Ketrzyn
Encyclopedia
Kętrzyn AUD is a town
in northeastern Poland
with 28,351 inhabitants (2004). Situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
(since 1999), Kętrzyn was previously in Olsztyn Voivodeship
(1975–1998). It is the capital of Kętrzyn County
. The city was named after Wojciech Kętrzyński
in 1950.
, mentioned by Tacitus
in his Germania (AD 98). The town, known in German as Rastenburg and in Polish as Rastembork, was established in 1329 in the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights
and was granted town rights in 1357.
Later, the town was in East Prussia
, and in 1878-1945 belonged to Germany. The town was the scene of fighting during both world wars. In 1914 it was the scene of the battle of the Masurian Lakes
during the Tannenberg
campaign. Adolf Hitler
's wartime military headquarters, the Wolfsschanze
(Wolf's Lair), was located in the forest east of Rastenburg. The bunker was the setting for the failed 20 July plot against Hitler. In 1945 the area suffered devastation from both the retreating Germans and advancing Russians during the Vistula-Oder campaign. The ruins of the Wolfsschanze, blown up by the retreating Germans, are today an important tourist attraction. The town was occupied by the Red Army
in 1945 near the end of World War II
. After the war ended, it was placed under Polish administration according to the decisions made at the Potsdam Conference
. Its German
residents who had not evacuated
were subsequently expelled westward
and replaced with Poles
. The town was renamed from Rastenburg to Rastembork in 1945, and later to Kętrzyn after the Masurian activist Wojciech Kętrzyński
in 1950.
with: Volodymyr-Volynskyi
, Ukraine
Wesel
, Germany
Zlaté Hory
, Czech Republic
Svetly
, Russia
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in northeastern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
with 28,351 inhabitants (2004). Situated in 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), Kętrzyn was previously in Olsztyn Voivodeship
Olsztyn Voivodeship
Olsztyn Voivodeship was an administrative division and unit of local government in Poland in the years 1745-75, and a new territorial division between 1975–1998, superseded by Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...
(1975–1998). It is the capital of Kętrzyn County
Ketrzyn County
Kętrzyn County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern Poland, on the border with Russia. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest...
. The city was named after Wojciech Kętrzyński
Wojciech Ketrzynski
thumb|Kętrzyński-Monument in [[Kętrzyn]].Wojciech Kętrzyński , born Adalbert von Winkler, was a historian and the director of the Ossolineum Library in Lwów, Austrian partition of Poland. He focused on Polish history in a time when no independent Polish state existed...
in 1950.
History
The original inhabitants of the region were the Balt tribe of the AestiAesti
The Aesti were a people described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his treatise Germania . According to this account, the Aestii lived on the shore of the Suebian Sea , eastward of the Suiones and westward of the Sitones. They were a population of Suebia...
, mentioned by Tacitus
Tacitus
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...
in his Germania (AD 98). The town, known in German as Rastenburg and in Polish as Rastembork, was established in 1329 in the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights
Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights
The State of the Teutonic Order, , also Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights or Ordensstaat , was formed in 1224 during the Northern Crusades, the Teutonic Knights' conquest of the pagan West-Baltic Old Prussians in the 13th century....
and was granted town rights in 1357.
Later, the town was 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...
, and in 1878-1945 belonged to Germany. The town was the scene of fighting during both world wars. In 1914 it was the scene of the battle of the Masurian Lakes
Battle of the Masurian Lakes
During World War I, there was:* First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, September 1914* Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, February 1915...
during the Tannenberg
Tannenberg
Tannenberg may refer to* Tannenberg, Saxony, a town in the district of Annaberg in the German state of Saxony* The German name for the village of Stębark in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland* Battle of Tannenberg or Battle of Grunwald...
campaign. 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...
's wartime military headquarters, the Wolfsschanze
Wolfsschanze
Wolf's Lair is the standard English name for Wolfsschanze, Adolf Hitler's first World War II Eastern Front military headquarters, one of several Führerhauptquartier or FHQs located in various parts of Europe...
(Wolf's Lair), was located in the forest east of Rastenburg. The bunker was the setting for the failed 20 July plot against Hitler. In 1945 the area suffered devastation from both the retreating Germans and advancing Russians during the Vistula-Oder campaign. The ruins of the Wolfsschanze, blown up by the retreating Germans, are today an important tourist attraction. The town was occupied by the 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...
in 1945 near 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...
. After the war ended, it was placed under Polish administration according to the decisions made at 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...
. Its German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
residents who had not evacuated
Evacuation of East Prussia
The evacuation of East Prussia refers to the evacuation of the German civilian population and military personnel in East Prussia and the Klaipėda region between 20 January, and March 1945, as part of the evacuation of German civilians towards the end of World War II...
were subsequently expelled westward
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 replaced with Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
. The town was renamed from Rastenburg to Rastembork in 1945, and later to Kętrzyn after the Masurian activist Wojciech Kętrzyński
Wojciech Ketrzynski
thumb|Kętrzyński-Monument in [[Kętrzyn]].Wojciech Kętrzyński , born Adalbert von Winkler, was a historian and the director of the Ossolineum Library in Lwów, Austrian partition of Poland. He focused on Polish history in a time when no independent Polish state existed...
in 1950.
People
- Karl Bogislaus ReichertKarl Bogislaus ReichertKarl Bogislaus Reichert was a German anatomist.Reichert was born in Rastenburg , East Prussia. He studied etiology and histology in Königsberg. He was a student of Friedrich Schlemm and Johannes Peter Müller at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Institute and at the Charité in Berlin, receiving his doctorate...
, German anatomist of the 19th century. - Elisabet BoehmElisabet BoehmElisabet Boehm was a German feminist, writer, founder of the first Landwirtschaftlichen Hausfrauenvereins and the founder of the rural women's movement in general.-Biography:Elisabet Steppuhn was born in Rastenburg, East Prussia and married landowner Otto Boehm in 1880...
(1859–1943), women's rights advocate - Arno HolzArno HolzArno Holz was a German naturalist poet and dramatist. He is best known for his poetry collection Phantasus .-Life and Works:...
(1863–1929) poet and dramatist - Wilhelm WienWilhelm WienWilhelm Carl Werner Otto Fritz Franz Wien was a German physicist who, in 1893, used theories about heat and electromagnetism to deduce Wien's displacement law, which calculates the emission of a blackbody at any temperature from the emission at any one reference temperature.He also formulated an...
, physicist who received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1911 for his work on black body radiation. He was a cousin of Max Carl Wien, also a physicist. - Waldemar GrzimekWaldemar GrzimekWaldemar Grzimek was a German sculptor.Grzimek was born in Rastenburg, East Prussia to a Silesian family, which moved to Berlin in 1925 when Grzimek's father Günther Grzimek was elected to the Preußischer Landtag.As a child, Grzimek enjoyed the exotic animals of the Berlin Zoo, which is also...
(1918–1984), sculptor - Siegfried TiefenseeSiegfried TiefenseeSiegfried Tiefensee was a German musician and conductor.Siegfried Tiefensee was born in Rastenburg, East Prussia, he started his artistic education in his early youth and learned piano, violin and composing...
(1922–2009), composer - Krzysztof Dariusz Szatrawski (1961-), writer, philosopher, poet
Twin towns — Sister cities
Kętrzyn 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: Volodymyr-Volynskyi
Volodymyr-Volynskyi
Volodymyr-Volynsky is a city located in Volyn Oblast, in north-western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative centre of the Volodymyr-Volynsky District, the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
, 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...
Wesel
Wesel
Wesel is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.-Division of the town:Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighoven, Ginderich, Feldmark,Fusternberg, Büderich, Flüren and Blumenkamp.-History:...
, 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...
Zlaté Hory
Zlaté Hory
Zlaté Hory is a town in the Jeseník District, Olomouc Region, Czech Republic, on the border with Poland. It has a population of 4,447 . The town was founded in 1224.Administrative parts: Rejvíz, Horní a Dolní Údolí and Ondřejovice...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
Svetly
Svetly, Kaliningrad Oblast
Svetly , prior to 1945 known by its German name Zimmerbude, is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the coast of Vistula Bay west of Kaliningrad. Population: 21,745 ;...
, 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...