Pyrzyce
Encyclopedia
Pyrzyce p is a town in Pomerania
, north-western Poland
, with 13,331 inhabitants (2007)
Capital of the Pyrzyce County
in West Pomeranian Voivodeship
(since 1999), previously in Szczecin Voivodeship
(1975–1998).
, mentions the tribe of Prissani
having 70 strongholds (Prissani civitates LXX). In the early 12th century, the town was part of the realm of Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania
, which evolved into the Duchy of Pomerania
.
The settlement was first mentioned in 1124 by bishop Otto von Bamberg, who
baptized the first Pomeranians here
. Throughout the German Ostsiedlung
the oldest church was built in 1250, an Augustinian cloister in 1256 and a monastery of the Franciscan order in 1281.
In 1263 the town received Magdeburg law. By the Contract of Pyritz of March 26, 1493 the Dukes of Pomerania
recognized the right of succession of the House of Brandenburg. A large fire destroyed almost the whole town in 1496. Pyritz was the first town in Pomerania to implement the Lutheran Reformation
in 1524.
In 1634, during the Thirty Years' War
, it was again largely destroyed by a conflagration. After the death of the last Pomeranian Duke in 1637 and by the Treaty of Westphalia the town became part of the Brandenburg-Prussia
n province of Pomerania following the Peace of Westphalia
(1648) and the Treaty of Stettin (1653)
, along within the rest of Farther Pomerania
.
In 1818, the town became the seat of the district administration (Kreis Pyritz) and was connected to the railway system in 1882. As part of Prussia
the town was located in unified Germany of 1871.
At the end of World War II
Soviet Red Army
conquered the town throughout the Pomeranian Offensive. Following the post-war boundary changes
, Pyritz was renamed Pyrzyce and became Polish
. Its German population was expelled and the town was populated with Poles
, many themselves expellees
from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union
.
1880: 8.123
1890: 8.247 (79 Catholics, 236 Jews)
1925: 9.085
1933: 10.084 (9739 Lutherans, 178 Catholic, 3 other Chistians, 87 Jews)
1939: 11.287 (10.515 Lutherans, 270 Catholics, 8 other Christians, 27 Jews)
1960: 5.500
1970: 8.800
1975: 10.800
1980: 11.600
2000: 13.200
, Germany Korbach
, Germany Hörby
, Sweden Vysoké Mýto
, Czech Republic Goleniów
, Poland Złocieniec, Poland
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...
, north-western 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 13,331 inhabitants (2007)
Capital of the Pyrzyce County
Pyrzyce County
Pyrzyce County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western 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 Pyrzyce, which...
in 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...
(since 1999), previously in 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...
(1975–1998).
History
An anonymous medieval document of about 850, called Bavarian GeographerBavarian Geographer
The Bavarian Geographer is a conventional name given by Jan Potocki in 1796 to the author of an anonymous medieval document Descriptio civitatum et regionum ad septentrionalem plagam Danubii ....
, mentions the tribe of Prissani
Prissani
The Prissani or Pyritzans or Pyrzyczanie were a medieval tribe in Pomerania. They were first mentioned as "Prissani" with 70 civitas by the Bavarian Geographer, ca. 845. They are associated with the Pomeranians, and were based in the lower Oder region around the modern town of Pyrzyce...
having 70 strongholds (Prissani civitates LXX). In the early 12th century, the town was part of the realm of Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania
Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania
Wartislaw I was the first historical ruler of the Duchy of Pomerania and the founder of the Griffin dynasty....
, which evolved into the 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 ....
.
The settlement was first mentioned in 1124 by bishop Otto von Bamberg, who
baptized the first Pomeranians here
Conversion of Pomerania
Medieval Pomerania was converted from Slavic paganism to Christianity by Otto von Bamberg in 1124 and 1128 , and in 1168 by Absalon .Earlier attempts, undertaken since the 10th century, failed or were short-lived...
. Throughout the German 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...
the oldest church was built in 1250, an Augustinian cloister in 1256 and a monastery of the Franciscan order in 1281.
In 1263 the town received Magdeburg law. By the Contract of Pyritz of March 26, 1493 the Dukes of Pomerania
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...
recognized the right of succession of the House of Brandenburg. A large fire destroyed almost the whole town in 1496. Pyritz was the first town in Pomerania to implement the Lutheran 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 1524.
In 1634, 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....
, it was again largely destroyed by a conflagration. After the death of the last Pomeranian Duke in 1637 and by the Treaty of Westphalia the town became part of the 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...
n province of Pomerania following 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) and 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...
, along within the rest of Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania, Further Pomerania, Transpomerania or Eastern Pomerania , which before the German-Polish border shift of 1945 comprised the eastern part of the Duchy, later Province of Pomerania, roughly stretching from the Oder River in the West to Pomerelia in the East...
.
In 1818, the town became the seat of the district administration (Kreis Pyritz) and was connected to the railway system in 1882. As part of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
the town was located in unified Germany of 1871.
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...
Soviet 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...
conquered the town throughout the Pomeranian Offensive. Following the post-war boundary changes
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...
, Pyritz was renamed Pyrzyce and became Polish
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...
. Its German population was expelled and the town was populated 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...
, many themselves expellees
Repatriation of Poles
Repatriation of Poles can refer to:*Repatriation of Poles *Repatriation of Poles...
from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union
Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union
Immediately after the German invasion of Poland in 1939, which marked the beginning of World War II, the Soviet Union invaded the eastern regions of the Second Polish Republic, which Poles referred to as the "Kresy," and annexed territories totaling 201,015 km² with a population of 13,299,000...
.
Number of inhabitants in years
1875: 7.4421880: 8.123
1890: 8.247 (79 Catholics, 236 Jews)
1925: 9.085
1933: 10.084 (9739 Lutherans, 178 Catholic, 3 other Chistians, 87 Jews)
1939: 11.287 (10.515 Lutherans, 270 Catholics, 8 other Christians, 27 Jews)
1960: 5.500
1970: 8.800
1975: 10.800
1980: 11.600
2000: 13.200
Famous people
- Danuta BartoszekDanuta BartoszekDanuta Bartoszek is a former long-distance runner.From Poland, Bartoszek represented Canada at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. At Atlanta, the resident of Mississauga, Ontario finished the women's marathon in 32nd place .-Achievements:-References:*...
- Karl GützlaffKarl GützlaffKarl Friedrich August Gützlaff , anglicised as Charles Gutzlaff, was a German missionary to the Far East, notable as one of the first Protestant missionaries in Bangkok, Thailand and for his books about China. He was one of the first Protestant missionaries in China to dress like a Chinese...
(1803–1851), missionary - Otto HintzeOtto HintzeOtto Hintze was a German historian of public administration. He was Professor of a Political, Constitutional, Administrative and Economic History at the University of Berlin....
(1861–1940), historian - Margarete NeumannMargarete NeumannMargarete Neumann was a German writer and lyrical poet.-Life:Margarete Neumann was born in Pyritz, Pomerania. She studied at the social educational seminar in Königsberg and worked until 1945 as a welfare worker in Heilsberg. After being expelled from Poland to Germany in 1945, she was a farmer...
(1917–2002), author
Twin towns
Bad SülzeBad Sülze
Bad Sülze is a town in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the river Recknitz, 35 km southwest of Stralsund, and 35 km east of Rostock....
, Germany Korbach
Korbach
Korbach is the district seat of Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany. It is over a thousand years old and a former Hanseatic town. It is located on the German Framework Road.- Geography and geology :...
, Germany Hörby
Hörby
Hörby is a locality and the seat of Hörby Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 6,651 inhabitants in 2005.- References :...
, Sweden Vysoké Mýto
Vysoké Mýto
Vysoké Mýto is a town in the Pardubice Region, Czech Republic. Founded in 1262 by the Bohemian king, Přemysl Otakar II, it is situated near its original location, called Vraclav. Vysoké Mýto is a centre of tourism, due to its architectural monuments and the nature that surrounds it. Industrial...
, Czech Republic Goleniów
Goleniów
Goleniów is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland with 22,399 inhabitants . It is the capital of Goleniów County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship ; previously it was in Szczecin Voivodeship . Town area is 12.5 km², geographical situation 53°33'N and 14°49'E...
, Poland Złocieniec, Poland