Lidzbark Warmiński (; german: Heilsberg, ), often shortened to Lidzbark, is a historical town located 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 ...

, 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 ...

. It is the capital of

Lidzbark County __NOTOC__ Lidzbark County ( pl, powiat lidzbarski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Its administrative seat and largest town is Lidzbark Warmiński, which lies ...

. Lidzbark Warmiński was once the capital of

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 ...

and formerly its largest town. Lidzbark itself was a religious and cultural center, for which it was known as the ''Pearl of Warmia''. For a long period of time it was under the control of the Warmian Bishops and it was also a major economic center, only resigning its importance to the nearby city of

Braniewo Braniewo () (german: Braunsberg in Ostpreußen, la, Brunsberga, Old Prussian: ''Brus'', lt, Prūsa), is a town in northern Poland, in Warmia, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 16,907 as of June 2021. It is the capital ...

. The Warmian Bishop's Castle is considered to be a great artistic and historical value in the world and has been recognised as a

Historic Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

by the Polish government.

History

The town was originally a settlement of

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 ...

known as ''Lecbarg'' until being conquered in 1240 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 o ...

, who named it Heilsberg. In 1306 it became the seat for the Bishopric of Warmia, and remained the Prince-Bishop's seat for 500 years. In 1309 the settlement 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 ...

. In the 1350s the Castle of Warmian Bishops was built, and it was expanded in the following centuries, becoming one of the most significant and remarkable historic monuments of Warmia, which nowadays houses a museum and is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland. In 1440 the town joined the anti-Teutonic

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 ...

, upon the request of which 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 and town to the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

. This caused the Polish–Teutonic Thirteen Years' War, as a result of which in the Second Peace of Thorn (1466) 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 ...

ended its claim to the area and recognized it as part of Poland.Górski, p. 99 It was the capital of the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia in the Polish province of Royal Prussia in the larger

Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown Greater Poland Province ( pl, Prowincja Wielkopolska) was an administrative division of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1569 until 1795. The name of the province comes from the historic land of Greater Poland. The Greater Poland Province c ...

Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulat ...

first visited the town at the turn of 1495 and 1496, and then lived at the castle from 1503. It is believed he wrote part of his ''

De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ''De revolutionibus orbium coelestium'' (English translation: ''On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres'') is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) of the Polish Renaissance. The book, ...

'' there. In the winter of 1703–04 the town was the residence of King

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of ...

during the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swe ...

. In the mid-18th century a manuscript of the ''

Gesta principum Polonorum The ''Gesta principum Polonorum'' (; "''Deeds of the Princes of the Poles''") is the oldest known medieval chronicle documenting the history of Poland from the legendary times until 1113. Written in Latin by an anonymous author, it was most lik ...

'', the oldest

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Polish chronicle was discovered in the castle by Prince-Bishop Adam Stanisław Grabowski, by whose decision it was then published in print for the first time. The town was annexed with the rest of the region 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. The town ceased to be the capital of the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, which was disestablished, however it remained the seat of the last Prince-Bishop Ignacy Krasicki until 1795, and afterwards the town lost its cultural significance, which it has not regained since. In 1807 a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

took place near the town between the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

under

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

and

Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in Fren ...

and the

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

and Prussians under Levin August, count von Bennigsen. From 1933 to 1945 it was the site of the large German government radio station Transmitter Heilsberg. The town was heavily damaged after its conquest by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 ...

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 ...

in 1945. As part of territorial changes demanded 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 ...

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 ...

, the town became once again part of Poland, and was gradually resettled 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 ...

, many of them from the parts of eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union.

Geography

* Elma river, a tributary of the Łyna River near Lidzbark Warmiński

Sights

The main landmark of Lidzbark Warmiński is the

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 ...

Castle of Warmian Bishops with adjacent fortifications, towers and the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

Grabowski Palace. Other sights include: *Baroque- Neoclassical Krasicki Orangery (''Oranżeria Krasickiego'') *Gothic Collegiate church of Saints Peter and Paul *Medieval town walls and High Gate (''Brama Wysoka'') *Baroque Exaltation of the Holy Cross church *Town hall *Monument of Ignacy Krasicki

Education

Colleges * Wszechnica Warmińska - non-state college founded on 20th November 2003 High schools * Comprehensive Schools im. Kazimierza Jagiellończyka * Trade Schools im. Stanisława Staszica * Farmer School * Catholic High School Primary schools * Primary School No. 1 im. Mikołaja Kopernika * Primary School No. 3 im. Ignacego Krasickiego * Primary School No. 4 im. Jana Pawła II Music schools * National Music School I Level Kindergartens * Non-Public Kindergarten "Kubuś" * Non-Public Kindergarten "Miś" * Non-Public Kindergarten "Puchatek" * Public Kindergarten No. 5 * Public Kindergarten No. 6 Other educational institutions * Youth Educational Centre im. Marii Grzegorzewskiej * Psychological and Pedagogical Counseling Centre * Special School and Educational Centre

Sports

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.

Twin towns – sister cities

Lidzbark Warmiński is twinned with: *

Oud-Beijerland Oud-Beijerland () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, now a part of the Hoeksche Waard municipality. With a population of 24,575 in 2020, it is the most populous town of the Hoeksche Waar ...

, Netherlands (1992) *

Milanówek Milanówek is a town and a seat of a separate commune in Poland. Located next to the Grodzisk Mazowiecki County near Warsaw, it is often considered an outlying suburb of the capital of Poland but is in fact an independent entity administrative ...

, Poland (2001) * Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia (2001) * Werlte, Germany (2005)

Notable people

* Mauritius Ferber (1471–1537), member of the patrician Ferber family and Roman Catholic Prince- Bishop of Warmia *

(1473–1547), famous astronomer, mathematician, physician, and canon *

Stanislaus Hosius Stanislaus Hosius ( pl, Stanisław Hozjusz; 5 May 1504 – 5 August 1579) was a Polish Roman Catholic cardinal. From 1551 he was the Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Warmia in Royal Prussia and from 1558 he served as the papal legate to the H ...

(Stanisław Hozjusz) (1504–1579), Polish Roman Catholic cardinal, Prince- Bishop of Warmia * John Albert Vasa (Jan Albert Waza) (1612–1634), Polish

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

, cardinal, Prince-Bishop of Warmia and

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

, *

Teodor Andrzej Potocki Teodor Andrzej Potocki (13 February 1664 – 12 December 1738) was a Polish nobleman ( szlachcic), Primate of Poland, interrex in 1733. Teodor was Rector of Przemyśl and canon of Kraków since 1687, Bishop of Chełmno since 1699 and Bish ...

(1664–1738), Prince-Bishop of Warmia,

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...

of Poland, interrex in 1733 * (ca. 1732–ca. 1780), Polish painter and draughtsman * Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801), Prince-Bishop of Warmia, Primate of Poland, leading Polish Enlightenment poet * Ernst Burchard (1876–1920), doctor and scientist * Dorothee Rätsch (born 1940), German sculptor and graphic artist * Andrzej Rozbicki (born 1948), Polish-Canadian conductor and music educator * Zbigniew Mikołejko (born 1951), Polish philosopher and historian of religion, essayist *

Tadeusz Płoski Tadeusz Płoski (9 March 1956 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish military bishop and Major General. He was born in Lidzbark Warmiński. He was appointed the Military Ordinary of the Polish Armed Forces, by Pope John Paul II on 16 October 2004. He was ...

(1956–2010),

Military Ordinariate of Poland The Military Ordinariate of Poland ( pl, Ordynariat Polowy Wojska Polskiego) is a military ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church. Immediately subject to the Holy See, it provides pastoral care to Roman Catholics serving in the Polish Armed For ...

, victim of the

Smolensk air disaster On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft operating Polish Air Force Flight 101 crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing all 96 people on board. Among the victims were the president of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, and his wife, Mar ...

* Marek Mikulski (born 1981), Polish Olympic wrestler * Dawid Szymonowicz (born 1995), Polish footballer

References

External links

* *
Map of Warmia Catholic Diocese in 1755
* https://web.archive.org/web/20171010080701/https://www.heilsberg.org/ (in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lidzbark Warminski Populated places established in the 13th century Cities and towns in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Lidzbark County