History of Szczecin
Encyclopedia
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....
- in Poland.
Prehistory
TacitusTacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
located the East Germanic tribe of the Rugians
Rugians
"Rugi" redirects here. For the Romanian villages by this name, see Păltiniş, Caraş-Severin and Turcineşti.The Rugii, also Rugians, Rygir, Ulmerugi, or Holmrygir were an East Germanic tribe migrated from southwest Norway to Pomerania around 100 AD, and from there to the Danube River valley...
in the area around Szczecin, as did modern historians. The Rugians left during the Great Migrations in the 5th century AD.
Slavonic stronghold (~800-1164/81)
Another stronghold was built in the 8th century-first half of the 9th century at the ford of the Oder River, (at the same location where later was a ducal castle) and a few craftsmen, fishermen and traders settled in the vicinity. Later it became the main centre of a Western Slavic tribeWest Slavs
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking West Slavic languages. They include Poles , Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatian Sorbs and the historical Polabians. The northern or Lechitic group includes, along with Polish, the extinct Polabian and Pomeranian languages...
living in the fork of the Oder between the main branch and the Randow
Randow
Randow is a river in the Uckermark region of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in part constituting these regions' frontier. An ancient name is Lochnitza, the town of Löcknitz derived its name from it. Since 1700, Randow is exclusively used.The source is near Penkun,...
River. It is not certain if this tribe belonged to the Pomeranians who lived on the right bank of the Oder, or to the Polabians or Veleti who lived on the left bank of the Oder. Several Triglav
Triglav (mythology)
Triglav also sometimes called troglav is a deity in Slavic mythology.It is generally believed that Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia and Troglav, highest peak of Dinara in Bosnia and...
temples existed nearby.
After the decline of Wolin in the 12th century, Szczecin became one of the most important and powerful cities of the Baltic Sea south coasts, having some 5,000 inhabitants. In a winter campaign of 1121–1122, Stetinum was subjugated by Boleslaw III of Poland, who invited the Catholic bishop Otto of Bamberg
Otto of Bamberg
Saint Otto of Bamberg was a medieval German bishop and missionary who, as papal legate, converted much of Pomerania to Christianity.-Life:Otto was born into a noble family in Mistelbach, Franconia...
to baptize the citizens (1124). In this time, Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania is recorded to be the local duke. Wartislaw managed to expand his duchy westward, thereby forming the territorial body of the later Duchy of Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
, and organized the second visit of Otto in 1128. At this time the first Christian church of St. Peter and Paul was erected. The duchy was for the centuries being ruled by the Griffins dynasty (House of Pomerania
House of Pomerania
The House of Griffins or House of Pomerania, , also known as House of Greifen; House of Gryf, was a dynasty of Royal dukes that ruled the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637, after their power was temporarily derivated to Prussian Royal House...
), of which Wartislaw I is the first definite ancestor. Szczecin was made the capital of the duchy and did not lose this status even during the partitions of Pomerania, when Pomerania-Szczecin comprised large portions of the duchy and always was seat of Pomeranian dukes
Dukes of Pomerania
- 10th and 11th century – Dukes of the Slavic Pomeranian tribes :* 1046 mention of Zemuzil * 1113 Gallus Anonymus mentions several dukes of Pomerania: Swantibor, Gniewomir, and an unnamed duke besieged in Kołobrzeg.-Duchy of Pomerania:*1121–1135 Wartislaw I*1135–1155 Ratibor I, ancestor of the...
.
Trading city and ducal capital in the Holy Roman Empire (1164/81-1630)
In the second half of the 12th century, a group of German tradesmen (from various parts of the Holy Roman EmpireHoly 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...
) settled in the city around St. Jacob's Church, which was founded by Beringer, a trader from Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
, and consecrated in 1187. After the 1164 Verchen battle
Battle of Verchen
The Battle of Verchen was a battle between Saxons and West Slavic Obotrites on 6 July 1164.The Obotrites were attacked by Saxons and Danes in 1160, resulting in the death of the Obotrite prince, Niklot, and the partition of the Obotrite lands...
, Stettin dukes joined in to Saxony
Duchy of Saxony
The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
and in 1181 Stettin became part of the Holy Roman Empire. For centuries the dukes invited West and Central German settlers to colonize Pomeranian wastelands and to found towns and villages (see Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung , also called German eastward expansion, was the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from modern day western and central Germany into less-populated regions and countries of eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia...
). Duke Barnim of Pomerania granted a local government charter to this community in 1237, separating the Germans from the Slavic majority community settled around the St. Nicholas Church (in the neighborhoods of Chyzin, Uber-Wiken, and Unter-Wiken). Barnim granted Stettin 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...
in 1243. Around that time the major ethnic group of the city had become German, while the Slavic population decreased.
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...
in 1278. By the 1630s the city and surrounding area that hadn't been already German had become completely Germanized. From 1295–1464 Stettin was the capital of a splinter Pomeranian realm known as the Pomerania-Stettin. (Its Dukes were Otto I, Barnim III the Great, Casimir III, Swantibor I, Boguslaw VII, Otto II, Casimir V, Joachim I the Younger, Otto III.)
In the 13th and 14th centuries the town became the main Pomeranian centre of trade in grain
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
s, salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
and herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
s, receiving various trading privileges from their dukes (known as emporium rights). It was granted special rights and trading posts in Denmark, and belonged to the Hanseatic
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...
trading cities union. In 1390 trade privileges were granted to Stettin by the Polish king Ladislaus Jagiello
Jogaila
Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...
who established new trade routes from Poland to the Pomeranian ports. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Stettin conducted several trade wars with the neighboring cities of Gartz
Gartz
Gartz is a town in the Uckermark district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is located on the West bank of the Oder River, about 30 km south of Szczecin .-Overview:...
, Greifenberg (Gryfino
Gryfino
Gryfino is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland with 22,500 inhabitants . It is also the capital of Gryfino County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship , previously in Szczecin Voivodeship ....
) and Stargard (Stargard Szczeciński
Stargard Szczecinski
Stargard Szczeciński is a city in northwestern Poland, with a population of 71,017 . Situated on the Ina River it is the capital of Stargard County and since 1999 has been in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship; prior to that it was in the Szczecin Voivodeship...
) over a monopoly on grains export. The grain supplying area was not only Pomerania but also Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
and Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
— trade routes along the Oder and Warta
Warta River
The Warta is a river in western-central Poland, a tributary of the Oder river. With a length of approximately it is the country's third longest river. The Warta has a basin area of 54,529 square kilometers...
rivers. The 16th century saw the decline of the city's trading position because of the competition of the nobility, as well as church institutions in the grains exports, a customs war with Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, located on the Oder River, on the German-Polish border directly opposite the town of Słubice which was a part of Frankfurt until 1945. At the end of the 1980s it reached a population peak with more than 87,000 inhabitants...
, and the fall of the herring market. Social and religious riots marked the introduction of the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in 1534.
In 1570, the northern 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...
was ended in Stettin by the Treaty of Stettin (1570).
Under Swedish rule within the Holy Roman Empire (1630-1720)
Treaty of Stettin (1630)
The Treaty of Stettin or Alliance of Stettin was the legal framework for the occupation of the Duchy of Pomerania by the Swedish Empire during the Thirty Years' War...
manifested Swedish occupation, Stettin was fortified by the Swedish Empire
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"...
. After the death of the last Pomeranian duke, Boguslaw XIV
Boguslaw XIV of Pomerania
Bogislaw XIV of Pomerania or Bogislav XIV was the last Duke of Pomerania. His titles included Duke of Stettin , Cassubiorum et Vandalorum; Prince of Rügen; and Lutheran Bishop of Cammin ....
, Stettin was awarded to Sweden with the western part of the duchy in the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
(1648), but remained part 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...
. The Swedish-Brandenburgian border was settled in the Treaty of Stettin (1653)
Treaty of Stettin (1653)
The Treaty of Stettin of 4 May 1653 settled a dispute between Brandenburg and Sweden, who both claimed succession in the Duchy of Pomerania after the extinction of the local House of Pomerania during the Thirty Years' War. Brandenburg's claims were based on the Treaty of Grimnitz , while Sweden's...
. The King of Sweden became Duke of Pomerania and as such held a seat in the German imperial diet (the Reichstag
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
). The city was cut off from its main trading area, and was besieged in several wars with Brandenburg which shattered the city's economy, which fell in prolonged economic decline.
Major Prussian-German port (1720-1918)
In 1713, Stettin was occupied by the Kingdom of PrussiaKingdom 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...
; the Prussian Army
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...
entered the city as neutrals to watch the ceasefire and refused to leave. In 1720 the city was officially awarded by Sweden to Prussia. In the following years Stettin became the capital of the Prussian Province of Pomerania
Province of Pomerania (1653–1815)
The Province of Pomerania was a province of Brandenburg-Prussia, the later Kingdom of Prussia. After the Thirty Years' War, the province consisted of Farther Pomerania. Subsequently, the Lauenburg and Bütow Land, Draheim, and Swedish Pomerania south of the Peene river were joined into the province...
, and the main port of the Prussian state. From 1740 onwards, the Oder waterway 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...
and the new Pomeranian port of Swinemünde (Świnoujście)
Swinoujscie
Świnoujście is a city and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, located in the extreme north-west of Poland. It is situated mainly on the islands of Uznam and Wolin, but also occupies smaller islands, of which the largest is Karsibór island, once part of Usedom, now separated by a Piast...
were constructed.
Province of Silesia
The Province of Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919.-Geography:The territory comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Silesia and the County of Kladsko, which King Frederick the Great had conquered from the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th...
. Economic development and rapid population growth brought many ethnic Poles from Pomerania and Greater Poland looking for new career opportunities in the Stettin industry. More than 95% of the population consisted of Germans. In 1843, Stettin was connected by the first railway line to the Prussian capital Berlin, and in 1848 by the second railway to Posen (Poznań)
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
. New branches of industry were developed, including shipbuilding (at the AG Vulcan Stettin and Oderwerke
Oderwerke
Oderwerke or Stettiner Oderwerke was a German shipbuilding company, located in Stettin.-History:Oderwerke was founded on January 28, 1903 and built 154 ships prior to World War I....
shipyards) and ironworks using Swedish ores. Before World War I, there were 3,000 Polish inhabitants in the city, including some wealthy industralists and merchants. Among them was Kazimierz Pruszak, director of the Gollnow industrial works, who predicted eventual "return of Szczecin to Poland". The population grew to 236,000 in 1910 and 382,000 in 1939.
Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany (1918-1945)
After World War I, the economy of Stettin declined again because the seaport was separated from its natural agricultural supply areas in Posen with the creation of the Second Polish RepublicSecond 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...
.
During World War II, Stettin was a major centre of weapons industry (including the car production Stoewer
Stoewer
Stoewer was a German automobile manufacturer before World War II whose headquarters were in Stettin .The first company was founded by the Stoewer brothers, Emil and Bernhard in 1896 for manufacturing sewing machines in Stettin...
). 65% of Stettin's buildings and almost all of the city centre, seaport, and industry were destroyed during the Allied air raids in 1944, and heavy fighting between the German and Soviet armies (26 April 1945).
Polish diaspora
In the interwar period Polish presence fell to 2,000 people. Between 1925 and 1939 a Polish Consulate existed, which initiated the foundation of a Polish school, where PolishPolish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
was taught, and a scouts team.
The Polish minority remained active despite repressions, a number of Poles were members of Union of Poles in Germany.
Repressions against Poles intensified especially after Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
came to power led to closing of the school. Members of Polish community who took part in cultural and political activities were persecuted and even murdered. In 1938 the head of Stettin's Union of Poles unit Stanisław Borkowski was imprisoned in Oranienburg
Oranienburg
Oranienburg is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel.- Geography :Oranienburg is a town located on the banks of the Havel river, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin.- Division of the town :...
. In 1939 all Polish organisations in Stettin were disbanded by German authorities. During the war, some teachers from the Golisz and Omieczyński schools were executed.
The activities of the Polish pre-war minority were exaggerated after World War II for propaganda purposes.
Taking over by Polish People's Republic
Oder-Neisse line
The Oder–Neisse line is the border between Germany and Poland which was drawn in the aftermath of World War II. The line is formed primarily by the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, and meets the Baltic Sea west of the seaport cities of Szczecin and Świnoujście...
. Most of Pomerania, including Stettin and the Oder mouth, was eventually given to Poland. The German inhabitants of Stettin first fled from the city and it was virtually deserted after being captured by Soviet army on 26 April 1945.
On 28 April 1945 Piotr Zaremba, nominated by Polish authorities as mayor of 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....
and Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, came to the city. In early May the Soviet authorities appointed the German Communists Erich Spiegel and Erich Wiesner
Erich Wiesner
Erich Wiesner was a German communist Politician and last German Mayor of Stettin .- Biography :...
as mayors. and forced Zaremba to leave the city twice According to Zaremba initially about 6,500 Germans remained in the city. The German population returned, as it was undecided if the city would be in Poland or in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. Eventually Szczecin was handed over to Polish authorities on 5 July 1945.
The number of inhabitants:
- 1939: 382,000,
- 1945: 260,000 (German population partially expelled, war losses),
- 1950: 180,000. (German population entirely expelled and replaced by Polish immigrants)
Polish authorities were led by Piotr Zaremba. Many Germans had to work in 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....
military bases that were outside Polish jurisdiction. In the 1950s most of Stettin's inhabitants 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...
from the city, although there was a significant German minority for the next 10 years.
Voivodeship capital in Poland (after 1945)
In 1945 there was already a small Polish community consisting of the few Stettin citizens from before of World War II and the Polish enforced workers during World War II, who survived the war. The city was settled with the new inhabitants from every region of Poland, mainly from Pomerania (Bydgoszcz VoivodeshipBydgoszcz Voivodeship
Bydgoszcz Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Capital city: Bydgoszcz Area: Statistics : Population: inhabitants...
) and Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
(Poznań Voivodeship
Poznan Voivodeship
-1975 to 1998:From 1975 to 1998, Poznań Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland, superseded by Greater Poland Voivodeship.Capital city: Poznań.Major cities and towns :...
), but also including those who lost their homes in the eastern Polish territories that were given to the Soviet Union, especially the city of Wilno. This settlement process was coordinated by the city of Poznań and Stettin was renamed Szczecin.
Old and new settlers did a great effort to raise the Szczecin from ruins, rebuild, reconstruct and extend the city's industry, residential areas but also the cultural heritage (e.g. the Pomeranian Dukes' Castle in Szczecin), and it was still harder to do this under the communist regime. Szczecin became a major industrial centre of and a principal seaport not only for Poland (especially the Silesian coal) but also for Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and East Germany.
Szczecin together with 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...
(Danzig), Gdynia
Gdynia
Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...
and Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
was the main centre of the democratic anti-communist movements in first in March 1968 and December 1970. The protesters attacked and burned the communist party (PZPR) regional headquarters and the Soviet consulate in Szczecin. The bloody riots were pacified by the secret police and the armed forces; see: Coastal cities events. After 10 years in August 1980 the protesters locked themselves in their factories to avoid the bloody riots. The strike was led by Marian Jurczyk
Marian Jurczyk
Marian Jurczyk is a Polish politician and Solidarity trade union activist.He was a Senator in the Polish Senate from 1997 to 2000, and Mayor of Szczecin from 18 November 1998 to 24 January 2000...
, leader of the Szczecin Shipyard
Szczecin Shipyard
Szczecin Shipyard or New Szczecin Shipyard was a shipyard in northwestern city of Szczecin, Poland. Formerly known as Stocznia Szczecińska Porta Holding S.A. or Stocznia im. Adolfa Warskiego. The shipyard specialized in the construction of container ships, chemicals transport ships, multi-purpose...
workers and it proved successful with the outbreak of the Solidarity movement.
From 1946 to 1998 Szczecin was the capital of the Szczecin Voivodeship
Szczecin Voivodeship
Szczecin Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by West Pomeranian Voivodeship.----Statistics :*Area: 10.000 km²...
, but the region's boundaries were redrawn in the administrative reorganizations in 1950 and 1975. Boundaries of the Szczecin City were extended by joining with Dąbie in 1948. Since 1999 it is the capital of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship
West Pomeranian Voivodeship
West Pomeranian Voivodeship, , is a voivodeship in northwestern Poland. It borders on Pomeranian Voivodeship to the east, Greater Poland Voivodeship to the southeast, Lubusz Voivodeship to the south, the German federal-state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania to the west, and the Baltic Sea to the north...
. Communist-dominated municipal administration was replaced by a local government in 1990, and the direct election of the city president (mayor) was introduced in 2006.
Demographics
Before World War II the population of Stettin was predominantly composed of ProtestantsProtestantism
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...
. Since the end of the war the majority of the population is composed of Catholics.
| Year | Inhabitants | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1720 | 6,081 | |
| 1740 | 12,360 | |
| 1756 | 13,533 | |
| 1763 | 12,483 | |
| 1782 | 15,372 | no Jews |
| 1794 | 16,700 | no Jews |
| 1812 | 21,255 | incl. 476 Catholics and five Jews. |
| 1816 | 21,528 | incl. 742 Catholics and 74 Jews. |
| 1831 | 27,399 | incl. 840 Catholics and 250 Jews. |
| 1852 | 48,028 | incl. 724 Catholics, 901 Jews and two Mennonites. |
| 1861 | 58,487 | incl. 1,065 Catholics, 1,438 Jews, six Mennonites, 305 German Catholics German Catholics The German Catholics were a schismatic sect formed in December 1844 by German dissidents from the Roman Catholic Church, under the leadership of Johannes Ronge.-History:... and three other citizens. |
| 1905 | 224,119 | together with the military, incl. 209,152 Protestants, 8,635 Catholics and 3,010 Jews. |
| 1933 | 269,557 | |
| 1939 | 382,000 | |
| 1945 | 260,000 | after expulsion of Germans Expulsion of Germans after World War II The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria... and war losses |
| 1960 | 269,000 | |
| 1975 | 369,700 | |
| 2000 | 415,748 | |
| 2009 | 408,427 | |
See also
- SzczecinSzczecinSzczecin , 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....