Tourist information - Lodz
Lodz is a city in central Poland, administrative center of Lodz Province. The city, second in population only to Warsaw, is a transportation center with rail and air facilities. Lodz is the textile center of Poland and has several hundred textile mills. Other industries include the manufacture of metal products and chemicals. The city is the site of the University of Lodz (1945), three museums, and other cultural centers. Lodz was chartered in 1423; it passed to Prussia in 1793 and to Russia in 1815. It remained a small town until the early 19th century when the first textile mills were built. Lodz was returned to Poland in 1919. During World War II, Lodz was incorporated into Germany, and much of the population was deported.