Kamień Pomorski (; ; or ''Kammin'') is a

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...

in the

West Pomeranian Voivodeship West Pomeranian Voivodeship is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals , and in 2021, it was inhabited by 1,682,003 people. It was established on 1 Janua ...

of north-western

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 ...

, on the Baltic coast. It is the seat of an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Kamień County which lies approximately 63 km to the north of the regional capital

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

. It is the second seat of the Archdiocese of Szczecin-Kamień and the deanery of Kamień. In 2015 the town had a population of 8,921 inhabitants.

Etymology and names

The name of the town in English translates as "Pomeranian Stone". It has its origins in the Slavic Lechitic language. The first mentions of the town appeared in the ''Life of

Otto of Bamberg Otto of Bamberg (1060 or 1061 – 30 June 1139) was a German missionary and papal legate who converted much of medieval Pomerania to Christianity. He was the bishop of Bamberg from 1102 until his death. He was canonized in 1189. Early life Thr ...

'',''Civitas ducis Camina'' by Herbord, ''Castrum magnum Gamin'' by Eb, and ''In urbe Games''. Other names are ''Chamin'' and ''Camyna''. A bull of 14 October 1140 has the mention of ''Chamin cum taberna et foro''. In a bull of 25 February 1188 there is ''apud civitated Camyn''. Ultimately the name ''Camin'' was settled upon. The name is associated with a massive glacial

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

(diameter of 20 m) situated in the

Dziwna The Dziwna () is a channel of the Oder River in northwestern Poland, one of three straits connecting the Szczecin Lagoon with the Bay of Pomerania of the Baltic Sea. It separates the island of Wolin from the Polish mainland. The other two ch ...

riverbed. This ''Royal Boulder'' has been used as a designator in ship transport. Since 1959 the ''Royal Boulder'' has been protected as a

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. They can be natural geological and geographical features such as w ...

. There are three legends dealing with the ''Royal Boulder''. The first one says that in 1121 Duke

Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth (; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between 1107 and 1138. He was the onl ...

stood on it and welcomed sailors' parades. The second one describes the origins of the ''Royal Boulder''. The boulder was in fact a petrified toad that wreaked havoc in the Kamieński Bay. It was cursed by the Slavic god Trzygłów into a boulder. The third one describes the story of a

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

, banished from a dwelling nearby, that promised to find a suitable partner for a certain

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

if it destroys said dwelling. The mistrustful giant wanted to see his future partner first and saw her he did. From the depth of the waters emerged a perfect match for the giant but in the exact moment a rooster crowed, the illusion of the future spouse was dropped and showed a devil. A furious giant threw into him a massive boulder. Devil wanted to run away and changed into a

toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

, but it was too late, the boulder crushed him and confines him to this day.

History

Mury obronne w Kamieniu Pomorskim - lipiec 2018 - 2

Kamień was founded at the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries by the Lechitic

Wolinians The Wolinians (, ) were a Lechites, Lechitic Pomerania during the Early Middle Ages, tribe in Early Middle Age Pomerania. They were first mentioned as "Velunzani" with 70 ''civitates'' by the Bavarian Geographer, ca. 845.Johannes Hoops, Herbert Jan ...

tribe, and became part of Poland soon after the creation of the state under its first ruler

Mieszko I Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...

around 967. A defensive stronghold was probably built in the 10th century. The town was first mentioned in documents in 1124. As a result of the 12th-century fragmentation of Poland, it became part of the separate

Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (; ; 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 existed in the Middle Ages between years 1121–11 ...

. The town became the first known capital of the Duchy of Pomerania and, in 1176, the seat of a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. In 1180 a mint was established in Kamień. From time to time, the Dukes of Pomerania would also reside in the town. By 1228 the

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

were involved in the town's religious affairs, and in 1274 it received

Lübeck city rights Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and the second-largest city in the state of Schle ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

acquired control of the town at the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

ending the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

in 1648. Acquired by Brandenburg-Prussia in 1679, the town was made 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. From then until 1945 it remained part of Prussia, and from 1871 to 1945 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 ...

. It was administered as part of the Prussian Province of Pomerania. During

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 ...

, the Germans operated 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 ...

subcamp of the

Stalag II-D Stalag II-D Stargard (American named, "Camp #86") was a World War II German Army (Wehrmacht), German Army German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II, prisoner-of-war camp located near Stargard, Pomerania. It housed Polish people, Polish, American ...

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

in the town. In 1945, the town became again part of Poland under border changes agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference. A hoard of early medieval jewellery was discovered during

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s in Kamień Pomorski in 1959–1961.

Geography

Location

Kamień Pomorski is located on in the pool of Dziwna's strait that creates Kamieński Bay. The town lies by the two bays: Karpinka and Promna, approximately 90 km to

. Kamień Pomorski lies in the north-west part of the

. The centre of the city is located about 7 km to 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 ...

, to which it has direct access.

Climate

Moderately warm,

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(Cfb in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

) This climate is dominated all year round by the polar front, leading to changeable, often overcast weather. Summers are cool due to cool ocean currents, but winters are milder than other climates in similar latitudes, but usually very cloudy. Average temperature changes between 7-8,3 °C. August is the warmest month in the year, and January – the coldest. Max temperature is between 32,1 – 33,1 °C, and min. temperature is between -18,6- -19,2 °C. Annual precipitation rate ranges from 550 mm to 650 mm. Length of growing period is 210–220 days. Winds blow mostly from the South-West and North-West direction.

Tourism

The town is close to Zalew Kamieński (Kamieński Bay). The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist () is a local landmark. The cathedral is one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (''

Pomnik historii Historic Monument (, ) is one of several categories of objects of cultural heritage in Poland, objects of cultural heritage (in the singular, ''zabytek'') in Poland. To be recognized as a Polish historic monument, an object must be declared suc ...

''), as designated September 1, 2005 and tracked by the National Heritage Board of Poland.

International relations

Kamień Pomorski is twinned with:

Notable residents

* Jaromar () selected as Bishop of Cammin * Ewald Georg von Kleist (1700–1748), German jurist, Lutheran cleric, physicist and the inventor of the

Leyden jar A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar, or archaically, Kleistian jar) is an electrical component that stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It typically co ...

* Klaus Uebe (1900–1968), German Luftwaffe General * Klausjürgen Wussow (1929–2007) a German stage, film and television actor *

Uwe Johnson Uwe Johnson (; 20 July 1934 – 22 February 1984) was a German writer, editor, and scholar. Such prominent writers and scholars as Günter Grass and Hans Mayer declared Johnson to be the most significant writer to emerge from East Germany. Duri ...

(1934–1984) a German writer, editor and scholar * Bogusław Mamiński (born 1955) a retired long-distance runner * Adrian Benedyczak (born 2000) a Polish 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 ...

player

Gallery

File:Wolin Gate and Piast Tower in Kamień Pomorski bk5.JPG, Piast Tower (now a museum) File:Ratusz w Kamieniu Pomorskim - lipiec 2018.jpg, Town hall (c. 1350) File:Katedra w Kamieniu Pomorskim.JPG, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist File:Kamień Pomorski, pałac biskupi P9180239.JPG, Bishop's palace File:Pomnik Mieszka I Kamień Pomorski.jpg, A post-war monument File:Kamien Pomorski gmach sadu (2).jpg, Courthouse

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Kamień County Spa towns in Poland