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Chojna (german: Königsberg in der Neumark; csb, Czińsbarg; la, Regiomontanus Neomarchicus "King's Mountain in the New March") is a small town in northwestern Poland in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It lies approximately south of Szczecin. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 7,330. Chojna is located near two border crossings (
Hohenwutzen Hohenwutzen is a small village in the German state of Brandenburg, located on the Oder river. Since 2003, Hohenwutzen is part of Bad Freienwalde. It was part of It is one of the few villages of the historic Neumark region still in Germany after 1945 ...
and
Schwedt Schwedt (or Schwedt/Oder; ) is a town in Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. With the official status of a '' Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (major district town), it is the largest town of the Uckermark district, located near the river Oder ...
) on the
Oder River The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows t ...
with Germany. It participates in the EU
Douzelage The Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. The name is a portmanteau of the French words "douze" for twelve and "jumelage" for twinning and stands for the twelve founder member ...
town twinning initiative.


History


High Middle Ages

From the 10th-12th centuries an early Pomeranian fortification, probably with a market, developed at the location of present-day Chojna. It became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century under its first historic ruler Mieszko I of Poland. Because of its favorable location on
trading routes A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sin ...
leading to the principalities of
Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city ...
and the duchies of Pomerania, the settlement developed quickly. Duke Bogusław I of Pomerania was entombed in the settlement's church after his death in 1187. After 1200 the settlement received Magdeburg town rights from Duke Barnim I the Good. It was referred to as "Konigesberge" for the first time in 1244 and passed to the
Bishopric of Brandenburg The Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg (german: Hochstift Brandenburg) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the 12th century until it was secularized during the second half of the 16th century. It should not be confused w ...
after Bishop Otto of Brandenburg had acquired part of the New March in 1252. Populated with
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
knights and colonists, the town's name "Konigesberge" evolved into the German name "Königsberg" ("King's Mountain"), with the epithet ''in der Neumark'' (i.e. in the New March) added to distinguish it from namesakes in East Prussia and
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
. After in 1267 Bishop
Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the N ...
of Brandenburg had ceded the "terra Konigesberge" to the Ascanian
Margraves of Brandenburg This article lists the Margraves and Electors of Brandenburg during the period of time that Brandenburg was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire. The Mark, or ''March'', of Brandenburg was one of the primary constituent states of the Hol ...
, the town was granted the right to hold a market as well as regional legal jurisdiction, causing it to become the main town of the New March at that time.


Late Middle Ages

A parish church existed by 1282, while an Augustinian monastery was founded in 1290. From 1310 to 1329 the town experienced an
economic boom An economic expansion is an increase in the level of economic activity, and of the goods and services available. It is a period of economic growth as measured by a rise in real GDP. The explanation of fluctuations in aggregate economic activity ...
linked to the
grain trade The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...
, and received further market privileges. The town hall was built in 1320. Trade goods were shipped over the Oder and rivers. During the 13th and 14th centuries a
defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
was built around the town with numerous towers and three
city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...
s (, Barnkowo Gate, and
Vierraden Vierraden was the name of a small town in the northeast of the German state of Brandenburg. On October 26, 2003, it was incorporated into the city of Schwedt (Oder), which is about 3 kilometers to the south. Until the incorporation, Vierraden was ...
Gate — the latter demolished in the 19th century). In 1319 a war broke out over control of the region, and the town came again under control of the Duchy of Pomerania, but fell back to Brandenburg in 1324. In 1373, the region became part of the
Czech Crown Lands The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of B ...
, ruled by the
Luxembourg dynasty The House of Luxembourg ( lb, D'Lëtzebuerger Haus; french: Maison de Luxembourg; german: Haus Luxemburg) or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as kin ...
. In 1402, the Luxembourgs reached an agreement with Poland in Kraków, according to which Poland was to purchase and re-incorporate the region, but eventually the Luxembourgs pawned it to the Teutonic Order. The and the new town hall (1410) built during this time were some of the most aesthetically pleasing
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
buildings in the New March. The strong town withstood an attack by the Hussites in 1433 during the
Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Ca ...
. In 1454, the Teutonic Knights sold the region to Brandenburg in order to raise funds for war against Poland.


Modern age

The town flourished economically during the
German Renaissance The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which developed from the Italian Renaissance. Many areas of the arts and science ...
beginning in the 15th century, but the majority of its population died from three plagues during the 16th and 17th centuries. It had several churches: the Augustinian monastery church, the Augustinian hospital church of the Holy Spirit, and the Churches of Saints
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also call ...
, Nicholas,
George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
, and Gertrude. The town gradually converted to Lutheranism from 1539-1553 during the Protestant Reformation, resulting in the dissolution of the monastery in 1536. Its buildings were instead used as a hospital and school, while was used as a storehouse, before in 1690 it was reopened as a Protestant church. During the Thirty Years' War, the town was occupied at different times by the
Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...
troops of
Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...
and the Swedish troops of King Gustavus Adolphus, in the course of which the town was destroyed by 52%. After the destruction of the Church of St. Mary's tower by a lightning bolt in 1682, reconstruction commenced until 1692. In the church, a new
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...
pulpit was built in 1714, as well as an organ built by Joachim Wagner in 1734. The town began to revive economically after the foundation of the Kingdom of Prussia, becoming the seat of the government (Kriegs- und Domainenkammer) of the New March in 1759 during the Seven Years' War. In 1767 the city gates towards Schwedt and Bernikow were partially dismantled to provide stone for the construction of a military barracks at the former monastery. The town's inhabitants initially specialised in agriculture and forestry and later in weaving of fine textiles. That industry declined, however with the onset of industrialisation, around 1840. During the Napoleonic Wars, in 1806 the town was captured by a small French unit. The place became the county seat of the in 1809 and part of the Frankfurt Region in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg in 1816. With Prussia the town became part of the
German Empire The German Empire (), Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditar ...
in 1871 and flourished after being connected to the railway network in 1877. It also served as an educational and administrative centre for the surrounding region. In 1913 the local Polish community erected the Sacred Heart Church, the town's first Catholic church since the Reformation.


World War II

In 1939 the Luftwaffe constructed , later used by the Soviet Air Forces between 1945 and 1992. A subcamp of the Ravensbrück concentration camp was set up for the enlargement of the airfield. After the Warsaw Uprising, many Polish women from Warsaw were imprisoned there. In January 1945 battles of the Vistula–Oder Offensive occurred in and around the town. The German population fled in haste warned about the mass rapes. On 4 February 1945 Kurt Flöter, Königsberg's then mayor, was condemned to death by hanging by an SS
court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
chaired by
Otto Skorzeny Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-''Obersturmbannführer'' (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen-SS during World War II. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including t ...
, because he had fled before issuing a general evacuation order by the military. On the same day the
Soviet 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 nationa ...
Red Army occupied the town. The entire city centre with the Church of St. Mary and the town hall was burned to the ground by the Soviets on 16 February 1945. 80 percent of the entire town was destroyed. After the German capitulation, under border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference, the town became again part of Poland; the local population was dispossessed and expelled.


Post-war Poland

The town was first renamed as Władysławsko by June 1945. On 21 August 1945 the name was changed to Królewiec nad Odrą (''Królewiec'' being the historic Polish equivalent for '' Königsberg'', adding ''upon Oder'' for distinction). On 7 May 1946 the town was renamed again as Chojna. Chojna was gradually repopulated by Poles, many of whom were expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union. Vestiges of the war are still visible in some of Chojna's buildings. The foundation wall of the destroyed town hall was rebuilt for use as a cultural centre, town library, and public house. The monastery was also reconstructed, while the marketplace was newly built. Reconstruction of the destroyed St. Mary's church began in 1994 as a joint
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
-Polish cooperation. In 1997 the roof of the church's nave was covered, while the pyramidal tower roof of the tower was reconditioned in a 19th-century
Neo-gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style. Chojna's two main landmarks are thus and the Church of St. Mary, both historical buildings by the Gothic architect Hinrich Brunsberg. A monument to
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 ...
was unveiled in 2006 next to the St. Mary's church.


Demographics

Detailed data as of 31 December 2021:


Number of inhabitants by year


Sights

Chojna is located on The European Route of Brick Gothic. Among the historic landmarks of Chojna are: * St. Mary's church * The Augustinian monastery with the Holy Trinity church * (''Ratusz'') * Remains of the defensive walls with the Świecka and Barnkowska Gates and the Bakers (''Piekarska''), Prison (''Więzienna'') and Stork (''Bociania'') Towers * The Giant Plane in the Municipal Park (''Park Miejski'') * Saint Mark church * Sacred Heart church * Ruins of the Saint Gertrude chapel * The Swedish Mound, ca. 1km west of the city wall on the road to Schwedt, built in 1630 to commemorate Gustav Adolf II, Swedish king after the 30 years war


Sports

The local football club is . It competes in the lower leagues.


Notable residents

* Carl Friedrich von Beyme (1765-1838) Chief Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia 1806/7 *
Adalbert Kuhn Franz Felix Adalbert Kuhn (19 November 1812 – 5 May 1881) was a German philologist and folklorist. Kuhn was born in Königsberg in Brandenburg's Neumark region. From 1841 he was connected with the Köllnisches Gymnasium at Berlin, of w ...
(1812-1881) a German philologist and folklorist *
Gabrielle Weidner Gabrielle Weidner (Brussels, 17 August 1914 - Königsberg in der Neumark, 17 February 1945) was a Dutch resistance fighter playing an active role in the French Resistance during World War II. Early life Gabrielle Weidner was born in Brussels ...
(1914 - 1945 in Königsberg in der Neumark) a Dutch resistance fighter, died in concentration camp * Helmut Fiehn (1916–1943) a captain lieutenant in Germany's Kriegsmarine during WWII. * Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth (1930–2010), geographer, professor of the Frederick-Alexander University in Erlangen and Nuremberg


International relations


Twin towns - Sister cities

Chojna is a member of the
Douzelage The Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. The name is a portmanteau of the French words "douze" for twelve and "jumelage" for twinning and stands for the twelve founder member ...
, a unique town twinning association of 24 towns across the European Union. This active town twinning began in 1991 and there are regular events, such as a produce market from each of the other countries and festivals. Discussions regarding membership are also in hand with three further towns ( Agros in Cyprus, Škofja Loka in Slovenia, and
Tryavna Tryavna ( bg, Трявна ) is a town in central Bulgaria, situated in the northern slopes of the Balkan range, on the Tryavna river valley, near Gabrovo. It is famous for its textile industry and typical National Revival architecture, featuring ...
in
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
).


References

* This article contains information translated from the German Wikipedia's Chojna article, accessed May 26, 2006.


Notes


External links


Municipal website



Genealogical information about Königsberg in der Neumark

Jewish Community in Chojna
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Gryfino County Nazi war crimes in Poland