Biskupiec (german: Bischofsburg, ) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in northern

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 ...

, in

Warmia Warmia ( pl, Warmia; Latin: ''Varmia'', ''Warmia''; ; Warmian: ''Warńija''; lt, Varmė; Old Prussian: ''Wārmi'') is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capital ...

, in the

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 ar ...

. It is located in

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

and, as of December 2021, it has a population of 10,496. The countryside surrounding Biskupiec is a popular tourist destination, part of the

Masurian Lake District The Masurian Lake District or Masurian Lakeland ( pl, Pojezierze Mazurskie; german: Masurische Seenplatte) is a lake district in northeastern Poland within the geographical region of Masuria, in the past inhabited by Masurians who spoke the Masu ...

History

The town's name derived from the Prince-Bishops of Warmia, who had a castle built in the southeastern outskirts of their realm on the ''Dymer'' creek in the late 14th century. The fortress was first mentioned in a 1389 deed, the settlement that had developed nearby received

town privileges 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 traditio ...

according to

Kulm law Kulm law, Culm law or Chełmno Law (german: Kulmer Recht; lat, Jus Culmense vetus; pl, Prawo chełmińskie) was a legal constitution for a municipal form of government used in several Central European cities during the Middle Ages. It was initia ...

by Bishop Henry III Sorbom in 1395. The town sided with the

Prussian Confederation The Prussian Confederation (german: Preußischer Bund, pl, Związek Pruski) was an organization formed on 21 February 1440 at Kwidzyn (then officially ''Marienwerder'') by a group of 53 nobles and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia (region), Prussi ...

, at the request of which King

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the m ...

signed the act of incorporation of the region to Poland in 1454. The town and castle were devastated during the subsequent

Thirteen Years' War (1454–66) Thirteen Years' War may refer to: *the Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466) between the Prussian Confederation and Poland versus the Teutonic Order state *the Long Turkish War (1593–1606) between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire *the Ru ...

between the rebellious

and the

State of the Teutonic Order The State of the Teutonic Order (german: Staat des Deutschen Ordens, ; la, Civitas Ordinis Theutonici; lt, Vokiečių ordino valstybė; pl, Państwo zakonu krzyżackiego), also called () or (), was a medieval Crusader state, located in Cent ...

, and with Warmia passed to the Lands of the Polish Crown according to the

Second Peace of Thorn The Peace of Thorn or Toruń of 1466, also known as the Second Peace of Thorn or Toruń ( pl, drugi pokój toruński; german: Zweiter Friede von Thorn), was a peace treaty signed in the Hanseatic city of Thorn (Toruń) on 19 October 1466 betwe ...

in 1466.

Again demolished during the

Polish–Teutonic War (1519–21) Polish–Teutonic War may refer to: *Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk) (1308–1309) *Polish–Teutonic War (1326–1332) over Pomerelia, concluded by the Treaty of Kalisz (1343) *the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War or ''Great War'' (1409 ...

, the

Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629) The Polish–Swedish War of 1626–1629 was the fourth stage (after 1600–1611, 1617–1618, and 1620–1625) in a series of conflicts between Sweden and Poland fought in the 17th century. It began in 1626 and ended four years later with ...

and the Second Northern War (1655–1660), the development of the town was often hampered not only by warfare, but also by blazes, plague and famine. With the First Partition of Poland in 1772, ''Bischofsburg'' was annexed by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

and a year later incorporated into the newly established

Province of East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871 ...

. The town's population was overwhelmingly Polish. According to the 1797 report of the local priest, of the 200 children attending religious education, only 20 were learning German. From 1862 until 1945, it was the seat of ''Landkreis Rößel'' (Reszel district), from 1871 part of the German Empire. In 1882, in response to the Germanisation attempts of the authorities, a Polish library was established in the town. According to the 1897 data, 75% of children in the district, as well as in the whole southern Warmia region, spoke Polish. After the German defeat in

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 ...

the 1920

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 ...

held in the town resulted in 3461 against 52 votes cast for Germany. ''Bischofsburg'' was again 50% destroyed during the East Prussian Offensive of the

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 ...

in the late days 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 ...

. In 1945 the town was transferred, along with all of

, to Poland according to the resolutions 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 P ...

. Its remaining German population was expelled and the name changed to the historic pl, Biskupiec. Despite its numerous devastations, the medieval city's layout has been largely preserved. The town's landmark is its 16th century

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

Church dedicated to Saint

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

(''Kościół p.w. św. Jana Chrzciciela''), erected from 1505 onwards on the behest of Prince-Bishop

Lucas Watzenrode Lucas Watzenrode the Younger (sometimes ''Watzelrode'' and ''Waisselrod''; german: Lucas Watzenrode der Jüngere; pl, Łukasz Watzenrode; 30 October 1447 – 29 March 1512) was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland) and patron to his nephew, ast ...

and consecrated in 1580 by Prince-Bishop

Marcin Kromer Marcin Kromer (Latin: ''Martinus Cromerus''; 11 November 1512 – 23 March 1589) was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland), a Polish cartographer, diplomat and historian in the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. H ...

Gallery

Biskupiec, ul. Pionierów 6 (ratusz).jpg, Former town hall Biskupiec, Plac Wolności 8 (kamienica).jpg, Old townhouse at the Freedom Square Biskupiec, Plac Wolności 6 (kamienica).jpg, Art Nouveau townhouse at the Freedom Square Kamieniczka, ul. Pionierów 22.JPG, One of the narrowest townhouses in Biskupiec Budynek I LO, ul. Chrobrego 13.JPG, High school

Notable people

* Henry Axel Bueck (1830-1916), politician * Alfred Lublin (1895–1956), German scientist * Hans-Joachim Mack (1928-2008), general,

Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is ...

William Michaelis William Otto Ernst Michaelis (19 July 1871 – 5 January 1948) was a German viceadmiral and head of the Naval Command within the Ministry of the Reichswehr in the Weimar Republic. Biography Michaelis was born in Bischofsburg, East Pruss ...

(1871–1948), viceadmiral * (1796–1869), Polish orientalist and translator * Ellen Tiedtke (1930–2022), German actress *

Hans Woellke Hans-Otto Woellke (18 February 1911 – 22 March 1943) was a German shot putter, who won a gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1938 European Championships. Woellke served with the Order Police. During World War I ...

(1911–1943), athlete and

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

captain * (1894–1940), Polish doctor and officer,

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

victim

International relations

Twin towns - sister cities

Biskupiec is twinned with: *

Bramsche Bramsche is a town in the district of Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is about north of Osnabrück, at . Population is 30,952 (2018). Subdivisions In 1971/72 12 previously independent municipalities were included into the town. *Achmer *B ...

, Germany

References

External links

Official website

Bischofsburg.de - about pre-1945 history

Statistics of inhabitants, birth, marriage, death from 1643

Jewish community of Biskupiec
on

Virtual Shtetl The Virtual Shtetl ( pl, Wirtualny Sztetl) is a bilingual Polish-English portal of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, devoted to the Jewish history of Poland. History The Virtual Shtetl website was officially launched on June ...

{{Authority control 14th-century establishments in Poland Cities and towns in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Olsztyn County