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Kościerzyna

Coordinates: 54°7′N 17°59′E / 54.117°N 17.983°E / 54.117; 17.983
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Kościerzyna
Kòscérzëna (Kashubian)
Marketplace
Marketplace
Flag of Kościerzyna
Flag
Coat of arms of Kościerzyna
Coat of arms
Kościerzyna is located in Poland
Kościerzyna
Kościerzyna
Coordinates: 54°7′N 17°59′E / 54.117°N 17.983°E / 54.117; 17.983
Country Poland
Voivodeship Pomeranian
CountyKościerzyna
GminaKościerzyna (urban gmina)
Established13th century
Town rights1398
Government
 • MayorMichał Majewski
Area
 • Total
15.83 km2 (6.11 sq mi)
Elevation
150 m (490 ft)
Population
 (2023)
 • Total
23,327
 • Density1,500/km2 (3,800/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
83-400 to 83-450
Area code+48 58
Car platesGKS
Websitewww.koscierzyna.gda.pl

Kościerzyna (Polish: [kɔɕt͡ɕɛˈʐɨna] ⓘ; Pomeranian and Kashubian: Kòscérzëna; former German: Berent [ˈbɛʁɛnt] ⓘ) is a town in Kashubia in Gdańsk Pomerania region, northern Poland, with 23,327 inhabitants as of June 2023. It has been the capital of Kościerzyna County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999; previously it was in Gdańsk Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998.

Geographical location

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Kościerzyna is in Gdańsk Pomerania, approximately 50 kilometres (31 miles) south-west of Gdańsk and Tricity and 190 km (118 mi) south-west of Kaliningrad, at a height of 163 m (535 ft) above sea level.

History

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The history of the town dates back to the end of the 13th century. The oldest known mention comes from a document from 1284.[1] In 1346 it was granted municipal rights, and in 1398 the settlement obtained the status of a town. The town's name comes from the Old Polish word kościerz, which means "thicket".[1] Kościerzyna was part of medieval Poland, until, in 1310, it was annexed by the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights. After the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), the town became part of the Kingdom of Poland again. Administratively it was part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, located in the provinces of Royal Prussia and Greater Poland. It was the seat of local Polish starosts.[1] Kościerzyna was a small town, whose inhabitants made a living from trade, crafts and farming.[1]

The town suffered many times from fire. In 1463 it was first plundered and thereafter burned down completely by Poles during the Thirteen Years' War.[2] In 1626, during the Polish–Swedish War (1626–29), it was completely burned down once more. During the years 1646, 1663 and 1669 it partly burned down, and in 1709 again, entirely.[2]

"Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society in Kościerzyna

In the First Partition of Poland in 1772 the town was annexed by Kingdom of Prussia. It was administratively in the newly formed province of West Prussia, where it remained until 1919. The town was subjected to anti-Polish policies, including Germanisation.[1] During the Kashubian diaspora, many families from Kościerzyna, such as the Mrozeks, the Pellowskis and the Eichmans emigrated to the area of Winona, Minnesota, in the United States, beginning in 1859.[3] Despite Germanisation policies, the town was a center of Polish activity in the 19th century. In 1863, volunteers set out from the town to fight in the Polish January Uprising in the Russian Partition of Poland, but few managed to cross the Prussian-Russian border, while many were imprisoned by Prussians.[1] Around 1900, the town had one Protestant church, one Catholic church, a synagogue, a high school, an academy for school teachers, a factory for the production of snuff, several breweries, a refinery, various mills, agriculture and forestry.[4] In the late 19th and early 20th century Poles founded various organizations, including the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society, reading rooms, Bank Ludowy ("People's Bank"), and the Kashubian newspaper Gryf began publishing.[1] Writer and activist Aleksander Majkowski was active in the town.[1]

After Poland regained independence after World War I in 1918, the Polish population made efforts to reintegrate the town with Poland. In January 1919, the Germans sent a unit of 120 soldiers to the town to prevent the outbreak of a Polish uprising.[5] Local activist Tomasz Rogala, who co-founded a secret Polish independence organization, went to the peace conference in Versailles, where he demanded to include the town in reborn Poland.[1] Kościerzyna was finally reintegrated with the Second Polish Republic in January 1920. The construction of the Polish Coal Trunk-Line in the interbellum contributed to the prosperity of Kościerzyna, as the town gained a modern railway connection with Gdynia, Bydgoszcz and Upper Silesia.[1]

World War II

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Monument to local Poles who died in the fights for freedom and independence during World War II

After the invasion of Poland, which started World War II, between 1939 and 1945, it was occupied by Nazi Germany. Poles were subjected to persecution, murders, deportations to Nazi concentration camps, and expulsions (see Nazi crimes against the Polish nation).[1]

In the first weeks of the occupation, in September 1939, the Germans arrested and imprisoned numerous Poles from the town and the surrounding area. About 600 Poles were murdered in the nearby forest, and some were deported to concentration camps.[6]

Between November 6 and 22, 1939, the Germans expelled 2,000 Poles, who were first deported to the temporary concentration camp in Wysin, and then to the General Government in the more-eastern part of German-occupied Poland.[7] The expulsions continued until March 1944.[7] Among the expellees was Tomasz Rogala, who returned to Kościerzyna after the war, and in the following decades was commemorated with a monument.[8] Poles who refused to sign the Volksliste were arrested and tortured by the Gestapo, some were tortured to death, or murdered, while their families were deported to concentration camps.[9]

Despite this, the Poles managed to organize an underground resistance movement, including the Pomeranian Griffin secret military organization.[1] In January 1945, a German-perpetrated death march of Allied prisoners-of-war from the Stalag XX-B POW camp passed through the town.[10] After World War II the town was restored to Poland.

Holy Trinity church

Number of inhabitants by year

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Year Number
1772 602
1784 over 600
1831 1,592
1875 4,138[11]
1880 4.238[11]
1890 4,299
1900 4,910
1920 6,500
1943 8,385
1960 10,900
1970 15,100
1980 18,664
1990 22,663
2003 23,196

Tourist attractions

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Regional museum at the Market Square

Sports

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Notable residents

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Stanisław Ernest Denhoff, c.1713

Twin cities

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See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Kościerzyna is twinned with:

See also

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  • City Hall
    City Hall
  • Railway Museum
    Railway Museum
  • Retro train "Costerina" Gdynia - Kościerzyna
    Retro train "Costerina" Gdynia - Kościerzyna
  • Marketplace
    Marketplace
  • Church of the Lord's Resurrection
    Church of the Lord's Resurrection

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Historia Miasta". Koscierzyna.gda.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b Johann Friedrich Goldbeck: Volständige Topographie des Königreichs Preußen. Part II, Marienwerder 1789, pp. 66–67, no. 5.
  3. ^ "First Settlement in Winona: 1859 – Bambenek.org". bambenek.org. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  4. ^ Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, 6th edition, Vol. 2, Leipzig and Vienna 1906, p. 656.
  5. ^ "Co Tadeusz Pogoda robił w sobotę w Kościerzynie". Czas Świecia (in Polish). Archived from the original on 3 October 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  6. ^ Wardzyńska, Maria (2009). Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. p. 109.
  7. ^ a b Wardzyńska, Maria (2017). Wysiedlenia ludności polskiej z okupowanych ziem polskich włączonych do III Rzeszy w latach 1939-1945 (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. p. 49. ISBN 978-83-8098-174-4.
  8. ^ "Kościerzyna. Rogala przy nowym skwerze". Koscierski.info (in Polish). 20 July 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  9. ^ Wardzyńska (2017), p. 113
  10. ^ Kaszuba, Sylwia. "Marsz 1945". In Grudziecka, Beata (ed.). Stalag XX B: historia nieopowiedziana (in Polish). Malbork: Muzeum Miasta Malborka. pp. 102, 109. ISBN 978-83-950992-2-9.
  11. ^ a b Michael Rademacher: Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichte Provinz Westpreußen, Kreis Berent (2006).
  12. ^ Interesting article with photos on this museum (in Polish) Archived 2008-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ See an article with photos describing the lake (in Polish) Archived 2008-09-15 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Article on the Sanctuary Archived 2008-09-11 at the Wayback Machine. See also Sanctuary's website
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