Tychowo (; formerly german: Groß Tychow) 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 ...

Białogard County __NOTOC__ Białogard County ( pl, powiat białogardzki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish loc ...

West Pomeranian Voivodeship The West Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as the West Pomerania Province, is a voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals 22 892.48 km² (8,838.84 sq mi), and in 2021, it was ...

, in north-western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Tychowo. It lies approximately south-east of

Białogard Białogard (pronounced , german: Belgard, ; Pomeranian: ''Biôłogard'') is a historic town in Middle Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 23,614 inhabitants as of December 2021. The capital of Białogard County in the West Pomeranian Voivode ...

and north-east of the regional capital Szczecin. It is located in the historic region of

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 ...

. Stalag Luft IV was located in the town 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 ...

. The town has an approximate population of 2,500. It gained town status on 1 January 2010, and was the newest city in Poland as at July 2012.

History

Tychowo dates back to an

early medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

Slavic settlement, which became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century. From the 12th century it was part of the

Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (german: Herzogtum Pommern; pl, Księstwo Pomorskie; Latin: ''Ducatus Pomeraniae'') was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania (''Griffins''). The country ha ...

, which split off from Poland as a result of the fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies. The oldest known mention of the village comes from 1250. In the 15th century, the

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

church was built. From 1701 the village was 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 from 1871 to 1945 it was 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 ...

. During

the Germans established the Stalag Luft IV

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

. The prisoners were mainly Americans, but also the British, Canadians, Russians, Poles, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Czechs, French and one Norwegian. After the war the region became part of Poland again according to the post-war Potsdam Agreement. Tychowo was granted

town rights 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 tradition ...

in 2010.

Sights

Among the town's landmarks are the 15th-century timber-framed church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a manor park, dating back to the 18th century and Trygław, i.e. the largest

glacial erratic A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundre ...

in Poland and one of the largest in Europe, listed as a

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, na ...

Notable people

* Karl Wilhelm von Kleist (1707-1766), German oberst * Hans Jürgen von Kleist-Retzow (1771-1844), German politician * Wolf Friedrich von Kleist-Retzow (1868-1933), German politician *

Darius Kaiser Darius Kaiser (born 15 October 1961) is a Polish-born German racing cyclist. He won the German National Road Race in 1989. Major results Sources: ;1985 : 1st Stage 5 Tour de Pologne ;1986 : 9th Overall Tour de Pologne ;1989 : 1st Road race, N ...

(born 1961) a Polish-born German racing cyclist

References

Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Białogard County {{Białogard-geo-stub