Pruszcz Gdański (; former ; ; ) 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
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 ...
, northern Poland with 26,834 inhabitants (2010). Pruszcz Gdański is an industrial town neighbouring
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 ...
, part of the
Tricity agglomeration
Agglomeration may refer to:
* Urban agglomeration, in standard English
* Megalopolis, in Chinese English, as defined in China's ''Standard for basic terminology of urban planning'' (GB/T 50280—98). Also known as "city cluster".
* Economies of agg ...
. The
Tricity Bypass begins in Pruszcz Gdański.
The capital of
Gdańsk County
__NOTOC__
Gdańsk County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. ...
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 ...
since 1999, previously in the
Gdańsk Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998. The town is served by a
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
.
History
Human settlement in Pruszcz Gdański dates back to prehistoric times. Various traces of human settlement and cemeteries from the
Bronze and Iron Ages and
ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
times were 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 within the modern town limits. The territory became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century 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 ...
. The oldest known mention of Pruszcz comes from 1307.
It was invaded and occupied by the
Teutonic Knights
The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...
in the following years. In the 14th century, the Radunia Canal was built.
[ In 1454, King ]Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...
reincorporated the area to the Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385.
Background
The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...
. During the subsequent Thirteen Years' War, it was the site of the Battle of Pruszcz Gdański between forces from the Polish-allied city of Gdańsk and the Teutonic Knights.[ The restoration of the region to Poland was confirmed by the ]peace treaty
A peace treaty is an treaty, agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually country, countries or governments, which formally ends a declaration of war, state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an ag ...
of 1466. Pruszcz was a possession of the city of Gdańsk, 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 ...
in the Royal Prussia and 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 ...
provinces. Polish Kings often stopped in Pruszcz when travelling to the nearby city of Gdańsk.
Pruszcz 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 ...
in the Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...
, and from 1871 to 1920 it was also part of Germany. It had a mixed Catholic and Lutheran population, with small Jewish and Mennonite
Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...
minorities.[ Unlike most of Eastern Pomerania, the town did not return to ]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 ...
after regaining independence, but was included in the short-lived 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 ...
by 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 ...
. 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 ...
, 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 ...
. 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
...
from Leśniewo and Swarzewo were enslaved as 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 ...
at local farms, and Jewish women were similarly enslaved in a subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German-an ...
. Following Germany's defeat in the war, the town became again part of Poland.
As early as 30 March 1945, the Polish Post Office began its work as the first post-war Polish institution in the town. In post-war Poland the adjective
An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...
''Gdański'' was added to the town's name, after the nearby 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 ...
, to distinguish the town from other Polish settlements of the same name.
Education
Schools:
* Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcących nr 1
* Liceum Ogólnokształcące
* Gimnazjum nr 1
* Szkoła Podstawowa nr 2 w Pruszczu Gdańskim
* Szkoła Podstawowa nr 3
* Zespół Szkół nr 4
* Catolic Public Schools, Katolickie Szkoły Niepubliczne im. Jana Pawła II
* Prywatna Szkoła Muzyczna I stopnia
Preschools:
* Przedszkole Publiczne nr 3
* Przedszkole Nad Rzeczką
* Niepubliczne Przedszkole im. Janusza Korczaka
* Niepubliczne Przedszkole "Promyczek"
* Oddziały Przedszkolne Szkoły Podstawowej nr 2 "Dwójeczka"
* Niepubliczne Przedszkole "Jedyneczka"
* Niepubliczne przedszkole "Czwóreczka"
Population
According to data provided by the Central Statistical Office, the population of the city of Pruszcz is as follows over the years:
Pruszcz Gdański is a small town with a population of 32,093, of which 52.0% are women and 48.0% are men. From 2002 to 2023, the population increased by 40.2%. The average age of residents is 39.2 years, which is slightly lower than the average age of residents of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and lower than the average age of residents of all of Poland. In 2022, residents of Pruszcz Gdański entered into 154 marriages, which corresponds to 4.8 marriages per 1,000 residents. This is higher than the rate for the Pomeranian Voivodeship and significantly higher than the rate for Poland. During the same period, there were 1.6 divorces per 1,000 residents, a rate comparable to that of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the country. 29.2% of Pruszcz Gdański residents are single, 57.4% are married, 7.2% are divorced, and 5.9% are widowed. Pruszcz Gdański has a positive natural increase of 61, which corresponds to a natural increase of 1.91 per 1,000 residents. In 2022, 301 children were born, of which 49.2% were girls and 50.8% were boys. The average weight of newborns was 3,407 grams. The demographic dynamics ratio, which is the ratio of the number of live births to the number of deaths, is 1.20, significantly higher than the average for the voivodeship and significantly higher than the demographic dynamics ratio for the entire country. In 2022, 34.7% of deaths in Pruszcz Gdański were caused by cardiovascular diseases, 26.8% were caused by cancer, and 6.3% were caused by respiratory diseases. There are 7.51 deaths per 1,000 residents of Pruszcz Gdański, significantly lower than the average for the Pomeranian Voivodeship and significantly lower than the average for the country. In 2022, there were 572 registrations of internal migration and 374 deregistrations, resulting in a net internal migration balance of 198 for Pruszcz Gdański. In the same year, 18 people registered from abroad, and 7 deregistrations abroad were recorded, resulting in a net foreign migration balance of 11. 60.5% of Pruszcz Gdański residents are of working age, 20.7% are of pre-working age, and 18.7% are of post-working age.
Pruszcz, with a population growth rate of +34.21%, ranked third among Polish cities in terms of population growth rate from 2004 to 2020, after Piaseczno (+45.06%) and Grodzisk Mazowiecki (+36.97%).Pruszcz in the top three Polish cities with the highest population growth! The rural commune recorded an even greater increase
/ref>
Sports
The local football club is Czarni Pruszcz Gdański
Czarni Pruszcz Gdański is a Polish football team from Pruszcz Gdański, Poland.
History
The club were founded in 1961. Throughout the club's history they have played in the lower regional divisions in Poland. The club have only had success in ...
.
Notable people
* Mateusz Bąk (born 1983 in Pruszcz Gdański), Polish footballer; played for Lechia Gdańsk as a goalkeeper
* Edward Jurkiewicz
Edward Jurkiewicz (born 22 January 1948 in Pruszcz Gdański, Poland) is a Polish former professional basketball player and coach. During his playing career, he was a 1.95 m tall (6' 4") tall small forward. Jurkiewicz is considered to be one of t ...
(born 1948 in Pruszcz Gdański), Polish former professional basketball player; competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...
References
External links
Municipal website
Photos from Pruszcz Gdański
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Pomeranian Voivodeship
Gdańsk County
Populated riverside places in Poland