[3] In 1248, Silesian Duke Henry III the White granted the settlement Magdeburg town rights and by the late 13th century the city became fortified.

From the early 14th to late 17th centuries, the town was ruled by the Piast dynasty as fiefs of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire.

Konstanty Damrot [pl] (1841–1895), in his book of the etymology of Silesian localities, states that in a Latin document from 1234 the settlement's name was Visoke breg (Polish: Wysokibrzeg, German: Wissokembreghe; literally 'high bank').

The locality in and around present-day Brzeg has been settled by people since the Mesolithic era, with the earliest signs of settlement between 8000 and 4200 BC, as concluded from archaeological findings in Myślibórz, Kościerzyce, Lubsza and Lipki.

[8][9] Between the ninth and early-tenth century, the Brzeg Lands, together with all of Silesia, were part of Great Moravia until its demise in AD 906, after which, until 990 the region was under the rule of the Premyslids.

Before the town's foundation, three separate settlements existed in its modern-day territory, with "Wysoki Brzeg" (Alta ripa) bearing the main administrative role in the region.

In 1235, Henry the Bearded occupied the area around Oława, by which Walloons had to turn over a tribute of 1 scale of grain and of oat to the settlement of Brzeg, suggesting the existence of a granary and other outbuildings in the curia's established headquarters.

The area around the Holy Ghost Hospital, present-day Moniuszko Square (Plac Moniuszki), was the location of a major market, positioned by the cross roads of the Wrocław–Nysa route, east of the Wrocławska Gate.

The market is believed to be characteristic of other Silesian towns, commonly selling agricultural produce, namely bread, meat and shoes.

By the turn of the thirteenth century, the defenceless populace living in the pastures of the Brzeg Plain began to relocate into the fortified Visoke breg, building up a new osiedle around the present-day streets of: Łokietka, Piastowska and Trzech Kotwic (extending south-east).

The osiedle was documented as Stary Brzeg (Antiqua Brega; Alt Brieg), to be renamed Wieś Brzeska: Brygischedorf (c. 1329) and villa Bregensis in c. 1339.

[26] During the war, 60% of Brieg was destroyed and many of the town's inhabitants died during the severe winter of 1944–5 as they fled from the advancing Red Army.

[28] The Imperial German Army Air Arm (Luftstreitkräfte) military aerodrome (Fliegerhorst) found in nearby Grüningen was furthermore dismantled and destroyed as part of the Treaty of Versailles.

This resulted in the garrison's Tiede-Barracks (named after Generalleutnant Paul Tiede) located in Moltke-, Sedan-, Roon- und Bismarckstraße requiring some alterations to accommodate the new arrival of horse-cavalry residents.

Towards the end of World War II, on 6 February 1945, the Soviet army captured Brzeg, which resulted in moderate destruction of the town's buildings and infrastructure.

In 1392 it was claimed that all debts of the duke had been discharged by the payments to a Jew of Brzeg (Jacob, the son of Moses), of a certificate of indebtedness.

But in 1401 they were driven from the city, except Jacob and Seman von Reichenbach, who had received a patent of protection from the duke's council for six years from May 1, 1399.

In 1423, duke Ludwig II granted the Jews rights of residence on payment of an annual tax of 20 gulden, but they were expelled from the duchies of Brieg and Liegnitz in 1453 as a result of the inflammatory preachings of the Franciscan John Capistrano.

In the Kristallnacht pogroms of 1938 under Nazi Germany the interior of the synagogue was completely demolished and the Torah scrolls publicly burned; numerous shops were ransacked.

The River Oder, at low water levels (predominantly between June and early September)[31][32] forms eyots north of Jerzynowa, Kępa and Srebrna Islands.

The kames form the Łosiów Range (Wał Łosiowski), between the confluence of the River Nysa Kłodzka and the Oława Valley.

[37] The clearing's characteristics set it as a point for defence in the Lower Silesia region, lined with barrages made out of cut down woodland.

Presently, the region is spotted with numerous towns, including Brzeg, Grodków and Strzelin, as well as villages, with agriculture providing the major source of income.

The development of agriculture is met with a lack of forested areas, apart from the Stobrawa Landscape Park, located 7.2 km to the north of Brzeg and the Oder river.

The Stobrawa woodland, agriculture and the Oder (as a form of transport) provided Brzeg the necessary diversity to remain the regional trade capital in Silesia.

[39][14] Brzeg's geographical position between two trade routes, running from west to east (Legnica–Opole) and north to south (Gniezno–Nysa) and further on into the Kingdom of Bohemia, additionally stimulated the town's demographic and economic expansion.

[45] The integration of the residents came in phases: education, communal work, marriages and the provision of material goods and items left behind by the former populace.

[48] The largest concentration of industry in Brzeg is located in the town's eastern quarter, south of the Oder, with numerous manufacturers, including: the German Bartling GmbH (plastic packaging company);[49] "BESEL" (Polish electric engine company, founded in the town in 1950),[50] and CIK car accessories plant.

[57][58] Post-secondary education institutions:[59] Public gymnasium (secondary school) institutions:[60] Brzeg is located at the crossroads of the National Road (northbound to Namysłów and Kępno; southbound to Wiązów and Strzelin) and the National Road (westbound to Oława, Wrocław, Bolesławiec and Zgorzelec; eastbound to Opole, Strzelce Opolskie, Bytom, Kraków, Tarnów, Jarosław and Korczowa.

The town has direct connections to Opole, Wrocław, Kraków, Warsaw, Katowice, Poznań, Szczecin, Zielona Góra, Lublin, Kielce, Przemyśl, Zamość, Nysa, and other cities.