Every design for Oława

Have you ever noticed that Oława sits between two rivers that never quite meet there? The Oder and the Oława run close beside each other through town and only join in Wrocław, twenty-seven kilometres away. Most of Oława lies in the broad Pradolina Wrocławska, the Zielona stream traces its south-western edge, and the old mix of rivers, pools and woods still shows in Rezerwat Zwierzyniec, the nature reserve on its doorstep.

Even the name is water: it comes from an old root, oła-, that meant exactly that. What makes the town unmistakable, though, is its coat of arms, a white Gallic rooster on a red field, left behind by the Walloon weavers who settled here; the local mint once struck bracteates bearing the same bird. Oława was one of the residential towns of the Silesian Piasts, and Zamek Piastowski w Oławie still stands. It was destroyed completely three times, by the Mongols, the Hussites and in the Thirty Years' War, and each time it came back. The Oławska Izba Muzealna tells that story, and the Muzeum Motoryzacji WENA w Oławie adds a more modern one.

Wherever you live now, if you grew up between the Oder and the Oławka, that rooster is yours to wear.