Olecko (former since 1560, colloquially also , since 1928, lt, Alėcka) 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 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 ...

, 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 ...

, located in

Masuria Masuria (, german: Masuren, Masurian: ''Mazurÿ'') is a ethnographic and geographic region in northern and northeastern Poland, known for its 2,000 lakes. Masuria occupies much of the Masurian Lake District. Administratively, it is part of the ...

near

Ełk Ełk (; former pl, Łek; german: Lyck; Old Prussian: ''Luks''; lt, Lukas), also spelled Elk in English, is a small city in northeastern Poland with 61,677 inhabitants as of December 2021. It was assigned to Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in 1999, ...

and

Suwałki Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki ...

. It is situated at the mouth of the Lega river which flows into the Great Olecko Lake (''Jezioro Oleckie Wielkie'') on its south-western shore. Olecko is the seat of

Olecko County __NOTOC__ Olecko County ( pl, powiat olecki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Its administrative seat and only town is Olecko, which lies east of the regional ...

History

''Marggrabowa'' was founded as a town by

Albert, Duke of Prussia Albert of Prussia (german: Albrecht von Preussen; 17 May 149020 March 1568) was a German prince who was the 37th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, who after converting to Lutheranism, became the first ruler of the Duchy of Prussia, the s ...

, a vassal of

, on January 1, 1560. The town's first

wójt Wójt is a Polish senior civil administrative officer and the highest representative of the government of a '' rural gmina'', i.e., of a commune (''gmina'') comprising only villages. (Heads of towns and cities are called "burgomaster" (Polish: ''bu ...

was Adam Wojdowski The town's name was derived from the word ''Margrabia'' (Polish for

Margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Em ...

), the duke's title as the margraviate of

Brandenburg-Ansbach The Principality or Margraviate of (Brandenburg-)Ansbach (german: Fürstentum Ansbach or ) was a principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Franconian city of Ansbach. The ruling Hohenzollern princes of the land were known as margrave ...

's prince, by adding the suffix "-owa", which is typical in Poland for place names derived from personal names and titles. The town's coat of arms still reflects the Brandenburg red eagle and the Hohenzollern black and white which go back to Duke

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

. The populace became Lutheran-Protestant within 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 ...

in 1525. The predominantly Polish population of the town used the Polish name ''Olecko''.''Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich'', Tom VI, Warsaw, 1885, p. 114, 116 (in Polish) At the present location of the town there had been a hunting lodge called ''Olecko'' since 1544. In 1619, at a peninsula towards the lake, across the Lega river, the Castle of Olecko (''Schloss Oletzko'') was established as a regional administrative seat for the

Dukes of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman ...

. The town remained under Polish suzerainty until 1657 when the Duchy of Prussia became independent. In 1701 it 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''. ...

, and in 1871 part of German Empire. In 1807 Polish soldiers under command of

Jan Henryk Dąbrowski Jan Henryk Dąbrowski (; also known as Johann Heinrich Dąbrowski (Dombrowski) in German and Jean Henri Dombrowski in French; 2 August 1755 – 6 June 1818) was a Polish general and statesman, widely respected after his death for his patri ...

were stationed in the town during Napoleon's campaign against Prussia. It was believed that both the town and most of Masuria region would eventually be part of the Polish state. Between 1818 and 1945, Marggrabowa was the seat of ''Oletzko County'' (German: ''Kreis Oletzko'') in the province of East Prussia. In 1825 half of the inhabitants of Oletzko didn't use the German language, and in 1836 the local priesthood organized a synod in Oletzko which protested against Germanization measures. However, during the second half of the 19th century the proportion of German speakers increased.

20th century

In 1920, after Poland regained independent existence following World War I, a

plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...

was to be held in the area by the League of Nations, according to 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 ...

, to determine the future of the region and the town. In Oletzko pro-German militiamen attacked Polish activists. In the town, the July 1920 League of Nations plebiscite for the Allenstein district of Masuria resulted in 3,903 votes for Germany and none for Poland. As a result, the town was renamed Treuburg (lit.: ''loyal castle'') in 1928. After

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 ...

the town was placed under Polish administration under territorial changes promulgated 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 ...

in July-August 1945. The German population of the town was expelled and gradually replaced by Polish settlers.

Sights

In the northern part of the town's market square, a

Catholic 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 ...

church is situated on a tree-covered hill.

Transport

The Train Station in the western part of town is a regional railway junction: there were main lines to

Gołdap Gołdap ( or variant ''Goldapp''; lt, Geldupė, Geldapė, Galdapė) is a town in northeastern Poland, in the region of Masuria, seat of Gołdap County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. It is located on the Gołdapa River, between the Szeskie ...

and

. The local railway connections to Mieruniszki, Kruklanki and Sulejki are out of service or dismantled. Currently, only bus service runs from the train station.

Education

Wszechnica Mazurska

Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace im. Jana Kochanowskiego

Notable residents

* Gustav Bergenroth (1813-1869), German historian *

Kurt Blumenfeld Kurt Blumenfeld (May 29, 1884 – May 21, 1963) was a German-born Zionist from Marggrabowa, East Prussia. He was the secretary general of the World Zionist Organization from 1911 to 1914. He died in Jerusalem. He had served as secretary of ...

(1884–1963), Zionist *

Arthur Zimmermann Arthur Zimmermann (5 October 1864 – 6 June 1940) was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the German Empire from 22 November 1916 until his resignation on 6 August 1917. His name is associated with the Zimmermann Telegram during World War ...

(1864–1940), diplomat, author of the Zimmermann Telegram * Bartosz Romańczuk (born 1983), Polish footballer

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Olecko is twinned with: *

Jõhvi Jõhvi is a town in northeastern Estonia, and the administrative centre of the Ida-Viru County. The town is also an administrative centre of Jõhvi Parish. It is situated about 50 km west of the Estonia–Russia international border. ...

, Estonia

References

External links

Municipal website of Olecko (en)(pl)

Website of Olecko (pl)

iOlecko - news, events, history, photos from Olecko (pl)
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Olecko County it:Olecko