Kostrzyn nad Odrą

Coordinates: 52°35′18″N 14°40′0″E / 52.58833°N 14.66667°E / 52.58833; 14.66667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kostrzyn nad Odrą
Aerial view
Wedding Palace
Mother of God of Rokitno church
Berlin Gate
Shopping mall
  • From top, left to right: Aerial view
  • Wedding Palace
  • Mother of God of Rokitno church
  • Berlin Gate
  • Shopping mall
Car plates
FGW
ClimateCfb
National roads
Voivodeship roads
Websitehttp://www.kostrzyn.pl

Kostrzyn nad Odrą (translated literally as Kostrzyn upon the Oder; Polish pronunciation: [ˈkɔst.ʂɨn ˌnad ˈɔdrɔ̃]; German: Küstrin [kʏsˈtʁiːn]) is a town in Gorzów County, Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland, on the border with Germany.

Geography

The town is situated within the historic Lubusz Land (Ziemia Lubuska) region at the confluence of the Oder and Warta rivers, on the western rim of the extended Warta mires. The town centre is located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) south of Szczecin.

Until the end of World War II and the implementation of the Oder–Neisse line in 1945, the municipal area also comprised the Küstrin-Kietz suburb on the west bank of the Oder river, which today is part of the German Küstriner Vorland municipality. The former town centre, the Kostrzyn fortress located on the headland between the Oder and Warta rivers, was destroyed by the Red Army as an act of revenge weeks before the end of WW2 and not rebuilt. Today Kostrzyn's central area is located around Kostrzyn railway station east of the Warta's mouth.

History

Middle Ages

Castle ruins

Settled since the

German–Polish War against King Henry II.[2]

In 1223 the

Lubusz bishop Wawrzyniec to the Knights Templar, in which the old Slavic name Cozsterine (hence the later German name Küstrin) was mentioned. In the 12th century it developed into a fortified castellany and a Polish taxation post, however, together with Lubusz Land it was seized by the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg in 1261 and incorporated into their Neumark territory east of the Oder river. By 1300 the town had received Magdeburg town rights from Margrave Albert III of Brandenburg and started to grow rapidly, owing largely to trade on the rivers. From 1319 there was a dispute over the town between the Piasts, the Griffins and the Ascanians, and there were heavy fights between the Duchy of Pomerania and the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg in the area in 1322–1323.[3] A peace treaty between Pomerania and Saxe-Wittenberg was signed in the town on 5 December 1323.[3]

In 1373 the town became part of the

Thirteen Years’ War
broke out in 1454, the Teutonic Knights sold the town to Brandenburg in order to raise funds for war against Poland.

Modern era

The town in the 17th century
The town in around 1728

In 1535–1571 the town was the seat of

retreat from the east in 1814, the town was set on fire and burnt to the ground. The town recovered and became one of the most important railway hubs in the Kingdom of Prussia and later the German Empire. One of the main escape routes for surviving insurgents of the Polish November Uprising from partitioned Poland to the Great Emigration led through the town.[5] In 1857 it was linked to Berlin and Frankfurt (Oder) and in 1875 with Stettin (Szczecin)
on the Pomeranian coast. In 1900 its population reached 16,473, including the garrison of the fortress.

In September 1923, the

Battle of the Oder-Neisse and the Battle of the Seelow Heights, almost 95% of its buildings were destroyed (including all 32 of the city's factories) and the town was generally deserted. The town was captured by the Red Army
on 11 March 1945.

Train station

After the war the ruined town became again part of Poland by decision of the

refugees from Soviet-annexed former eastern Poland, from where they had been displaced by Soviet authorities in accordance to new borders decided at Yalta Conference, while most were re-settlers from central Poland.[citation needed
]

The remnants of the old town within the fortress walls, including the castle in which the young Frederick the Great had been imprisoned, were razed after the war and the bricks were used to rebuild Polish cities elsewhere. More recently, plans to rebuild some of the old town in a historical style were considered, but this project appears to be on hold. The section of the town on the west bank of the Oder remained in Germany and is now called Küstrin-Kietz. Between 2004 and 2019 Kostrzyn hosted the annual Pol'and'Rock Festival (formerly Przystanek Woodstock) in the summer, the largest open-air music festival in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

Kostrzyn nad Odrą Fortress
Public school

Population in selected years

  • 1900: 16,473
  • 1925: approx. 19,500
  • 1939: approx. 24,000
  • 1971: approx. 11,000

Note that the above numbers are based on primary, possibly inaccurate or biased sources.[7][8][9]

Amphitheatre in Kostrzyn nad Odrą
Pre World War Two buildings on Ulica Niepodległości (Independence Street).

Sports

The local football club is Celuloza Kostrzyn nad Odrą [pl]. It competes in the lower leagues.

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

Kostrzyn nad Odrą is twinned with:

References

  1. ^ "Population. Size and structure and vital statistics in Poland by territorial division in 2019. As of 30th June". stat.gov.pl. Statistics Poland. 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  2. ^ "Kostrzyn nad Odrą". Web.archive.org. 2006-03-06. Archived from the original on March 6, 2006. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  3. ^
    Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk
    : 489.
  4. ^ Rogalski, Leon (1846). Dzieje Krzyżaków oraz ich stosunki z Polską, Litwą i Prussami, poprzedzone rysem dziejów wojen krzyżowych. Tom II (in Polish). Warszawa. pp. 59–60.
  5. ^ Umiński, Janusz (1998). "Losy internowanych na Pomorzu żołnierzy powstania listopadowego". Jantarowe Szlaki (in Polish). No. 4 (250). p. 16.
  6. ^ .
  7. ^ Meyers Konversations-Lexikon (in German). Vol. 11 (6th ed.). Leipzig and Vienna. 1908. p. 890.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ Der Große Brockhaus (in German). Vol. 12 (15th ed.). Leipzig. 1931. p. 788.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon (in German). Vol. 14 (9th ed.). Mannheim/Vienna/Zürich. 1975. p. 511.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ "Städtepartnerschaften". seelow.de (in German). Seelow. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  11. ^ "Uchwała w sprawie porozumienia partnerskiego z miastem Peitz". kostrzyn.nowoczesnagmina.pl (in Polish). Kostrzyn. Retrieved 2022-05-28.
  12. ^ "Uchwała w sprawie porozumienia partnerskiego z miastem Sambor". kostrzyn.nowoczesnagmina.pl (in Polish). Kostrzyn. Retrieved 2022-05-28.

External links