Trzcińsko-Zdrój (german: Bad Schönfließ; csb, Szénflét) is a town in

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

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 ...

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 ...

, with 2,591 inhabitants (2005). It is also the centre of an urban-rural municipality with the same name, an area of about 170 km², and about 5700 inhabitants (2010).

History

Brama Chojeńska w Trzcińsku Zdroju - panoramio

The town probably originated from a Pomeranian settlement at an important trading route between

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

and the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

and has been a commercial centre ever since. In 1248 the settlement was known as ''Sconenvlete''. Shortly after, the area came under the jurisdiction of the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out o ...

. The merchant's house, built in the town centre in the 13th century, soon became the town hall. In 1281 the town was recorded as ''Schowenfliet'' which later changed into the High German ''Schönfliess''. In the 14th century the town gained additional rights such as the one to a free market and the exemption from customs within the New March. From 1373 the town was part of the

Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of B ...

, ruled by the

Luxembourg dynasty The House of Luxembourg ( lb, D'Lëtzebuerger Haus; french: Maison de Luxembourg; german: Haus Luxemburg) or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as king ...

. In 1402, the Luxembourgs reached an agreement with

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. Poland was to buy and re-incorporate the town and its surroundings, but eventually the Luxembourgs sold it to 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 ...

, whose rule lasted until 1454. It was burned down in 1433 during the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

. Margrave John of Custrin, who took over the area in 1538, introduced the teachings of the Protestant

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 ...

. 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 ...

Schönfliess suffered major damage during occupations by the Imperial army in 1627 and by the troops of

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...

in 1630, and was burned down by

Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

's troops in 1634. After the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, economic development accelerated, and with the growth of the town, extra gates were broken into the old fortifications, parts of which were removed. Large parts of the town walls with several towers and two gates still exist to this day.

Mud bath A mud bath is a bath of mud, commonly found in areas where hot spring water can combine with volcanic ash. Mud baths have a long history that dates back thousands of years. Mud baths are conceived as public bathing spaces created in open areas ...

s opened in Schönfliess in the late 19th century, and the town became a health resort and gained the official title ''Bad'' in 1907. Until 1945 the town was part of Germany. After

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 ...

, it became part of Poland, and its German-speaking population was forced to leave their hometown. The town was renamed to ''Trzcińsko-Zdrój''. The spa closed in 1948 and was relocated to

Połczyn-Zdrój Połczyn-Zdrój (; formerly german: Bad Polzin) is a town in Świdwin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 11,153 inhabitants (2007). It is located in the historic region of Pomerania. History Połczyn-Zdrój dates back to an ear ...

, necessitated by the establishment of a Soviet airfield in nearby

Chojna Chojna (german: Königsberg in der Neumark; csb, Czińsbarg; la, Regiomontanus Neomarchicus "King's Mountain in the New March") is a small town in northwestern Poland in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It lies approximately south of Szczeci ...

Notable residents

Paul Billerbeck Paul Billerbeck (4 April 1853 – 23 December 1932) was a Lutheran minister and scholar of Judaism, best known for his ''Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash'' (German, 1926) co-written with Hermann Strack. Billerbeck was b ...

(1853–1932), German Lutheran minister and scholar * Max Kahlow (1894-?), German

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 ...

flying ace

References

External links

Official town webpage
Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Trzcinsko Zdroj Spa towns in Poland {{Gryfino-geo-stub