Raszyn is a village in Central Poland, in the Powiat of Pruszków in Mazovian Voivodship, near Warsaw. As of 1998 it had 6800 inhabitants.
The town has been the site of two battles. On April 9, 1809, the inconclusive Battle of Raszyn (1809) took place between the Polish forces under Prince Józef Poniatowski and the Austrian army under Archduke Ferdinand d’Este. In 1931 a longwave broadcasting transmitter was set up in Raszyn. Back then it was the strongest such facility in Europe, with roughly 120 kW of power. During the World War II the radio mast was destroyed, but was rebuilt in 1945 – with roughly 500 kW of power. In 1949 a new aerial mast was built there. With 335 metres of height, it was until 1962 the tallest structure in Europe. Until the inaugaration of the transmitter in Konstantynów in 1974 it served as the central longwave radio facility of the Polish Radio. Until 1978 it served as spare transmitter for Konstantynów. Since 1978 the facility in Raszyn is used at daytime for transmissions of the second programme of the Polish Radio in the longwave range.
After the collapse of the Konstantynów radio mast in 1991, the transmitter in Raszyn yet again became the main broadcasting transmitter in Poland. After completion of the new longwave transmitter in Solec Kujawski in 1999, it serves the role of a daytime transmitter on 198 kHz and at nighttime on 225 kHz.
The village itself currently serves as a suburb of Warsaw, with many villas and shops located there. The gmina of Raszyn has roughly 100.000 inhabitants and is one of the fastest-developing suburbs of the Polish capital.
Among the notable tourist attractions of the area is a baroque-classicist church of 1645. In 1790 it was refurbished by renowned Polish architect Szymon Bogumił Zug. He also built an inn in the town. Also, in 1978 a Stawy Raszyńskie reserve was established for protection of large ponds and the natural habitat of roughly 100 species of birds. The protected area covers 1.1 km².
