An early medieval stronghold mentioned in 1256; granted town rights in 1394; from the 15^th c. a crafts and services centre on the trade route from Poznań to Frankfurt (Oder) and Szczecin; a cloth making and tannery centre in the 16^th c.; collapse in the second half of the 17^th c. after Polish-Swedish wars; 1793-1919 under Prussian partition (1807-15 in the Duchy of Warsaw); a local trade and service centre in the 19^th c.; Polish Agricultural Association operated there in the 19^th c.; from 1888 a railway link; inhabitants participated in the Wielkopolska uprisings of 1848 and 1918-19 (capturing Sieraków, battles of Kolno, Kamionna and Zbąszyń); in 1920 Urszula Ledóchowska (cannonized 2003) founded the first house of the Grey Ursulines convent (her body is buried in the local chapel); during the German occupation of 1939-45 incorporated into the Third Reich, inhabitants resettled to the General Government.

The entry was prepared on the basis of source materials of PWN (Polish Scientific Publishers).