Elblag
Encyclopedia
Elbląg AUD is a city
in northern Poland
with 127,892 inhabitants (2006). It is the capital of Elbląg County
and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship
(1975–1998) and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship
(1945–1975). The city is a port
on the river Elbląg which flows into the Vistula Lagoon
about 10 km to the north, thus giving the city access to the Baltic Sea
via the Russian-controlled Strait of Baltiysk
.
It was first mentioned as "Ilfing" in The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan which was written in Anglo-Saxon in King Alfred's reign using information from a Viking who had visited the area.
During the Middle Ages
, the Old Prussian
settlement of Truso
was located at Lake Drużno
near the current site of Elbląg in historical Pogesania
; the settlement burned down in the 10th century. The Teutonic Knights
conquered the region and the inhabitants dispersed in the process. The Teutonic Order built a castle and founded Elbing at the lake with a population mostly from Lübeck
; today the much smaller lake does not reach the city any more. After the defeat of the Teutonic Knights and the destruction of the castle by the inhabitants, the city successively was under the sovereignty of the Polish crown
(1466), the Kingdom of Prussia
(1772), and Germany
(1871). Elbing was heavily damaged in World War II
, its German citizens were expelled
upon the war's end. The city became part of Poland in 1945 and was repopulated with Polish citizens.
to the Vistula Lagoon
, about 10 km from the lagoon and 60 km from Gdańsk
. The city was heavily damaged (65%) at the end of World War II
and thereafter almost totally destroyed, when many of the buildings still standing were taken down by the communists for bricks to be used for rebuilding destroyed Gdańsk and Warsaw
. The new inhabitants of the city eventually succeeded in being able to rebuild parts of the inner city
and ca. 2000 rebuilding was started in a style emulating the previous architecture, in many cases over the same foundations and utilising the old bricks and portions of the same walls. However, the western bank part of the city is completely gone after the war.
The modern city covers over 50% of the distance between Lake Drużno and Elbląg Bay (Zatoka Elbląska), an arm of the Vistula Lagoon
, and extends on either side of the river, but especially to the east. On the east is the Elbląg Upland (Wysoczyzna Elbląska), a dome pushed up by glacial compression, 390 square km in diameter and 200 m (656.17 ft) high at its greatest elevation. It gives the appearance of ridges and parkland.
Elbląg is situated in flat land extending to the west in the Vistula Delta (Żuławy Wiślane) used mainly for agricultural purposes. Views to the west show flat fields extending to the horizon, while to the south are the marshes and swamps of Drużno. The Elbląg River
has been left in a more natural state through the city, but elsewhere it is a controlled channel with branches. One of them, the Jagielonski Channel (Kanał Jagieloński), leads to the Nogat
River, along which navigation to Gdańsk is common. The Elbląg Canal
(Kanał Elbląski) connecting Lake Drużno with Drwęca
River and Lake Jeziorak
is a popular tourist site.
Elbląg is not a deep-water port. The draft of vessels using its waterways must be no greater than 1.5 m (4.92 ft) by law. The turning area at Elbląg is 120 m (393.7 ft) diameter and a pilot is required for large vessels. Deep water vessels cannot manoeuvre; in that sense, Elbląg has become a subsidiary port of Gdańsk
. Traffic of smaller vessels at Elbląg is within the river and very marginal, while larger vessels cannot reach the open Baltic Sea
because the channel, once built in East-Prussia
to go through the peninsula, has belonged to Russia
since 1945. The river has become almost stagnant and its banks are overgrown with waterlilies and tulies. The city features three quay complexes, movable cranes, and railways. One of its specialities is heavy machinery.
derivative
of the German
name Elbing, which was assigned by the Teutonic Knights
to the citadel and subsequent town placed by them in 1237 next to the river. The purpose of the citadel was to prevent the Old Prussian
settlement of Truso from being reoccupied, as the German crusaders were at war with the pagan Prussians. The citadel was named after the river, itself of uncertain etymology. One traditional etymology connects it to the name of the Helveconae
, a Germanic tribe
mentioned in Ancient Greek
and Latin
sources, but the etymology or language of the tribal name
is not known.
, Chronicon terrae Prussiae
), in Elbingo (1239), in Elbing (1242), in Elbinge ... fluvium Elbinc (1246, city charter
), de Elbingo (1250), in Elbyngo (1258), vitra Elbingum (1263), Elvingo (1293), in Elbingo (1300), in Elvingo (1389), czum Elbinge (1392), czu Elbing (1403), Elwing (1410), czum Elwinge (1412), Elbing (1414–1438), Elbyang (before 1454), Elbing (1508), ku Elbiągowi (1634), w Elblągu (1661), w Elblągu (1661).
, an Anglo-Saxon
sailor, travelling on the south coast of the Baltic Sea
at the behest of King Alfred the Great
of England
. The exact location of Truso was not known for a long time, as the seashore has significantly changed, but most historians trace the settlement inside or near to modern Elbląg on Lake Drużno
. Truso was located at territory already known to the Roman Empire
and earlier.
It was an important seaport serving the Vistula River bay on the early medieval
Baltic Sea trade route
s which led from Birka
in the north to the island of Gotland
and to Visby
in the Baltic Sea. From there, traders continued further south to Carnuntum
along the Amber Road
. The ancient Amber Road led further southwest and southeast to the Black Sea
and eventually to Asia
. The east-west trade route went from Truso, along the Baltic Sea to Jutland
, and from there inland by river to Hedeby
, a large trading center in Jutland. The main goods of Truso were amber
, furs, and slaves.
Archaeological finds in 1897 and diggings in the 1920s placed Truso at Gut Hansdorf. A large burial field was also found at Elbing. Artifacts were placed in the Elbing Museum. Recent Polish diggings show burned beams and ashes and many 1000 year old artifacts on an area about 20 hectares.
) to the pagan Prussians on a crusade of conquest and conversion. The crusade encompassed much of the Baltic Sea coast, Danzig
(Present day Gdańsk), and other areas of the coast up to Sambia. Starting in 1209 additional crusades were called for by Konrad of Masovia
, who sought more to conquer Prussian territory than actually convert the indigenous
Prussians. Despite heroic efforts, Old Prussian sovereignty would eventually collapse after a succession of wars instigated by Pope Honorius III
and his frequent calls for crusade.
Before the Prussians and their neighbors to the west, the Pomeranians, were finally brought to heel, Polish rulers and the Duchy of Masovia, both by then Christianised
peoples, would be continually frustrated in their aims at northern expansion. Aside from minor border raids, major campaigns against the Prussians would be launched in 1219, 1220, and 1222. After a particularly sound defeat by Prussian forces in 1223, Polish forces in Chełmno, the seat of Christian of Oliva
and Duchy of Masovia would go on the defensive.
In 1226 Duke Konrad I of Masovia
summoned the Teutonic Knights
for assistance; by 1230 they had secured Chełmno (Culm) and begun claiming conquered territories for themselves under the authority of the Holy Roman Empire
, although these claims were rejected by the Poles, whose ambition had been to conquer Prussia all along. The Teutonic Order's strategy was to move down the Vistula and secure the delta, establishing a barrier between the Prussians and Danzig
(Present day Gdańsk). The victorious Teutonic Knights built a castle at Elbing near, if not on top of, the destroyed Prussian town of Truso.
The Chronicon terrae Prussiae
describes the conflict in the vicinity of Lake Drusen (now Drużno) shortly before the founding of Elbing:
Truso did not disappear suddenly to be replaced with the citadel and town of Elbing during the Prussian Crusade. It had already burned down in the tenth century. The population dispersed in the area.
describes the founding of Elbing under the leadership of Hermann Balk
. After building two ships, the Pilgerim (Pilgrim) and the Vridelant (Friedland), with the assistance of Henry III, Margrave of Meissen
, the Teutonic Knights used them to clear the Vistula Lagoon (Frisches Haff) and the Vistula Spit
of Prussians:
Apparently the river was in Pomesania
, which the knights had just finished clearing, but the bay was in Pogesania
. The first Elbing was placed in Pogesania:
Both landings were amphibious operations conducted from the ships. The Chronicon relates that they were in use for many years and then were sunk in Lake Drusen. In 1238 the Dominican Order
was invited to build a monastery on a grant of land. Pomesania was not secured, however, and from 1240-1242 the order began building a brick castle on the south side of the settlement, where archaeologists now believe Truso had been. It may be significant that Elbing's first industry was the same as Truso's had been: manufacture of amber and bone artifacts for export. In 1243 William of Modena
created the Diocese of Pomesania and three others. They were at first only ideological constructs, but the tides of time turned them into reality in that same century.
The foundation of Elbing was perhaps not the end of the Old Prussian story in the region. In 1825 a manuscript listing a vocabulary of the Baltic
Old Prussian language, named the Elbing-Prussian Dictionary , or more commonly in English just Elbing Vocabulary, was found among some manuscripts from a merchant's house. It contained 802 words in a dialect now termed Pomesanian with their equivalents in an early form of German.
The origin of the vocabulary remains unknown. Its format is like that of modern travel dictionaries; i.e., it may have been used by German speakers to communicate with Old Prussians, but the specific circumstances are only speculative. The manuscript became the Codex Neumannianus. It disappeared after a British bombing raid
destroyed the library at Elbing but before then facsimiles had been made. The date of the MSS was estimated at ca. 1400, but it was a copy. There is no evidence concerning the provenance of the original, except that it must have been in Pomesanian.
In 1246 the town was granted a constitution under Lübeck law
, used in maritime circumstances, instead of Magdeburg rights
common in other cities in Central Europe
. This decision of the Order was in keeping with its general strategy of espousing the trade association
that in 1358 would become the Hanseatic League
. The Order seized on this association early and used it to establish bases throughout the Baltic. The Order's involvement in the League was somewhat contradictory. In whatever cities they founded the ultimate authority was the commander of the town, who kept office in the citadel, typically used as a prison. Lübeck law, on the other hand, provided for self-government of the town.
Membership in the Hanseatic League meant having important trading contacts with England
, Flanders
, France
, and the Netherlands
. The city received numerous merchant privileges from the rulers of England, Poland, Pomerania, and the Teutonic Order. For instance, the privilege of the Old Town was upgraded in 1343, while in 1393 it was granted an emporium privilege for grains, metals, and forest products.
Except for the citadel and churches, Elbing at the time was more of a small village by modern standards. Its area was 300 by 500 m (984.3 by 1,640.4 ). It featured a wharf, a marketplace and five streets, as well as a number of churches. The castle was completed in 1251. In 1288 fire destroyed the entire settlement except for the churches, which were of brick. A new circuit wall was started immediately. From 1315 to 1340 Elbląg was rebuilt. A separate settlement called New Town was founded ca. 1337 and received Lübeck rights in 1347. In 1349 the Black Death
struck the town, toward the end of the European plague. After the population recovered it continued building up the city and in 1364 a crane
was built for the port.
The German-language Elbinger Rechtsbuch, written in Elbing, Prussia documented among other laws for the first time Polish common law. The German-language Polish laws are based on the Sachsenspiegel
and were written down to aid the judges. It is thus the oldest source for documented Polish common law
and is in Polish referred to as the Księga Elbląska (Book of Elbląg). It was written down in the second half of the 13th century.
, which led the revolt of Prussia against the rule of the Teutonic Knights in 1454. The burghers destroyed the Teutonic Order castle. For assistance against the Order, the Confederation asked for help from King Casimir IV of Poland; Casimir's subsequent claiming of Prussia led to the Thirteen Years' War.
After the Section of Prussians and Polish victory over the Teutonic Order, the city became part of the autonomous province
of Royal Prussia
under the suzerainty of the Polish crown in the Second Peace of Thorn. The city was known to the Polish crown by its Polish name Elbląg.
With the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
in 1569, the city was brought under direct control of the Polish crown.
With the 16th century Protestant Reformation
the burghers became Lutherans
and the first Lutheran Gymnasium
was established in Elbląg in 1535.
From 1579 Elbląg had close trade relations with England
, to which the city accorded free trade
. English, Scottish
, and Irish
merchants settled in the city. They formed the Scottish Reformed Church of Elbląg and became Elbing citizens, aiding Lutheran Sweden
in the Thirty Years' War
. The rivalry of nearby Danzig interrupted trading links several times. By 1618 Elbląg had left the Hanseatic League owing to its close business dealings with England.
Famous inhabitants of the city at that time included native sons Hans von Bodeck
and Samuel Hartlib
. During the Thirty Years' War
, Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna
brought the Moravian Brethren refugee John Amos
Comenius
to Elbląg for six years (1642–48). In 1642 Johann Stobäus
, who composed with Johann Eccard
, published the Preussische Fest-Lieder, a number of evangelical Prussian songs. In 1646 the city recorder Daniel Barholz noted that the city council
employed Bernsteindreher, or Paternostermacher, licensed and guilded amber craftsmen who worked on prayer beads
, rosaries
, and many other items made of amber. Members of the Barholz family became mayors and councillors.
During the Thirty Years' War
, the Vistula Lagoon was the main southern Baltic base of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
, who was hailed as the protector of the Protestants. By 1660 the Vistula Lagoon had gone to Elector Frederick William
of Brandenburg-Prussia
, but was returned in 1700.
The poet Christian Wernicke
was born in 1661 in Elbląg, while Gottfried Achenwall
became famous for his teachings in natural law
and human rights law
.
In 1700-1710 it was occupied by Swedish troops.
In 1709 it was besieged, taken by storm on February 2, 1710 by Russian troops with support of Prussian artillery. Handed over to Polish King Augustus II in 1712.
The Imperial
cartographer Johann Friedrich Endersch
completed a map of Warmia
in 1755 and also made a copper
etching
of the galley named "The City of Elbląg" .
During the War of the Polish Succession
in 1734, Elbląg and Danzig (Gdańsk
) were placed under military occupation
by Russia
and Saxony
. The town came again under occupation by Russia from 1758-1762 during the Seven Years' War
.
in 1772, the city state
was annexed by King Frederick the Great
of the Kingdom of Prussia
. Elbing became part of the new Prussian Province of West Prussia
in 1773. In the 1815 provincial reorganization following the Napoleonic Wars
, Elbing and its hinterland were included within Regierungsbezirk Danzig in West Prussia.
Elbing industrialized
under the sovereignty of the Hohenzollern
kings in Berlin
. In 1828 the first steamship was built by Ignatz Grunau. In 1837 Ferdinand Schichau
started the F. Schichau company in Elbing as well as another shipyard in Danzig later on. Schichau constructed the Borussia, the first screw-vessel in Germany. F. Schichau built hydraulic
machinery, ships, steam engine
s, and torpedo
es. After the inauguration of the railway to Königsberg
in 1853, Elbing's industry began to grow. Schichau worked together with his son-in-law Carl H. Zise, who continued the industrial complex after Schichau's death. Schichau erected large complexes for his many thousands of workers.
Georg Steenke
, an engineer from Königsberg, connected Elbing near the Baltic Sea with the southern part of Prussia by building the Oberländischer Kanal (Elbląg Canal
).
Elbing became part of the Prussian-led German Empire
in 1871 during the unification of Germany
. As Elbing became an industrial city, the Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD) frequently received the majority of votes; in the 1912 Reichstag
elections the SPD received 51% of the vote. After World War I
, most of West Prussia became part of the Second Polish Republic
. Elbing was joined to German East Prussia
, and was separated from Weimar Germany
by the Polish Corridor
.
Mormons
started filming
the church records of Elbing's citizens in Kirchenbücher. Records dating from 1577 to 1890 are available.
(1933–1945), the Nazi Party
enjoyed particular popularity and support among the town's population. Three subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp
were located near the town: Elbing, Elbing (Org. Todt), and Elbing (Schinau). This however soon ended when a large number of the German inhabitants of Elbing fled
before the Soviet
Red Army
approached the city during World War II
. During the siege of February 1945 the city infrastructure was 65% destroyed, including most of the historical city center. Almost all Germans who returned or remained were expelled
as the city was annexed by the Soviet Union
and ceded to Poland in spring 1945, a decision by Stalin with full consent of the western Allies
in the Potsdam Conference
.
expelled from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union or Polish peasants from overpopulated villages in central Poland. Some of the damaged historical city center was completely demolished and the bricks were used to rebuild Warsaw
and Gdańsk
. The Communist authorities
planned that the Old Town, utterly destroyed in 1945, be rebuilt with blocks of flats
. However, economic difficulties thwarted this plan. Two churches were reconstructed and the remaining ruins of the old town were torn down in the 1960s.
Elbląg was the scene of one of the riots in the coastal cities in 1970 together with Tricity and Szczecin
(see also coastal cities events
). Since 1990 there has been an emergence of a German minority group
, Elbinger Minderheit. In 2000, the Elbinger Deutsche Minderheit Organization counted around 450 members.
Restoration of the Old Town began after 1989. Since the beginning of the restoration, an extensive archaeological programme has been carried out. Most of the city's heritage was destroyed during the construction of basements in the 19th century or during World War II, but the backyards and latrine
s of the houses were not changed and provide information on the city's history. On some occasions the private investors incorporated parts of preserved stonework into new architecture. Approximately 75% of the Old Town has been reconstructed as of 2006. The city museum presents many pieces of art and utilities of everyday use, including the only 15th century binoculars
preserved in Europe.
(Sejm) elected from Elbląg constituency
with:
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in northern 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 127,892 inhabitants (2006). It is the capital of Elbląg County
Elblag County
Elbląg County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat is the city of Elbląg, although the city...
and has been assigned to 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...
since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship
Elblag Voivodeship
Elbląg Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998, superseded by the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. Its capital city was Elbląg....
(1975–1998) and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship
Gdansk Voivodeship
The name Gdańsk Voivodeship has been used twice to designate local governments in Poland.----Gdańsk Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–98, superseded by Pomeranian Voivodeship...
(1945–1975). The city is a port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
on the river Elbląg which flows into the Vistula Lagoon
Vistula Lagoon
The Vistula Lagoon is a fresh water lagoon on the Baltic Sea separated from Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. It is sometimes known as the Vistula Bay or Vistula Gulf. The modern German name, Frisches Haff, is derived from an earlier form, Friesisches Haff. Both this term and the earlier Polish...
about 10 km to the north, thus giving the city access to the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
via the Russian-controlled Strait of Baltiysk
Strait of Baltiysk
The Strait of Baltiysk is a strait in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, enabling passage from the Baltic Sea into the Vistula Lagoon. It separates the Sambian Peninsula and Vistula Spit...
.
It was first mentioned as "Ilfing" in The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan which was written in Anglo-Saxon in King Alfred's reign using information from a Viking who had visited the area.
During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the Old Prussian
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...
settlement of Truso
Truso
Truso, situated on Lake Druzno, was an Old Prussian town near the Baltic Sea just east of the Vistula River. It was one of the trading posts on the Amber Road, and is thought to be the antecedent of the city of Elbląg . In the words of Marija Gimbutas, "the name of the town is the earliest known...
was located at Lake Drużno
Druzno
Drużno is a body of water historically considered a lake in northern Poland on the east side of the Vistula delta, near the city of Elbląg. As it is currently not deep enough to qualify as a lake hydrologically and receives some periodic inflow of sea water from the Vistula Lagoon along the Elbląg...
near the current site of Elbląg in historical Pogesania
Pogesania
Pogesanians were one of the eleven Prussian clans mentioned by Peter von Dusburg. The clan lived in Pogesania , a small territory stretched between the Elbląg and Pasłęka rivers. It is now located in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Pogesanians, as the rest of the Prussians, were...
; the settlement burned down in the 10th century. The Teutonic Knights
Teutonic 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...
conquered the region and the inhabitants dispersed in the process. The Teutonic Order built a castle and founded Elbing at the lake with a population mostly from Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
; today the much smaller lake does not reach the city any more. After the defeat of the Teutonic Knights and the destruction of the castle by the inhabitants, the city successively was under the sovereignty of the Polish crown
Crown of the Polish Kingdom
The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland , or simply the Crown , is the name for the unit of administrative division, the territories under direct administration of Polish nobility from middle-ages to late 18th century...
(1466), 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...
(1772), and 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...
(1871). Elbing was heavily damaged in 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...
, its German citizens were 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...
upon the war's end. The city became part of Poland in 1945 and was repopulated with Polish citizens.
Geography
The Old City is located on the river Elbląg connecting Lake DrużnoDruzno
Drużno is a body of water historically considered a lake in northern Poland on the east side of the Vistula delta, near the city of Elbląg. As it is currently not deep enough to qualify as a lake hydrologically and receives some periodic inflow of sea water from the Vistula Lagoon along the Elbląg...
to the Vistula Lagoon
Vistula Lagoon
The Vistula Lagoon is a fresh water lagoon on the Baltic Sea separated from Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. It is sometimes known as the Vistula Bay or Vistula Gulf. The modern German name, Frisches Haff, is derived from an earlier form, Friesisches Haff. Both this term and the earlier Polish...
, about 10 km from the lagoon and 60 km from Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
. The city was heavily damaged (65%) at the end of 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...
and thereafter almost totally destroyed, when many of the buildings still standing were taken down by the communists for bricks to be used for rebuilding destroyed Gdańsk and Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. The new inhabitants of the city eventually succeeded in being able to rebuild parts of the inner city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
and ca. 2000 rebuilding was started in a style emulating the previous architecture, in many cases over the same foundations and utilising the old bricks and portions of the same walls. However, the western bank part of the city is completely gone after the war.
The modern city covers over 50% of the distance between Lake Drużno and Elbląg Bay (Zatoka Elbląska), an arm of the Vistula Lagoon
Vistula Lagoon
The Vistula Lagoon is a fresh water lagoon on the Baltic Sea separated from Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. It is sometimes known as the Vistula Bay or Vistula Gulf. The modern German name, Frisches Haff, is derived from an earlier form, Friesisches Haff. Both this term and the earlier Polish...
, and extends on either side of the river, but especially to the east. On the east is the Elbląg Upland (Wysoczyzna Elbląska), a dome pushed up by glacial compression, 390 square km in diameter and 200 m (656.17 ft) high at its greatest elevation. It gives the appearance of ridges and parkland.
Elbląg is situated in flat land extending to the west in the Vistula Delta (Żuławy Wiślane) used mainly for agricultural purposes. Views to the west show flat fields extending to the horizon, while to the south are the marshes and swamps of Drużno. The Elbląg River
Elblag River
The Elbląg is a river in northwest Poland connecting Lake Drużno with the Vistula Lagoon. The city of Elbląg is situated on the river.Tributaries include:*Fiszewka*Kumiela*Tina...
has been left in a more natural state through the city, but elsewhere it is a controlled channel with branches. One of them, the Jagielonski Channel (Kanał Jagieloński), leads to the Nogat
Nogat
-----------------The Nogat is a 62km long delta branch of the Vistula River and does not empty at Gdańsk Bay as the main river does.The Nogat has its origin near the city of Biała Góra as an anabranch of the Vistula River. Shortly after the river Liwa flows into the Nogat. Than the river passes...
River, along which navigation to Gdańsk is common. The Elbląg Canal
Elblag Canal
Elbląg Canal is a canal in Poland, in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, 80.5 km in length, which runs southward from Lake Drużno , to the river Drwęca and lake Jeziorak. It can accommodate small vessels up to 50 tons displacement...
(Kanał Elbląski) connecting Lake Drużno with Drwęca
Drweca
The Drwęca is a river in northern Poland and a tributary of the Vistula river near Toruń, forming a part of the city's administrative boundary. It has a length of 207 km and a basin area of 5,344 km², all in Poland.Towns:...
River and Lake Jeziorak
Jeziorak
Jeziorak is a lake in the Iława Lakeland in Warmia-Masuria, Poland. Its area is 3,219 ha . It is 27.45 km long and 2.4 km wide. Maximum depth is 13 m. It is the longest lake in Poland, and ranks 6th by area....
is a popular tourist site.
Elbląg is not a deep-water port. The draft of vessels using its waterways must be no greater than 1.5 m (4.92 ft) by law. The turning area at Elbląg is 120 m (393.7 ft) diameter and a pilot is required for large vessels. Deep water vessels cannot manoeuvre; in that sense, Elbląg has become a subsidiary port of Gdańsk
Port of Gdansk
The Port of Gdańsk is a seaport located on the southern coast of Gdańsk Bay in the city of Gdańsk, extending along the Vistula estuary Martwa Wisła , Port Channel and Kashubia Canal. It is one of the largest seaports on the Baltic Sea....
. Traffic of smaller vessels at Elbląg is within the river and very marginal, while larger vessels cannot reach the open Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
because the channel, once built in 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...
to go through the peninsula, has belonged to 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...
since 1945. The river has become almost stagnant and its banks are overgrown with waterlilies and tulies. The city features three quay complexes, movable cranes, and railways. One of its specialities is heavy machinery.
Etymology
Elbląg is the PolishPolish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
derivative
Corruption (grammar)
Corruption or bastardisation is a way of referring to certain changes in a language and their prescriptive evaluation. The most common way that a word can be said to be corrupted is the change of its spelling through errors and gradual changes in comprehension, transcription, and hearing. This is...
of the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
name Elbing, which was assigned by the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic 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...
to the citadel and subsequent town placed by them in 1237 next to the river. The purpose of the citadel was to prevent the Old Prussian
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...
settlement of Truso from being reoccupied, as the German crusaders were at war with the pagan Prussians. The citadel was named after the river, itself of uncertain etymology. One traditional etymology connects it to the name of the Helveconae
Helveconae
The Helveconae, or Helvaeonae, or Helvecones, or Aelvaeones, or Ailouaiones, are names possibly referring to the same ancient population, and possibly further connected to the Germanic Hilleviones of Sweden. The Helveconae as such are one of the tribal states of the Lugii in Tacitus...
, a Germanic tribe
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
mentioned in Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
sources, but the etymology or language of the tribal name
Tribal name
A tribal name is a name of an ethnic tribe —usually of ancient origin, which represented its self-identity.Studies of Native American tribal names show that most had an original meaning comparable to "human," "people" "us"—the "tribal" name for itself was often the localized ethnic...
is not known.
Historical names
Early sources: river Ilfing (890), Castrum de Elbingo quod a nomine fluminis Elbingum appellavit (1237 — Peter of DusburgPeter of Dusburg
Peter of Dusburg , also known as Peter of Duisburg, was a Priest-Brother and chronicler of the Teutonic Knights. He is known for writing the Chronicon terrae Prussiae, which described the 13th and early 14th century Teutonic Knights and Old Prussians in Prussia.Peter's dates of birth and death are...
, Chronicon terrae Prussiae
Chronicon terrae Prussiae
Chronicon terrae Prussiae is a chronicle of the Teutonic Knights, by Peter of Dusburg, finished in 1326. The manuscript is the first major chronicle of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, completed some 100 years after the conquest of the crusaders into the Baltic region...
), in Elbingo (1239), in Elbing (1242), in Elbinge ... fluvium Elbinc (1246, city charter
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
), de Elbingo (1250), in Elbyngo (1258), vitra Elbingum (1263), Elvingo (1293), in Elbingo (1300), in Elvingo (1389), czum Elbinge (1392), czu Elbing (1403), Elwing (1410), czum Elwinge (1412), Elbing (1414–1438), Elbyang (before 1454), Elbing (1508), ku Elbiągowi (1634), w Elblągu (1661), w Elblągu (1661).
Old Prussian Truso
The seaport of Truso was first mentioned ca. 890 by Wulfstan of HedebyWulfstan of Hedeby
Wulfstan of Hedeby was a late ninth century traveller and trader. His travel accounts, as well as those of another trader, Ohthere, were included in Alfred the Great's translation of Orosius' Histories...
, an Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
sailor, travelling on the south coast of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
at the behest of King Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The exact location of Truso was not known for a long time, as the seashore has significantly changed, but most historians trace the settlement inside or near to modern Elbląg on Lake Drużno
Druzno
Drużno is a body of water historically considered a lake in northern Poland on the east side of the Vistula delta, near the city of Elbląg. As it is currently not deep enough to qualify as a lake hydrologically and receives some periodic inflow of sea water from the Vistula Lagoon along the Elbląg...
. Truso was located at territory already known to the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and earlier.
It was an important seaport serving the Vistula River bay on the early medieval
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
Baltic Sea trade route
Trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long distance arteries which may further be connected to several smaller networks of commercial...
s which led from Birka
Birka
During the Viking Age, Birka , on the island of Björkö in Sweden, was an important trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as Central and Eastern Europe and the Orient. Björkö is located in Lake Mälaren, 30 kilometers west of contemporary Stockholm, in the municipality of Ekerö...
in the north to the island of Gotland
Gotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
and to Visby
Visby
-See also:* Battle of Visby* Gotland University College* List of governors of Gotland County-External links:* - Visby*...
in the Baltic Sea. From there, traders continued further south to Carnuntum
Carnuntum
Carnuntum was a Roman army camp on the Danube in the Noricum province and after the 1st century the capital of the Upper Pannonia province...
along the Amber Road
Amber Road
The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber. As one of the waterways and ancient highways, for centuries the road led from Europe to Asia and back, and from northern Africa to the Baltic Sea....
. The ancient Amber Road led further southwest and southeast to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
and eventually to Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. The east-west trade route went from Truso, along the Baltic Sea to Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
, and from there inland by river to Hedeby
Hedeby
Hedeby |heath]]land, and býr = yard, thus "heath yard"), mentioned by Alfred the Great as aet Haethe , in German Haddeby and Haithabu, a modern spelling of the runic Heiðabý was an important trading settlement in the Danish-northern German borderland during the Viking Age...
, a large trading center in Jutland. The main goods of Truso were amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
, furs, and slaves.
Archaeological finds in 1897 and diggings in the 1920s placed Truso at Gut Hansdorf. A large burial field was also found at Elbing. Artifacts were placed in the Elbing Museum. Recent Polish diggings show burned beams and ashes and many 1000 year old artifacts on an area about 20 hectares.
Prussian Crusade
Attempts to conquer Prussian land began in 997, when Bolesław I Chrobry, at the urging of the Pope, sent a contingent of soldiers and a missionary (Adalbert of PragueAdalbert of Prague
This article is about St Adalbert of Prague. For other uses, see Adalbert .Saint Adalbert, Czech: ; , , Czech Roman Catholic saint, a Bishop of Prague and a missionary, was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians. He evangelized Poles and Hungarians. St...
) to the pagan Prussians on a crusade of conquest and conversion. The crusade encompassed much of the Baltic Sea coast, Danzig
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
(Present day Gdańsk), and other areas of the coast up to Sambia. Starting in 1209 additional crusades were called for by Konrad of Masovia
Konrad I of Masovia
Konrad I of Masovia , from the Polish Piast dynasty, was the sixth Duke of Masovia from 1194 until his death and High Duke of Poland from 1229 to 1232.-Life:...
, who sought more to conquer Prussian territory than actually convert the indigenous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
Prussians. Despite heroic efforts, Old Prussian sovereignty would eventually collapse after a succession of wars instigated by Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III , previously known as Cencio Savelli, was Pope from 1216 to 1227.-Early work:He was born in Rome as son of Aimerico...
and his frequent calls for crusade.
Before the Prussians and their neighbors to the west, the Pomeranians, were finally brought to heel, Polish rulers and the Duchy of Masovia, both by then Christianised
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
peoples, would be continually frustrated in their aims at northern expansion. Aside from minor border raids, major campaigns against the Prussians would be launched in 1219, 1220, and 1222. After a particularly sound defeat by Prussian forces in 1223, Polish forces in Chełmno, the seat of Christian of Oliva
Christian of Oliva
Christian of Oliva , also Christian of Prussia was the first missionary bishop of Prussia.Christian was born about 1180 in the Duchy of Pomerania, possibly in the area of Chociwel...
and Duchy of Masovia would go on the defensive.
In 1226 Duke Konrad I of Masovia
Konrad I of Masovia
Konrad I of Masovia , from the Polish Piast dynasty, was the sixth Duke of Masovia from 1194 until his death and High Duke of Poland from 1229 to 1232.-Life:...
summoned the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic 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...
for assistance; by 1230 they had secured Chełmno (Culm) and begun claiming conquered territories for themselves under the authority of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, although these claims were rejected by the Poles, whose ambition had been to conquer Prussia all along. The Teutonic Order's strategy was to move down the Vistula and secure the delta, establishing a barrier between the Prussians and Danzig
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
(Present day Gdańsk). The victorious Teutonic Knights built a castle at Elbing near, if not on top of, the destroyed Prussian town of Truso.
The Chronicon terrae Prussiae
Chronicon terrae Prussiae
Chronicon terrae Prussiae is a chronicle of the Teutonic Knights, by Peter of Dusburg, finished in 1326. The manuscript is the first major chronicle of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, completed some 100 years after the conquest of the crusaders into the Baltic region...
describes the conflict in the vicinity of Lake Drusen (now Drużno) shortly before the founding of Elbing:
- ″Omnia propugnacula, que habebant in illo loco, qui dicitur (list) ... circa stagnum Drusine ... occisis et captiis infidelibus, potenter expugnavit, et in cinerem redigendo terre alteri coequavit."
- "All the little redoubts that they had in that place, which are said to be (list) ... and around the Drusine marsh ... he (frater Hermannus magister) assaulted and levelled by rendering them into ash, after the infidels had been killed or captured."
Truso did not disappear suddenly to be replaced with the citadel and town of Elbing during the Prussian Crusade. It had already burned down in the tenth century. The population dispersed in the area.
Foundation of Elbing
The Chronicon terrae PrussiaeChronicon terrae Prussiae
Chronicon terrae Prussiae is a chronicle of the Teutonic Knights, by Peter of Dusburg, finished in 1326. The manuscript is the first major chronicle of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, completed some 100 years after the conquest of the crusaders into the Baltic region...
describes the founding of Elbing under the leadership of Hermann Balk
Hermann Balk
Hermann Balk , also known as Hermann von Balk or Hermann Balke, was a Knight-Brother of the Teutonic Order and its first Landmeister, or Provincial Master, in both Prussia and Livonia. From 1219 to 1227, he served as the Deutschmeister in the Order's Province of Alemannia...
. After building two ships, the Pilgerim (Pilgrim) and the Vridelant (Friedland), with the assistance of Henry III, Margrave of Meissen
Henry III, Margrave of Meissen
Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrave of Thuringia.-Life:Born probably at the Albrechtsburg residence in Meissen, Henry was the youngest son of Margrave Theodoric I...
, the Teutonic Knights used them to clear the Vistula Lagoon (Frisches Haff) and the Vistula Spit
Vistula Spit
The Vistula Spit is a spit, or peninsular stretch of land, which separates Vistula Lagoon from Gdańsk Bay in the Baltic Sea. The border between Poland and Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave of Russia, bisects it, politically dividing the spit in half between the two countries. The westernmost point...
of Prussians:
- ... et recens mare purgatum fuit ab insultu infidelium ...
- ... "and the Vistula Spit was purged of the insult of the infidels..."
Apparently the river was in Pomesania
Pomesania
Pomesanians were one of the Prussian clans. They lived in Pomesania , a historical region in modern northern Poland, located between the Nogat and Vistula Rivers to the west and the Elbląg River to the east. It is located around the modern towns of Elbląg and Malbork...
, which the knights had just finished clearing, but the bay was in Pogesania
Pogesania
Pogesanians were one of the eleven Prussian clans mentioned by Peter von Dusburg. The clan lived in Pogesania , a small territory stretched between the Elbląg and Pasłęka rivers. It is now located in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Pogesanians, as the rest of the Prussians, were...
. The first Elbing was placed in Pogesania:
- Magister ... venit ad terram Pogesanie, ad insulam illam ... que est in media fluminis Elbingi, in illo loco, ubi Elbingus intrat recens mare et erexit ibi castrum, quod a nomine fluminis Elbingum appellavit, anno dominice incarnacionis MCCXXXVII. Aliqui referunt, quod idem castrum postea ab infidelibus fuerit expugnatum, et tunc ad eum locum, ubi nunc situm est, translatum, et circa ipsum civitas collocata.
- "The master ... came to the region of Pogesania, to that island which is in the middle of the Elbing river, in that place where the Elbing enters the Vistula Lagoon, and built there a fort, which he called by the name of the Elbing River, in the year of the incarnation of the Lord, 1237. Others report that the same fort was attacked by the infidels and then was moved to the place where it is now situated, and the city gathered around it."
Both landings were amphibious operations conducted from the ships. The Chronicon relates that they were in use for many years and then were sunk in Lake Drusen. In 1238 the Dominican Order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
was invited to build a monastery on a grant of land. Pomesania was not secured, however, and from 1240-1242 the order began building a brick castle on the south side of the settlement, where archaeologists now believe Truso had been. It may be significant that Elbing's first industry was the same as Truso's had been: manufacture of amber and bone artifacts for export. In 1243 William of Modena
William of Modena
William of Modena , also known as William of Sabina, Guglielmo de Chartreaux, Guglielmo de Savoy, Guillelmus, was an Italian clergyman and papal diplomat. He was frequently appointed a legate, or papal ambassador by the popes Honorius III and Gregory IX, especially in Livonia in the 1220s and in...
created the Diocese of Pomesania and three others. They were at first only ideological constructs, but the tides of time turned them into reality in that same century.
The foundation of Elbing was perhaps not the end of the Old Prussian story in the region. In 1825 a manuscript listing a vocabulary of the Baltic
Baltic languages
The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...
Old Prussian language, named the Elbing-Prussian Dictionary , or more commonly in English just Elbing Vocabulary, was found among some manuscripts from a merchant's house. It contained 802 words in a dialect now termed Pomesanian with their equivalents in an early form of German.
The origin of the vocabulary remains unknown. Its format is like that of modern travel dictionaries; i.e., it may have been used by German speakers to communicate with Old Prussians, but the specific circumstances are only speculative. The manuscript became the Codex Neumannianus. It disappeared after a British bombing raid
Strategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
destroyed the library at Elbing but before then facsimiles had been made. The date of the MSS was estimated at ca. 1400, but it was a copy. There is no evidence concerning the provenance of the original, except that it must have been in Pomesanian.
Hanseatic Elbing
Lübeck law
The Lübeck law was the constitution of a municipal form of government developed at Lübeck in Schleswig-Holstein after it was made a free city in 1226. The law provides for self-government. It replaced the personal rule of tribal monarchs descending from ancient times or the rule of the regional...
, used in maritime circumstances, instead of Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg Rights or Magdeburg Law were a set of German town laws regulating the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by a local ruler. Modelled and named after the laws of the German city of Magdeburg and developed during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, it was...
common in other cities in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
. This decision of the Order was in keeping with its general strategy of espousing the trade association
Industry trade group
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
that in 1358 would become the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
. The Order seized on this association early and used it to establish bases throughout the Baltic. The Order's involvement in the League was somewhat contradictory. In whatever cities they founded the ultimate authority was the commander of the town, who kept office in the citadel, typically used as a prison. Lübeck law, on the other hand, provided for self-government of the town.
Membership in the Hanseatic League meant having important trading contacts with England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The city received numerous merchant privileges from the rulers of England, Poland, Pomerania, and the Teutonic Order. For instance, the privilege of the Old Town was upgraded in 1343, while in 1393 it was granted an emporium privilege for grains, metals, and forest products.
Except for the citadel and churches, Elbing at the time was more of a small village by modern standards. Its area was 300 by 500 m (984.3 by 1,640.4 ). It featured a wharf, a marketplace and five streets, as well as a number of churches. The castle was completed in 1251. In 1288 fire destroyed the entire settlement except for the churches, which were of brick. A new circuit wall was started immediately. From 1315 to 1340 Elbląg was rebuilt. A separate settlement called New Town was founded ca. 1337 and received Lübeck rights in 1347. In 1349 the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
struck the town, toward the end of the European plague. After the population recovered it continued building up the city and in 1364 a crane
Crane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
was built for the port.
The German-language Elbinger Rechtsbuch, written in Elbing, Prussia documented among other laws for the first time Polish common law. The German-language Polish laws are based on the Sachsenspiegel
Sachsenspiegel
The Sachsenspiegel is the most important law book and legal code of the German Middle Ages. Written ca...
and were written down to aid the judges. It is thus the oldest source for documented Polish common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
and is in Polish referred to as the Księga Elbląska (Book of Elbląg). It was written down in the second half of the 13th century.
Kingdom of Poland
In 1440 several western and eastern Prussian towns formed the Prussian ConfederationPrussian 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...
, which led the revolt of Prussia against the rule of the Teutonic Knights in 1454. The burghers destroyed the Teutonic Order castle. For assistance against the Order, the Confederation asked for help from King Casimir IV of Poland; Casimir's subsequent claiming of Prussia led to the Thirteen Years' War.
After the Section of Prussians and Polish victory over the Teutonic Order, the city became part of the autonomous province
Autonomous area
An autonomous area or autonomous entity is an area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or freedom from an external authority. Typically it is either geographically distinct from the rest of the country or populated by a national minority. Countries that include autonomous areas are often...
of Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
under the suzerainty of the Polish crown in the Second Peace of Thorn. The city was known to the Polish crown by its Polish name Elbląg.
With the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
in 1569, the city was brought under direct control of the Polish crown.
With the 16th century 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...
the burghers became Lutherans
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...
and the first Lutheran Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
was established in Elbląg in 1535.
From 1579 Elbląg had close trade relations with England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to which the city accorded free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
. English, Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
merchants settled in the city. They formed the Scottish Reformed Church of Elbląg and became Elbing citizens, aiding Lutheran Sweden
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
in the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. The rivalry of nearby Danzig interrupted trading links several times. By 1618 Elbląg had left the Hanseatic League owing to its close business dealings with England.
Famous inhabitants of the city at that time included native sons Hans von Bodeck
Hans von Bodeck
Hans von Bodeck was a German diplomat and chancellor of the Hohenzollern Prince-electors of Brandenburg-Prussia.Bodeck came from a prominent patrician family of Elbing in the Polish province of Royal Prussia. His grandfather was the burgomaster, while his father was a city councilman...
and Samuel Hartlib
Samuel Hartlib
Samuel Hartlib was a German-British polymath. An active promoter and expert writer in many fields, he was interested in science, medicine, agriculture, politics, and education. He settled in England, where he married and died...
. During the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre , Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of first Gustavus Adolphus and then Queen Christina.Oxenstierna...
brought the Moravian Brethren refugee John Amos
John Amos
John Amos is an American actor and former football player. His television work includes roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Good Times, the miniseries Roots, and a recurring role in The West Wing. He has also appeared on Broadway and in numerous motion pictures in a career that spans four decades...
Comenius
Comenius
John Amos Comenius ; ; Latinized: Iohannes Amos Comenius) was a Czech teacher, educator, and writer. He served as the last bishop of Unity of the Brethren, and became a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica...
to Elbląg for six years (1642–48). In 1642 Johann Stobäus
Johann Stobäus
Johann Stobäus was a North German composer.Stobäus was born at Graudenz. From 1599 to 1608 he was a pupil of Johann Eccard, the Kapellmeister of Königsberg. Then from 1601 a bassist in the princely Kapelle from 1602 Kantor at Königsberg Cathedral. Then in 1626 he succeeded Eccard as...
, who composed with Johann Eccard
Johann Eccard
Johannes Eccard was a German composer and kapellmeister. He was an early principal conductor at the Berlin court chapel.-Biography:...
, published the Preussische Fest-Lieder, a number of evangelical Prussian songs. In 1646 the city recorder Daniel Barholz noted that the city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
employed Bernsteindreher, or Paternostermacher, licensed and guilded amber craftsmen who worked on prayer beads
Prayer beads
Prayer beads are used by members of various religious traditions such as Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, Anglicanism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Bahá'í Faith to count the repetitions of prayers, chants or devotions, such as the rosary of Virgin Mary in Christianity and dhikr ...
, rosaries
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
, and many other items made of amber. Members of the Barholz family became mayors and councillors.
During the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, the Vistula Lagoon was the main southern Baltic base of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
, who was hailed as the protector of the Protestants. By 1660 the Vistula Lagoon had gone to Elector Frederick William
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
of Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...
, but was returned in 1700.
The poet Christian Wernicke
Christian Wernicke
Christian Wernicke was a German epigramist and diplomat. His surname has also been spelled Wernigke, Warneck, and Werneke.Wernicke was born in Elbing in the Polish province of Royal Prussia...
was born in 1661 in Elbląg, while Gottfried Achenwall
Gottfried Achenwall
Gottfried Achenwall was a German philosopher, historian, economist, jurist and statistician. He is counted among the inventors of statistics.-Biography:...
became famous for his teachings in natural law
Natural law
Natural law, or the law of nature , is any system of law which is purportedly determined by nature, and thus universal. Classically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. Natural law is contrasted with the positive law Natural...
and human rights law
International human rights law
International human rights law refers to the body of international law designed to promote and protect human rights at the international, regional and domestic levels...
.
In 1700-1710 it was occupied by Swedish troops.
In 1709 it was besieged, taken by storm on February 2, 1710 by Russian troops with support of Prussian artillery. Handed over to Polish King Augustus II in 1712.
The Imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
cartographer Johann Friedrich Endersch
Johann Friedrich Endersch
Johann Friedrich Endersch was a German cartographer and mathematician. Endersch also held the title of Royal Mathematician to King Augustus III of Poland.-Life:...
completed a map of Warmia
Warmia
Warmia or Ermland is a region between Pomerelia and Masuria in northeastern Poland. Together with Masuria, it forms the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship....
in 1755 and also made a copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
of the galley named "The City of Elbląg" .
During the War of the Polish Succession
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...
in 1734, Elbląg and Danzig (Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
) were placed under military occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
by Russia
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...
and Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. The town came again under occupation by Russia from 1758-1762 during the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
.
Hohenzollern Prussia
During the First Partition of PolandPartitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
in 1772, the city state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
was annexed by King Frederick the Great
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
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...
. Elbing became part of the new Prussian Province of West Prussia
West Prussia
West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...
in 1773. In the 1815 provincial reorganization following 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...
, Elbing and its hinterland were included within Regierungsbezirk Danzig in West Prussia.
Elbing industrialized
Industrialisation
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...
under the sovereignty of the Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
kings in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In 1828 the first steamship was built by Ignatz Grunau. In 1837 Ferdinand Schichau
Ferdinand Schichau
Ferdinand Gottlob Schichau was a German mechanical engineer and businessman.- Biography :Schichau was born in Elbing, West Prussia to a smith and iron worker. He studied engineering in Berlin and visited the Rhineland and England. In 1837 he started his own company in Elbing...
started the F. Schichau company in Elbing as well as another shipyard in Danzig later on. Schichau constructed the Borussia, the first screw-vessel in Germany. F. Schichau built hydraulic
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
machinery, ships, steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
s, and torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es. After the inauguration of the railway to Königsberg
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
in 1853, Elbing's industry began to grow. Schichau worked together with his son-in-law Carl H. Zise, who continued the industrial complex after Schichau's death. Schichau erected large complexes for his many thousands of workers.
Georg Steenke
Georg Steenke
Georg Jakob Steenke was a German architect and a königlicher Baurat of the Kingdom of Prussia...
, an engineer from Königsberg, connected Elbing near the Baltic Sea with the southern part of Prussia by building the Oberländischer Kanal (Elbląg Canal
Elblag Canal
Elbląg Canal is a canal in Poland, in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, 80.5 km in length, which runs southward from Lake Drużno , to the river Drwęca and lake Jeziorak. It can accommodate small vessels up to 50 tons displacement...
).
Elbing became part of the Prussian-led German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in 1871 during the unification of Germany
Unification of Germany
The formal unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German...
. As Elbing became an industrial city, the Social Democratic Party of Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
(SPD) frequently received the majority of votes; in the 1912 Reichstag
Reichstag (German Empire)
The Reichstag was the parliament of the North German Confederation , and of the German Reich ....
elections the SPD received 51% of the vote. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, most of West Prussia became part of the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
. Elbing was joined to German 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...
, and was separated from Weimar Germany
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
by the Polish Corridor
Polish Corridor
The Polish Corridor , also known as Danzig Corridor, Corridor to the Sea or Gdańsk Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia , which provided the Second Republic of Poland with access to the Baltic Sea, thus dividing the bulk of Germany from the province of East...
.
Mormons
Mormons
The Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, a religion started by Joseph Smith during the American Second Great Awakening. A vast majority of Mormons are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while a minority are members of other independent churches....
started filming
Photographic film
Photographic film is a sheet of plastic coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film...
the church records of Elbing's citizens in Kirchenbücher. Records dating from 1577 to 1890 are available.
Nazi Germany
During the time of Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
(1933–1945), the Nazi Party
National Socialist German Workers Party
The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...
enjoyed particular popularity and support among the town's population. Three subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of 1937 German borders.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...
were located near the town: Elbing, Elbing (Org. Todt), and Elbing (Schinau). This however soon ended when a large number of the German inhabitants of Elbing fled
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...
before 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...
approached the city 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...
. During the siege of February 1945 the city infrastructure was 65% destroyed, including most of the historical city center. Almost all Germans who returned or remained were 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...
as the city was annexed by the Soviet Union
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....
and ceded to Poland in spring 1945, a decision by Stalin with full consent of the western Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
in 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...
.
History after 1945
After the expulsion of most of the German population, the city was repopulated and became known under the Polish name Elbląg. 98% of the new inhabitants were PolesPoles
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...
expelled from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union or Polish peasants from overpopulated villages in central Poland. Some of the damaged historical city center was completely demolished and the bricks were used to rebuild Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
and Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
. The Communist authorities
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
planned that the Old Town, utterly destroyed in 1945, be rebuilt with blocks of flats
Tower block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, office tower, apartment block, or block of flats, is a tall building or structure used as a residential and/or office building...
. However, economic difficulties thwarted this plan. Two churches were reconstructed and the remaining ruins of the old town were torn down in the 1960s.
Elbląg was the scene of one of the riots in the coastal cities in 1970 together with Tricity and Szczecin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
(see also coastal cities events
Polish 1970 protests
The Polish 1970 protests were protests that occurred in northern Poland in December 1970. The protests were sparked by a sudden increase of prices of food and other everyday items...
). Since 1990 there has been an emergence of a German minority group
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
, Elbinger Minderheit. In 2000, the Elbinger Deutsche Minderheit Organization counted around 450 members.
Restoration of the Old Town began after 1989. Since the beginning of the restoration, an extensive archaeological programme has been carried out. Most of the city's heritage was destroyed during the construction of basements in the 19th century or during World War II, but the backyards and latrine
Latrine
A latrine is a communal facility containing one or more commonly many toilets which may be simple pit toilets or in the case of the United States Armed Forces any toilet including modern flush toilets...
s of the houses were not changed and provide information on the city's history. On some occasions the private investors incorporated parts of preserved stonework into new architecture. Approximately 75% of the Old Town has been reconstructed as of 2006. The city museum presents many pieces of art and utilities of everyday use, including the only 15th century binoculars
Binoculars
Binoculars, field glasses or binocular telescopes are a pair of identical or mirror-symmetrical telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point accurately in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes when viewing distant objects...
preserved in Europe.
Tourist attractions
Until World War II there were many Gothic, renaissance and baroque houses in Elbląg's Old Town; some of them are reconstructed. Other preserved buildings are:- St. Nicholas CathedralSt. Nicholas Cathedral, ElblagSt. Nicholas Cathedral is a 13th century Gothic church in Elbląg, Poland.-History:When the burghers of Elbing first attempted to adopt the Protestant Reformation in 1525, the provost of St. Nicholas Church maintained Catholic practice. Since 1539 the city council tacitly tolerated and gradually...
- a monumental 13th century Gothic church (cathedral only from 1992, before it was a parochial churchParish churchA parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
), damaged by fire in the late 18th century, then destroyed in World War II and reconstructed - city gate (Brama Targowa) - erected in 1319
- St. Mary's Church - former Dominican church, erected in the 13th century, rebuilt in the 14th and 16th centuries; damaged in World War II and reconstructed in 1961 as an art gallery; remnants of cloister are partially preserved
- Holy Ghost church with hospital, from the 14th century
- Corpus Christi church from the 14th century
Institutions of higher education
- Elbląg Higher School of Arts and Economics
- Faculty of Pedagogy
- Faculty of Administration
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Faculty of Economics and Politics
- Elbląg Higher State College of Vocational EducationVocational educationVocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
(Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa)- Faculty of Pedagogy and Foreign Languages
- Faculty of Economics
- Faculty of Applied Computer Science
- Faculty of Technical Sciences
- Bogdan Jański Higher School, Faculty in Elbląg (Szkoła Wyższa im. Bogdana Jańskiego)
- Faculty of Management and Land ManagementLand managementLand management is the process of managing the use and development of land resources. Land resources are used for a variety of purposes which may include organic agriculture, reforestation, water resource management and eco-tourism projects.-See also:*Sustainable land management*Acreage...
- Faculty of Management and Land Management
- Elbląg Diocese Theological SeminarySeminaryA seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
(Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne Diecezji Elbląskiej) - Regent College - Foreign LanguageForeign languageA foreign language is a language indigenous to another country. It is also a language not spoken in the native country of the person referred to, i.e. an English speaker living in Japan can say that Japanese is a foreign language to him or her...
Teacher TrainingTeacher educationTeacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school and wider community....
College (Regent College - Nauczycielskie Kolegium Języków Obcych)- Faculty of English StudiesEnglish studiesEnglish studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
- Faculty of English Studies
Sports
- EB Start ElblągEB Start ElblagEB Start Elbląg is a Polish women's handball team, based in Elbląg, playing in Polish Ekstraklasa Women's Handball League ....
- women's handballHandball in PolandHandball is a popular team sport in Poland.* Polish Seria A Handball League* Polish Seria B Handball League* Polish Seria A Women's Handball League* Polish Seria B Women's Handball League* Polish Cup in men handball* Polish Cup in women handball...
team playing in Polish Ekstraklasa Women's Handball LeaguePolish Ekstraklasa Women's Handball League-History:* 1939 - Znicz Łódź* 1946 - Zryw Łódź* 1947 - Zryw Łódź* 1948 - SKS Warszawa* 1949 - Unia Łódź* 1950 - Spójnia Warszawa* 1951 - Unia Łódź* 1952 - Unia Łódź* 1953 - not held* 1954 - not held* 1955 - Stal Chorzów* 1956 - Stal Chorzów...
: 5th place in 2003/2004 season. - Olimpia ElblągOlimpia ElblagOlimpia Elbląg is a Polish professional football team based in Elbląg, Poland. It was founded in 1945. Currently the club plays in the Polish Second League .- Board members :...
- men's football club
Elbląg constituency
Members of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(Sejm) elected from Elbląg constituency
- Jan Antochowski, SLDDemocratic Left AllianceDemocratic Left Alliance is a social-democratic political party in Poland. Formed in 1991 as a coalition of centre-left parties, it was formally established as a single party on 15 April 1999. It is currently the third largest opposition party in Poland....
-UPLabour Union (Poland)The Labour Union is a social-democratic political party in Poland. It is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International.... - Danuta Ciborowska, SLD-UPDemocratic Left Alliance-Labor UnionDemocratic Left Alliance-Labor Union is an electoral committee and a coalition of two Polish centre-left political parties: Democratic Left Alliance and Labour Union. At the national level, the alliance arose at the time of the 2001 parliamentary elections and continued through the 2004 elections...
- Witold Gintowt-Dziewałtowski, SLD-UP
- Stanisław Gorczyca, POCivic PlatformCivic Platform , abbreviated to PO, is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Poland. It has been the major coalition partner in Poland's government since the 2007 general election, with party leader Donald Tusk as Prime Minister of Poland and Bronisław Komorowski as President...
- Jerzy Müller, SLD-UP
- Adam Ołdakowski, Samoobrona
- Andrzej Umiński, SLD-UP
- Stanisław Żelichowski, PSL
Twin towns - Sister cities
Elbląg 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:
| Ternopil Ternopil Ternopil , is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical region of Galicia... , Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia... (since 1992) Leer Leer Leer is a town in the district of Leer, the northwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the river Ems, near the border with the Netherlands.... , Lower Saxony Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany... , 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... (since June 23, 2001) Kaliningrad Kaliningrad Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea... , Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the... , 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... (since 1994) Baltiysk Baltiysk Baltiysk , prior to 1945 known by its German name Pillau , is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separating the Vistula Bay from the Gdańsk Bay. Baltiysk... , Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the... , 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... (since 1994) Ronneby Ronneby Ronneby is a locality and the seat of Ronneby Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden with 11,767 inhabitants in 2005.Ronneby is regarded as the heart of "the Garden of Sweden", and in 2005 the park "Brunnsparken" in Ronneby was voted Sweden's most beautiful park. 2006 the park was voted Europe's... , 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.... (since 1991) Druskininkai Druskininkai Druskininkai is a spa town on the Neman River in southern Lithuania, close to the borders of Belarus and Poland. The city of Druskininkai has a population of 18,233 and dates back as a spa resort to the 19th century.-Names:... , Lithuania Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark... (since 1996) Liepāja Liepaja Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port... , Latvia Latvia Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden... (since 1991) Navahradak Navahradak -Early history:First mentioned in the Sophian First Chronicle and Fourth Novgorod Chronicle in 1044 in relation to a war of Yaroslav I the Wise against Lithuanian tribes. It was also mentioned in the Hypatian Codex under 1252 as Novogorodok -Early history:First mentioned in the Sophian First... , Belarus Belarus Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,... (since 1995) |
Compiègne Compiègne Compiègne is a city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.The city is located along the Oise River... , France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... (since 2002) Trowbridge Trowbridge Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England, situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, approximately 12 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset.... , England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... , United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... (since March 31, 2000) Coquimbo Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port city, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo lies in a valley south of La Serena, with which it forms Greater La Serena with more than 400,000 inhabitants. The commune spans an area around the... , Chile Chile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... (since 1995) Baoji Baoji Baoji is a prefecture-level city in Shaanxi province, China.-Geography:The prefecture-level city of Baoji has a population of 3,716,731 according to the 2010 Chinese census, inhabiting an area of . The city itself has a population of approximately 800,000. Surrounded on three sides by hills,... , Shaanxi Shaanxi ' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province... , China People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... (since 1997) Tainan in Taiwan Republic of China The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor... (since April 29, 2004) Nowy Sącz Nowy Sacz Nowy Sącz is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County, but is not included within the powiat.-Names:... , 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... Narva Narva Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:... , Estonia Estonia Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies... |
Notable residents
- Georg Kleefeld (1522–1576), mayor of Danzig
- Hans von BodeckHans von BodeckHans von Bodeck was a German diplomat and chancellor of the Hohenzollern Prince-electors of Brandenburg-Prussia.Bodeck came from a prominent patrician family of Elbing in the Polish province of Royal Prussia. His grandfather was the burgomaster, while his father was a city councilman...
(1582–1658), diplomat and Chancellor of Brandenburg - John Amos Comenius (1592–1670), educator
- Samuel HartlibSamuel HartlibSamuel Hartlib was a German-British polymath. An active promoter and expert writer in many fields, he was interested in science, medicine, agriculture, politics, and education. He settled in England, where he married and died...
(ca. 1600-1662), teacher and scientist - Daniel Bärholz (1641–1688) Elbing councilman and Baroque poet
- Christian WernickeChristian WernickeChristian Wernicke was a German epigramist and diplomat. His surname has also been spelled Wernigke, Warneck, and Werneke.Wernicke was born in Elbing in the Polish province of Royal Prussia...
(1661–1725), epigrammist and diplomat - Johann Friedrich EnderschJohann Friedrich EnderschJohann Friedrich Endersch was a German cartographer and mathematician. Endersch also held the title of Royal Mathematician to King Augustus III of Poland.-Life:...
(1705–1769), mathematician geographer - Gottfried AchenwallGottfried AchenwallGottfried Achenwall was a German philosopher, historian, economist, jurist and statistician. He is counted among the inventors of statistics.-Biography:...
(1719–1772), statistician - Frederick Henrich Weissenfels (1728–1806), soldier, American RevolutionAmerican RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... - Wilhelm Eduard AlbrechtWilhelm Eduard AlbrechtWilhelm Eduard Albrecht was a German constitutional lawyer, jurist, and docent. Albrecht was most notable as a member of the Göttingen Seven, a group of academics who in 1837 protested the abrogation of the constitution of the Kingdom of Hanover by Ernest Augustus I.Albrecht was born in Elbing ,...
(1800–1876), lawyer, member of Göttinger Sieben - Bruno Erhard AbeggBruno Erhard AbeggBruno Erhard Abegg was a Prussian statesman.Abegg was born in Elbing , where his father was a merchant and Privy TradeCouncil....
(1803–1848), statesman of KönigsbergKönigsbergKönigsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it... - Ferdinand SchichauFerdinand SchichauFerdinand Gottlob Schichau was a German mechanical engineer and businessman.- Biography :Schichau was born in Elbing, West Prussia to a smith and iron worker. He studied engineering in Berlin and visited the Rhineland and England. In 1837 he started his own company in Elbing...
(1814–1896), founder of the Schichau-Werke in Elbing and DanzigGdanskGdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the... - John Prince-SmithJohn Prince-SmithJohn Prince-Smith was an English-born, German free trade liberal and politician.-Life:Prince-Smith was born in London, England, where his father worked as a barrister. John went to Eton in 1820, but after his father's death two years later, he found work in various jobs as an apprentice...
(1809–1874), liberal economist and politician in Germany - Johannes KohtzJohannes KohtzJohannes Kohtz was a German chess composer and together with Carl Kockelkorn one of the founders of the logical school.- Kohtz and Kockelkorn :...
(1843–1918), German chess player - Paul PulewkaPaul PulewkaPaul Pulewka was a German pharmacologist from Elbing .Pulewka graduated from the Königsberg Medical Faculty in 1923 and earned doctorates in pharmacology and toxicology from the Pharmacology Institute of the same university in 1927. Pulewka was appointed Docent at the University of Tübingen in 1929...
(1896–1989) German pharmacologistPharmacologyPharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function... - Max ReimannMax ReimannMax Reimann was a German communist Politician and member of the German Bundestag. - Biography :Reimann was born in Elbing , West Prussia . He worked as a riveter at the Schichau yards in 1912-16 and was drafted into the German Army in the First World War...
(1898–1977), president of the Communist Party of GermanyCommunist Party of GermanyThe Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956... - Erich BrostErich BrostErich Brost was a German journalist and publisher.- Biography :Brost was born in Elbing, West Prussia to a Schichau-Werke shipyard worker and a tailor...
(1903–1995) publisher - Günter KuhnkeGünter KuhnkeGünter Kuhnke was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and later a Konteradmiral with the Bundesmarine. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
(1912–1990), Admiral - Bernd NeumannBernd NeumannBernd Neumann is a German politician.- Biography :Neumann was born in Elbing, East Prussia, now Elbląg, Poland. Following the Flight and Expulsion of Germans after World War II he found refuge in Bremen, West Germany. Neumann studied from 1961 to 1966 at the University of Bremen and later he...
(born 1942), Minister of Culture of GermanyGermanyGermany , 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...
since 2005 - Ortwin RundeOrtwin RundeOrtwin Runde is a German politician from the Social Democratic party. He was the First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City Hamburg from 1997 to 2001.-Early life and education:...
(born 1944), mayor of HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
from 1997 to 2001. - Andrzej SaksonAndrzej SaksonAndrzej Sakson is a Polish sociologist and historian. Since 2004 he has been the director of the Western Institute in Poznań....
(born 1950), sociologist and director of the Western InstituteWestern InstituteThe Western Institute in Poznań is a scientific research society focusing on the Western provinces of Poland - Kresy Zachodnie , history, economy and politics of Germany, and the Polish-German relations in history and today.Established by... - Henryk IwaniecHenryk IwaniecHenryk Iwaniec is a Polish American mathematician, and since 1987 a professor at Rutgers University. He was awarded the fourteenth Frank Nelson Cole Prize in Number Theory in 2002. He received the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Mathematical Exposition in 2011.-Background and education:Iwaniec studied...
(born 1947), mathematician - Wojciech CejrowskiWojciech CejrowskiWojciech Cejrowski - - is a Polish traveler, television and radio journalist, writer, Catholic publicist, satirist, photographer.-Education:...
(born 1964), journalist, writer - Adam FedorukAdam FedorukAdam Bogdan Fedoruk is a retired Polish professional footballer.-Club career:Fedoruk played club football for Olimpia Elbląg, Stal Mielec, Legia Warsaw, Amica Wronki, Raków Częstochowa, AO Kavala, Zatoka Braniewo, Lechia Gdańsk and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.-International career:Between 1990 and...
(born 1966), footballer - Ewa Białołęcka (born 1967), fantasy writerFantasyFantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
- Piotr WadeckiPiotr WadeckiPiotr Wadecki is a Polish former professional road racing cyclist. He has been professional since 1997.-Team membership:...
(born 1973), cyclist - Maciej BykowskiMaciej BykowskiMaciej Bykowski is an Polish professional footballer who currently plays for ŁKS Łódź.-References:...
(born 1977), footballer - Adam WadeckiAdam WadeckiAdam Wadecki is a professional road racing cyclist. He entered professional cycling in 2000. He is the younger brother of professional cyclist, Piotr Wadecki.-Team membership:...
(born 1977), cyclist - Dominika FigurskaDominika Figurska- Filmography :*1999: Egzekutor*1999: Skok*2000: 6 dni strusia*2000: Enduro Bojz*2000: Nie ma zmiłuj*2001: Zostać miss*2002-2008: M jak miłość- External links :*...
(born 1978), actress - Radosław Wojtaszek (born 1987), chess player
- Monika Fijalkowska (born 1989), supermodel
See also
- EBElbreweryThe Elbrewery Company is Poland's largest brewery and belongs to the Żywiec Group, established in 1998 after merging Zakłady Piwowarskie Żywiec SA and Brewpole B.V..-Brewery:...
- Polish beer produced by the Elbrewery Company - List of cities and towns in East Prussia
Government websites
Tourism and historical sites
- CastlesOfPoland.com
- Map of Warmia with Elbing from 1755
- Interactive map of Elbląg
- Tourism information
- Elbing Vocabulary, presentation by Dr. Letis Palmaitis
- Elbląg at Polfracht Shipping Agency Ltd.
- Elbing.de
