Drozdowo is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the administrative district of

Gmina Piątnica __NOTOC__ Gmina Piątnica is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Łomża County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. Its seat is the village of Piątnica, which lies approximately north-east of Łomża and west of the regional ...

, within

Łomża County __NOTOC__ Łomża County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 19 ...

Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to th ...

, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of

Piątnica Piątnica Poduchowna (; until 1999 ''Piątnica Poduchowna'') is a village in Łomża County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It is the seat of gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Piątnica. It lies approximately north of ...

, east of

Łomża Łomża () is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately to the north-east of Warsaw and west of Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the capital of Łomża County and has been the se ...

(on the opposite side of the river

Narew The Narew (; ; or ) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland. It is a tributary of the river Vistula. The Narew is one of Europe's few braided rivers, the term relating to the twisted channels resembling braided h ...

), and west of the regional capital

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

. The first mentions of Drozdowo come from as far back as 1417. By the middle of the 19th century, the town and surrounding land belonged to the estates of the

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

Lutosławski family. Starting from 1864, Drozdowo had a functional

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

, the product of which quickly became well known in the area, thanks to access to pristine water and expert workers. Drozdowo beer was awarded first prize at competitions in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1867 and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1873, opening the markets for it both in the Polish Kingdom and abroad. It was later awarded first prize at similar competitions in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1876 and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1878. Drozdowo was on the fronts of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and II. Already after WW I the extent of damage was so big that neither the estates nor brewery ever regained their former grandeur. After the war, most of the inhabitants of Drozdowo resided to farming, and the last members of the Lutosławski family left the village in 1979.

People associated with Drozdowo

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szymanow ...

(1913–1994), Polish composer and orchestral conductor * Marian Lutosławski (1871–1918), Polish engineer, bridge builder and inventor *

Wincenty Lutosławski Wincenty Lutosławski (6 June 1863 – 28 December 1954) was a Polish philosopher, author, and member of the Polish National League. Life and career Early life Wincenty was the eldest son of Franciszek Dionizy Lutosławski, a landowner from Dro ...

(1863–1954), Polish philosopher and author *

Roman Dmowski Roman Stanisław Dmowski Polish: (9 August 1864 – 2 January 1939) was a Polish right-wing politician, statesman, and co-founder and chief ideologue of the National Democracy (abbreviated "ND": in Polish, "''Endecja''") political movement ...

(1864–1939), Polish politician

External links

Home page of the Drozdowo museum

References

{{Authority control Villages in Łomża County