Karsibór (formerly german: Kaseburg or ''Caseburg'') is an island in the

Szczecin Lagoon Szczecin Lagoon ( pl, Zalew Szczeciński, german: Stettiner Haff, since 1945 sometimes also ''Oderhaff'' (Oder lagoon) or ''Pommersches Haff'' (Pomeranian lagoon)) is a lagoon in the Oder estuary, shared by Germany and Poland. It is separated f ...

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 ...

, which was created by the cutting of the Piast Canal which separated it from the island of

Usedom Usedom (german: Usedom , pl, Uznam ) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea. It is north of the Szczecin ...

. The island was named after its largest village (now district of the town of

Świnoujście Świnoujście (; german: Swinemünde ; nds, Swienemünn; all three meaning "Świna ivermouth"; csb, Swina) is a city and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, located in the extreme north-west of Poland. Situated mainly on the islands o ...

). In 1880, the ''Kaiserfahrt'' (Piast Canal) channel was opened providing a water route with a depth of connecting the lagoon with the Baltic Sea bypassing the eastern part of the

Świna The Świna (; Pomeranian: ''Swina'') is a river in northwest Poland, between 2 and 4 km from the German border. It flows from Szczecin Lagoon to the Baltic Sea between the islands of Uznam and Wolin. It is a part of the Oder estuary, and car ...

arm (''Old Świna'') of 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 thr ...

, allowing large ships quicker and safer enter the lagoon and the seaport of Szczecin than on the natural river. The canal, approximately long and deep, was dug by 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 hereditary ...

between 1874 and 1880, during the reign of the first Kaiser Wilhelm (1797–1888) after whom it was named. After the defeat of Germany in

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 ...

, under the terms of the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement (german: Potsdamer Abkommen) was the agreement between three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union on 1 August 1945. A product of the Potsdam Conference, it concerned th ...

, in 1945 the region became part of Poland, which renamed the canal after the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branch ...

. There is a memorial to the British pilots of the

No. 617 Squadron RAF Number 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron, originally based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and currently based at RAF Marham in Norfolk. It is commonly known as "''The Dambusters''", for its actions during Operation Chastise ag ...

, who were shot down by the Nazis in April 1945.

Images

File:Karsibór - marina - 2018-06-02 15-33-05.jpg, Marina in Karsibór File:Świnoujście Karsibór kościół NPNMP 2016-08-29 p3.jpg,

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 ...

Immaculate Conception church File:Piast Canal near Szczecin Lagoon.jpg, Piast canal File:U-Boot Harbour in Karsibór Island.jpg, U-Boot Harbour Islands of Poland Landforms of West Pomeranian Voivodeship {{WestPomeranian-geo-stub