Olsztynek
Olsztynek | |
|---|---|
 Market Square and town hall | |
|
UTC+2 (CEST) | |
| Postal code | 11-015 |
| Vehicle registration | NOL |
| Highways |   |
| National roads |  |
| Website | http://www.olsztynek.pl |
Olsztynek
Geography
Olsztynek is located about 28 km (17 mi) south of Olsztyn in the western part of the Masurian Lake District, where it borders on the Prussian Uplands (Prusy Górne), part of the Baltic Uplands.
Transport
Olsztynek station is a stop on the railway line from Olsztyn to Działdowo. The expressway S7 running from Gdańsk via Olsztynek to Warsaw and Kraków, parts of which are still under construction, is part of the European route E77. A direct link to Olsztyn is provided by the expressway S51. The intersection of the S7 and S51 highways is located just outside the town limits of Olsztynek, and the National road 58 also runs through the town.
History
Several decades after the subjugation of the
During the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, the 1410 Battle of Grunwald took place in the vicinity of the town, whereby the Poles and Lithuanians defeated the Teutonic Knights.
In the succeeding fights, Olsztynek was seized and burnt down to the grounds, in order not to let it pass into
17th-19th century
During the
After the 1871 unification of Germany the town lay inside the German Empire. Administratively, the town was part of Landkreis (district) Osterode (Ostróda) in the Province of East Prussia. Although Olsztynek was outside the authority of Poland after 1657, in the late 19th century Poles still formed the majority of the local Lutheran parish (majority of the town's population was Lutheran), with 3,344 people in comparison to 1,966 Germans.[4]
20th century
From 1903 to 1933 the Tuberculosis sanatorium Hohenstein for male patients operated in the municipal forest about 4 km north of the town center.[6]
In the beginning of
The town's reconstruction started during
In remembrance of the 1914 battle a large Tannenberg Memorial was inaugurated here on 18 September 1927, and made the place of the burial of Reich President Paul von Hindenburg on 7 August 1934. In World War II parts of the premises were used for the Stalag I-B prisoner-of-war camp. The memorial was partly demolished by the German forces withdrawing from the Soviet advance in 1945, after Hindenburg's coffin (and his wife's) were removed, and completely demolished by the Polish government in 1949. A surviving lion is displayed in front of the Olsztynek town hall.
In January 1945 it was occupied by the
Sports
The local football club is Olimpia Olsztynek. It competes in the lower leagues.
Notable people
- Krzysztof Celestyn Mrongovius (1764–1855), Polish pastor, linguist, writer and translator, opponent of Germanisation
- Hieronim Derdowski (1852–1902), Kashubian-Polish intellectual, poet and activist
- Paul Wendland (1864–1915), German classical philologist
- Paul Kahle(1875–1964), German orientalist
- Albert Lieven (1906–1971), German actor
- Klaus Porbadnik (born 1930), German athlete
Further reading
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn describes the Battle of Tannenberg in his book "August 1914".
Notes
- ^ Górski, Karol (1949). Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych (in Polish). Poznań: Instytut Zachodni. p. XXXVIII.
- ^ Górski, p. 54
- ^ Górski, pp. 96-97, 214-215
- ^ a b c Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom VII (in Polish). Warszawa. 1886. p. 516.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ ISBN 978-3-486-71209-4.
- ISBN 978-3958531383.
- ^ Marzian, Herbert; Kenez, Csaba (1970). Selbstbestimmung für Ostdeutschland – Eine Dokumentation zum 50 Jahrestag der ost- und westpreussischen Volksabstimmung am 11. Juli 1920 (in German). p. 102.
External links
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| Geographic | |
