Biała Piska (former ; ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Pisz County __NOTOC__ Pisz County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 199 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, with 3,986 inhabitants as of December 2021.

Geography

Biała Piska is a recreation area in the

Masurian Lake District The Masurian Lake District or Masurian Lake Land () is a lake district in northeastern Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpath ...

, located in the eastern part of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in the historic region of Masuria. To the south is the Puszcza Piska, a heath with large forests.

History

First mentioned as "Gailen" in 1334. The town was established in 1428 as a farming village on 60 włókas of land in the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. The Polish name of the settlement was ''Biała'', meaning ''white''. It was later Germanized to the name ''Bialla''. In 1454 it was incorporated to

by King Casimir IV Jagiellon upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation, and after 1466 it was a part of Poland as a

fief A fief (; ) 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 of feudal alle ...

. In 1480 a church was built in the town. In 1481, Piotr Świętosławicz from the Diocese of Płock became the local parish priest. In the 16th century it grew rapidly in the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...

(vassal state of Poland), as trading increased. In the middle of the century there were 38 farms and three mills. As of 1539, the population of the village was solely Polish. In 1645 it gained the right to host four

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

s per year. In 1656 it was pillaged by the

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

, plundered and burned, and many residents died or were displaced. It became part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

in 1701. In 1709–1711, there was a plague epidemic, which killed, according to various sources either 315 or 337 residents. Nonetheless, the economic development continued apace, and the settlement received its town charter in 1722 from King

Frederick William I of Prussia Frederick William I (; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the Soldier King (), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuchâtel. Born in Berlin, he was raised by the Hugu ...

. A royal resettlement program brought many new residents, especially artisans. Between 1756 and 1763, a new church, a 1.65 ha marketplace, a network of roads, and a new town hall were built. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, the town was occupied by Russian troops from 1758 to 1762. Afterwards, it became a

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

city for Prussian troops from 1764 to 1800. In the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, Russia made the town a headquarters for their troops in 1807 for nine days, followed by French and Polish troops, demanding payment of their stationing costs, as well as bringing new sicknesses, which killed many residents. After the defeat of the French, the Prussians reorganized their territorial administration, and in 1818 the town was assigned to Landkreis Johannisburg in the Gumbinnen region. During the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

, Polish insurgents from the Prussian Partition of Poland crossed the border to the Russian Partition in the area, and weapons were smuggled through the town to the Russian Partition. It became part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

in 1871 during the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). I ...

. In 1885 the railway line from

Pisz Pisz (pronounced , previously also ''Jańsbork'', ) is a historic town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in northern Poland, with a population of 19,466 (2016). It is the seat of Pisz County. Pisz is situated at the junction of Lake Roś and t ...

to Ełk arrived in the town. At that time, the population was about 1,700, of whom 700 were Polish-speaking. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, combat between German and Russian troops happened near the town, which was entered by Russian troops and plundered. Under the terms of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

, the residents of the town voted 100% to remain in Weimar Germany. In 1927 and 1928, a new courthouse and waterworks were built. In 1938, as part of an extensive action of Germanization and elimination of names of Polish origin, the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

renamed the town to ''Gehlenburg''. In the 1939 census, there were 2,823 residents. It was nearly abandoned in the face of the advancing Soviet front, which captured the city on January 23, 1945. A few weeks later, power was transferred to the new Polish administration. The town became again part of Poland under the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

. The historic name ''Biała'' was restored and the

adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...

''Piska'' was added, after the nearby town of

, to distinguish the town from many other Polish settlements of the same name.

Transport

National road nr. 58 and voivodeship road nr. 667 pass through the town. There is a railway station in the town.

Sport

Znicz Biała Piska is a semi-professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club with a very good reputation and notable successes for a club and town of its size.

Gallery

File:Rathaus Biala Piska 2010.jpg, Town hall of Biała Piska File:Wieża ciśnień w Białej Piskiej.jpg, Old water tower in Biała Piska File:Zalew na rzece Białka (Biała Piska).jpeg, Białka River pond

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Pisz County