Skępe is a town in

Lipno County __NOTOC__ Lipno County ( pl, powiat lipnowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It was formed on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local governm ...

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as Cuiavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship or simply Kujawsko-Pomorskie, or Kujawy-Pomerania Province ( pl, województwo kujawsko-pomorskie ) is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divide ...

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 ...

, with 7790 inhabitants (2012). It is the main sanctuary of

Dobrzyń Land Dobrzyń Land ( pl, ziemia dobrzyńska) is a historical region in central-northern Poland. It lies northeast of the Vistula River, south of the Drwęca, and west of the Skrwa. The territory approximately corresponds with the present-day powiats ...

, with image of Our Lady crowned officially in 1755.

History

Skępe developed from a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Slavic stronghold. It was granted

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1445 by King

Casimir IV of Poland Casimir is classically an English, French and Latin form of the Polish name Kazimierz. Feminine forms are Casimira and Kazimiera. It means "proclaimer (from ''kazać'' to preach) of peace (''mir'')." List of variations *Belarusian: Казі ...

. In 1498 the Bernardines came to Skępe from

Koło Koło (; during the German occupation called ''Wartbrücken'' in 1940–41, ''Warthbrücken'' in 1941–45) is a town on the Warta River in central Poland with 23,101 inhabitants (2006). It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship (since 199 ...

and a monastery was built, with the Church of the Annunciation. Skępe was a

private town A private town is a town owned by a private person or a family. History of Private Towns in Poland In the history of Poland, private towns (''miasta prywatne'') were towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights, princes, etc. ...

of Polish nobility, administratively located in the

Inowrocław Voivodeship Inowrocław Voivodeship ( pl, województwo inowrocławskie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the First Partition of Poland in 1772. Together with the neighbouring Brześć Kujawski Voiv ...

in the

Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown , subdivision = Province , nation = Poland , year_start = , event_end = Third Partition of Poland , year_end = , image_map = Prowincje I RP.svg , image_map_capt ...

. The coat of arms of Skępe contains the

Ogończyk coat of arms Ogończyk is a Polish heraldry, Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. History Although the coat of arms was f ...

of the Kościelecki noble family, which was essential in the town's development in the 15th century. Two, and from 1530 three, annual fairs were held in Skępe. The town 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 ...

in the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition occurred in the aftermath of the Polish–Russian W ...

in 1793. In 1807 it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

, and in 1815 it became part of so-called Congress Poland in the

Russian Partition The Russian Partition ( pl, zabór rosyjski), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Po ...

of Poland. After the unsuccessful Polish January Uprising, the Russians closed down the monastery and church in 1864. Skępe was reintegrated with Poland in 1918, when the country regained independence after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...

, the Soviets captured the town on 13–14 August 1920, and then briefly occupied it. The Soviets looted the monastery and tortured the local Polish parish priest Albin Żmijewski. 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 ...

, Skępe was occupied by Germany from 1939 to 1945. During the ''

Intelligenzaktion The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders which was committed against the Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) early in the ...

'' in 1939, many inhabitants were murdered in large massacres carried out by the Germans in the Barbarka forest in present-day

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

and in nearby Karnkowo. Arrested Polish teachers were imprisoned in

Włocławek Włocławek (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Leslau) is a city located in central Poland along the Vistula (Wisła) River and is bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park. As of December 2021, the population of the city is 106,928. Loc ...

.Wardzyńska, p. 176 The occupiers also carried out expulsions of Poles, whose houses were handed over to

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 **Ge ...

colonists as part of the ''

Lebensraum (, ''living space'') is a German concept of settler colonialism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' became a geopolitical goal of Imper ...

'' policy. In 1942, the Germans renamed the town to ''Schemmensee'' to erase traces of Polish origin, however the original Polish name was restored in 1945 after the occupation ended.

Gallery

Poland. Skępe 009.jpg, Wielkie Lake Skępe, zespół klasztorny.jpg, Bernardine Monastery Skępe, kościół Zwiastowania NMP (5).jpg, Interior of the Church of the Annunciation Zajazd Pod Kasztanami w Skępem1 N. Chylińska.JPG, ''Pod Kasztanami'' Inn

References

Cities and towns in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Lipno County Płock Governorate Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939) Pomeranian Voivodeship (1919–1939) {{Lipno-geo-stub