Rakoniewice is a town located in Grodzisk County, within Greater Poland Voivodeship, in western Poland. The population as of 2010 was 3,332 inhabitants. The town's historic core with its urban layout comprising 18th-century arcaded houses is registered as a Cultural Heritage Monument under protection.
As part of the region of Greater Poland, i.e. the cradle of the Polish state, the area formed part of Poland since its establishment in the 10th century. The settlement was recorded in 1252 and named after the komes of Greater Poland, Rakoà Â. It was a private village of Polish nobility, administratively located in the Koà Âcian County in the Poznaà  Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. It received town rights in 1662 through the efforts of voivode of Poznaà  Krzysztof Grzymuà Âtowski. In the 17th century Rakoniewice was associated with the settlement of so-called dissenters who favored property owners. The town became a center of crafts.
The town was annexed by Prussia in the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. Following the successful Greater Poland uprising of 1806, it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw. After the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it was re-annexed by Prussia, and from 1871 it was also part of Germany under the Germanized name Rakwitz. In the years 1869âÂÂ1872 Robert Koch, a German microbiologist and later Nobel laureate, conducted his first medical practice in the town.
In the years 1901âÂÂ1906 the town was the scene of school strikes of Polish children opposing Germanisation. On January 3, 1919, Rakoniewice was captured by Polish insurgents during the Greater Poland uprising against Germany, and then reintegrated with Poland, which regained independence several weeks prior. Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the town was occupied by Germany until 1945.
Until 1975 the town was located in the Wolsztyn County. In 1975âÂÂ1998 it belonged to the Poznaà  Voivodeship.
Despite the historical, geographical, economic reasons to merge with the reconstituted Wolsztyn County in 1999 and opposition of local residents of the villages for a better location for Wolsztyn, Rakoniewice joined the Grodzisk County.
The Polish National road No. 32 (StÃÂszew-Wolsztyn-Zielona Góra-Gubin) runs through the town, as well as the railway line No. 357 (Wolsztyn-Grodzisk Wielkopolski-Luboà Â-Poznaà Â).