Nakło nad Notecią (Polish pronunciation: ) 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 north-central

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 river

Noteć The Noteć (; , ) is a river in central Poland with a length of (7th longest) and a basin area of .Nakło County __NOTOC__ Nakło County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms pas ...

, and also of Gmina Nakło nad Notecią, situated in the

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) in Poland. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian is one of 13 Polish constituency of the European Parliament. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Regional Assembly is the regional legislature of t ...

. It is located in the ethnocultural region of Krajna.

History

Nakło began to develop as a Pomeranian settlement by the middle of the 10th century. It was initially called ''Nakieł'', and its name comes from the

Old Polish The Old Polish language () was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Old Polish language are the data of the co ...

word ''nakieł''. The name morphed into ''Nakło'' in the 16th century. The town was first mentioned in 11th-century documents. Between 1109 and 1113 it fell to 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 ...

of Poland. It received Magdeburg town rights in 1299. It was a royal town of the Polish Crown and a county seat located in the Kalisz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province. Nakło was annexed by 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 ...

during 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 and known by the German name ''Nakel''. It began to develop significantly after the completion of the

Bydgoszcz Canal Bydgoszcz Canal (; ) is a canal between the cities of Bydgoszcz and Nakło nad Notecią in Poland. It is 24.7 km long and connects the Vistula river with the Oder river, through the Brda (river), Brda and Noteć rivers (the latter ending in ...

, which connected the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

with the

Noteć The Noteć (; , ) is a river in central Poland with a length of (7th longest) and a basin area of .Warta The river Warta ( , ; ; ) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly through the Polish Plain in a north-westerly direction to flow into the Oder at Kostrzyn nad Odrą on Poland's border with Germany. About long, it the second-longest riv ...

, and

Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...

rivers. After the defeat of Prussia in the

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of mi ...

War of the Fourth Coalition The War of the Fourth Coalition () was a war spanning 1806–1807 that saw a multinational coalition fight against Napoleon's First French Empire, French Empire, subsequently being defeated. The main coalition partners were Kingdom of Prussia, ...

, Nakło became part of the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

in 1807. After the defeat of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

in 1815, it was restored to Prussia in the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

as part of the autonomous

Grand Duchy of Posen The Grand Duchy of Posen (; ) was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from Prussian Partition, territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following the Congress of Vienna in 1815. On 9 February 1 ...

. 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. During the course of 19th-century

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

, Nakło developed further after being connected with the

Prussian Eastern Railway The Prussian Eastern Railway () was a railway in the Kingdom of Prussia and later Germany until 1918. Its main route, approximately long, connected the capital, Berlin, with the cities of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and Königsberg (now Kalini ...

in 1851. It became part of the Prussian-led

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 ...

in 1871. After

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 ...

, in 1918, Poland regained independence and many inhabitants joined the Greater Poland uprising (1918–19) with the aim to reintegrate the town with the reborn state. The town was captured by Polish insurgents on 1 January 1919, however, they were forced to withdraw in accordance with a Polish-German truce. The Germans then brought reinforcements to the town. In June 1919, American and British journalists visited the town, and the Germans tried to keep

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

away from the journalists. Local Polish craftsman Antoni Nadskakuła shouted a pro-Polish and pro- Allied slogan to the journalists, and was later lynched by the Germans in revenge, and his workshop was destroyed. The town was eventually restored to 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 ...

according to the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

. Within interwar Poland, it was administratively located in the

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship ( ; ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The voivodeship was established on January 1, 1999, out of the former voivodeships of Gdańsk Voivo ...

. 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 ...

, which started

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 German army invaded the town on 3 September 1939, and afterwards it was occupied 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 ...

until January 1945. The German

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

and the '' Selbstschutz'' carried out mass arrests of

in October and November 1939, and a prison for Poles was established in the local gymnasium. Many Poles from Nakło, including teachers, craftsmen, merchants and children, were murdered in large massacres in the nearby village of Paterek. In November 1939, the commander of the '' SD- EK 16'' declared that all Polish

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

capable of resistance had been eliminated. Many Polish families expelled by the Germans from the region were deported to Nakło and then marched from the town to the nearby Potulice concentration camp. 73 Poles from the Nakło County, including 20 policemen, were also murdered by the Russians in the large

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 April–May 1940. In August 1944, the Germans brought around 300 Polish forced labourers aged 15–50 from the Wyrzysk area to the town, and then deported them to a newly established forced labour camp in Jajkowo. The town was administratively part of the

Bydgoszcz Voivodeship Bydgoszcz Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Statistics Capital city: Bydgoszcz Area: 10,359 Statistics (1998): P ...

from 1975 to 1998.

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.

Notable residents

* Elizabeth Granowska (c. 1372–1420),

Queen consort of Poland The wives of the rulers of the Kingdom of Poland were duchesses or queens consort of Poland. Two women ruled Poland as queens regnant, but their husbands were kings ''jure uxoris''. Wives of early Polish monarchs Duchesses of the Polans ...

, wife 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. ...

* William Raphael (1833–1914), artist * Nathan Porges (1848–1924), rabbi * Hermann von Strantz (1853–1936), German general * Ignaz Jastrow (1856-1937), economist and historian * Szczęsny Dettloff (1878–1961), historian of art * Abraham Buschke (1868-1943), doctor * Klemens Biniakowski (1902–1985), sprinter *

Rafał Blechacz Rafał Blechacz (; born 30 June 1985) is a Polish classical pianist who rose to fame after winning the XV International Chopin Piano Competition in 2005. Biography Blechacz began piano lessons at the age of five, and enrolled in the National ...

(born 1985), classical pianist, winner of

International Chopin Piano Competition The International Chopin Piano Competition (), often called the Chopin Competition, is a piano competition in Warsaw, Poland, held first in 1927 and every five years since 1955. The competition is one of the founding members of the World Federa ...

Twin towns

Nakło nad Notecią is twinned with: * Seymour (

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

) *

Elsterwerda Elsterwerda (; Lower Sorbian: ''Wikow'') is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in southwestern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the Black Elster river, 48 km northwest of Dresden, and 11 km southeast of Bad Liebenwerda. Histor ...

(

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 ...

) * Naklo (

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

)

Gallery

Naklo haven p3.jpg, Nakło haven Naklo sStanislaw church6.jpg, Saint Stanislaus church Naklo starostwo1.jpg, County office Naklo13.JPG, Saint Lawrence church Naklo sWawrzyniec church1.jpg,

memorial Naklo Liceum.jpg, General education liceum (high school)

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Nakło County Populated riverside places in Poland Historic Jewish communities in Poland