History
Archaeological excavations confirm that some hunting nomads had been present here still before 4500 BC. The remnants of first settlements set up by hunting and shepherds' communities date back to neolith (4500-1800 BC). The first mention of Jarocin has been found in a document of 1257. The document describes how the town was bestowed on Janek of the Zaremba family. This record shows that Jarocin was the oldest private town in the region of Wielkopolska. The towns name origins from a Slavic, Old Polish name Jarota.

The establishment and development of medieval Jarocin was due to a favourable location at the crossing of important trade routes - from Wroclaw to Torun and from Poznan to Kalisz. For centuries German and Polish people coexisted here in peace. Due to the close neighbourhood of Silesia, German settlers first came here already in medieval ages. Through the centuries the town changed owners a few times. In 1661 Jarocin was taken over by the Radolinski family who remained its owners until 1945. After the second partition of Poland in 1793, for 125 years Jarocin had been a part of Germany.

The second half of 19th century turned out to be a golden age for Jarocin. In 1875 railway station was set up and in 1887 the county of Jarocin was established. During the last 30 years of the 19th century the population tripled. Significant changes in the urban structure of the town took place. Along the new streets the institutions of public utility were set up and new housing estates were built. For the time, Jarocin was a dynamic and modern town, equipped with water and sewage system, gas station and a railway station with electric lighting. After the victorious Wilekopolskie Uprising Jarocin became a part of independent Poland. Majority of the town's German population left the town then.

During the Second World War and under the German occupation, Jarocin, like the rest of Wielkopolska, belonged to Germany. Polish inhabitants were displaced and Germans settled in their place. In 1944, Germans constituted 35% of the population.

After World War II Jarocin became an important industrial centre. New enterprises were established, furniture, tools and machinery, timber and clothing sectors started to develop.

Today Jarocin is a town of 27 thousand inhabitants, a dynamic administrative centre of a large and densely populated commune, where both industry and agriculture play an important role. The town cooperates with a number of partnership towns abroad: Libercourt in France, Hatvan in Hungary, Veldhoven in Holland, Schluechtern in Germany and Oleksandria in Ukraine.