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"Rabka" redirects here. "Rąbka", on the Baltic coast, is a district of Łeba.
Typical wooden house
Typical wooden house
Flag of Rabka-Zdrój
Coat of arms of Rabka-Zdrój
Coat of arms
Rabka-Zdrój is located in Poland
Coordinates: 49°36′30″N 19°58′0″E﻿ / ﻿49.60833°N 19.96667°E﻿ / 49.60833; 19.96667Coordinates: 49°36′30″N 19°58′0″E﻿ / ﻿49.60833°N 19.96667°E﻿ / 49.60833; 19.96667
Country  Poland
Voivodeship Lesser Poland
County Nowy Targ
Gmina Rabka-Zdrój
 • Total 36.59 km2 (14.13 sq mi)
Highest elevation 560 m (1,840 ft)
Lowest elevation 500 m (1,600 ft)
Population (2006)
 • Total 13,052
 • Density 360/km2 (920/sq mi)
Postal code 34-700
Website http://www.rabka.pl

Rabka-Zdrój [ˈrapka ˈzdrui̯], usually referred to as Rabka, is a spa town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. It is located between Kraków and Zakopane in a valley on the northern slopes of the Gorce Mountains, where the rivers Poniczanka and Słonka join the river Raba (49°36′30″N 19°58′0″E﻿ / ﻿49.60833°N 19.96667°E﻿ / 49.60833; 19.96667). In 2008 it had a population of 13,052. There is a substantial population of Gorals in the town.

Rabka was always known for its salt-works, and from 1864 became a popular spa town. The first treatment centre for children was established a few years later and continues to this day. Hydrotherapy continues to be utilised in local hospital and sanatoriums. During World War II, the Germans established a Nazi police school in the town,[1][2] to train executioners and torturers. The school and its surroundings were the place of a series of atrocities before it was eventually closed down as the war approached its end and the Germans left.[3]


Rabka-Zdrój sister cities are Rovaniemi, Finland; Murrhardt, Germany; Chateau-Gontier, France; Frome, England and Gmina Dominowo.

Notable individuals[edit]


  1. ^ Michał Rapta , Wojciech Tupta , Grzegorz Moskal. Mroczne Sekrety willi "Tereska": 1939-1945. Grafikon, 2008 (in Polish). ISBN 8360817146.
  2. ^ Grzegorz Rossoliński-Liebe. Debating, obfuscating and disciplining the Holocaust: post-Soviet historical discourses on the OUN–UPA and other nationalist movements. East European Jewish Affairs. Vol. 42, Iss. 3, 2012
  3. ^ Robin O'Neil. The Rabka Four - A Warning from History. Spiderwize, Office 404; Albany House 324/326 Regent Street, London, W1B 3HH, UK. 2011.

External links[edit]

Media related to Rabka-Zdrój at Wikimedia Commons