Bydgoszcz

Template:Infobox Poland

Bydgoszcz (Audio file "Bydgoszcz.ogg" not found; German: Bromberg^ⓘ; Latin: Bydgostia) is a city in northern Poland, on the Brda and Vistula rivers, with a population of 369,151 (2004). It has been the capital of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously the capital of the Bydgoszcz Voivodeship (1947-1998) and before that, of the Pomeranian Voivodeship (1945-1947).

Bydgoszcz is part of the metroplex Bydgoszcz-Toruń with Toruń, only 45 km away, and over 600,000 inhabitants. In September 2004 the Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz joined Toruń University as Collegium Medicum UMK in Bydgoszcz.

History

Originally a fishing settlement called Bydgoszcz ("Bydgostia" in Latin), the city became a stronghold for the Vistula trade routes. In the 13th century it was the site of a castellany, first mentioned in 1238. Bydgoszcz was occupied by the Teutonic Knights from 1331-1337, and was recovered by King Casimir III, who granted the city municipal rights on 19 April 1346. The city increasingly saw an influx of ethnic Germans and Jews after that date.

In the 15th-16th centuries Bydgoszcz was a significant site for corn trading. The Treaty of Bydgoszcz was signed in the town in 1657.

Bydgoszcz followed the history of Greater Poland until 1772, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the First Partition of Poland. During this time, the canal was built from Bydgoszcz to Nakło which connected the north-flowing Vistula river via the Brda to the west-flowing Noteć, which in turn flowed to the Oder via the Warta.

In 1807 Bydgoszcz became part of the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1815 it returned to Prussian rule as part of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznań and capital of Bromberg district. After 1871 the city was part of the German Empire's Province of Posen. After World War I and the Great Poland Uprising, Bydgoszcz returned to Poland in 1919. It shifted in 1938 to Pomeranian Voivodeship.

From 1939-45 during World War II, Bydgoszcz was occupied by Nazi Germany and annexed to the Reichsgau Wartheland. On September 3 1939, shortly after the war started, the disputed Bromberg Bloody Sunday incident occurred in which numerous Poles and Germans were killed; the incident was used by Nazi propaganda for retaliation against Poles after Bydgoszcz was occupied by the Wehrmacht on September 9. The city's Jewish citizens were repressed, as thousands of people were sent to concentration camps and/or executed. Bydgoszcz (Fordon) was the site of Bromberg-Ost, a female subcamp of Stutthof. The subcamp staffed several female SS guards (Aufseherin) and was commanded by the Oberaufseherin Johanna Wisotzki and a male commandant. According to Nowa encyklopedia powszechna PWN, 37,000 citizens of the city died during the war.[1]