Situated on the Bóbr River, Lwówek Śląski is about 30 kilometres (19 miles) NNW of Jelenia Góra and has a population of about 9,000 inhabitants.

The vicinity of present-day Lwówek Śląski, densely wooded and located on the inner side of the unsettled[2] Silesian Przesieka[3] within the medieval Kingdom of Poland was gradually cleared and populated by German peasants in the first half of the 13th century during the Ostsiedlung.

[4] The town was founded by Duke of Poland Henry the Bearded who designated it for an administrative centre in a previously uninhabited, borderline Polish–Lusatian territory.

[5] In 1209 Henry granted it important privileges, such as rights to brew, mill, fish, and hunt within a mile from settlement.

[8] In the 13th and 14th centuries distinctive landmarks of Lwówek were built, including the defensive walls with the Lubańska and Bolesławiecka towers, the town hall (later expanded) and the Gothic churches of St. Mary and of St. Francis.

After the death of Duchess Agnes of Habsburg, the widow of Bolko II, the last Polish Piast Duke of Świdnica, the town with the duchy passed to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1392.

In 1469 it passed to Hungary and in 1490 again to Bohemia, then ruled by Polish prince Vladislaus II Jagiellon, son of King Casimir IV of Poland.

[8] The town remained under the rule of the Jagiellonian dynasty until 1526 when it passed with the Bohemian Crown to the Habsburg monarchy of Austria.

A combined Russian and Prussian Army of overwhelming superiority faced the Division but could only attack at the one narrow south-eastern end of the ridge.

[8] In the last days of World War II, the medieval center was 40% destroyed and numerous Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque buildings were lost.

Finally, on July 1, 1946, the Polish administration announced that all Germans were to be "repatriated" to diminished Germany and had to leave their homes.

In town's culture centre there are: Every year in the second weekend of July takes place Lwóweckie Lato Agatowe.