Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
at the border with
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 ...
opposite the Polish town of
Terespol
Terespol (; ) is a border town in eastern Poland on the border with Belarus. It lies on the border river Bug, directly opposite the city of Brest, Belarus. It has 5,794 inhabitants as of 2014.
Overview
Since 1999 Terespol has been within Bia� ...
, where the
Bug and
Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a
border town. It serves as the administrative center of
Brest Region and
Brest District, though it is administratively separated from the district.
it has a population of 346,061.
Brest is one of the oldest cities in Belarus and a historical site for many cultures, as it hosted important historical events, such as the
Union of Brest
The Union of Brest took place in 1595–1596 and represented an agreement by Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Ruthenian portions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to accept the Pope's authority while maintaining Eastern Orthodox liturgical ...
and
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...
. Furthermore, the
Brest Fortress was recognized by the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
as a
Hero Fortress in honour of the
defense of Brest Fortress in June 1941.
In the
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...
, the city often passed between Poland, the principalities of
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,.
* was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
, and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
. From the
Late Middle Ages
The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...
, the city was part of Lithuania, which later became a part of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
from 1569. In 1795, it was incorporated into the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
with the
Third Partition of Poland. After the
Polish-Soviet War, the city became part of the
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...
. In 1939, the city was captured by
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
during the
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
and then transferred to the Soviet Union per the
German–Soviet Frontier Treaty. In 1941, it was retaken by the Germans during
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
. In 1944, it was retaken by the Soviet
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
during the
Lublin–Brest offensive. The city was part of the
Byelorussian SSR
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...
, and since the
breakup of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
in 1991, Brest has been part of independent Belarus.
Etymology
Several theories attempt to explain the origin of the city's name. The name could originate from Slavic root ''berest'' '
elm'. It could likewise have come from the
Lithuanian word ''brasta'' '
ford'.
Traditionally, Belarusian speakers called the city (), similar to the Ukrainian name ().
Once a center of Jewish scholarship, the city has the
Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
name (), hence the term
"Brisker" used to describe followers of the influential
Soloveitchik family of
rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
s.
Brest became a part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
in 1319. In the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
formed in 1569, the town became known in
Polish as , historically (literally: "Lithuanian Brest", in contradistinction to
Brześć Kujawski
Brześć Kujawski (Polish pronunciation: ; ) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in central Poland. Once a royal seat of Kuyavia, the town has been the seat of one of two small duchy, duchies into which Kuyavia had been temporarily di ...
). became part of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
under the name or (, , literally "Lithuanian Brest") in the course of the
Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. After World War I, and the rebirth of Poland in 1918, the government of the
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...
renamed the city as ("Brest on the Bug") on 20 March 1923. After World War II, the city became part of the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 19 ...
with the name simplified as Brest.
Brest's coat of arms, adopted on 26 January 1991, features an arrow pointed upwards and a bow (both silver) on a sky-blue shield. An alternative coat of arms has a red shield.
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...
, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, first granted Brest a coat of arms in 1554.
History

As a town, Brest – ''Berestij'' in
Kievan Rus
Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,.
* was the first East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of Russ ...
– was first mentioned in the ''
Primary Chronicle
The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...
'' in 1019 when the
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,.
* was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
took the stronghold from the Poles. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. It was hotly contested between the Polish rulers (kings, principal dukes and dukes of
Masovia
Mazovia or Masovia ( ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the largest city and Płock being the capital of the region . Throughout the ...
) and Kievan Rus princes. It was recaptured by Poland in 1020, and
unsuccessfully besieged by Prince
Yaroslav the Wise
Yaroslav I Vladimirovich ( 978 – 20 February 1054), better known as Yaroslav the Wise, was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death in 1054. He was also earlier Prince of Novgorod from 1010 to 1034 and Prince of Rostov from 987 to 1010, ...
of Kiev in 1022. It was captured by Yaroslav the Wise, according to various sources, either in 1042 or 1044,
[ then by 1076 recaptured by King Bolesław II the Bold of Poland,][ but then lost again by his successor Władysław I Herman. Afterwards, it often passed between the principalities of Turov and ]Volhynia
Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...
. In 1164, it was briefly captured by Lithuanians. In 1178, it was captured by Casimir II the Just of Poland, and made the seat of his fraternal nephew Leszek, Duke of Masovia, who, however, soon lost it to the Principality of Minsk
The Principality of Minsk was an appanage principality of the Principality of Polotsk and centered on the city of Minsk (today in Belarus). It existed from its founding in 1101 until it was nominally annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in ...
. In 1182, Casimir II the Just captured the city once again, and built a castle there,[ and then granted it 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 ...
to his sororal nephew Roman the Great
Roman Mstislavich ( – 19 June 1205), also known as Roman the Great, was Prince of Novgorod (1168–1170), Volhynia (1170–1189; 1189–1205), and Galicia (1189; 1198/99–1205). He founded the ''Romanovichi'' branch of Rurikids, which wou ...
the following year. From 1199 it was ruled by the Principality of Galicia–Volhynia
A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchical state or feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "principality" is often ...
, remaining under Polish suzerainty until 1205, when Roman the Great rebelled against Poland, but was killed in action
Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...
in the Battle of Zawichost
The Battle of Zawichost also called Zawichost campaign fought on 19 June or 14 October 1205, was a key clash between the troops of Duke Roman the Great of Galicia-Volhynia and the Polish forces led by Leszek the White, Duke of Sandomierz, and his ...
. Passing under Polish suzerainty again, in 1207, it was granted by Leszek the White
Leszek the White (; c. 1184/85 – 24 November 1227) was Prince of Sandomierz and High Duke of Poland in the years 1194–1198, 1199, 1206–1210, and 1211–1227. During the early stages of his reign, his uncle Duke Mieszko III the Old and ...
as a fief to Princess Anna-Euphrosyne and her children. From 1210, it was directly part of Poland, until it passed to Galicia–Volhynia either in 1215 or 1217.[ In 1220, it passed to the Principality of Pinsk as a fief of Galicia–Volhynia. It was laid waste by the ]Mongols
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
in 1241, and was not rebuilt until 1275. Possibly since the 1270s, the city was contested by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
and the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia
The Principality or, from 1253, Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, also known as the Kingdom of Ruthenia, Kingdom of Rus', or Kingdom of Russia, also Halych–Volhynian Kingdom was a medieval state in Eastern Europe which existed from 1199 to 1349. I ...
.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
In 1319, the city became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
, and Grand Duke Gediminas
Gediminas ( – December 1341) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death in 1341.
He is considered the founder of Lithuania's capital Vilnius (see: Iron Wolf legend). During his reign, he brought under his rule lands from t ...
stayed in the city in the winter of 1319–1320, preparing to capture Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
.[ In 1349, it was captured by King ]Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...
, however, it was restored to Lithuania in 1352. Its suburbs were burned by the Teutonic Order
The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...
in 1379. In 1385, it became part of the Polish–Lithuanian union Polish–Lithuanian can refer to:
* Polish–Lithuanian union (1385–1569)
* Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795)
* Polish-Lithuanian identity as used to describe groups, families, or individuals with histories in the Polish–Lithuania ...
. During the Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392), in 1390, the city was captured by Polish forces of Władysław II Jagiełło
Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło (),Other names include (; ) (see also Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło) was Grand Duke of Lithuania beginning in 1377 and starting in 1386, becoming King of Poland as well. ...
.
In 1390, Brześć became the second city in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (after the capital Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
), and the first in the lands that now are Belarus, to receive Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...
. Given its proximity to Poland, it was a significant centre for trade with Poland.[
In 1409 it was a meeting place of King ]Władysław II Jagiełło
Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło (),Other names include (; ) (see also Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło) was Grand Duke of Lithuania beginning in 1377 and starting in 1386, becoming King of Poland as well. ...
, Grand Duke Vytautas the Great and Khan Jalal al-Din Khan ibn Tokhtamysh under the Polish Deputy Chancellor Mikołaj Trąba's initiative, to prepare for war with the Teutonic Knights, which resulted in the Tatars aiding Poland and Lithuania in the Battle of Grunwald
The Battle of Grunwald was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila), a ...
the following year.[ In 1410 the city mustered a cavalry banner that participated in the Polish-Lithuanian military victory at Grunwald.
In 1419 it became a seat of the starost in the newly created Trakai Voivodeship. Under Władysław II and Vytautas the city was significantly developed and granted privileges similar to those of the Polish city of ]Lublin
Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
. In 1425, the city hosted a congress attended by Władysław II, Vytautas, dukes of Masovia
Mazovia or Masovia ( ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the largest city and Płock being the capital of the region . Throughout the ...
and Polish and Lithuanian nobles. In 1440, a Sejm of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was held in the city, at which Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...
was chosen Grand Duke of Lithuania.[ In 1446, a meeting of Casimir IV, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Polish senators regarding the political affiliation of ]Volhynia
Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...
took place in the city, and in 1454 Casimir IV met with Lithuanian nobility to convince them to participate in the Polish–Teutonic War on the side of Poland.[
]
Polish—Lithuanian Commonwealth
In 1500, it was burned again by Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...
. From 1513, the city was administratively located in the Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to th ...
. In 1563, the Brest Bible
The Brest Bible () was the first complete Protestant Bible translation into Polish, published by Bernard Wojewodka in 1563 in Brest and dedicated to King Sigismund II Augustus.
Polish full original title: ''Biblia święta, Tho iest, Księgi ...
, the second complete Bible translation into Polish and the first such Protestant translation, was published in the city. In 1566, following the decree of Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...
, a new voivodeship
A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in ...
was created – Brest Litovsk Voivodeship.
During the union of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
and the Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...
under king Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632
N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...
(Polish–Swedish union
The Polish–Swedish union was a short-lived personal union between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Sweden between 1592 and 1599. It began when Sigismund III Vasa, elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, wa ...
), diets were held there. In 1594 and 1596, it was the meeting-place of two remarkable councils of regional bishops of the Roman-Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...
. The 1596 council established the Uniate Church (also known as the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church in Belarus and Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...
in Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
). A Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The General Sejm (, ) was the bicameral legislature of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was established by the Union of Lublin in 1569 following the merger of the legislatures of the two states, the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the ...
was held in the city in 1653. A royal mint was founded in the city by King John II Casimir Vasa in 1665.
In 1657, and again in 1706, the town and castle were captured by the Swedish Army
The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years.
History
Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...
during its invasions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Then, in an attack from the other direction, on 13 January 1660, the invading Streltsy
The streltsy (, ; , ) were the units of Russian firearm infantry from the 16th century to the early 18th century and also a social stratum, from which personnel for streltsy troops were traditionally recruited. They are also collectively kno ...
of the Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721.
...
under Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky took the Brest Castle in an early morning surprise attack, the town having been captured earlier, and massacred the 1,700 defenders and their families (according to an Austrian observer, Captain Rosestein).
Partitions
On 23 July 1792, the defending Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, under the leadership of Szymon Zabiełło, and the invading Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...
fought a battle near Brześć. On 19 September 1794, the area between Brest and Terespol
Terespol (; ) is a border town in eastern Poland on the border with Belarus. It lies on the border river Bug, directly opposite the city of Brest, Belarus. It has 5,794 inhabitants as of 2014.
Overview
Since 1999 Terespol has been within Bia� ...
was the site of another 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 force co ...
won by the Russian invaders led by Alexander Suvorov
Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy () was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire.
Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian ...
over a Polish-Lithuanian division under General Karol Sierakowski. Thereafter, Brest was annexed by Russia when the Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth was partitioned for the third time in 1795.
19th century to World War I
During Russian rule in the 19th century, Brest Fortress was built in and around the city. The Russians demolished the Polish Royal Castle and most of the Old Town "to make room" for the fortress. The main Jewish synagogue in the city, the Choral Synagogue, was completed c. 1862. In 1895, a massive fire rendered 15,000 people homeless, and dozens were killed.
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 ...
, the town was captured by the Imperial German Army
The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...
under August von Mackensen on 25 August 1915, during the Great Retreat of 1915. Shortly after Brest fell into German hands, war poet
War poetry is poetry on the topic of war. While the term is applied especially to works of the First World War, the term can be applied to poetry about any war, including Homer's ''Iliad'', from around the 8th century BC as well as poetry of th ...
August Stramm, who has been called "the first of the Expressionists" and one of "the most innovative poets of the First World War," was shot in the head during an attack on nearby Russian positions on 1 September 1915.
In March 1918, in the Brest Fortress at the confluence of the Bug and Mukhavets rivers on the city' western outskirts, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...
was signed, ending the war between Soviet Russia
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
and the Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
and transferring the city and its surrounding region to the sphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence (SOI) is a spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural, economic, military, or political exclusivity.
While there may be a formal a ...
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 ...
. This treaty was subsequently annulled by the Paris Peace Conference treaties which ended the war and even more so by events and developments in Central and Eastern Europe
Central and Eastern Europe is a geopolitical term encompassing the countries in Baltic region, Northeast Europe (primarily the Baltic states, Baltics), Central Europe (primarily the Visegrád Group), Eastern Europe, and Southeast Europe (primaril ...
. During 1918, the city became a part of the Volhynia Governorate of the Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...
as a result of negotiations and own treaty between the delegation of the Ukrainian Central Rada and Central Powers.
Interwar Poland
On 9 February 1919, Polish troops entered the city, and it returned to 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 ...
, which regained independence three months earlier. During the Polish–Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution.
After the collapse ...
it was occupied by the Soviet Russians on 1 August 1920, and recaptured by the Poles on 20 August, with borders formally recognized by the Treaty of Riga of 1921. In 1921, it became the temporary capital of the Polesie Voivodeship
Polesie Voivodeship () was an administrative unit of interwar Poland (1918–1939), named after the historical region of Polesia. It was created by the Council of Ministers of the Second Polish Republic on February 19, 1921, as a result of peac ...
instead of Pińsk. It was renamed Brześć nad Bugiem (''Brest on the Bug'') on 20 March 1923.
The city was developed significantly and a number of representative public buildings were erected in Neoclassical and Modernist
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
styles, especially at ''Ulica Unii Lubelskiej'' (Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin (; ) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the personal union of the Crown of the Kingd ...
Street, now Lenin Street), including the Bank of Poland, Tax Chamber, Regional Chamber of the State Control, Healthcare Fund and Voivodeship Office. Other notable projects include the officials' housing estate, stylistically inspired by historic manor houses of Polish nobility
A manor house of Polish- Lithuanian nobility is called dwór or dworek in Polish and dvaras in Lithuanian.
The architectural form of the manor house evolved around the late Polish Renaissance period and continued until the Second World War, ...
and the garden city movement
The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with Green belt, greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, i ...
, and the Warburg Residential Colony, dedicated to poor Jews who had lost their homes in World War I, founded by Felix M. Warburg, chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for Jewish War Sufferers. In 1929, city limits were greatly expanded.
In the twenty years of Poland's sovereignty, of the total of 36 brand new schools established in the city, there were ten public, and five private Jewish schools
A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jews, Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiat ...
inaugurated, with Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
and Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
as the language of instruction. The first-ever Jewish school in Brześć history opened in 1920, almost immediately after Poland's return to independence. In 1936 Jews constituted 41.3% of the Brześć population or 21,518 citizens. Some 80.3% of private enterprises were run by Jews.Norman Davies
Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a British and Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Profes ...
, '' God's Playground'' (Polish edition), Second volume, p.512-513[
][, (''Polish-Byelorussian relations under the Soviet occupation''). ''Bialorus.pl'' ] The Polish Army
The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...
troops of the 9th Military District along with its headquarters were stationed in Brześć Fortress.
The city had an overwhelmingly Jewish population during Russian rule: 30,000 out of 45,000 total population according to Russian 1897 census, which fell to 21,000 out of 50,000 according to the Polish census of 1931.[Christopher R. Browning, ''Nazi policy, Jewish workers, German killers']
Google Print, p.124
/ref>
World War II
In early September 1939, the Polish government evacuated a portion of the Polish gold reserve
A gold reserve is the gold held by a national central bank, intended mainly as a guarantee to redeem promises to pay depositors, note holders (e.g. paper money), or trading peers, during the eras of the gold standard, and also as a store of v ...
from Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
to Brześć, and then further southeast to Śniatyn at the Poland-Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
border, from where it was transported via Romania and Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
to territory controlled by Polish-allied France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
During the German Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
in 1939, the city was defended by a small garrison of four infantry battalions under General Konstanty Plisowski against General Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (; 17 June 1888 – 14 May 1954) was a German general during World War II who later became a successful memoirist. A pioneer and advocate of the "blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in the development of ...
's XIX Panzer Corps. After four days of heavy fighting, the Polish forces withdrew southwards on 17 September. The Soviet invasion of Poland
The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...
began on the same day. As a result, the Soviet Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
entered the city at the end of September 1939 following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...
's Secret Protocol, and a joint Nazi-Soviet military parade took place on 22 September 1939. While Belarusians consider it a reunification of the Belarusian nation under one constituency (the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 19 ...
at that time), Poles consider it the date when the city was lost.
During the Soviet occupation (1939–41), the Polish population was subject to arrests, executions and mass deportations to Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
and the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic
The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the transcontinental country, transcontinental Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Un ...
. The largest Soviet prison in the Byelorussian SSR was located in the city, and its prisoners were mostly Poles, including politicians, landowners, officers, educators, priests, both locals, including pre-war Polish mayor Franciszek Kolbusz, and people arrested in other places, including former Prime Minister of Poland Leopold Skulski, and Jews fleeing the Germans from western and central Poland. The prison had poor conditions, causing the spread of lice
Louse (: lice) is the common name for any member of the infraorder Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera was previously recognized as an order, until a 2021 genetic study determined th ...
and bed bug
Bed bugs are parasitic insects from the genus ''Cimex'', which are micropredators that haematophagy, feed on blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health impacts, including skin rashes, psychological effects, and aller ...
s, and brutal interrogations, even resulting in two confirmed cases of suicide.[ In February 1940, there was a mass prison escape in which first 28 people managed to escape, and then Soviet soldiers opened fire on further escapees.][ Many prisoners were eventually moved to a prison in ]Minsk
Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
. It is suspected that they were murdered by the Soviets in the Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...
in 1940.[
On 22 June 1941, Brest Fortress and the city were attacked by ]Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
on the first day of Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
, Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
's invasion of the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. The fortress held out for six days. Nearly all its Soviet army defenders perished. The Germans placed Brest under the administration of the ''Reichskommissariat Ukraine
The ''Reichskommissariat Ukraine'' (RKU; ) was an administrative entity of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944. It served as the German civilian occupation regime in the Ukrainian SSR, and ...
''. The remaining municipal Jewish population (about 20,000) was sequestered in the Brześć Ghetto established by the German authorities in December 1941 and later murdered in October 1942. Only seven Jews survived the Nazi executions.[
The Germans also operated a Nazi prison, a ]forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
"education" camp for men and women, a forced labour camp for Jews, the AGSSt 3 prisoner-of-war assembly center, the Dulag 314 transit POW camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, an ...
for Italians
Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...
, the Stalag 397 POW camp for Soviet POWs and a subcamp of the Stalag 360 POW camp in the city.
The Polish resistance movement, including the Polesie District of the Home Army
The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
, was active in the city.
The city was re-occupied by the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
on 28 July 1944, and eventually annexed from Poland the following year.
Post-war period
In 1945, the ''Związek Obrońców Wolności'' ("Freedom Defenders Association") Polish resistance organization was founded in the city, with its activities including secret Polish schooling, rescuing historical Polish monuments from devastation and organising aid for repressed people and those in a difficult material situation. The organization was crushed by the NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
in 1948, and its members were deported to Gulag
The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...
forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
camps for 25 years.[
In early 2019, a mass grave containing the remains of 1,214 people were found in the Brest Ghetto area during a construction project. Most are believed to have been Jews murdered by Nazis.
]
Geography
Brest lies astride the Mukhavets River which flows west through the city, dividing it into north and south, and meets the Bug River
The Bug or Western Bug is a major river in Central Europe that flows through Belarus (border), Poland, and Ukraine, with a total length of .[floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...]
, that is about across. Brest was subject to flooding in the past. One of the worst floods in recorded history occurred in 1974.
Part of the floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
was reclaimed with hydraulic mining
Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment.Paul W. Thrush, ''A Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms'', US Bureau of Mines, 1968, p.560. In the placer mining of ...
. In the 1980s, big cutter-suction dredgers mined sand and clay from the riverbed to build up the banks.
In the 2000s, two new residential areas were developed in the southwest of Brest.
To the east of Brest, the Dnieper–Bug Canal was built in the mid-nineteenth century to join the river to Pina Pina may refer to:
People
* Pina (name), a list of people with the given name, nickname, surname or stage name
Places
* Pina, Nepal, a village development committee
* Pina, Mallorca, Spain, a town
* Pina de Ebro, a municipality of the provinc ...
, a tributary of the Pripyat River
The Pripyat or Prypiat is a river in Eastern Europe. The river, which is approximately long, flows east through Ukraine, Belarus, and into Ukraine again, before draining into the Dnieper at Kyiv Reservoir.
Name etymology
Max Vasmer notes in h ...
which in turn drains into the Dnieper
The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
. Thus Brest has a shipping route all the way to the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
. If not for a dam and neglected weir
A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
s west of Brest, north-western European shipping would be connected with the Black Sea also.
Climate
Brest has a humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
but slightly leans towards oceanic due to the irregular winter temperatures that mostly hover around the freezing point. However, summers are warm and influenced by its inland position compared to areas nearer the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
.
Demographics
Points of interest
A majestic Soviet-era war memorial was constructed on the site of the 1941 battle to commemorate the known and unknown defenders of the Brest Fortress. This war memorial is the largest tourist attraction in the city. The Berestye Archeological Museum
The Berestye Archeological Museum, located in the city of Brest, Belarus, is a museum centered around an archaeological site displaying an authentic East Slavic wooden town dating back to the 13th century. Unique in Europe, the 1800 square meter ...
of the old city is located on the southern island of the Hero-Fortress. It has objects and huts dating from the 11th – 13th century that were unearthed during the 1970s.
The Museum of Rescued Art Treasures has a collection of paintings and icons. Brest City Park is over 100 years old and underwent renovations from 2004 to 2006 as part of a ceremony marking the park's centennial. In July 2009, the Millennium Monument of Brest was unveiled. Sovetskaya Street is a popular tourist destination in Brest; it was dramatically reconstructed in 2007–2009. Other important landmarks include the Brest Railway Museum.
Education
Brest is home to two Universities: A.S. Pushkin Brest State University and Brest State Technical University. There is also a branch of Belarusian National Technical University
Belarusian National Technical University (BNTU) is a major technical university in Belarus.
History
* 1920 – establishment of ''Belarusian State Polytechnic Institute'' on the basis of a ''Minsk Polytechnic school''.
* 1922 – reorganised ...
.
Among the secondary specialized educational institutions of the city:
* Brest State Railway College
* Brest State Medical College
* Brest State Musical College named after G. Shirmy
* Brest State Regional College of the Olympic Reserve
* Brest State Polytechnic College - a branch of the Brest State Technical University
* Brest State Professional-Technical College of Instrument Engineering
* Brest State College of Transport and Service
* Brest State College of Light Industry
* Brest State College of Builders
* Brest State Trade and Technology College
* Brest State College of Communications
* Brest State College of Service Industry
* Brest branch of the capital's private educational institution "College of Business and Law."
Transport
Being situated on the main railway line connecting Berlin and Moscow, and a transcontinental highway (the M1 highway is part of the European route E30
European route E30 is an A-Class European route from the port of Cork (city), Cork in Republic of Ireland, Ireland in the west to the Russian city of Omsk, near the border with Kazakhstan in the east. For much of the Russian stretch, it follow ...
running from Cork to Omsk
Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...
, where it links with Asian Highway 6 leading to Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
), Brest became a principal border crossing out of the Soviet Union in the postwar era. Today it links the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
and the Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...
.
The city of Brest is served by Brest-Tsentralny railway station. Because of the break-of-gauge
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally canno ...
at Brest, where the Russian broad gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...
meets the European standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
, all passenger trains, coming from 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 ...
, must have their bogie
A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets (two Railroad wheel, wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes ...
s replaced here, to travel on across Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
. The freight must be transloaded from cars of one gauge to cars of another. Some of the land in the Brest rail yards remains contaminated due to the transhipment of radioactive
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...
materials here since Soviet days. However, cleanup operations have been taking place.
The local airport, Brest Airport (code BQT), operates flights on a seasonal schedule to Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...
in the Russian Federation and seasonal charter flights to Burgas
Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...
and Antalya
Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...
.
Sport
HC Meshkov Brest is the most successful team of the Belarusian Men's Handball Championship, as well as the 2018–19 champions. Also, there is a women's handball club in Brest – HC Victoria-Berestie.
HK Brest of the Belarusian Extraleague
The Belarusian Extraleague, abbreviated BHL, also known as the BETERA Extraleague for sponsorship reasons, or known as the Belarusian Open Championship, (), officially formed in 2006, is the top ice hockey league in Belarus. In its past, it has s ...
are the local pro hockey team.
Another popular sport in Brest is football. FC Dynamo Brest is a local club playing in Belarusian Premier League
The Belarusian Premier League (, ''Vyšejšaja Liha'' or ''Vysheyshaya Liga''; ; "Top League"), also called the BETERA Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Belarus and the highest level of the B ...
.
The sports venues are located on the northern riverside on the hydraulic fill, consisting of an indoor track-and-field centre, the Brest Ice Rink, and Belarus' first outdoor baseball stadium. On the opposite riverside is a large rowing course opened in 2007, home of the National Center for Olympic Training in Rowing. It meets international requirements and can host international competitions. Moreover, it has accommodation and training facilities, favourable location, away from the border crossing along Warsaw Highway (the European route E30
European route E30 is an A-Class European route from the port of Cork (city), Cork in Republic of Ireland, Ireland in the west to the Russian city of Omsk, near the border with Kazakhstan in the east. For much of the Russian stretch, it follow ...
).
Media
There are some newspapers in Brest: Brestskaya Gazeta, Brestskiy Kurier, Vecherniy Brest.
International relations
Sister cities
Sister cities
A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there ar ...
of Brest include:
* Astrakhan
Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...
, Russia
* Dorogomilovo District (Moscow), Russia
* Izhevsk
Izhevsk or Ijevsk (, ; , or ) is the capital city of Udmurtia, Russia. It is situated along the Izh River, west of the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. It is the 21st-largest city in Russia, and the most populous in Udmurtia, with over 600,000 ...
, Russia
* Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...
, Russia
* Kovrov, Russia
* Malgobek, Russia
* Nevsky District (Saint Petersburg), Russia
* Nizhny Tagil
Nizhny Tagil ( rus, Нижний Тагил, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj tɐˈgʲil) is a classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located east of the Boundaries between the continents#Asia and Europe, boundary ...
, Russia
* Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk (, ; ) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities designated by the Soviet Union as a Hero City. The population was
History
In antiquity, the shores of the ...
, Russia
* Oryol
Oryol ( rus, Орёл, , ɐˈrʲɵl, a=ru-Орёл.ogg, links=y, ), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka Rive ...
, Russia
* Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk (, ; Karelian language, Karelian, Veps language, Vepsian and ) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population of the city is 280,890 as of 2022.
...
, Russia
* Ryazan
Ryazan (, ; also Riazan) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 C ...
, Russia
* Tyumen
Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura ( ...
, Russia
* Ivano-Frankivsk
Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...
, Ukraine
* Lutsk
Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...
, Ukraine
* Odesa
Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...
, Ukraine
* Siedlce County, Poland
* Terespol
Terespol (; ) is a border town in eastern Poland on the border with Belarus. It lies on the border river Bug, directly opposite the city of Brest, Belarus. It has 5,794 inhabitants as of 2014.
Overview
Since 1999 Terespol has been within Bia� ...
, Poland
* Baienfurt, Germany
* Baindt, Germany
* Berg, Germany
* Ravensburg
Ravensburg ( or ; Swabian: ''Raveschburg'') is a city in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg.
Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and ...
, Germany
* Weingarten, Germany
* Baiyin, China
* Xiaogan
Xiaogan ( zh, s=孝感, p=Xiàogǎn) is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hubei province, People's Republic of China, some northwest of the provincial capital of Wuhan. According to the 2020 census, its population totaled 4,270,371, of whom ...
, China
* Batumi
Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...
, Georgia
* Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan
* Coevorden
Coevorden (; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Drenthe, in the east of Netherlands, the Netherlands. During the ...
, Netherlands
* Port-sur-Saône, France
* Subotica
Subotica (, ; , , ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Central Europe and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Sub ...
, Serbia
Former twin towns:
* Biała Podlaska
Biała Podlaska (; ) is a city in the Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 56,498 inhabitants It is the capital of Biała Podlaska County, although the city is not part of the county (it constitutes a separate city county). The city lies on ...
, Poland
In March 2022, the Polish city of Biała Podlaska suspended its partnership with Brest as a reaction to the Belarusian involvement in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
.
Other forms of cooperation
Brest maintains partnership with:[
* ]Ashdod
Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...
, Israel
* Botoșani, Romania
* Brest, France
* Ludza
Ludza (; , , , , ''Ludza'') is a town in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia. Ludza is the oldest town in Latvia and this is commemorated by a key in its coat of arms. Ludza is the administrative centre of Ludza Municipality that is located near ...
, Latvia
* Maldon
Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...
, England, United Kingdom
* Pleven, Bulgaria
Honours
A minor planet
According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...
, 3232 Brest, discovered by the Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh in 1974, is named after the city.
Notable people
:
* Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin, Rabbi of Brisk
* Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel.
Before the creation of the state of Isra ...
(1913–1992), Prime Minister of Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
* Liubov Charkashyna
Liubov Viktorovna Charkashyna (; , born December 23, 1987) is a retired Belarusian individual Rhythmic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnast. She is the Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's rhythmic individual all-around, 2012 Olympic all-ar ...
, Belarusian bronze medallist in the individual all-around rhythmic gymnastics competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
* Aliaksandar Cvikievič (1888 – 1937), Belarusian politician, historian, jurist, philosopher and a victim of Stalin's purges
* Jarosław Dąbrowski, Polish revolutionary and general
* David Dubinsky, head of the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union
* Andrej Dyńko (b. 1974), journalist and editor
* Louis Gruenberg, composer
* Nikolay Karpol
Nikolay Vasiliyevich Karpol (; born 1 May 1938) is a Russian women's volleyball coach and a longstanding coach of the Soviet Union women's national volleyball team, Soviet national team (then the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics, Common ...
, Russian women's volleyball coach
* Jerzy Kolendo, Polish classical archaeologist and historian
* Harry Kopp (1880–1943), American lawyer and politician
* Pyotr Masherov, secretary of Belarusian committee of the Communist Party of Soviet Union
* Yulia Nesterenko, Olympian women's 100 m champion
* Dzmitryj Rubašeŭski (nom de guerre (“Hans”))(1992-2022), Belarusian volunteer killed in action
Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...
defending Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion
* Nathan Sharon (1925–2011), Israeli biochemist, expert on lectins
* Hienadz Shutau (1975 – 2020), a protestor killed during the protests against the 2020 Belarusian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Belarus on Sunday, 9 August 2020. Early voting began on 4 August and ran until 8 August.
Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko was announced by the Central Election Commission of Belarus, Central Election Commissi ...
"They Don't Give Us Dad's Body Without Permission of the Investigative Committee"
/ref>
* The Soloveitchik rabbinical family associated with the Brisk yeshivas
The Soloveitchik dynasty of rabbinic scholars and their students originated the Brisker method of Talmudic study, which is embraced by their followers in the Brisk yeshivas. It is so called because of the Soloveitchiks' origin in the town of Br ...
, and descendant Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik
* David B. Steinman, American structural engineer; the designer of the Mackinac Bridge
The Mackinac Bridge ( ; also referred to as the Mighty Mac or Big Mac) is a suspension bridge that connects the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper and Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. It spans the Str ...
called "Big Mac"
* Nadzeja Sznarkiewicz (1897–1974), feminist writer and teacher
* Rabbi Aaron ben Meir of Brest, eighteenth-century rabbi
* Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, haredi rabbi in Israel
* Sara Szweber, Bundist
* Ganna Walska, Polish opera singer
See also
* Names of European cities in different languages: B
Notes
Explanatory notes
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
Further reading
* Kristian Gantser hristian Ganzer Irina Yelenskaya, Yelena Pashkovich t al.(ed.): Brest. Leto 1941 g. Dokumenty, materiyaly, fotografii. Smolensk: Inbelkul’t, 2016.
External links
''Brest Stories Guide'' – Audiotheatre on the history of anti-semitism and the Shoah in Brest from 1937 to 1944 by the independent Brest theatre "Krylja Cholopa"
(English/Russian)
*
{{Authority control
Brest, Belarus,
1019 establishments in Europe
Archaeological sites in Belarus
Belarus–Poland border crossings
Populated places in Belarus
Holocaust locations in Belarus
Populated places established in the 11th century
Populated places in Brest region