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Kwidzyn

Coordinates: 53°44′9″N 18°55′51″E / 53.73583°N 18.93083°E / 53.73583; 18.93083
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For other places called Marienwerder, see Marienwerder (disambiguation).
Kwidzyn
Photos of Kwidzyn
Photos of Kwidzyn
Flag of Kwidzyn
Flag
Coat of arms of Kwidzyn
Coat of arms
Kwidzyn is located in Poland
Kwidzyn
Kwidzyn
Coordinates: 53°44′9″N 18°55′51″E / 53.73583°N 18.93083°E / 53.73583; 18.93083
Country Poland
VoivodeshipPomeranian
CountyKwidzyn County
GminaKwidzyn (urban gmina)
Established11th century
Town rights1233
Government
 • MayorAndrzej Krzysztof Krzysztofiak
Area
 • Total21.82 km2 (8.42 sq mi)
Elevation
42 m (138 ft)
Population
 (2006)
 • Total37,814
 • Density1,700/km2 (4,500/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
82-500
Area code+48 55
Car platesGKW
Websitehttp://www.kwidzyn.pl

Kwidzyn (Polish pronunciation: [ˈkfʲid͡zɨn]; Latin: Quedin; German: Marienwerder; Prussian: Kwēdina) is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa river in the Powiśle (right bank of Vistula) region, with 40,008 inhabitants (2004). It has been a part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously in the Elbląg Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Kwidzyn County.

History

Kwidzyn castle in 2016.
Kwidzyn castle in 1912.
A 1922 postcard of the Hermann Balk Fountain in Marienwerder
Impressive arcs of castle

The Teutonic Knights founded an Ordensburg castle in 1232 and a town the following year. In 1243 the Bishopric of Pomesania received both the town and the castle of Marienwerder (German for "Mary's ait" combined with German 'werder' meaning river shore) from the Teutonic Order as fiefs, and the settlement became the seat of the Bishops of Pomesania within Prussia.[1] The town was populated with artisans and traders, originating from towns in the nothern parts of the German empire. The Teutonic knight Werner von Orseln, murdered in Marienburg (Malbork) in 1330, was buried as one of the first in the newly erected cathedral of the town. St. Dorothea of Montau lived here from 1391 until her death in 1394; and in the future pilgrims visiting her shrine would contribute to the economic flourishing of the town. The rebellious Prussian Confederation was founded in the town on March 14, 1440.[2] After the defeat of the knights in the Thirteen Years' War, in 1466, most of their monastic state of the Teutonic Knights would by annexed by the Polish kingdom under the title Royal Prussia (later on West Prussia. But the remainder known as East Prussia, to which Marienwerder also belonged, was left as a weak however independent state. For the time being because in 1525 East Prussia transformed itself to a secular and Lutheran duchy under the House of Brandenburg. A souvereign overlord could only be found in the Polish king. And so the price had to be paid by becoming a Polish fief. The duchy was inherited by the House of Hohenzollern and the Hohenzollern dukes broke their ties with the Polish king in 1657 and elevated their realm to the sovereign Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. The town Marienwerder became the capital of the Prussian District of Marienwerder. When after the First Partition of Poland, resulting in the re-unification of Prussia, the new Prussian Province of West Prussia was founded, Marienwerder district was taken out of the Province of East Prussia, enlarged with parts of West Prussia, and integrated into West Prussia. The name may provoke confusion, for the reason that the Marienwerder district has the same name as the government region of Marienwerder to which a range of districts came to belong, among which the district Marienwerder too. Consequenty the town Marienwerder was a capital of both district and government region. By its administrative functions the population of the town started to grow and in 1885 numbered 8,079 mostly Lutheran inhabitants, many of whose were engaged in trades connected with the manufacturing of sugar, vinegar, brewing, dairy farming, and fruit-growing and by the industrial construction of machines.

In 1910, according to the Prussian state census, in the Marienwerder district 68.446 inhabitants lived of which 37,8% spoke Polish as their mother tongue, in the town Marienwerder alone, of 25.871 inhabitants 9,8% spoke Polish as mother tongue.

After World War I this Marienwerder district was divided in 1919. The parts west of the Vistula were immidiately incorporated into Polish Second Republic according to the treaty of Versailles. These parts contented 25.313 inhabitants, of which 81,3% Polish speaking according to the 1910 census. The eastern parts (incuding the town), numbered 43.113 inhabitants, of which 87,6% German speaking, according to the 1910 census. This population had to express their national preferene at first, in anticipation of the definitive allocation and drawing of new national borders. In the vote of the East Prussian plebiscite, the population of the contested eastern parts of Marienwerder wished for more than 90% to a remain in East Prussia, and consequently in Germany. The vote was largely boycotted by the ethnic Polish minority which was confronted by persecution of Polish activism on account of German nationalists.

On November 10, 1937, when the Nazi regime was already in power in Germany, a Polish private high school was opened in Marienwerder, which was closed down by force on August 25, 1939.[3]

On 30 January 1945 during World War II, the town was captured by the Soviet Red Army. Red Army established a war hospital in the town for 20,000 people. The town's old center was burned by Soviet soldiers.

After World War II the region was placed under Polish administration by the Potsdam Agreement under territorial changes demanded by the Soviet Union. Most of the town's and also the district's population, being Germans fled flied or were expelled expelled by Polish authorities and replaced with Poles, some of whom expelled from the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union. Also Ukrainians from the Sovjet bother regions were forced to settle in the area through Operation Vistula in 1947. Burned parts of the town's old center were dismantled to provide material for the rebuilding of Warsaw after its destruction in the Warsaw Uprising.[citation needed]

Geography

Kwidzyn is located on the east bank of river Vistula, approximately 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Gdańsk and 145 kilometres (90 miles) south-west of Kaliningrad.

Demographics
Year Inhabitants
1400 approx. 700
1572 approx. 700
1782 3,156
1783 3,297
1831 5,060
1875 7,580
1880 8,238
1890 8,552
1900 9,686
1905 11,819
1925 13,721
1930 13,860
1933 15,548
1939 19,723
1965 approx. 13,000
2006 37,814
Note that the above table is based on biased primary sources from the time of Prussian Partition of Poland.[1][4][5][6][7]

Points of interest

Kwidzyn contains the partially ruined 14th century Brick Gothic Ordensburg castle of the Teutonic Order, namely the Bishops of Pomesania within the Order. Connected to the castle to the east is a large cathedral (built 1343-1384) containing the tombs of the bishops as well those of three Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights. The literally outstanding feature of the castle is a sewer tower which is connected to it by a bridge. The tower used to be placed at the river which has changed its course since, leaving it on dry land.

The town also has a Catholic church and a cathedral-castle presently used for the museum of Lower Powiśle. Other sights include the appellate court for Kwidzyn County, a new town hall, and government buildings.

Economy

A branch of the company International Paper is located in Kwidzyn, as is the Kwidzyn School of Management. The second biggest employer is Jabil which is one of world leading EMS (Electronics manufacturing services) companies.[8] The city has a lower than national average crime and unemployment rates when compared to the average rate in Poland average.[8] Success in this field was gained through high level of sport programs for youths. Programs such as MMTS Kwidzyn (handball) or MTS Basket Kwidzyn are the best examples of this.[8]

People

Burials

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Twin towns — sister cities

Kwidzyn is twinned with:

  • Coat of arms at twin town Celle (Germany), granite artwork below signpost
    Coat of arms at twin town Celle (Germany), granite artwork below signpost

References

Bibliography
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kwidzyn.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b August Eduard Preuß: Preußische Landes- und Volkskunde. Königsberg 1835, pp. 441–444.
  2. ^ Jürgen Sarnowsky: Der Deutsche Orden. Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-53628-1, p. 100 ff. (restricted preview).
  3. ^ Andreas Lawaty, Wiesław Mincer and Anna Domańska: Deutsch-polnische Beziehungen in Geschichte und Gegenwart – Bibliographie. Vol 2: Religion, Buch, Presse, Wissenschaft, Bildung, Philosophie, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, ISBN 3-447-04243-5, p. 879 (restricted preview)
  4. ^ Michael Rademacher: Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichte Provinz Westpreußen, Kreis Marienwerder (2006)
  5. ^ Der Große Brockhaus, 15th edition, Vol. 12, Leipzig 1932, p. 143.
  6. ^ Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, 6th edition, Vol. 13, Leipzig and Vienna 1908, p. 299.
  7. ^ Johann Friedrich Goldbeck: Vollständige Topographie des Königreichs Preußen. Teil II, Marienwerder 1789, pp. 3–6.
  8. ^ a b c Turystyka, historia, zabytki. Kwidzyn Moje miasto.
  9. ^ "Stadt Celle". www.celle.de. Retrieved 2010-01-05.

53°44′9″N 18°55′51″E / 53.73583°N 18.93083°E / 53.73583; 18.93083

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