Kołbacz () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the administrative district of

Gmina Stare Czarnowo __NOTOC__ Gmina Stare Czarnowo is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. Its seat is the village of Stare Czarnowo, which lies approximately east of Gryfino and south-east ...

, within

Gryfino County __NOTOC__ Gryfino County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western Poland, on the German border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local go ...

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 ...

, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Stare Czarnowo, east of

Gryfino Gryfino () is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 21,393 inhabitants (2017). It is the capital of Gryfino County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The town is located on the Odra Wschodnia, the eastern branch of the Oder river, about ...

, and south-east 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 located on the Pyrzyce-Stargard Plains, on the west bank of the river Płonia, and has roughly 1,400 inhabitants.

History

The area has been inhabited since at least the times of the

Lusatian culture The Lusatian culture existed in the later Bronze Age and early Iron Age (1300–500 ) in most of what is now Poland and parts of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, eastern Germany and western Ukraine. It covers the Periods Montelius III (e ...

. The area became part of the emerging Polish state under its first historic 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. Following Poland's fragmentation, it formed part of the

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 ...

. In 1173 it was donated to the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

order (originally of Esrum,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

). Between 1210 and 1347 a large monastery (Kołbacz Abbey) and several farms were built in the area to house the monks. In sources known as ''Colbatz'', ''Kolbatz'', ''Colbas'', sometimes ''Mera Vallis'' which means ''Bright Valley''. After the secularization of

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

n Cistercians in 1555 the area became a private property of the Dukes of Pomerania-Stettin (Szczecin) from the

House of Griffin The House of Griffin or Griffin dynasty, (; , ; Latin: ''Gryphes''), or House of Pomerania (see ), was a dynasty ruling the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637. The name "Griffins" was used by the dynasty after the 15th century ...

, the monastery was converted into a castle and then into a summer residence of the dukes. After the dissolution of the duchy, the rulings of 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 ...

(1648) and the

Treaty of Stettin (1653) The Treaty of Stettin () of 4 May 1653Heitz (1995), p.232 settled a dispute between Brandenburg and Sweden, who both claimed succession in the Duchy of Pomerania after the extinction of the local House of Pomerania during the Thirty Years' War. ...

assigned the settlement to the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...

. From the 18th century it was 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 ...

, 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 ...

. Since 1815 it was administratively located in the Province of Pomerania. 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, the area became again part of Poland.

Sights

Among the most notable historical attractions are remnants of Cistercian abbey, which include a Romanesque-Gothic church (1210–1347), one of the oldest brick churches in Pomerania. There are also remnants of the monastery itself, as well as a converts' house, abbot's house, a gothic barn and a fortified tower. The abbey is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland.

Notable residents

* Karl-Ludwig Barths

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20060828141224/http://www.architektura.pomorze.pl/_index.php?link=_katalog_full&id=5&typ=zakon {{Authority control Populated riverside places in Poland Villages in Gryfino County