Augustów (; lt, Augustavas, formerly known in English as ''Augustovo''
or ''Augustowo'')
["] is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in north-eastern
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
with 29,729 inhabitants as of December 2021.
[ It lies on the ]Netta River
The Netta is a river in north-east Poland, a right tributary of the Biebrza, approximately long. It is a continuation of the Rospuda, which flows into Lake Rospuda (connected to Lake Necko) north of the town of Augustów. The Rospuda and Netta ...
and the Augustów Canal
be, Аўгустоўскі канал
, image = Bulwar w Augustowie.JPG
, image_caption = Augustów Canal in Augustów
, original_owner =
, engineer = Ignacy Prądzyński
, other_engineer = Jan Chrzciciel de Grandvill ...
. It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship or Podlasie Province ( pl, Województwo podlaskie, ) is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. The name of the province and its territory correspond to the historic region of Podlachia. The capital and largest cit ...
(since 1999), having previously been in Suwałki Voivodeship
Suwałki Voivodeship () was an administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998. In 1999 the Voidvodeship was divided in half and reassigned to two other Voivodeships – the eastern half to Podlaskie Voivodeship and the we ...
(1975–1998). It is the seat of Augustów County
__NOTOC__
Augustów County ( pl, powiat augustowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland, on the border with Belarus. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a resul ...
and of Gmina Augustów
__NOTOC__
Gmina Augustów is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Augustów County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. Its seat is the town of Augustów, although the town is not part of the territory of the gmina.
The gmina cov ...
.
In 1970, Augustów became officially recognized as a health and relaxation resort
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...
. In 1973, surrounding settlements were named a part of it, forming a popular resort town
A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...
.
History
A settlement in the area was first mentioned in 1496. Augustów was established around 1540 by Bona Sforza
Bona Sforza d'Aragona (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, and Duchess of Bari and Rossano by her own right. She was a surviving member of ...
and granted Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...
in 1557 by Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...
, after whom it was also named. It was laid out in a very regular manner, with a spacious market-place.[
Until 1569 Augustów belonged to the ]Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
. In 1569 it became part of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland
The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Latin: ''Corona Regni Poloniae''), known also as the Polish Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, includ ...
, while its cemetery was left in the Grand Duchy, both countries forming the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
as a result of the Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin ( pl, Unia lubelska; lt, Liublino unija) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the pe ...
. Augustów was a royal city
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a ...
, located in the Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship or Podlasie Province ( pl, Województwo podlaskie, ) is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. The name of the province and its territory correspond to the historic region of Podlachia. The capital and largest cit ...
in the . Tatar
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different invaders destroyed Augustów in 1656, and the second half of the 17th century saw the town afflicted by plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
.
In 1795 Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
annexed Augustów in the Third Partition of Poland
The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polish ...
. In 1807, it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...
, followed by incorporation into the Russian-controlled Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to:
Historical political entities
*Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031
*Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exist ...
in 1815. It was made a county seat in 1842. The local populace took part in the large Polish January Uprising
The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...
of 1863–1864 against Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Following Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
's full annexation of the Polish kingdom in the 1860s, it was administered from Suwałki
Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki i ...
.[ With a population around 9400 (), it carried a large trade in cattle and horses, and manufactured linen and huckaback.][ Its ]canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
connects the Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
and Neman
The Neman, Nioman, Nemunas or MemelTo bankside nations of the present: Lithuanian: be, Нёман, , ; russian: Неман, ''Neman''; past: ger, Memel (where touching Prussia only, otherwise Nieman); lv, Nemuna; et, Neemen; pl, Niemen; ...
rivers
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
and the railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
reached the town in 1899, when its population was around 12,800.[
During ]World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the Russian Army
The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...
successfully counterattacked the German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
in the Battle of Augustów, in the lead-up to the better-known Battle of the Vistula River
The Battle of the Vistula River, also known as the Battle of Warsaw, was a Russian victory against the German Empire and Austria-Hungary on the Eastern Front during the First World War.
Background
By mid-September 1914 the Russians were driv ...
. In the aftermath of World War I
The aftermath of World War I saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, ne ...
, it was a site of fighting during the Battle of Augustów in 1920.
Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
, which started World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in September 1939, Augustów was occupied
' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...
by the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
until 1941. Many inhabitants were sent to exile in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
, from where some were able to return after 6 years. On June 22, 1941, just before the Germans captured the town, the Soviets murdered around 30-34 Polish prisoners in Augustów as part of the NKVD prisoner massacres
The NKVD prisoner massacres were a series of mass executions of political prisoners carried out by the NKVD, the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union, across Eastern Europe, primarily Poland, Ukraine, the Baltic states, a ...
. The Nazi German
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
forces occupied Augustów until 1944, and operated a forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
camp in the town. World War II brought the destruction of about 70% of the town and death or departure of most of its residents, amongst them a community of several thousand Jews who were imprisoned in the ghetto situated between the canal and the river. The Germans executed practically all of them before they left. In 1945 the Soviets conducted the nearby Augustów roundup The Augustów roundup (Polish ''Obława augustowska'') was a military operation against the Polish World War II anti-communist partisans and sympathizers following the Soviet takeover of Poland. The operation was undertaken by Soviet forces with t ...
- a special operation against former Armia Krajowa
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...
anticommunist
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
fighters.
Augustów ring road controversy
The construction of the Augustów bypass called Via Baltica, through the wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
s of the Rospuda
The Rospuda () is a small river in north-eastern Poland. It flows through the Suwałki Region of Poland, including the north-western part of the large ''Augustów Primeval Forest'' wilderness area. Its continuation, the Netta, is a tributary of th ...
Valley, attracted great controversy in 2007. The work was halted after the European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
applied for an immediate injunction. See Rospuda River, European route E67
European route E 67 is an E-road running from Prague in the Czech Republic to Estonia and by ferry to Finland. It goes via Prague, Wrocław, Warsaw, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki.
The route is known as the Via Baltic ...
.
Tourism
The town, although small, has many attractions for the visitors. The Oficerski Yacht Club Hotel, built in the 1930s, is an army yacht club that has been restored and converted into a resort. It is located on the edge of one of many lakes in the region. Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
has a memorial chair from the first and last time he visited the town right outside the club. Boat tours are also popular and the old town square still has its original cobblestone
Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings.
Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...
streets.
Every year hundreds of bikers come to Augustowskie Motonoce bikers festival. Bands that over years participated in celebration include Bright Ophidia
AGE
ZZ Top Czech Revival Band, AC/DC Show Ukraina, Kraków Street Band, etc.
Demographics
Cuisine
Among the popular traditional dishes of north-eastern Poland, including Augustów, are kartacze and potato babka
Potato babka is a savoury dish, popular especially in Belarus and northeastern Poland, where it is known as babka ziemniaczana. It is made from grated potatoes, eggs, onions, and pieces of smoked, boiled or fried bacon and (especially in P ...
. Popular regional cakes are '' sękacz'' and ''mrowisko'' (lit. transl. "anthill"). Officially protected traditional food
Traditional foods are foods and dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national dish, region ...
s from Augustów and its surroundings include the Augustów honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
(''miód augustowski'') which comes in several variants, and ''augustowska jagodzianka'', a local yeast roll stuffed with blueberries
Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...
and topped with streusel
In baking and pastry making, streusel () is a crumbly topping of flour, butter, and sugar that is baked on top of muffins, breads, pies, and cakes.football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and canoeing
Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...
sections.
International relations
Twin towns - sister cities
Augustów is twinned with:
* Druskininkai
Druskininkai (; pl, Druskieniki; be, Друскенiкi; yi, דרוזגעניק, translit=Druzgenik) is a spa town on the Nemunas River in southern Lithuania, close to the borders of Belarus and Poland. The city of Druskininkai has a population ...
, Lithuania (2007)
* Porto Ceresio
Porto Ceresio ( Varesino: ''Pòrt Cerési'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) on Lake Lugano in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan and about northeast of Varese, on the border with Switzerland. ...
, Italy (2003)
* Rudky
Rudky ( uk, Ру́дки, pl, Rudki) is a city in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast in Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Rudky urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The population was 4,942 at the 2001 Ukrainian census. Current populatio ...
, Ukraine (2011)
* Supraśl
Supraśl (; be, Су́прасль; ) is a town and former episcopal see in north-eastern Poland.
Supraśl is in Podlaskie Voivodeship (province) since 1999, previously in Białystok Voivodeship (1975-1998) (1975–1998), and is in Białystok Co ...
, Poland (2012)
* Tuusula
Tuusula (; sv, Tusby ) is a municipality of Finland. It belongs to the Helsinki sub-region of the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of
() and is by far the third largest municipality in Finland after Nurmijärvi and Kirkkonummi t ...
, Finland (1996)
Former twin towns:
* Hrodna
Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...
, Belarus (2008–2022)
* Slonim
Slonim ( be, Сло́нім, russian: Сло́ним, lt, Slanimas, lv, Sloņima, pl, Słonim, yi, סלאָנים, ''Slonim'') is a city in Grodno Region, Belarus, capital of the Slonimski rajon. It is located at the junction of the Ščar ...
, Belarus (2013–2022)
On 7 March 2022, partnership with Belarusian cities was terminated due to Belarus's involvement in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
.
Notable residents
* Edyta Dzieniszewska
Edyta Dzieniszewska-Kierkla (Polish pronunciation: ; born 5 May 1986, in Augustów) is a Polish sprint canoer who has competed since the late 2000s. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, she finished fourth in the K-4 500 m e ...
(born 1986), sprint canoer
* Joanna Fiodorow (born 1989), hammer thrower
* Jan Jaworowski
Jan W. Jaworowski (March 2, 1928 in Augustów, Poland – April 10, 2013 in Bloomington, Indiana) was a Polish and American mathematician, topologist.
Biography
His father was Jan Leonard Jaworowski, and his mother—Helena (maiden name Heybo ...
(1923–2013), mathematician
* Zbigniew Kundzewicz (born 1950), hydrologist and climatologist
* Emil Leon Post
Emil Leon Post (; February 11, 1897 – April 21, 1954) was an American mathematician and logician. He is best known for his work in the field that eventually became known as computability theory.
Life
Post was born in Augustów, Suwałki Govern ...
(1897–1954), mathematician and logician
* Andrzej Sobolewski
Andrzej Sobolewski (born 9 October 1951, Augustów) is a Polish people, Polish physicist and academic working at the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. He is a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and Foun ...
(born 1951), physicist
* Rose Pastor Stokes
Rose Harriet Pastor Stokes (née Wieslander; July 18, 1879 – June 20, 1933) was an American socialist activist, writer, birth control advocate, and feminist. She was a figure of some public notoriety after her 1905 marriage to Episcopalian mill ...
(1879 – 1933) American socialist activist, writer, birth control advocate, and feminist.
* Adam Wysocki (born 1974), sprint canoer
* Marek Zalewski (born 1963), archbishop
See also
* Augustów Canal
be, Аўгустоўскі канал
, image = Bulwar w Augustowie.JPG
, image_caption = Augustów Canal in Augustów
, original_owner =
, engineer = Ignacy Prądzyński
, other_engineer = Jan Chrzciciel de Grandvill ...
* 1st Krechowce Uhlan Regiment
The First Krechowce Uhlan Regiment was a mounted unit of the Polish Army, active in the Second Polish Republic. Its traditions were continued during World War II, by a regiment of the same name, which was part of Polish Armed Forces in the West. ...
References
External links
Official website
Jewish community of Augustów
on Virtual Shtetl
The Virtual Shtetl ( pl, Wirtualny Sztetl) is a bilingual Polish-English portal of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, devoted to the Jewish history of Poland.
History
The Virtual Shtetl website was officially launched on June 1 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Augustow
Cities and towns in Podlaskie Voivodeship
Augustów County
Spa towns in Poland
Suwałki Governorate
Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)
Belastok Region
Holocaust locations in Poland
Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust