Sterławki Wielkie (german: Groß Stürlack) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the administrative district of

Gmina Ryn __NOTOC__ Gmina Ryn is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Giżycko County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. Its seat is the town of Ryn, which lies approximately south-west of Giżycko and east of the regional cap ...

, within

Giżycko County __NOTOC__ Giżycko County ( pl, powiat giżycki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999, as a result of the Polish local governme ...

Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship or Warmia-Masuria Province or Warmia-Mazury Province (in pl, Województwo warmińsko-mazurskie, is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn. The voivodeship has an are ...

, in northeastern Poland. It lies approximately 10 km (6 mi.) north of

Ryn Ryn (german: Rhein) is a town in northeastern Poland located 19 km southwest of Giżycko, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in Masuria. Until the reorganization of 1999 it had been assigned to Suwałki Voivodeship. It had a population of ...

, 12 km (7 mi.) west of

Giżycko Giżycko (former pl, Lec or ''Łuczany''; ; lt, Leičių pilis) is a town in northeastern Poland with 28,597 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is situated between Lake Kisajno and Lake Niegocin in the region of Masuria, and has been within ...

and 76 km (47 mi.) east of the regional capital,

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

History

Groß Stürlack was founded in 1387 by the

Teutonic Knights 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 ...

(German Order). The town was burned down during an invasion of East Prussia by the

Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...

in 1656, but was recovered by the Germans in 1661. By 1811 Groß Stürlack was a village numbering 48 houses with a population of 411. In 1874 it became a German administrative town (''Amtsdorf'') belonging to the district of Lötzen (now

, Poland), which it remained until the border changes of 1945. In 1910, four years before the outbreak of

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 ...

, Groß Stürlack was home to 877 residents. After the war, on July 11, 1920, the

East Prussian plebiscite The East Prussian plebiscite (german: Abstimmung in Ostpreußen), also known as the Allenstein and Marienwerder plebiscite or Warmia, Masuria and Powiśle plebiscite ( pl, Plebiscyt na Warmii, Mazurach i Powiślu), was a plebiscite organised in a ...

, mandated by the

Versailles Treaty 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 ...

, was held in the District of

Allenstein Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

(now Olzstyn). District-wide results were 1,480 votes for Germany and 1 (one) vote for Poland. In Groß Stürlack, 700 votes were cast for remaining in Germany, none for joining Poland. Eight years later, the neighboring village of Adlig Stürlack (Polish: ''Sterławki Szlacheckie'') was annexed to Groß Stürlack, and by 1933 the town's population had risen to 941. After World War II, southern East Prussia was assigned to Poland under border changes promulgated at the

Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Pe ...

in July-August 1945. The name Groß Stürlack was rendered in Polish as Sterławki Wielkie, remaining German residents were expelled, and Polish settlers eventually replaced them. Sterławki Wielkie has been part of the Polish

since 1988.

Notable residents

Rudolf Nadolny Rudolf Nadolny (12 July 1873 – 18 May 1953) was a military intelligence officer under German Foreign Office cover. During the First World War, he worked in a branch of the German General Staff that experimented in biological warfare. He was the ...

(1873-1953), German diplomat *

Heinz-Günter Wittmann Heinz-Günter Wittmann (1 January 1927 – 31 March 1990) was a German biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study ...

(1927–1990), German biochemist

References

Villages in Giżycko County {{Giżycko-geo-stub