What is "kornik"

Kórnik is a town with about 6,800 inhabitants (2006), located in western Poland, approximately south-east of the city of Poznań. It is one of the major tourist attractions of the Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) region because of the historical castle and arboretum, which the oldest and richest collection of trees and shrubs in Poland.

Until 1961 there were two separate towns, Kórnik and Bnin, both founded in the Middle Ages (Bnin gained town rights in 1395, and Kórnik in 1426), situated just 1 kilometre apart. Bnin lost its town rights in 1934, and in 1961 it became part of Kórnik. The enlarged town also includes the former settlement of Prowent, birthplace of Wisława Szymborska.

The town's notable sites include:

• Kórnik Castle, built in the 14th century, but designed and rebuilt in the 18th century in neogothic style by architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel for the Działyński family.

• Kórnik Arboretum, established in the early 19th century by Count Tytus Działyński, later enriched with new species and varieties by his heirs, his son Jan Kanty Działyński and grandson Władysław Zamoyski. It is the largest and oldest arboretum in Poland and fourth largest arboretum in Europe, with over 3300 taxa of trees and shrubs.
• Town halls of both Kórnik and Bnin. That of Kornik was built in 1907 as a neo- Baroque city hall; Bnin's is a piece of original 18th-century late Baroque architecture.
• Kórnik Library (Bibliotheca Cornicensis), one of the most famous Polish libraries, founded by Tytus Działyński in 1828. Currently the library, despite being looted by the German Nazis during World War II, is one of the five largest libraries in Poland and contains roughly 400,000 volumes, including 30,000 books more than 150 years old, and 14,000 manuscripts. Since 1953 it has been a part of the National Library of Poland.

During World War II, Kórnik (renamed Burgstadt) was annexed by Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945 as part of Landkreis Schrimm, Reichsgau Wartheland. On 20 October 1939 a mass execution of 15 local residents was carried out, part of Operation Tannenberg.