Otyń (german: Deutsch-Wartenberg) is a town in western

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 ...

, located in the

Nowa Sól County __NOTOC__ Nowa Sól County ( pl, powiat nowosolski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lubusz Voivodeship, western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government refor ...

Lubusz Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship, or Lubuskie Province ( pl, województwo lubuskie ), is a voivodeship (province) in western Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra Voivodeships, pursuant to the Po ...

. As of 2019 it has 1,615 inhabitants. It lies approximately north of

Nowa Sól Nowa Sól is a city on the Oder River in Lubusz Voivodeship, western Poland. It is the capital of Nowa Sól County and had a population of 38,763 (2019). History The first settlement in the region of modern Nowa Sól dates to the 14th century, w ...

and south-east of

Zielona Góra Zielona Góra is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (2021). Zielona Góra has a favourable geographical position, being close to the Polish-German border and on several international road ...

History

Otyń was mentioned in 1313. Otyń was located under Polish law, it belonged to the Polish

Duchy of Głogów The Duchy of Głogów ( pl, Księstwo głogowskie, cs, Hlohovské knížectví) or Duchy of Glogau (german: Herzogtum Glogau) was one of the Duchies of Silesia ruled by the Silesian Piasts. Its capital was Głogów in Lower Silesia. History In ...

under the Piast dynasty. Since the late

Middle Ages 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 ...

, the town has changed owners many times, it was even the object of armed conflicts. It suffered during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

, when it was occupied by different armies. It did not have defensive walls, which ironically saved it from serious damage, because there was no need to

besiege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterize ...

or storm it. Protestants were oppressed during the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

occupation and Catholics were oppressed during the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

occupation. Ultimately,

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

reigned in the city after the war. Schloss Deutsch-Wartenberg Sammlung Duncker

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 ...

palace and church of Otyń were a property of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

from 1661 until its suppression in 1776, Duke

Peter von Biron Peter von Biron (15 February 1724 – 13 January 1800) was the last Duke of Courland and Semigallia, from 1769 to 1795. Life and reign Peter was born in Jelgava (german: Mitau) as the oldest son of Ernst Johann von Biron, future Duke of Cou ...

of Courland and Semigallia bought it in 1787 and called the place ''Deutsch-Wartenberg'' to distinguish it from his estates in

Syców Syców (german: Groß Wartenberg, until 1888 ''Polnisch Wartenberg'') is a town in Oleśnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Syców and part of the l ...

(german: Groß-Wartenberg). After his death in 1800 his daughter

Dorothea Dorothea (also spelled Dorothée, Dorotea or other variants) is a female given name from Greek (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift". It may refer to: People * Dorothea Binz (1920–1947), German concentration camp officer executed for war cr ...

inherited Otyń, her children sold one part to the former

Prussian 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 ...

minister

Karl Rudolf Friedenthal Karl Rudolf Friedenthal (15 September 1827 – 7 March 1890) was a Prussian statesman. Friedenthal was born in Breslau (Wrocław), Prussian Silesia, as a nephew of Markus Bär Friedenthal, the author, and later became a convert to Chris ...

in 1879, while the other part went to the Radziwiłł family and later to the

House of Czartoryski The House of Czartoryski (feminine form: Czartoryska, plural: Czartoryscy; lt, Čartoriskiai) is a Polish princely family of Lithuanian- Ruthenian origin, also known as the Familia. The family, which derived their kin from the Gediminids dyna ...

. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the town was a pilgrimage destination for Catholics from both

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...

and Greater Poland. 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Germans imprisoned Polish forced laborers in the town. In the autumn of 1944, both residents and forced laborers were directed by the Germans to fortification works on the Oder river.

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Otyń.

References

External links

Gallery of old photosCatholic parish page
Cities and towns in Lubusz Voivodeship Nowa Sól County {{NowaSól-geo-stub