Brętowo (; ) is one of the quarters of the city of

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

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 ...

. It includes 2

osiedle (Polish plural: ) is a term used in Poland to denote a designated subdivision or neighbourhood of a city or its , or of a town, with its own council and executive. Like the and sołectwo, an is an auxiliary unit (''jednostka pomocnicza'') of ...

s, Niedźwiednik and Matemblewo, that are located inside Oliwa forests.

History

The area of the settlement belonged to the Cistercian

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

in Oliwa, which operated a mill, and was first mentioned in 1570 as ''Bringenthute''. In the late 16th century it was property of the Schröer family from Danzig (Gdańsk) and consisted of the Schöer manor and a mill. In the 18th century an inn and two coppersmiths operated in the village. In the

First Partition of Poland The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that eventually ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The growth of power in the Russian Empire threatened the Kingdom of Prussia an ...

, in 1772, the settlement was annexed by

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, and from 1871 it was also part of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 1784, it was called ''Brentau''. In 1885, it was inhabited by 216 people, a two-class school existed. In 1910 it consisted of 224 farm- and 76 residential buildings, inhabited by 1,179 people. The Forges and a grain mill still operated. In 1913, Brentau was connected to the railway line from Langfuhr (Wrzeszcz) to Kokoschken (Kokoszki). Following

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 ...

it became part of the newly formed

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...

(Gdańsk). In the mid-1930s, the village occupied 372 ha and was inhabited by 1,845 people. On 15 August 1933 it was incorporated into the city limits of Danzig. In 1939, along with the city, it was annexed 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 ...

. Following Germany's defeat in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1945, it became again part of Poland. In 1949, its Polish name Brętowo was officially confirmed."Gdańskie dzielnice tu mieszkam tu działam", p. 405

Transport

The old (closed and now re-opened) railway track from Wrzeszcz to Kartuzy goes through the quarter, with Gdańsk Brętowo (PKP station) being the former station. As few railway bridges had been destroyed, their remnants were used by alpinists to train until the railway got reconstructed.

References

External links

Map of Brętowo

Old map of Brentau
Districts of Gdańsk {{DEFAULTSORT:Bretowo