Pyrzyce ( csb, Përzëca; formerly german: Pyritz) is a town in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

, 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 populous ...

. As of 2007, it had 13,331 inhabitants. Pyrzycw is the capital of the

Pyrzyce County __NOTOC__ Pyrzyce County ( pl, powiat pyrzycki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local gover ...

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 i ...

(since 1999), which was previously located in

Szczecin Voivodeship Szczecin Voivodeship may also refer to: * Szczecin Voivodeship (1946–1975) *Szczecin Voivodeship (1975–1998) *West Pomeranian Voivodeship, with the capital in Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ...

(1975–1998).

History

An anonymous medieval document of about 850, called

Bavarian Geographer The epithet "Bavarian Geographer" ( la, Geographus Bavarus) is the conventional name for the anonymous author of a short Latin medieval text containing a list of the tribes in Central-Eastern Europe, headed (). The name "Bavarian Geographer" was ...

, mentions the tribe of

Prissani The Prissani or Pyritzans ( pl, Pyrzyczanie) were a medieval tribe in Pomerania. They were first mentioned as "Prissani" with 70 civitas by the Bavarian Geographer, ca. 845.Johannes Hoops, Herbert Jankuhn, Heinrich Beck, Reallexikon der germanische ...

having 70 strongholds (''Prissani civitates LXX''). In the early 12th century, the town was part of

, then, as a result of the fragmentation of Poland, it was part of the

Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (german: Herzogtum Pommern; pl, Księstwo Pomorskie; Latin: ''Ducatus Pomeraniae'') was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania (''Griffins''). The country ha ...

. The settlement was first mentioned in 1124 by bishop

Otto von Bamberg Otto of Bamberg (1060 or 1061 – 30 June 1139) was a German missionary and papal legate who converted much of medieval Pomerania to Christianity. He was the bishop of Bamberg from 1102 until his death. He was canonized in 1189. Early life Thr ...

, who baptized the first Pomeranians here.Jan M. Piskorski, ''Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten'', 1999, pp. 36 ff., Throughout the German

Ostsiedlung (, literally "East-settling") is the term for the Early Medieval and High Medieval migration-period when ethnic Germans moved into the territories in the eastern part of Francia, East Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire (that Germans had al ...

the oldest church was built in 1250, an

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

cloister in 1256 and a monastery of the

Franciscan order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

in 1281. In 1263 the town received

Magdeburg law Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within c ...

. By the ''Contract of Pyritz'' of March 26, 1493 the

Dukes of Pomerania This is a list of the duchies and dukes of Pomerania. Dukes of the Slavic Pomeranian tribes (All Pomerania) The lands of Pomerania were firstly ruled by local tribes, who settled in Pomerania around the 10th and 11th centuries. Non-dynastic ...

recognized the right of succession of the House of Brandenburg. A large fire destroyed almost the whole town in 1496. Pyritz was the first town in Pomerania to implement the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in 1524. In 1634, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, it was again largely destroyed by a conflagration. After the death of the last Pomeranian Duke in 1637, the Swedes took over the town. In 1653 the town became part of the

Brandenburg-Prussia Brandenburg-Prussia (german: Brandenburg-Preußen; ) is the historiographic denomination for the early modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenz ...

n province of Pomerania following the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pea ...

(1648) and the

Treaty of Stettin (1653) The Treaty of Stettin (german: Grenzrezeß von Stettin) of 4 May 1653Heitz (1995), p.232 settled a dispute between Brandenburg and Sweden, who both claimed succession in the Duchy of Pomerania after the extinction of the local House of Pomerania ...

, along within the rest of

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 ...

. In 1818, the town became the seat of the district administration (Kreis Pyritz) and was connected to the railway system in 1882. As part of

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 ...

the town was located in unified

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 ...

of 1871. At the end 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 ...

the Soviet

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 ...

conquered the town during the Pomeranian Offensive. Bombardment of Pyritz by Soviet artillery began on February 1, 1945, and achieved maximum intensity on February 27, when attacks by heavy artillery destroyed the old town. Helge Bei der Wieden and Roderich Schmidt, ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten Deutschlands'', Vol. 12: ''Mecklenburg/Pommern'' (= Kröners Taschenausgabe, Vol. 315), Kröner, Stuttgart 1996, , pp. 254–256 Following the post-war boundary changes, Pyrzyce became part of Poland; the local population was expelled and replaced by ethnic Poles.

Number of inhabitants by year

Famous people

* Sir Trevor Corry (1724–1780), British diplomat, died in Pyritz *

Karl Gützlaff Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff (8 July 1803 – 9 August 1851), anglicised as Charles Gutzlaff, was a German Lutheran missionary to the Far East, notable as one of the first Protestant missionaries in Bangkok, Thailand (1828) and in Korea (1 ...

(1803–1851), a German Lutheran missionary to the Far East * Salomon Neumann (1819–1908), surgeon and founder of "Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums" (Berlin) * August Munckel (1837–1903), German politician * Gustav Jacobsthal (1845–1912), composer and full-time professor of historical musicology *

Gustav Hirschfeld Gustav Hirschfeld (4 November 1847, Pyritz – 10 April 1895, Wiesbaden) was a German classical archaeologist. He was the great-uncle of Walter Benjamin. Life Born into a Jewish merchant family,Jonathan M. Hess, ''Middlebrow Literature and the ...

(1847–1895), a German classical archaeologist *

Otto Gerstenberg Otto Gerstenberg (11 September 1848 – 24 April 1935) was a German entrepreneur, mathematician and an early 20th-century Berlin art collector. Life In his childhood Gerstenberg lived in Pyritz. Gerstenberg studied mathematics and philosoph ...

(1848-1935), a German businessman, mathematician and art collector *

Otto Hintze Otto Hintze (August 27, 1861 – April 25, 1940) was a German historian of public administration. He was Professor of Political, Constitutional, Administrative and Economic History at the University of Berlin. Influenced by Ernst Troeltsch and Max ...

(1861–1940), a German historian of public administration * Margarete Neumann (1917–2002), a German writer and lyrical poet *

Danuta Bartoszek Danuta Bartoszek (born 19 August 1961 in Pyrzyce, Poland) is a former long-distance runner. Originally from Poland, Bartoszek represented Canada at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. At Atlanta, the resident of Mississauga Miss ...

(born 1961), a former long-distance runner; competed for Canada at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

* Paweł Januszewski (born 1972), a retired hurdler, represented Poland in the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

* Magda Toeters (born 1986), a Dutch swimmer, won silver at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

Twin towns

External links

Official city website

Satellite photo from Google Maps

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Pyrzyce County