Kostrzyn nad Odrą (translated literally as Kostrzyn upon the
Oder; ; ) is a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
in
Gorzów County,
Lubusz Voivodeship
Lubusz Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in western Poland with a population of 972,140. Its regional capitals are Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra. The region is characterized by a landscape of forests, lake ...
in 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 border with
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 ...
.
Geography
The town is situated within the historic
Lubusz Land (''Ziemia Lubuska'') region at the confluence of the
Oder and
Warta rivers, on the western rim of the extended Warta mires. The town centre is located about south of
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 ...
.
Until the end of World War II and the implementation of the
Oder–Neisse line in 1945, the municipal area also comprised the
Küstrin-Kietz suburb on the west bank of the Oder river, which today is part of the German
Küstriner Vorland municipality. The former town centre, the Kostrzyn fortress located on the headland between the Oder and Warta rivers, was destroyed by the Red Army as an act of revenge weeks before the end of WW2 and not rebuilt. Today Kostrzyn's central area is located around
Kostrzyn railway station east of the Warta's mouth.
History
Middle Ages
Settled since the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
, the area was held by the
Piast dukes and kings of
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 ...
from about 960 until 1261, who had a
gord laid out in the borderlands with the
Pomeranian tribes in the north. Duke
Mieszko I used Kostrzyn's strategic location as a staging area during his expedition to the
Battle of Cedynia in 972. Likewise, beginning in 1002, his successor
Bolesław I the Brave used the area to prepare for conquests and battles in the
German–Polish War against King
Henry II.
In 1223 Duke
Władysław Odonic of
Greater Poland
Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland.
The bound ...
granted the fortress to the
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...
. The name of the town was first mentioned in 1232 in a Polish letter by the
Lubusz bishop
Wawrzyniec to the Knights Templar, in which the old
Slavic name ''Cozsterine'' (hence the later German name ''Küstrin'') was mentioned. In the 12th century it developed into a fortified
castellan
A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...
y and a Polish taxation post, however, together with
Lubusz Land it was seized by the
Ascanian margraves of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...
in 1261 and incorporated into their
Neumark territory east of the Oder river. By 1300 the town had received
Magdeburg town rights from Margrave
Albert III of Brandenburg and started to grow rapidly, owing largely to trade on the rivers. From 1319 there was a dispute over the town between the Piasts, the
Griffins and the Ascanians, and there were heavy fights between the
Duchy of Pomerania and the
Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg in the area in 1322–1323.
A peace treaty between Pomerania and Saxe-Wittenberg was signed in the town on 5 December 1323.
[
In 1373 the town became part of the ]Lands of the Bohemian Crown
The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval and early modern periods with feudalism, feudal obligations to the List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted o ...
(or ''Czech Lands''), ruled by the Luxembourg dynasty. In 1402, the Luxembourgs reached an agreement 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 ...
in Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
, under which Poland was to buy and reincorporate Kostrzyn and the surrounding region, but eventually the Luxembourgs sold the town to 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 ...
. After the Thirteen Years’ War broke out in 1454, the Teutonic Knights sold the town to Brandenburg in order to raise funds for war against Poland.
Modern era
In 1535–1571 the town was the seat of John of Brandenburg-Küstrin, who made it the capital of the Neumark region and built a castle. With time this castle was expanded into a fortress, one of the largest such facilities in the region. While still crown prince, Frederick the Great was imprisoned in the fortress, from which he witnessed the execution of his friend Hans Hermann von Katte on 6 November 1730. The town was besieged by the Russians during the Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
. Captured by the French in 1806, Küstrin was occupied by a French military garrison for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
. During the French retreat from the east in 1814, the town was set on fire and burnt to the ground.
The town recovered and became one of the most important railway hubs in 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 ...
and later 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 ...
. One of the main escape routes for surviving insurgents of the Polish November Uprising
The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution,
was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...
from partitioned Poland to the Great Emigration
The Great Emigration () was the emigration of thousands of Poles and Lithuanians, particularly from the political and cultural élites, from 1831 to 1870, after the failure of the November Uprising of 1830–1831 and of other uprisings such as ...
led through the town. In 1857 it was linked to Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
and Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With around 58,000 inh ...
and in 1875 with Stettin (Szczecin) on the Pomeranian coast. In 1900 its population reached 16,473, including the garrison of the fortress.
20th century
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 ...
, a German strict regime prisoner-of-war camp for French, Russian, Belgian, British and Canadian officers was operated at the local fortress. Notable inmates included Leefe Robinson, Jocelyn Lee Hardy, Roland Garros and Jules Bastin, who all made unsuccessful escape attempts. It is considered the only German POW camp of World War I from which no one managed to escape.
In September 1923, the Black Reichswehr
The Black Reichswehr () was the unofficial name for the extra-legal paramilitary formation that was secretly a part of the German military ( Reichswehr) during the early years of the Weimar Republic. It was formed in 1921 after the German govern ...
attempted a putsch from the Küstrin Fortress, but it was suppressed by the regular Reichswehr
''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...
.
At the outbreak of 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 ...
Küstrin had 24,000 inhabitants. During the war, the Germans used Polish prisoners of war as forced labourers to build the Stalag III-C POW camp in the present-day district of Drzewice. It housed Polish, French, Serbian, Soviet, Italian, British, American and Belgian POWs.[ In 1943–45 the town also housed a sub-camp of the ]Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...
, whose prisoners were Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Germans, French, Belgians and Dutch, with Poles and Russians treated particularly badly either by guards or ethnic German camp elders, and a number of German forced labour camps. Due to Allied air raids on the railway hub and local factories and its position as a German bridgehead on the east bank of the Oder during the Battle of the Oder-Neisse and the Battle of the Seelow Heights, almost 95% of its buildings were destroyed (including all 32 of the city's factories) and the town was generally deserted. The town was captured 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 11 March 1945. Soviet troops killed some American POWs mistaking them for enemy troops.[
After the war the ruined town became part of Poland again by decision of the Potsdam Conference; Germans remaining in the town were expelled westward in accordance with the ]Potsdam Agreement
The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...
. The town was repopulated by Poles, many of whom were refugees
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
from Soviet-annexed former eastern Poland, from where they had been displaced by Soviet authorities in accordance to new borders decided at Yalta Conference, while most were re-settlers from central Poland.
The remnants of the old town within the fortress walls, including the castle in which the young Frederick the Great had been imprisoned, were razed after the war and the bricks were used to rebuild Polish cities elsewhere. More recently, plans to rebuild some of the old town in a historical style were considered, but this project appears to be on hold. The section of the town on the west bank of the Oder remained in Germany and is now called Küstrin-Kietz.
Between 2004 and 2019 Kostrzyn hosted the annual Pol'and'Rock Festival (formerly Przystanek Woodstock) in the summer, the largest open-air music festival in Europe and one of the largest in the world.
Population in selected years
Sports
The local football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club is . It competes in the lower leagues.
Industry
Kostrzyn is an industrial town with various factories. Arctic Paper (a paper manufacturer), Hanke Tissue (a hygiene products manufacturer) and ICT Poland (a stationery manufacturer) all have factories in western Kostrzyn.
Notable people
* Jan Latalski (1463–1540), medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
Archbishop of Gniezno
* Kaspar von Barth (1587–1658), philologist
* Christian Albert, Burgrave and Count of Dohna (1621–1677), Prussian general
* Philipp von Stosch (1691–1757), Prussian antiquarian
*Alfred von Tirpitz
Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (; born Alfred Peter Friedrich Tirpitz; 19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral and State Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperi ...
(1849–1930), German grand admiral
* Fedor von Bock (1880–1945), German field marshal
* Gerhard Matzky (1894–1983), German general
* Joseph Kushner (1922–1985), American property developer
* Dariusz Dudka (born 1983), Polish footballer
* Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (born 1984), Polish footballer
*Łukasz Fabiański
Łukasz Marek Fabiański (born 18 April 1985) is a Polish professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club West Ham United F.C., West Ham United. He will become a free agent on ...
(born 1985), Polish footballer
Twin towns – sister cities
Kostrzyn nad Odrą is twinned with:
* Seelow, Germany
* Peitz, Germany
* Sambir, Ukraine
References
External links
Municipal website
Jewish Community in Kostrzyn nad Odrą
on Virtual Shtetl
Google Maps
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Lubusz Voivodeship
Gorzów County
Divided cities
Germany–Poland border crossings
Populated riverside places in Poland