Dziwnów (formerly german: Dievenow) is a town in north-western

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 populou ...

situated on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

at the mouth of the river Dziwna which divides it into the right-bank part containing the center of the town, belonging to historical

Farther Pomerania Farther Pomerania, Hinder Pomerania, Rear Pomerania or Eastern Pomerania (german: Hinterpommern, Ostpommern), is the part of Pomerania which comprised the eastern part of the Duchy and later Province of Pomerania. It stretched roughly from the Od ...

, while the left-bank part is located in

Western Pomerania Historical Western Pomerania, also called Cispomerania, Fore Pomerania, Front Pomerania or Hither Pomerania (german: Vorpommern), is the western extremity of the historic region of Pomerania forming the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, Weste ...

, with both parts connected through a

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

. It is a part and the seat of the eponymous Dziwnów municipality within Kamień County,

West Pomeranian Voivodeship The West Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as the West Pomerania Province, is a voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals 22 892.48 km² (8,838.84 sq mi), and in 2021, it was ...

. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 2,595.

History

The battle at Julin Bridge took place nearby in 1170, but the oldest known mention of the village dates back to 1243. It remained a small fishing village until the 19th century, when it began to transform into a holiday resort. At the end of the 19th century, salt springs were discovered, and the first sanatorium was established. In the 1930s, military barracks were built. During

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 opposing ...

, in June 1944, Americans conducted air raids on the German garrison in the village. The historic church was destroyed in the final stages of the war. At the end of World War II, Polish troops entered the village in May 1945. The German population was subsequently expelled and replaced by Polish settlers. In 1949 and 1950 in the local garrison there was a military hospital for Greeks and Macedonians wounded in the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...

.Izabela Kubasiewicz, ''Emigranci z Grecji w Polsce Ludowej. Wybrane aspekty z życia mniejszości'', p. 116-117 (in Polish) In total, around 2,000 people were treated there. Later on, in the 1950s, the hospital staff co-created the Military Medical Academy in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

. In 1958 Dziwnów was granted

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

status and afterwards a port was built. The development of the settlement in the following decades led to the granting of municipal rights in 2004. From 1964 to 1986, the 1st Assault Battalion, which was considered one of the best trained units in the history of the Polish Army, was stationed in Dziwnów.

International relations

Dziwnów is twinned with: * Gorzów Wielkopolski,

(2014) * Sosnowiec, Poland (2013) *

Werneuchen Werneuchen () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, in the district of Barnim northeast of Berlin within the metropolitan area. Most of the population of Werneuchen commutes to Berlin. Demography File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Werneuchen.pdf, Dev ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

(1993)

Gallery

File:Port Dziwnów.JPG, Fishing Port File:Dziwnów7.JPG, Yacht Quay File:Dziwnów, podniesiony most.jpg, Bascule bridge File:Plaża w Dziwnowie(Aw58).JPG, Beach

References

External links

Official town website

Tourist town website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dziwnow Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Kamień County