Bolsheviks. After the conclusion of the Polish-Soviet agreement in Riga (1921) the Ukrainian troops were demobilized, the soldiers were deployed in Ukrainian campsites throughout Poland, among others in the camp in Szczypiorno. Some of them settled in Kalisz. The Orthodox cathedral, deprived of the financial support of the churchgoers, was getting into ruin and was finally dismantled. In 1930, a small Orthodox tserkva was built by Niecała Street.
34.87% of the population declared they were Jewish, and this number did not change. The Jews constituted a significant percentage among Kalisz bankers, merchants, industrialists, and also worked in free professions.
The Second World War irrevocably changed the face of Kalisz with regard to denominations and culture. The planned extermination of the Jewish population by the Nazi occupant led to the total annihilation of the community which was one of the oldest in Poland.
The war put the end to the Protestant presence in the town, and to Polish citizens of German origin who declared German nationality. Only those who felt they were Polish stayed in Kalisz.
Many representatives of the Orthodox community chose to emigrate to the west. Those for whom Kalisz was the only homeland stayed and maintained the tradition of the over 250 years of Orthodox presence in Kalisz.