Pszczyna

Pszczyna (, ) is a town in the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland, with a population of 25,823 (2019), and is the seat of a local gmina (commune) and county.

==Etymology== thumb|left|upright|Fragment of a map from 1592 with Pisczijna marked There are several different theories of the origins of the name Pszczyna. Ezechiel Zivier (1868–1925) hypothesized that the land was first owned by Pleszko (alternatively Leszko, or possibly Leszek, Duke of Racibórz). Polish scholar Aleksander Brückner in turn explained the name based on its old spelling Plszczyna, from the ancient Polish word pło or pleso meaning a lake, making Plszczyna a place by a lake. Brückner's derivation, suggesting a marshy lakeside, based on Proto-Slavic plszczyna, is generally accepted in literature. Yet another explanation has been put forward by Prof. Jan Miodek of Wrocław University, who derives the town's name from the name of a nearby river, now known as Pszczynka. Miodek claims, firstly, that the town owes its name to the river, not vice versa (as the -ka suffix in the present name of the river would indicate), and secondly, that the original name of the river, Blszczyna, derives from Proto-Slavic blskati, to glisten. The oldest recorded versions of the town's name (Plisschyn, Plisczyna, Plyssczyna, Blissczyna, Blyssczyna, Plesna, Pssczyna) exclude none of the above derivations, except perhaps the Leszko/Leszek one, which seems far fetched. Neither does the German name Pleß shed any light, as it simply reflects the Polish name at the time of the beginning of German settlement.