Ostroleka
Encyclopedia
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...
on the Narew
Narew
The Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...
river, about 120 km (74.6 mi) northeast of 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...
, with a population of 53,982 (2008) and an area of 29 km2 (11 sq. mls). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship
Masovian Voivodeship
-Administrative division:Masovian Voivodeship is divided into 42 counties : 5 city counties and 37 "land counties"...
(since 1999), previously capital of Ostrołęka Voivodeship (1975–1998). Currently capital of both Ostrołęka County and Ostrołęka City County. Until late 1980s, it used to be a local railroad junction, with four lines stemming from here - eastwards to Łapy and Białystok, southwestwards to Tłuszcz 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...
, northwards to Wielbark
Wielbark
Wielbark may refer to:* Wielbark, Pomeranian Voivodeship , a village in northern Poland* Wielbark culture , an ancient culture discovered in 1873 around Willenberg* Wielbark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship , a village in north-east Poland...
and Olsztyn
Olsztyn
Olsztyn is a city in northeastern Poland, on the Łyna River. Olsztyn has been the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in the Olsztyn Voivodeship...
, and southwards to Małkinia.
Beginnings
Ostrołęka lies on a sand-mud plain on the left side of the NarewNarew
The Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...
River. The name comes from a plain that was once flooded by the Narew during the spring. A small island is located about 1 kilometer (half a mile) from today's town centre. In the 11th or 12th century, there was a fort built on it, making it one of the few fortifications on or near the Narew. The fort was surrounded by a village now known as Ostrołęka. Ostrołęka was first mentioned in the Province Act of 1373, signed by Prince Ziemowit III. The actual date of the town's foundation is not precisely known, but it is known that by 1373, Ostrołęka was one of the biggest towns in the surrounding area.
15th and 16th Centuries
In the beginning of 15th century, Ostrołęka was a center of economic activity in the trade with the Teutonic Order. Traders from the town were selling wood, amber, honey, and other products. In the year of 1526, the rest of the Masovia Principality was introduced to the Polish Crown. This was the beginning of Ostrołęka's Golden Age, which lasted for over 40 years. During this time, Queen Bona SforzaBona Sforza
Bona Sforza was a member of the powerful Milanese House of Sforza. In 1518, she became the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and became the Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania.She was the third child of Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his wife...
founded a folwark
Folwark
Folwark is a Polish word for a primarily serfdom-based farm and agricultural enterprise , often very large. Folwarks were operated in the Crown of Poland from the 14th century and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 15th century, from the second half of the 16th century in the joint...
in Pomian, an area situated within Ostrołęka's city borders today. In 1564, two major catastrophes devastated Ostrołęka. An epidemic struck the city, killing a sizeable population off and a fire which tore through the city burning and destroying everything to the ground. In 1571, another epidemic depopulated the town and counties nearby, ending the town's Golden Age. However, the town was quickly rebuilt and in the 1590s, the first school was built in Ostrołęka. At the end of the 16th century, the town was the centre of a big administration district (1,980.5 km2).
During the Wars with Sweden
After the disaster the town quickly recovered. In the middle of the 17th century, the town passed through a period of impoverishment and stagnation. On July 25, 1656, the town resisted a Swedish attack and was laid waste by the Swedes. In 1665 Tomasz Gocłowski founded a monastery to settle the Bernardine monks in the town. The monastery was built in a late Baroque style. In 1676, with only 400 inhabitants left, it was the most populous town in the Łomża region. In the 18th Century, through a span of 35 years, Ostrołęka was destroyed numerous times by foreign armies such as the (SwedishSwedish 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"...
, Russian
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 Saxon
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
).
PrussianKingdom of PrussiaThe 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...
Rule (1796-1806)
On March 12, 1794 the first brigade, stationed at Ostrołęka started marching towards Kraków, with A. Madaliński, a member of the conspiracy, in command. This hastened the outbreak of hostilities. In consequence, Prussian forces advanced as far as the Narew, but did no overtake Ostrołęka. Following the Third Partition of Poland, Ostrołęka was situated within Prussia's borders. After 1802, the first German and Jewish families settled in and around Ostrołęka.The Warsaw Duchy
From the end of 1806 through June 1807, Ostrołęka was occupied by French troops. On February 15 and 16 February the battleBattle of Ostrołęka (1807)
The Battle of Ostrołęka was fought on 16 February 1807 between First French Empire troops under General of Division Anne Jean Marie René Savary and Russian soldiers under Lieutenant General Ivan Essen. The French defeated the Russians and forced them to retreat to the east...
took place on the banks of the Narew outside of Ostrołęka where the French, under the General Nicolas Charles Oudinot, prevailed. Due to this success of the French Army, Ostrołęka appears on the Arc de Triomphe
Arc de Triomphe
-The design:The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin , in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture . Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In May 1807 the first map of Ostrołęka was made (now located in Bibliothéque du Génie in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
).
Development during the period of the Polish Kingdom
As part of a comprehensive plan of industrializing PolandPoland
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...
, an extensive settlement for linen and cotton craftsmen was begun on the right bank of Narew in 1826. The number of craftsmen increased, and workers trained in new crafts. The town also built two bridges, one permanent. The new route connecting 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 St. Petersburg ran through Ostrołęka. Although the town's citizens were eager and proud to take part in the November Uprising
November Uprising
The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...
, they worried that their city, as in every previous war, would be destroyed. However they did not expect that the heaviest fighting would take place on near Ostrołęka.
According to the plans, the Polish Army was supposed to attack Russian Infantry Corps of the Tsar's Guard, which camped at the territory between Augustów and Ostrołęka. On May 18, Ostrołęka was conquered by General Henryk Dembiński
Henryk Dembinski
Henryk Dembiński was a Polish engineer, traveler and general.Dembiński was born in Strzałków, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 1809 he entered the Polish army of the Duchy of Warsaw and took part in most of the Napoleonic campaigns in the East. Among others, he took part in the Battle of Leipzig in...
. But General Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki
Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki
Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki was a Polish general, Commander-in-Chief of the November Uprising .He was born in Żebrak, Siedlce County in 1787. After completing his education at the Lwów University, he entered the Polish Legion formed in the Duchy of Warsaw, as a common soldier and won his lieutenancy at...
didn't make a use of his temporary superiority and he couldn't make up his mind if to attack the Russians situated near Łomża. As a result, Łomża was destroyed.
On May 26 a cannonade was heard. Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki
Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki
Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki was a Polish general, Commander-in-Chief of the November Uprising .He was born in Żebrak, Siedlce County in 1787. After completing his education at the Lwów University, he entered the Polish Legion formed in the Duchy of Warsaw, as a common soldier and won his lieutenancy at...
couldn't believe that Hans Karl von Diebitsch
Hans Karl von Diebitsch
Count Hans Karl Friedrich Anton von Diebitsch und Narden was a German-born soldier serving as Russian Field Marshal....
(a Russian general) had already reached the suburbs of the city. He ordered the Fourth Infantry Regiment to defend the city. The main defending forces fortified themselves in the Bernadine Monastery. Unfortunately the Russians had brought cannons with them, quickly overpowering the Polish and forcing their surrender.
Von Diebitsch took over the city center, but the battle continued on the right side of the Narew. Skrzynecki and his troops valiantly defended the bridge wanting to hold back the Russian forces from crossing over to the other side of the river. Lieutenant-Colonel Józef Bem
Józef Bem
Józef Zachariasz Bem was a Polish general, an Ottoman Pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European nationalisms...
and his Fourth Battery were called in to help defend the bridge. Bem was able to hold back the Russians, but the battle is often referred to as a Polish defeat. The defeat began the end of the Uprising. As a result of the battle, 6000 Polish soldiers died including many Kurpie
Kurpie
Kurpie is one of a number of ethnic regions in Poland, noted for its unique traditional customs, such as its own types of traditional costume, traditional dance, and distinctive type of architecture and livelihoods...
. Bem, for his bravery, was nominated as Commander-in-Chief of Artillery and was honoured with a Virtue Militari Cross. The battle was the greatest and the most bloodiest in the November Uprising.
1831-1918
After the Polish-Russian War, Ostrołęka became one of the most destroyed cities. Although it suffered great losses, Ostrołęka stayed a district city of Płock's Province. Ostrołęka's economy greatly declined. Nearly all the city's craftsmen became bankrupt. Only products of Ostrołęka's amber works were still supplied all over EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Ostrołęka got refunds from the Tsar's Treasury. However, it took a long time before it rose from its downfall. In 1847 a monument commemorating Russian Army's victory in the battle of Ostrołęka was raised on 26 May 1831. At the time of January's insurrection, no battles took place nearby Ostrołęka, as the Tsar placed a quite large Russian detachment in the city worrying of another Kurp Uprising. In 1864, after the Russian government's order, the Benedictines left Ostrołęka and the monastery buildings were placed under the parish-priest authority.
Until the First World War, the city managed to develop, but it was still a relatively unremarkable small town. The First World War destroyed its peaceful and monotonous character. Confiscation and forced labor devastated the economy caused rising prices for essential products, and generally caused the city to decline. In 1915, military operations in the territory of Polish Kingdom intensified. By July, the city was situated on the front line, and in August 1915, Germans crossed the river Narew and entered the ruined city. At the time of the German occupation, life in Ostrołęka was as hard as in the time of Russian occupation. Between the years of 1916 and 1918, the Germans greatly exploited the forests for timber. To make transporting the wood easier, they built 40 km of road from Ostrołęka to Myszyniec and a narrow-gauge railway line.
During the Interbellum
After the First World War, the city became a part of Białystok's province. 75% of the city and population was devastated. New schools and departments were opened as the city was rebuilt. During the Polish-Soviet WarPolish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
, Ostrołęka once again became a center for military operations. During the night of August 5, 1920, Soviet forces entered the city. However, the Soviet occupation was short lived as Polish forces thundered east towards the former Polish-Soviet border. After the Polish-Soviet War, Ostrołęka began to industrialize. A cinema was opened in 1923, and a power plant in 1928. During the summer of 1939, both sides of the Narew beachhead were fortified.
Ostrołęka at the time of the Second World War
On September 10, 1939, German forces reached Ostrołęka. Its name was changed to Scharfenwiese and the city was integrated into the Third Reich. Quickly, a resistance movement was established with a substantial presence of local Kurpes. Churches and schools were changed into workshops and factories controlled by the Underground. Underground Partisans started attacking and destroying German fortifications in and around Ostrołęka. A minority of citizens of Ostrołęka declared themselves as VolksdeutscheVolksdeutsche
Volksdeutsche - "German in terms of people/folk" -, defined ethnically, is a historical term from the 20th century. The words volk and volkische conveyed in Nazi thinking the meanings of "folk" and "race" while adding the sense of superior civilization and blood...
and signed the Volksliste
Volksliste
The Deutsche Volksliste was a Nazi institution whose purpose was the classification of inhabitants of German occupied territories into categories of desirability according to criteria systematized by Heinrich Himmler. The institution was first established in occupied western Poland...
. The majority of the Jewish population in Ostrołęka was murdered in Treblinka. Those that survived the Holocaust emigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
People's Republic of PolandPeople's Republic of PolandThe 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...
Ostrołęka recovered very slowly from the war. A plan created by communist authorities, which allowed for an improvement of the economic situation in Poland, gave Ostrołęka a chance for redevelopment. Ostrołęka became a central city of Warsaw's region. In 1959, a cellulose and paper factory was built. Next, a sewage refinery was built along the banks of the Narew, which was supposed to keep water in the Narew clean without destroying its biological life. In 1973 a cellular concrete factory was built in the district of Wojciechowice. New jobs brought people to the city and caused a development of alimentary industry. During the 1970s a new factory, "Future", producing wooden articles was opened. A new swimming pool, a stadium for 5000 people, and a holiday resort were built. A new hospital was built.Ostrołęka since 1989
In 1989 the city entered a new era of capitalism, which has lasted until the present. The same year Ostrołęka was granted provincial rights. The paper factory "Cellulose" downsized en masse after privatisation. The factory "Future" went bankrupt but small service establishments were opened for average people to invest their money. A new hospital was built in the new century. The economy also developed. Three new trade pavilions were built. "Cellulose" changed its name to "Intercell", and the cellular concrete factory was bought by the Ytong company. The centre of the city began to fulfill trade functions.In 1996, a second permanent bridge, "Most im. Antoniego Madalińskiego", was built. In 1999 the city became a district city. A new Aquapark is currently being built and is planned to be opened by September 2010. A modernisation of the city stadium or even a completely new stadium is planned to be built early in the next decade, while two new modern training grounds for football are currently being built. A new power plant
Ostrołęka Power Station
The Ostrołęka Power Station is a coal-fired thermal power station in Ostrołęka, Poland. It is owned by Energa.The power station consists of two parts. The Ostrołęka A combined heat and power plant with installed capacity of 93 MW electricity and 456 MW heat was built in 1956. The...
is currently being built and planned to open by 2015, generating 1,000 MW of power. Also, the existing power plant is planned to undergo modernisation in the next decade.
Football
- Narew Ostrołęka - Soccer Team established in 1962. Currently playing in the 3rd Masovian-Łódż League
- Korona Ostrołęka - Soccer Team established in 1998. Currently playing in the 4th Masovian League
VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
- Pekpol Ostrołęka - Male Volleyball team currently playing in the 1nd Polish League
- OTPS Nike Ostrołęka - Female Volleyball team currently playing in the 2nd Polish League
Team HandballTeam handballHandball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
- Trójka Ostrołęka - Male Team Handball team currently playing in the 2nd League
BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- OTK Ostrołęka - Male Basketball Team
- OKK Ostrołęka - Male Basketball Team
- MUKS Unia Basket Ostrołęka - Female Basketball Team
Ostrołęka-Siedlce constituency
Members of Parliament (SejmSejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
) elected from Ostrołęka-Siedlce constituency
- Chrzanowski Zbigniew, PO
- Deptuła Zbigniew, PSL
- Dziewulski Zbigniew, Samoobrona
- Filipek Krzysztof, Samoobrona
- Janowski Gabriel, LPR
- Kalinowski Jarosław, PSL
- Krutczenko Zbigniew, SLD-UP
- Kurpiewski Stanisław, SLD-UP
- Oleksy JózefJózef OleksyJózef Oleksy is a post-communist Polish politician, former chairman of Democratic Left Alliance ....
, SLD-UP - Piłka Marian, PiS
- Prządka Stanisława, SLD-UP
- Sawicki Marek, PSL