Nowy Staw (german: Neuteich; csb, Nowi Stôw, Nytëch) is a small town in northern

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 ...

on the Święta river in the Żuławy region, with 3 896 inhabitants (2004). Situated in

Malbork County __NOTOC__ Malbork County ( pl, powiat malborski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ref ...

in the

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomorskie Region, or Pomerania Province (Polish: ''Województwo pomorskie'' ; ( Kashubian: ''Pòmòrsczé wòjewództwò'' ), is a voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The ...

since 1999, it was previously assigned to

Elbląg Voivodeship Elbląg Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998, superseded by the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. Its capital city was Elbląg. Major cities and towns ( ...

(1975–1998). City rights were applied in 1345. The name of the town means ''New Pond''.

History

The oldest part of Nowy Staw is the formerly independent village of Stawiec, north of the town. It was founded in 1316 by the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

. In 1409, the Teutonic Knights started producing

black gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

in the town, and a few decades later in the middle of the fifteenth century merchants from nearby Danzig (Gdańsk) erected an

Oil mill An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

. From 1466 on it was part of the Polish

Malbork Voivodeship The Malbork Voivodeship (Polish: ''Województwo malborskie''), after Partitions of Poland also referred to as the Malbork Land (Polish: ''Ziemia malborska''), was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Kingdom of Poland fro ...

. During the various

Polish–Swedish wars The Polish–Swedish Wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1563 and 1721. More narrowly, it refers to particular wars between 1600 and ...

the town was occupied and plundered several times. During the eighteenth century a new district, the "New town" grew up between the existing settlement and the Tuja river. Since that time urban development has taken place in a southerly direction along the right bank of the river. With the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the town, as Neuteich was annexed by

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 ...

and had belonged to the Marienburg district in the Prussian Province of

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

, which had belonged to the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...

since 1871. In 1886, the railway line from

Szymankowo Szymankowo (; german: Simonsdorf) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lichnowy, within Malbork County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately south of Lichnowy, north-west of Malbork, and south-ea ...

(Simonsdorf) via Nowy Staw (Neuteich) to

Nowy Dwór Gdański Nowy Dwor Gdanski (; ; formerly german: Tiegenhof) is a town in Poland on the Tuja (river), Tuja river in the Żuławy Wiślane region, capital of Nowy Dwór Gdański County, located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, with 10,171 inhabitants (2012). Hist ...

(Tiegenhof) was put into operation. In 1920, as a consequence of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

, Neuteich was ceded by

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 ...

to the

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...

, within which it became part of the district of Großes Werder. With the capture of the Free City of Danzig at the beginning of

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 1939, Neuteich came under

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 **Ger ...

rule. On March 11, 1945 it was captured by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

and was later placed under Polish administration. In the following years, the remaining

population was expelled and the town was repopulated by

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

Architecture

Main town buildings: * Saint Matthew Collegiate church (year 1450) * Old town market square SM Nowy Staw Kolegiata Żuławska św Mateusza Apostoła (0) ID 636865.jpg, Saint Matthew Collegiate church SM Nowy Staw Kościół ewangelicki dawny 2016 (1) ID 636866.jpg, Former church building Ulica Tadeusza Kościuszki w Nowym Stawie - panoramio.jpg, Market square Nowy Staw kamienica Rynek Pulaskiego 7.jpg, Old townhouse at the Market Square

Notable residents

Julius Dickert Julius Dickert (25 June 1816 – 12 August 1896) was a teacher from West Prussia who later entered into politics. After the Unification, he served as a Progressive member of the national Reichstag between 1871 and 1878. Life Julius Dickert wa ...

(1816-1896) a teacher and a Progressive member of the national Reichstag between 1871 and 1878 *

Walter Reek Walter Arthur Reek (26 January 1878 – 12/19 May 1933), was a social democrat politician in Germany and the Free City of Danzig. He was a member of the Weimar National Assembly, the Danzig Volkstag parliament and mayor of Neuteich (Nowy Staw). ...

(1878–1933), mayor of Neuteich (1925-1933) * Erna Beilhardt (1907–1946) an SS-Aufseherin at several concentration camps and a member of the German Red Cross during the last year of WWII *

Elisabeth Becker Elisabeth Becker (20 July 1923 – 4 July 1946) was a Nazi concentration camp overseer in World War II. Life Becker was born in Neuteich, Danzig (today Nowy Staw, Poland) to a German family. In 1936, aged 13, she joined the League of German ...

(1923–1946), SS concentration camp guard executed for war crimes *

Tadeusz Cymański Tadeusz Cymański (; born 6 June 1955 in Nowy Staw) is a Polish conservative politician. He was elected to the Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Pols ...

(born 1955) a Polish conservative politician.

External links

Nowy Staw official homepage

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Pomeranian Voivodeship Malbork County