Czarnków (german: Scharnikau, before 1939: Czarnikau) is a town in

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 ...

Czarnków-Trzcianka County __NOTOC__ Czarnków-Trzcianka County ( pl, powiat czarnkowsko-trzcianecki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result ...

Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo wielkopolskie; ), also known as Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Wielkopolska Province, or Greater Poland Province, is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 ...

. As of December 2021, the town has 10,279 inhabitants. The town lies on the

Noteć Noteć (; , ) is a river in central Poland with a length of (7th longest) and a basin area of .

History

The area was included within the emerging Polish state in the 10th century by its first historic ruler

Mieszko I of Poland Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was the first ruler of Poland and the founder of the first independent Polish state, the Duchy of Poland. His reign stretched from 960 to his death and he was a member of the Piast dynasty, a son of Siemomysł and a ...

. An early Polish

stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...

and settlement were founded in the 10th century. In the early 12th century, it was a stronghold of pagan Pomeranians, ruled by local Pomeranian ruler Gniewomir. It was reconquered by Polish Duke

Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth ( pl, Bolesław III Krzywousty; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between ...

in 1108, and shortly after it was noted for the first time in the early 12th century '' Gesta principum Polonorum'' by

Gallus Anonymus ''Gallus Anonymus'' ( Polonized variant: ''Gall '') is the name traditionally given to the anonymous author of ''Gesta principum Polonorum'' (Deeds of the Princes of the Poles), composed in Latin between 1112 and 1118. ''Gallus'' is generally rega ...

, the oldest Polish chronicle. Czarnków developed at the intersection of trade routes connecting

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 Joh ...

with

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 ...

and

Wieleń Wieleń (german: Filehne) is a town in Czarnków-Trzcianka County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland. It is situated on the river Noteć. History Part of Poland since the Middle Ages, Duke Władysław Odonic of Greater Poland brought the Ci ...

with

Nakło nad Notecią Nakło nad Notecią (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Nakel an der Netze) is a town in northern Poland on the river Noteć with 23,687 inhabitants (2007). It is the seat of Nakło County, and also of Gmina Nakło nad Notecią, situated in the Kuya ...

. During the fragmentation of

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branche ...

-ruled Poland it formed part of the

Duchy of Greater Poland The Duchy of Greater Poland was a district principality in Greater Poland that was a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Poland. It was formed in 1138 from the territories of the Kingdom of Poland, following its fragmentation started by the testament of ...

, and afterwards, it was made 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. ...

, administratively located in the Poznań County in the

Poznań Voivodeship Poznań Voivodeship was the name of several former administrative regions (''województwo'', rendered as ''voivodeship'' and usually translated as "province") in Poland, centered on the city of Poznań, although the exact boundaries changed over t ...

in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. From 1244 until 1407 Czarnków was the seat of a castellany. In the late 13th century Polish monarch

Władysław I Łokietek Władysław I Łokietek, in English known as the "Elbow-high" or Ladislaus the Short (c. 1260/12 March 1333), was King of Poland from 1320 to 1333, and duke of several of the provinces and principalities in the preceding years. He was a member of ...

granted Czarnków to the Polish noble family of Nałęcz, which then changed its name to Czarnkowski after the town. The Czarnkowski family built a new castle (first time noted in 1331 and destroyed at the end of the 17th century) and established

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 ...

before 1369. Czarnków remained a

of the Czarnkowski family until the mid-17th century, and the family's Nałęcz coat of arms remains the town's coat of arms to this day. In the 16th (or 15th) century the family erected the Gothic Saint Mary Magdalene church, which became its official burial site, and it is the most distinctive historic landmark of the town. Afterwards, the town was owned by the Polish families of Grzymułtowski, Gembicki, Naramowski, Poniatowski, Świniarski. In the 17th century Protestant refugees from

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

settled in the town and helped develop its cloth industry. The town 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''. ...

in the First Partition of Poland in 1772. It was regained by Poles in 1807 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 ...

, in 1815 it was reannexed by Prussia, and from 1871 to 1919 it also formed part of

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 ...

. Poland 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 ...

in 1918, and during the

Greater Poland uprising (1918–19) Greater Poland Uprising (also Wielkopolska Uprising or Great Poland Uprising) may refer to a number of armed rebellions in the region of Greater Poland: * Greater Poland Uprising (1794) * Greater Poland Uprising (1806) * Greater Poland Uprising (1 ...

the town was recaptured by Polish insurgents. 21 Polish insurgents died in battle in Czarnków. Afterwards it was divided by the new German-Polish border. The western part of the town remained within

Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is als ...

and was renamed ''Deutsch Czarnikau'' in 1920 and ''Scharnikau'' in 1937, while Polish Czarnków became a county seat within the

. During the German occupation (

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 November 1939, the Germans murdered many inhabitants of Czarnków during large massacres of

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

carried out in as part of 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 August 1944, the Germans carried out mass arrests of local members of the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) est ...

, the leading Polish underground resistance organization. Czarnków was eventually liberated in January 1945, and then restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the

Fall of Communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

in the 1980s. From 1975 to 1998, the town was administratively located in the Piła Voivodeship. In August 1980, employees of local factories joined the nationwide anti-communist strikes, which led to the foundation of the Solidarity organization, which played a central role at the end of communist rule in Poland.

Historic architecture and tourist sights

* medieval layout of the town * Gothic

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

of Saint Mary Magdalene with rich

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

and Baroque interior * ''Plac Wolności'' (Liberty Square), the town's main square filled with historic townhouses * 19th-century Eclectic town hall * '' Muzeum Ziemi Czarnkowskiej'', local historic, archaeological and ethnographic museum * Neoclassical Świniarski Manor * County Office * old brewery * 18-19th-century houses * ''Park Miejski im. Stanisława Staszica'' (Stanisław Staszic City Park) with the only

ski jump Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

in the Polish Lowlands * Marina on the Noteć river * remnants of a 19th-century Jewish

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

Culture

Czarnków is a brewing center with traditions dating back to the 16th century. The local Noteckie beer is an officially protected traditional beverage, as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland.

Notable people

* Wilfried Erdmann (born 1940), sailor *

Jan of Czarnków Jan(ko) of Czarnków ( pl, Jan(ko) z Czarnkowa) (ca. 1320–1387), of Nałęcz coat of arms, was a Polish chronicler, Deputy Chancellor of the Crown and Archdeacon of Gniezno. He started his career as a diplomat in service of one of Polish bish ...

, Polish 14th-century chronicler and Deputy Chancellor of the Crown * Ada von Maltzahn (Ada von Gersdorff) (1854–1922), German novelist * Wincenty Niałek, 13th-century archbishop of Gniezno * Milena Olszewska (born 1984), Polish archer * Frieda Riess (1890–c. 1955), photographer * Reinhold Sadler (1848–1906), former

Governor of Nevada A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

* (1903–1987), Polish painter and professor of the

Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków ( pl, Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Jana Matejki w Krakowie, usually abbreviated to ''ASP''), is a public institution of higher education located in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It is the oldest Pol ...

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 ...

* Adam Słodowy (1923–2019), Polish author and TV host

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Czarnków is twinned with: *

Coevorden Coevorden (; nds-nl, Koevern) is a city and municipality in the province of Drenthe, Netherlands. During the 1998 municipal reorganisation in the province, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo, retaining its name. In ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

* Gadebusch in

References

Cities and towns in Greater Poland Voivodeship Czarnków-Trzcianka County 10th-century establishments in Poland Populated places established in the 10th century Poznań Voivodeship (1921–1939) {{GreaterPoland-geo-stub