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 populou ...

. 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 ...

(since 1999), which was previously located in Szczecin Voivodeship (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 the oldest church was built in 1250, an Augustinian cloister in 1256 and a monastery of the Franciscan order in 1281. In 1263 the town received Magdeburg law. 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 Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

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, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

, 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-Prussian province of Pomerania following the Peace of Westphalia (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. 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 ...

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 opposing ...

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, afte ...

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 (1847–1895), a German classical archaeologist * Otto Gerstenberg (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, Ontario fi ...

(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 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 ...

* 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