Free City of Cracow
Free, Independent, and Strictly Neutral City of Cracow and its District Wolne, Niepodległe i Ściśle Neutralne Miasto Kraków i jego Okręg (Polish) | |||||||||||
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| 1815–1846 | |||||||||||
Location of the Free, Independent, and Strictly Neutral City of Cracow with its Territory within Europe | |||||||||||
Territory of the Free, Independent, and Strictly Neutral City of Cracow with its Territory (orange) and its three neighbours (Kingdom of Prussia, Austrian Empire and Russian Empire) | |||||||||||
| Status | City-state and protectorate of Austria, Prussia, and Russia | ||||||||||
| Capital | Cracow (Kraków) | ||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic (85%) Judaism (14%) Others (1%) | ||||||||||
| Government | Constitutional republic | ||||||||||
| President of the Senate | |||||||||||
• 1815–1831 | Stanisław Wodzicki | ||||||||||
| Legislature | Assembly of Representatives (Kraków) | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| 3 May 1815 | |||||||||||
| 29 November 1830 | |||||||||||
| 16 November 1846 | |||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||
• Total | 1,188.8 km2 (459.0 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| Currency |
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| Today part of | Poland | ||||||||||
| History of Poland |
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Timeline of Polish history |
The Free City of Cracow (Polish: Wolne Miasto Kraków), also known as the Republic of Cracow (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Krakowska), and officially the Free, Independent, and Strictly Neutral City of Cracow and its District, was a nominally independent city-state that existed from 1815 to 1846. It was established by the Congress of Vienna using territory from the former Duchy of Warsaw, which had been divided among the Russian, Prussian and Austrian empires after the Congress in 1815. The Free City comprised the Polish city of Cracow (Kraków) and its surrounding district.
Although formally autonomous, the Free City was jointly overseen by its three more powerful neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. It served as a centre of political and intellectual activity promoting Polish independence. In 1846, after the failed Kraków Uprising, Austria unilaterally annexed the city-state and brought it under direct control.
The Free City of Cracow had a population that was predominantly Polish-speaking and overwhelmingly Catholic. Approximately 85 percent were Catholics, 14 percent were Jews, and members of other faiths made up less than one percent. In the years following the dissolution of the Free City, the Jewish population in Cracow itself grew substantially, reaching nearly 40 percent, though the remainder continued to be almost entirely Polish-speaking Catholics.