Bartoszyce
Encyclopedia
Bartoszyce AUD is a town
on the Łyna River in northeastern Poland
with 25,621 inhabitants (as of 2004). It is the capital of Bartoszyce County
within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
.
constructed a castle
on the left shore of the Alle (Łyna) River on the border between the Prussian regions of Natangia and Bartia. The castle was part of the Komtur
ei Balga
and was composed of block houses, palisade
s, and earthworks. Besieged by Old Prussians
for four years during a Prussian uprising
, the castle was destroyed in 1264. The Order rebuilt the castle shortly afterwards, but this was besieged by Sudovians in 1273. After uprisings ended, the knights built the Ordensburg
out of stone from 1274-80. During the 14th and 15th centuries, the castle was administered by the Komtur
of Balga
.
A settlement developed near the caste on the right shore of the Alle River opposite the castle. First documented in 1326 under the name Rosenthal, it received town privileges
from Grand Master Luther von Braunschweig
in 1332. After that the name was changed to Bartenstein and the settlement of Rosenthal below the castle on the left shore of the river was relocated, as the left side had become too dangerous from warfare. Komtur Henning Schindekopf of Balga began construction of a wall
for Bartenstein in 1353.
Bartenstein sided with the Prussian Confederation
during the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66). The Teutonic castle was destroyed by the town's citizens at the beginning of the war and was not rebuilt afterward. The townsfolk reconciled with the Teutonic Knights in 1460. To stabilize the Order's financial situation, it pawned the ruined castle's farmyard and meadows to Wend von Eulenburg in 1469; the entire department of Bartenstein was pawned in 1513 to one of the Heinrich Reuß
von Plauen (not the Grand Master
) .
With the secularization of the Teutonic Order's Prussian territories in 1525, Bartenstein became part of the Duchy of Prussia. The town converted to Protestantism
in the same year during the Protestant Reformation
; it then did not have a Catholic
church until the 19th century.
Bartenstein became part of the Kingdom of Prussia
in 1701 and the Prussian Province of East Prussia
in 1773. During the Napoleonic Wars
, Prussia and the Russian Empire
signed a treaty of alliance in the town on 16 April 1807. Administrative reform following the wars placed the town within East Prussia's Landkreis Friedland in 1818.
The Ostpreußische Südbahn ran through Bartenstein in 1868, leading to the establishment of industries, including an iron foundry
, a machine factory, and a wagon factory. Bartenstein was also noted for its oak trade. A garrison town for the Prussian Army
, Bartenstein was the seat of the district court. Because it had grown to become the largest town in Landkreis Friedland during the 19th century, the town was made the district capital in 1902. Landkreis Friedland was renamed Landkreis Bartenstein in 1927. The foundation of the old castle was used in the construction of the administrative seat; this building was destroyed in 1945.
Never before in its entire history defeated by aggressors, in January 1945 during World War II
, Bartenstein was 50-60% destroyed during fighting with the Soviet
Red Army
. After the Potsdam Conference
, the town was placed under Polish administration in 1945 and since then remains as part of Poland. The German
population was either evacuated
or later expelled
, and the town was repopulated with Poles
and other Slavs
.
The town, renamed Bartoszyce, was in Olsztyn Voivodeship
from 1975-1998. It became part of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
in 1999.
with: Pionersky
, Russia
Bagrationovsk
, Russia
Nienburg
, Germany
Emmaboda
, Sweden
Mława, Poland
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
on the Łyna River in northeastern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
with 25,621 inhabitants (as of 2004). It is the capital of Bartoszyce County
Bartoszyce County
Bartoszyce County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern Poland, on the border with Russia. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest...
within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, or Warmia-Masuria Province , is a voivodeship in northeastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn...
.
History
In 1240 the Teutonic KnightsTeutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
constructed a castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
on the left shore of the Alle (Łyna) River on the border between the Prussian regions of Natangia and Bartia. The castle was part of the Komtur
Komtur
Komtur was a rank within military orders, especially the Teutonic Knights. In the State of the Teutonic Order, the Komtur was the commander of a basic administrative division called Kommende . A Komtur was responsible for the alimentation of the Knights by the yield from the local estates, he...
ei Balga
Balga
Balga was a medieval castle of the Teutonic Knights. Its ruins are in the Pogranichny municipality, Bagrationovsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia; located on the shore of the Vistula Lagoon north of Mamonovo, about southwest of Kaliningrad....
and was composed of block houses, palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
s, and earthworks. Besieged by Old Prussians
Old Prussians
The Old Prussians or Baltic Prussians were an ethnic group, autochthonous Baltic tribes that inhabited Prussia, the lands of the southeastern Baltic Sea in the area around the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons...
for four years during a Prussian uprising
Prussian uprisings
The Prussian uprisings were two major and three smaller uprisings by the Prussians, one of the Baltic tribes, against the Teutonic Knights that took place in the 13th century during the Northern Crusades. The crusading military order, supported by the Popes and Christian Europe, sought to conquer...
, the castle was destroyed in 1264. The Order rebuilt the castle shortly afterwards, but this was besieged by Sudovians in 1273. After uprisings ended, the knights built the Ordensburg
Ordensburg
An Ordensburg was a fortress built by crusading German military orders during the Middle Ages. "Ordensburg" was also used during Nazi Germany to refer to training schools for Nazi leaders.- Medieval Ordensburgen :...
out of stone from 1274-80. During the 14th and 15th centuries, the castle was administered by the Komtur
Komtur
Komtur was a rank within military orders, especially the Teutonic Knights. In the State of the Teutonic Order, the Komtur was the commander of a basic administrative division called Kommende . A Komtur was responsible for the alimentation of the Knights by the yield from the local estates, he...
of Balga
Balga
Balga was a medieval castle of the Teutonic Knights. Its ruins are in the Pogranichny municipality, Bagrationovsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia; located on the shore of the Vistula Lagoon north of Mamonovo, about southwest of Kaliningrad....
.
A settlement developed near the caste on the right shore of the Alle River opposite the castle. First documented in 1326 under the name Rosenthal, it received town privileges
German town law
German town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...
from Grand Master Luther von Braunschweig
Luther von Braunschweig
Luther von Braunschweig was the 18th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1331-35....
in 1332. After that the name was changed to Bartenstein and the settlement of Rosenthal below the castle on the left shore of the river was relocated, as the left side had become too dangerous from warfare. Komtur Henning Schindekopf of Balga began construction of a wall
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
for Bartenstein in 1353.
Bartenstein sided with the Prussian Confederation
Prussian Confederation
The Prussian Confederation was an organization formed in 1440 by a group of 53 gentry and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia to oppose the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. It was based on the basis of an earlier similar organization, the Lizard Union...
during the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66). The Teutonic castle was destroyed by the town's citizens at the beginning of the war and was not rebuilt afterward. The townsfolk reconciled with the Teutonic Knights in 1460. To stabilize the Order's financial situation, it pawned the ruined castle's farmyard and meadows to Wend von Eulenburg in 1469; the entire department of Bartenstein was pawned in 1513 to one of the Heinrich Reuß
Reus
Reus is the capital of the comarca of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague...
von Plauen (not the Grand Master
Heinrich Reuß von Plauen
Heinrich Reuß von Plauen was the 32nd Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, serving from 1467 to 1470. He was the nephew of the previous Grand Master, Ludwig von Erlichshausen, and a distant relative to the 27th Grand Master, Heinrich von Plauen.-Biography:Reuß von Plauen came from the Reuss family...
) .
With the secularization of the Teutonic Order's Prussian territories in 1525, Bartenstein became part of the Duchy of Prussia. The town converted to Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
in the same year during the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
; it then did not have a Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
church until the 19th century.
Bartenstein became part of the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
in 1701 and the Prussian Province of East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
in 1773. During the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, Prussia and the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
signed a treaty of alliance in the town on 16 April 1807. Administrative reform following the wars placed the town within East Prussia's Landkreis Friedland in 1818.
The Ostpreußische Südbahn ran through Bartenstein in 1868, leading to the establishment of industries, including an iron foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
, a machine factory, and a wagon factory. Bartenstein was also noted for its oak trade. A garrison town for the Prussian Army
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...
, Bartenstein was the seat of the district court. Because it had grown to become the largest town in Landkreis Friedland during the 19th century, the town was made the district capital in 1902. Landkreis Friedland was renamed Landkreis Bartenstein in 1927. The foundation of the old castle was used in the construction of the administrative seat; this building was destroyed in 1945.
Never before in its entire history defeated by aggressors, in January 1945 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Bartenstein was 50-60% destroyed during fighting with the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. After the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
, the town was placed under Polish administration in 1945 and since then remains as part of Poland. The German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
population was either evacuated
Evacuation of East Prussia
The evacuation of East Prussia refers to the evacuation of the German civilian population and military personnel in East Prussia and the Klaipėda region between 20 January, and March 1945, as part of the evacuation of German civilians towards the end of World War II...
or later expelled
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
, and the town was repopulated with Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
and other Slavs
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
.
The town, renamed Bartoszyce, was in Olsztyn Voivodeship
Olsztyn Voivodeship
Olsztyn Voivodeship was an administrative division and unit of local government in Poland in the years 1745-75, and a new territorial division between 1975–1998, superseded by Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...
from 1975-1998. It became part of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, or Warmia-Masuria Province , is a voivodeship in northeastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn...
in 1999.
Notable residents
- Max BaginskiMax BaginskiMax Baginski was a German-American anarchist.Baginski was born in 1864 in Bartenstein , a small East Prussian town. His father was shoemaker who had been active in the 1848 revolution and was thus shunned by the conservative inhabitants of the village...
(1864–1943), German-American anarchist - Erwin GeschonneckErwin GeschonneckErwin Geschonneck was a German actor. His biggest success occurred in the German Democratic Republic, where he was considered one of the most famous actors of the time.-Early life:...
(1906–2008), actor - Hans KochHans KochHans Koch was a German lawyer, a member of the Confessional Church and a member of the German resistance against Nazism.- Biography :...
(1893–1945), Resistance fighter - Zbigniew LubiejewskiZbigniew LubiejewskiZbigniew Lubiejewski is a Polish former volleyball player who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics.He was born in Bartoszyce....
(1949), athlete - Hans-Joachim Reske (1940), athlete
- Günther SchackGünther SchackGünther Schack was a German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1939 until the end of World War II in 1945. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. He claimed 174 enemy aircraft shot down,...
(1917–2003), pilot - Ferdinande von Schmettau (1798–1879), figure of the Napoleonic Wars
Twin towns — sister cities
Bartoszyce is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Pionersky
Pionersky, Kaliningrad Oblast
Pionersky is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located along the Baltic Sea on the Sambian Peninsula, between Zelenogradsk and Svetlogorsk. The town is under direct jurisdiction of the oblast administration. Population:...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
Bagrationovsk
Bagrationovsk
Bagrationovsk is a town and the administrative center of Bagrationovsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located south of Kaliningrad. Population: -History:...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
Nienburg
Nienburg, Lower Saxony
Nienburg is a town and capital of the district Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany.-Geography:Situated on the scenic German Framework Road, Nienburg lies on the river Weser, approximately southeast of Bremen, and northwest of Hanover...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Emmaboda
Emmaboda
-Geography:Emmaboda is located in the middle of the Tri-City Region Växjö, Kalmar and Karlskrona. All three places are sixty kilometers from Emmaboda.-Culture:...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Mława, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
External links
- Municipal website
- Map from mapa.szukacz.pl
- History of Bartenstein in German language
- Geschichte der Stadt Bartoszyce - Bartenstein
- Photos of Bartoszyce