Giżycko (former pl, Lec or ''Łuczany''; ; lt, Leičių pilis) 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 o ...

in northeastern

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 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 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 ...

since 1999, having previously been in the Suwałki Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the seat of Giżycko County. Giżycko is a popular summer tourist destination due to its location within the Masurian Lake District and possesses numerous historical monuments, including a 14th-century Teutonic castle.

History

Antiquity and Middle Ages

The first known settlements in the area of today's Giżycko were recorded in Roman times by Tacitus in his Germania and are connected to

Amber Road The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. ...

in vicinity of which Giżycko was located.History Giżycko City official website
/ref> A defensive settlement of the Baltic Prussians was known to exist in the area, and in IX was recorded as being ruled by king known as Izegup or Jesegup. After his failed attempt in 997 AD

Bolesław I the Brave Bolesław I the Brave ; cs, Boleslav Chrabrý; la, Boleslaus I rex Poloniae (17 June 1025), less often known as Bolesław the Great, was Duke of Poland from 992 to 1025, and the first King of Poland in 1025. He was also Duke of Bohemia betwe ...

sent another expedition in 1008 to conquer/Christianize the

Old Prussians Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians ( Old Prussian: ''prūsai''; german: Pruzzen or ''Prußen''; la, Pruteni; lv, prūši; lt, prūsai; pl, Prusowie; csb, Prësowié) were an indigenous tribe among the Baltic peoples that ...

. Just like St. Adalbert the missionary Bruno of Querfurt was killed by

Sudovians Yotvingians (also called: Sudovians, Jatvians, or Jatvingians; Yotvingian: ''Jotvingai''; lt, Jotvingiai, ; lv, Jātvingi; pl, Jaćwingowie, be, Яцвягі, ger, Sudauer) were a Western Baltic people who were closely tied to the Old Prus ...

near Lake Niegocin in 1009, and a memorial the Bruno – cross was erected near in 1910. 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 o ...

built a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

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 e ...

named Lötzen (''Łuczany'' in Polish, later also ''Lec'') in 1340, located at the

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

between two lakes in today's Masuria. Lötzen was administered within the Komturei of Balga. Since the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Ren ...

, it was mainly populated by

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 ...

from nearby Mazovia, known as Masurians. In 1454, Polish 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 ...

incorporated the region to the Kingdom of Poland upon the request of 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, to oppose the ...

, and after the subsequent outbreak of the Thirteen Years’ War in 1454, Łuczany sided with Poland.''Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich'', Tom V, Warsaw, 1884, p. 113 The settlement was captured by the Teutonic Knights in 1455, but the Poles recaptured it the next year. After the

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surre ...

signed in

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 ...

in 1466 it became part of Poland as a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

held by the Teutonic Order, until the dissolution of the Teutonic state in 1525.

Modern era

The settlement near the castle 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 ...

, with a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

and seal, in 1612, while part of the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...

(under Polish suzerainty until 1701). The first mayor was Paweł Rudzki. The Polish name of the town, used by its overwhelmingly Polish population, at the time was ''Łuczany''. Lötzen became part of 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 1701 and was made part of 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 187 ...

in 1773. In 1709/10 the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

claimed 800 victims, only 119 inhabitants survived.
In the 19th century, a new

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

church based on design by Karl Friedrich Schinkel was erected in the centre of the town. Lötzen became part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

in 1871 during the Prussian-led

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...

. In June 1807, the Polish

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

of generals

Józef Zajączek Prince Józef Zajączek (; 1 November 1752 – 28 August 1826) was a Polish general and politician. Zajączek started his career in the Army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, an aide-de-camp to hetman Franciszek Ksawery Branicki. He ...

and Jan Henryk Dąbrowski were stationed in the town. 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 Fre ...

, the town was hit by fire and famine. King

Frederick William IV of Prussia Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

, during his visit in 1845, was received in the town by 10,000 impoverished people chanting ''Chleba!'' (''Bread!'' in Polish). The King replied to the crowd in Polish as the last Prussian ruler to speak Polish. From 1875 to 1892 the Polish-language weekly newspaper ''Gazeta Lecka'' was published. Twierdza Boyen - 1

In 1844–1848 the Boyen Fortress, a fortress named after the Prussian war-minister Hermann von Boyen, was built on a small landtongue between lake Mamry (Mauersee) and lake Niegocin (Löwentinsee). This fortress is one of the largest and best conditioned fortresses of the 19th century. In 1942–1945 it was the headquarters of the German military intelligence service ( Fremde Heere Ost) under Reinhard Gehlen. As a result of the

treaty of Versailles 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 1 ...

, the 1920 East Prussian plebiscite was organized under the control of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

. During the preparations for the plebiscite, a German militia attacked a pro-Polish rally with around 1,000 people. Speakers and people attending the rally were severely beaten; the main pro-Polish leader of the rally Fryderyk Leyk was beaten so badly that he just barely survived. Afterwards the attitude of Polish population in the town was resigned and part of the population boycotted the vote while others openly voted for Germany fearing revenge;Giżycko: z dziejów miasta i okolic Irena Berentowicz, Andrzej Wakar - 1983 p.126 4,900 votes were cast to remain in East Prussia, and therefore Germany, and none for Poland. Afterwards aggressive

Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In lin ...

was intensified, and during Nazi rule in Germany, there was practical ban on speaking Polish in public places in the town. In the 1930s Lötzen was the garrison of several military units of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

as a Sub-area Headquarter of Wehrkreis I, which was headquartered at

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...

. Staff-, maintenance- and guardtroops of Hitler's headquarter

Wolfsschanze The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ost ...

and the

Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat at ...

(OKH, army high command) were also based in or nearby Lötzen. The OKH was based at the Mauerwald area, ca. 10 km north of Giżycko, an undestroyed bunker system. The town was occupied by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

in 1945 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and placed under Polish administration after the war ended. The German-speaking populace who had not been evacuated during the war were subsequently expelled westward. The remaining Polish populace was joined by Poles displaced from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, particularly from the

Vilnius Region Vilnius Region is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time. The territor ...

. The town was renamed ''Giżycko'' in 1946 in honor of the Masurian folklorist Gustaw Gizewiusz, a 19th-century Evangelical-Lutheran pastor in southern Masuria, who had greatly supported

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In ad ...

and

Polish culture The culture of Poland ( pl, Kultura Polski ) is the product of its geography and distinct historical evolution, which is closely connected to an intricate thousand-year history. Polish culture forms an important part of western civilization and ...

and stood against

of Masuria.

Demographics

Up to the 19th century, the Polish population formed a majority in the city, with a small presence of Germans. By the middle of 19th century German minority became much more numerous and Germanization made rapid progress in the city.

Sports

When Poland made the so far only international appearance in

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

, the city was represented. The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

team is . It competes in the lower leagues.

Education

Primary school

* Szkoła Podstawowa nr 4 im. I Dywizji Piechoty * Szkoła podstawowa nr 5 * Szkoła Podstawowa nr 6 * Szkoła Podstawowa nr 7 im. Janusza Korczaka

Middle school

* Gimnazjum nr 1 w Giżycku im. Jana Pawła II * Gimnazjum nr 2 w Giżycku im. Chwały Oręża Polskiego * Katolickie Gimnazjum im. św. Brunona z Kwerfurtu * Zespół Szkół nr 1 im. Mikołaja Kopernika

High school

* I

Liceum Ogólnokształcące A general education liceum (Polish: ''Liceum ogólnokształcące'' ) is an academic high school in the Polish educational system. They are attended by those who plan to further their academic education upon graduation from szkoła podstawowa (comp ...

im. Wojciecha Kętrzyńskiego * II Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Gustawa Gizewiusza * Zespół Szkół Elektronicznych i Informatycznych im. Komisji Edukacji Narodowej * Zespół Szkół Kształtowania Środowiska i Agrobiznesu * Zespół Szkół Zawodowych * Katolickie Liceum im. św. Brunona z Kwerfurtu

College

* Medyczne Studium Zawodowe im. Hanny Chrzanowskiej * Prywatna Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa

Notable residents

* Marcin Giersz (1808-1895), Masurian activist, publicist of Polish literature * Gustaw Gizewiusz (1810-1848), Polish pastor, folklorist, and translator * Wojciech Kętrzyński (1838–1918), Polish historian and activist * Paul Davidson (1867–1927), German film producer *

Jan Bułhak Jan Brunon Bułhak (1876–1950) was an early 20th century photographer in Poland and present-day Belarus and Lithuania. A published theoretician and philosopher of photography, he was an exponent of pictorialism. He is best known for his landsc ...

(1876–1950), Polish pioneer of photography in Poland *

Franz Pfemfert Franz Pfemfert (20 November 1879, Lötzen, East Prussia (now Giżycko, Poland) – 26 May 1954, Mexico City) was a German journalist, editor of ''Die Aktion'', literary critic, politician and portrait photographer. Pfemfert occasionally wrote u ...

(1879–1954), German publisher * Lothar Gall (born 1936), German historian * Łukasz Broź (born 1985), Polish footballer * Mateusz Broź (born 1988), Polish footballer * Marcin Budziński (born 1990), Polish footballer * Patryk Kun (born 1995), Polish footballer * Jakub Kochanowski (born 1997), Polish volleyball player, 2018 World Champion

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Giżycko is twinned with:

Gallery

File:Bruno of Querfurt Cross in Giżycko.jpg, Bruno of Querfurt Hill and Cross in Giżycko. View from Lake Niegocin File:POL Gizycko Twierdza Boyen 39.jpg, Boyen fortress File:Замок Гижицко.JPG, Swing bridge and the castle File:Giżycko, ul. Kolejowa 22.jpg, Music school File:Kościół ewangelicki w Giżycku.jpg, Evangelical church File:GIŻYCKO. AB-009.JPG, Town hall

References

External links

Municipal website

Tourism website

* ttps://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_hDgOAAAAQAAJ/bub_gb_hDgOAAAAQAAJ_djvu.txtFull text of "Monumenta historiæ Warmiensis, oder, Quellensammlung zur Geschichte Ermlands"
festeboyen.pl
(Polish)
Jewish community of Giżycko
on Virtual Shtetl {{DEFAULTSORT:Gizycko Cities and towns in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Giżycko County