Prabuty
Encyclopedia
Prabuty p is a town in Kwidzyn County
within the Pomeranian Voivodeship
of northern Poland
. In the period between 1975–98 Prabuty were part of the Elbląg Voivodeship
.
Prabuty is an important rail junction on the Warszawa–Gdynia
railway.
under Markgraf Heinrich III. von Meißen destroyed an Old Prussian
fortress between the lakes Sorgensee (jez. Dzierzgon) and Schloßsee (jez. Liwieniec). The place erected by the Knights there was first mentioned in 1250 as Riesenburg. In 1276, Pomesanian
bishop Albrecht of Pomesania (1259–1286) founded a castle above the lake. The village growing around the castle received Culm law city rights on 30 October 1330 from bishop Rudolf von Pomesanien (1322–1332). Even though the name Riesenburg derives from the area having being called "Reisen" or "Resia" before the castle
(Burg, zamek) had been built, the name was attributed to a giant
(Riese in German, olbrzym in Polish), and the coat of arms
, first recorded in 1405, thus depicts a giant and a castle. Following the Battle of Grunwald
the town was burnt down by the army of King Władysław II Jagiełło
of Poland.
that was fighting against the Teutonic Order, but bishop Kaspar Linke expelled the councilors and confiscated their property. After the Battle of Konitz, in which Polish forces were defeated, the town sided with the Order again. After the Thirteen Years' War, according to the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), the town became part of Poland's
province of Royal Prussia
, it became the capital of Pomesania
during the 16th century. In 1509 Eobanus Helius Hessus became secretary to Bishop Hiob von Dobeneck. A synod
was held there in 1556. The town suffered during the 17th century Polish-Swedish wars
in 1772, the town was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia
. Administered under its German name Riesenburg, the town became part of the new Prussian province of West Prussia
in 1773. It then became part of the German Empire
in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany
.
Red Army
in 1945 during World War II
. As a result of the European war catastrophe caused by Hitler's Germany, according to the post-war Potsdam Conference
, the town was transferred from Germany to Poland
and renamed to the Polish
Prabuty. For the same reasons most of the former East-Prussian inhabitants were expelled, as in the whole former German territories, and replaced by Poles
expelled from the former Polish Kresy Wschodnie and by settlers from the central Poland
. Heinz Heydrich
(1905–44, suicide), brother of Reinhard Heydrich
, is buried in the Soldatenfriedhof (soldiers cemetery) Riesenburg, according to the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)
.
Kwidzyn County
Kwidzyn County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Pomeranian 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 and largest town is Kwidzyn, which lies south...
within the Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship, or Pomerania Province , is a voivodeship, or province, in north-central Poland. It comprises most of Pomerelia , as well as an area east of the Vistula River...
of 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...
. In the period between 1975–98 Prabuty were part of the 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....
.
Prabuty is an important rail junction on the Warszawa–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...
railway.
Early history
In 1236, the Teutonic KnightsTeutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
under Markgraf Heinrich III. von Meißen destroyed an 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...
fortress between the lakes Sorgensee (jez. Dzierzgon) and Schloßsee (jez. Liwieniec). The place erected by the Knights there was first mentioned in 1250 as Riesenburg. In 1276, Pomesanian
Bishopric of Pomesania
The Bishopric of Pomesania was a diocese in the Prussian regions of Pomesania and Pogesania. It was founded as a Roman Catholic diocese in 1243 by the papal legate William of Modena. The bishops, whose seat was Riesenburg , possessed one-third of the bishopric's territory...
bishop Albrecht of Pomesania (1259–1286) founded a castle above the lake. The village growing around the castle received Culm law city rights on 30 October 1330 from bishop Rudolf von Pomesanien (1322–1332). Even though the name Riesenburg derives from the area having being called "Reisen" or "Resia" before the castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
(Burg, zamek) had been built, the name was attributed to a giant
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
(Riese in German, olbrzym in Polish), and the coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
, first recorded in 1405, thus depicts a giant and a castle. Following the Battle of Grunwald
Battle of Grunwald
The Battle of Grunwald or 1st Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410, during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Jogaila and Grand Duke Vytautas , decisively defeated the Teutonic Knights, led...
the town was burnt down by the army of King Władysław II Jagiełło
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...
of Poland.
In the Kingdom of Poland
In 1451 the town council joined 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...
that was fighting against the Teutonic Order, but bishop Kaspar Linke expelled the councilors and confiscated their property. After the Battle of Konitz, in which Polish forces were defeated, the town sided with the Order again. After the Thirteen Years' War, according to the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), the town became part of Poland's
Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)
The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...
province 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...
, it became the capital of 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...
during the 16th century. In 1509 Eobanus Helius Hessus became secretary to Bishop Hiob von Dobeneck. A synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
was held there in 1556. The town suffered during the 17th century Polish-Swedish wars
Polish-Swedish wars
The Polish–Swedish Wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1563 and 1721. More narrowly, it refers two particular wars between 1600 and 1629...
Annexion by 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 town was annexed by 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...
. Administered under its German name Riesenburg, the town 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. It then became part of the 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 Prussian-led 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...
.
Transfer to Poland after World War II
Riesenburg was captured by the SovietSoviet 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...
in 1945 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. As a result of the European war catastrophe caused by Hitler's Germany, according to the post-war Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
, the town was transferred from Germany to 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...
and renamed to the Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
Prabuty. For the same reasons most of the former East-Prussian inhabitants were expelled, as in the whole former German territories, and replaced by 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...
expelled from the former Polish Kresy Wschodnie and by settlers from the central 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...
. Heinz Heydrich
Heinz Heydrich
Heinz Siegfried Heydrich was the son of Richard Bruno Heydrich and the younger brother of SS General Reinhard Heydrich...
(1905–44, suicide), brother of Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
, is buried in the Soldatenfriedhof (soldiers cemetery) Riesenburg, according to the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)
Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)
The Deutsche Dienststelle is a German Agency based in Berlin which maintains records of members of the former German Wehrmacht who were killed in action. Formerly called the Wehrmachtsauskunftstelle this agency also provides information about the fate of foreign and German soldiers as well as...
.