Fürstentum Neisse
In 1526 Paczków, under the Germanized name "Patschkau", together with the Duchy of Nysa, passed under the suzerainty of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty. The town blossomed, as a major centre of trade, with several manufacturers of textiles. The end of prosperity came during the Thirty Years' War, when warring armies destroyed Patschkau and adjacent areas. In 1742, after the Silesian Wars, Patschkau was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia, and it subsequently became part of the German Empire in 1871. It was secularized in 1810. The town was spared from serious destruction during World War I and II. During World War II, the Germans established five working parties (E158, E164, E274, E504, E534) of the Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp in the town. In the final stages of the war, the town was captured by the Soviet Red Army in May 1945. Its German population was largely evacuated or expelled. After the war, following the Potsdam Agreement, it became again part of Poland, and its Polish name was restored.