SwarzÃÂdz () is a town in west-central Poland with 29,766 inhabitants. It is the seat of a mixed urban-rural commune called Gmina SwarzÃÂdz with 40,166 inhabitants. The town is situated in the Poznaà  metropolitan area, in the Greater Poland Voivodeship.
The town lies directly on the route E92 and includes an aerosport facility run by the Poznaà  flying club, Wanda Modlibiowska. There are various companies based in the town, in particular carpentry and upholstering businesses. In addition a bicycle path from Poznaà  runs through the DÃÂbiniec nature reserve and finally through the town to Pobiedziska.
The etymology of SwarzÃÂdz is often taken as a proof for the area's importance in the pre-Christian Slavic cult of Svarog.
The documentary evidence for a settlement on the site of modern-day SwarzÃÂdz comes from 1366. In 1377 there is mention of a rectory in the settlement.
Due to its advantageous location on the route from Poznaà  to Masovia the town developed well. The settlement was formerly in private ownership. Originally the property of the à Âodzia noble family, from the 15th century it passed to the Górka noble family of à Âodzia coat of arms. In 1638 the town Grzymaà Âowo, named after the Grzymaà Âa coat of arms of its founder, voivode of Kalisz Zygmunt Grudzià Âski, was founded at the site of the village, however, it remained known under the old name SwarzÃÂdz. The town rights were confirmed by Polish King Wà Âadysà Âaw IV Vasa. Combined à Âodzia and Grzymaà Âa coats of arms are the coat of arms of SwarzÃÂdz since. Administratively it was located in the Poznaà  Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province. In the 17th century, guilds for tradesmen and craftsmen were formed.
In 1793 during the Second Partition of Poland the town of some 2,508 inhabitants was annexed by Prussia. In 1798, 448 craftsmen lived in the town. Of these, 70 were cloth makers and 36 weavers. After 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. At the end of the 19th century carpentry flourished. In 1887 the town was connected to the railroad from Poznaà  to Wrzeà Ânia and thus received another important means of transport to other parts of the country, together with the road from Warsaw to Poznaà Â. To resist Germanisation policies, the Polish population founded various organizations, including the "Sokóà Â" Polish Gymnastic Society. In 1905 local Polish industrialist Antoni Tabaka founded a carpentry workshop. In 1906âÂÂ1907 local Polish school children joined the strike against Germanisation, inspired by the Wrzeà Ânia children strike.
Poland regained independence after World War I on November 11, 1918, and two days later local Poles founded a Polish council under leadership of Tadeusz Staniewski, and began preparations to rejoin Poland. In January 1919, the first volunteers set out from SwarzÃÂdz to fight in the Greater Poland Uprising, the aim of which was to reunite the region with Poland. The town was soon successfully restored to Poland. In the interbellum the workshop of Antoni Tabaka grew into a large furniture factory, the first mechanized furniture factory in Poland, and its products enjoyed great popularity also abroad. In 1934 town limits were expanded.
During World War II, from 1939 to 1945, the town was under German occupation. Poles were subjected to expulsions, carried out in late 1939 and in 1940. The local furniture factory was seized by the occupiers and handed over to Germans, while its owner was expelled to Warsaw, and later also imprisoned in the Mauthausen concentration camp, where he died of exhaustion in 1945. Tadeusz Staniewski, mayor of SwarzÃÂdz, was imprisoned and tortured by the Germans in the infamous Fort VII in Poznaà  and afterwards deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where he was killed in August 1940. Stanisà Âaw Kwaà Âniewski, commander of the 1919 SwarzÃÂdz insurgent unit, was killed by the Germans in Fort VII. From 1941 to 1943 a Nazi German labour camp for Jews was located in the town.
From 1975 to 1998, it was administratively located in the Poznaà  Voivodeship. In 1988 SwarzÃÂdz was awarded with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, one of Poland's highest state orders.
There is a railway station in SwarzÃÂdz. The town has railway connections with major Polish cities such as Poznaà Â, Warsaw, à Âódà º and Szczecin.
The local football club is . It competes in the lower leagues.