page_title: Opatówek
section_title: Industrial Revolution and the 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Opatówek / History of Opatówek / Industrial Revolution and the 19th century
caption_attribution_description: Road in Opatówek
context_page_description: Opatówek is a town of 3,800 inhabitants situated 10 km southeast from Kalisz, county of Kalisz County in the province of Wielkopolska, Poland. The commune of Opatówek, including the town of Opatówek and 26 other villages, has about 10,000 inhabitants and is an agricultural and industrial region.
context_section_description: Beginning of the 19th century the industrial revolution did not stop at Poland. Several German industrialist's started running branches cross border. Cities on both sides of the border started booming.
  With the foundation of the big weaving mill by Adolf Gottlieb Fiedler, a Saxon industrialist, Opatówek started booming. Fiedler established one of the biggest weaving mills in the Kingdom of Poland in 1824-26. The government of Polish Kingdom created very good conditions for the development of industry. Adolf Gottlieb Fiedler received a big loan from the Polish government to build the factory in Opatowek. Also in spite of lower salaries he followed other cloth producers to eastern regions at the time of the German industrial revolution. The German investments in Poland were followed by Saxon and bohemian specialists to run the factories. There they found cheap workers, water power and they brought in their knowhow. The factory of Opatówek employed 600 workers and the company won several international prizes with their products. The Opatówek factory was the cash cow of Fiedler's company. The town grew with great speed.
  In 1870, Opatówek lost its municipal rights as a result of the suppression after the January Uprising and because of the economical decay. In the end of the 19th century a Wooden Toys Factory was established in Opatowek, whose products won numerous prizes at European expositions. The profit-making, well organised property yielded a big profit to the next owners.
caption: Old houses in Opatówek
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