Rumia (; ; ) is a town in northern

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 the

Wejherowo County __NOTOC__ Wejherowo County (, ) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland, on the Baltic coast. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ...

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 ...

, with some 49,000 inhabitants. It is a part of the

Kashubian Tricity Little Kashubian Tricity (; ) is a name used for an urban area in northern Poland comprising the three towns of Rumia, Reda and Wejherowo, located in Wejherowo County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, and within the ethnocultural region of Kashubia Ka ...

(Rumia,

Reda Reda may refer to: * Reda (surname), list of people with the surname * Reda (given name), list of people with the given name * Reda, Poland, a town in Poland * Reda (river), a river in Poland * Reda railway station, a railway station in Reda, Polan ...

Wejherowo Wejherowo (; formerly ) is a city in Gdańsk Pomerania, northern Poland, with 48,735 inhabitants (2021). It has been the capital of Wejherowo County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999; previously, it was a city in Gdańsk Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

) and a suburb part of the metropolitan area of the Tricity. It is situated in

Kashubia Kashubia or Cassubia ( or ; ; or ) is an ethnocultural region in the historic Eastern Pomerania (Pomerelia) region of northern Poland. It is inhabited by the Kashubian people, and many in the region have historically spoken the Kashubian langua ...

in the historic region 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 ...

. It is connected by well-developed railway and highway connections to the Tricity, an urban agglomeration of almost 1 million inhabitants on the coast of

Gdańsk Bay Gdańsk Bay or the Gulf of Gdańsk is a southeastern bay of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the adjacent port city of Gdańsk in Poland. Geography The western part of Gulf of Gdańsk is formed by the shallow waters of the Bay of Puck. The so ...

History

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

Lechitic settlements existed in present-day Rumia in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

. The region formed part of Poland since the establishment of the state in the 10th century. The village of Rumia (then ''Rumina'') was first mentioned in 1224 when it was awarded by Swietopelk II, later duke of

Eastern Pomerania Eastern Pomerania can refer to distinct parts of Pomerania: *The historical region of Farther Pomerania, which was the eastern part of the Duchy, later Province of Pomerania *The historical region of Pomerelia including Gdańsk Pomerania, located ...

to the Cistercian convent in

Oliwa Oliwa () (; ; ) is a northern district of the city of Gdańsk, Poland. From east it borders Przymorze and Żabianka, from the north Sopot and from the south with the districts of Strzyża, VII Dwór and Brętowo, while from the west with Mat ...

(today part 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 ...

). The name of Rumia was applied also to the neighbourhoods of Janowo and Biała Rzeka. In 1285

Mestwin II Mestwin II ( or ''Mszczuj II'') ( 1220 – December 25, 1294) was a Duke of Pomerelia, member of the Samborides dynasty. He ruled Pomerelia as a sole ruler from 1273 to 1294. Early life Mestwin II was the son of Swietopelk II and the Přemyslid ...

duke of Pomerania This is a list of the duchies and dukes of Pomerania. Dukes of the Slavic Pomeranian tribes (All Pomerania) The lands of Pomerania were firstly ruled by local tribes, who settled in Pomerania around the 10th and 11th centuries. Non-dynastic ...

stopped here to issue official documents. It was part of Poland until 1309, when it was annexed by the

State of the Teutonic Order The State of the Teutonic Order () was a theocratic state located along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Europe. It was formed by the knights of the Teutonic Order during the early 13th century Northern Crusades in the region ...

. Poland tried to regain the region through diplomacy as it did not recognize its annexation by the Teutonic Knights, and from 1325 the local Cistercians secretly resumed collections of the

Peter's Pence Peter's Pence (or ''Denarii Sancti Petri'' and "Alms of St Peter") are donations or payments made directly to the Holy See of the Catholic Church. The practice began under the Saxons in Kingdom of England, England and spread through Europe. Both ...

tax on behalf of Poland for the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. From 1320 to 1342 a Cistercian–Teutonic conflict took place, which ended with a privilege in which the Teutonic Knights confirmed the Cisterian possessions in the region, including Rumia. 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 ...

re-incorporated the region 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 ...

, and after the subsequent Thirteen Years' War the Teutonic Knights renounced their claims to the region in 1466. Afterwards Rumia was administratively located in the Puck County in the

of the Kingdom of Poland until 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 ...

. It remained a church village of the Cistercians from Oliwa, while the present-day district of Zagórze was a royal village of the Polish Crown, and also new craft settlements (also present-day districts) Szmelta and Stara Piła emerged. In 1772 it 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

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 ...

, and from 1773 it belonged to the newly established province of

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...

until 1871 when it also became part of the unified

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 1905 Rumia (then officially ''Rahmel'') had 760 inhabitants. 579 of them were Germans and 180 were Kashubian or Polish, while the present-day districts of Zagórze and Janowo had 754 and 161 inhabitants respectively, and remained predominantly Polish-Kashubian. Rumia was a German language island in a predominantly Slavic speaking region. Rumia kosciol sw krzyza 01

Germany's defeat in

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 ...

gave Poles hope for the restoration of independent Poland. The Poles established a local Polish library, and on December 29, 1918 the first Polish pro-independence rally took place in Rumia. Germany responded with repressions and discrimination of Poles, and carried out arrests of Polish activists and searches of Polish homes, etc., however in 1920 Rumia was successfully restored to the newly re-established

Polish state 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 ...

. Administratively it was part of the new Pomeranian Voivodeship. Wybicki Derdowski Rumia

In the late 1920s, the nearby village of

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

was developed into a city and one of the biggest seaports in the region – especially due to its strategic location on the Polish coastal region, to which Rumia also belonged. The rapid growth of the city of Gdynia prompted the price of land to increase. Labour migrants from other parts of Poland began to settle in the region including the village of Rumia and its vicinity. Zagórze, Kazimierz and Łężyce, which are today parts of Rumia, were originally separate villages, and were joined with Rumia in 1934 to form the Rumia Rural Commune. By 1934, Rumia had become a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

(population of 12,000 in 1939), located approximately from the city centre and well-connected with it through a railway link. A small military airfield, home of two squadrons of the Coast Defence Escadrille (based in Puck) was opened to civilian planes on 1 May 1936. The airport serviced international route

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and domestic route

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and by 1 January 1939, the number of passengers using it rose to over 3000 a year. The airfield was also the main base of the

-based glider club. During the German

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 ...

in 1939, 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 ...

, Rumia was a site of heavy fighting. It was a flanking position of the main Polish defence line at

Kępa Oksywska Kępa may refer to the following places in Poland: *Kępa, Lower Silesian Voivodeship (south-west Poland) *Kępa, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (north-central Poland) *Kępa, Chełm County in Lublin Voivodeship (east Poland) *Kępa, Lublin County ...

. Two military cemeteries are located in the area. Soldiers of the

207th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) The 207th Infantry Division () was established in August 1939, and acted as a border security unit during the invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 ...

and SS members murdered 18 people in Rumia 11–12 September 1939. Afterwards the town 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 ...

, which

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

it to the newly formed province of

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia () was an Reichsgau, administrative division of Nazi Germany created on 8 October 1939 from annexed territory of the Free City of Danzig, the Greater Pomeranian Voivodship (Polish Corridor), and the Marienwerder (regi ...

and renamed it to Rahmel. In September and October 1939, SS and SD terrorized ethnic Polish and Jewish population. Most of the victims were either executed at a nearby mass execution site in

Piaśnica The Piaśnica is a river in northern Poland, in Puck County near Gdańsk, in Pomeranian Voivodeship. It begins inside the Puszcza Darżlubska Wilderness, located in the northernmost part of the geographical region of Pobrzeże Kaszubskie. Darżl ...

or sent to 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 ...

. Pre-war

wójt A wójt is the highest administrative officer of a Polish ''rural gmina'', i.e., of a commune (''gmina'') comprising only villages. (The head of a town or city is called, respectively, the ''burmistrz'' or "president".) History and etymology T ...

of Rumia (head of the local administration) Hipolit Roszczynialski was among the victims of the massacres in Piaśnica. Approximately half of the pre-war inhabitants of the town were expelled from 1939 to 1941, mostly to the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

in the more eastern part of German-occupied Poland. Many were also deported to

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 ...

near

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 ...

. The town was also a place of internment for several thousand

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

s, mostly from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. A forced labour camp and an aircraft assembly plant were located in the town's vicinity. In 1945, shortly before the town's liberation 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 ...

, the local airfield was destroyed by an RAF bombing raid. In 1945, the town was transferred back to the once again reestablished

. Rumia became a city in 1954 when a few other villages (Zagórze, Biała Rzeka, Szmelta and Janowo) were joined in. The town was administratively part of the Gdańsk Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998. In 2001, the nearby village of Kazimierz was also included into city of Rumia.

Transport

Rumia is well connected through a 2-lane highway that leads from

and from there by Circular Highway to

. There is a plan to extend the Circular from Gdynia to beyond Wejherowo. The Szybka Kolej Miejska (Urban Fast Train) makes two stops in the city, connecting it to Wejherowo, Gdynia, and beyond. The stops are

Rumia Rumia (; ; ) is a town in northern Poland, in the Wejherowo County in Pomeranian Voivodeship, with some 49,000 inhabitants. It is a part of the Kashubian Tricity (Rumia, Reda, Wejherowo) and a suburb part of the metropolitan area of the Tricity ...

and Rumia Janowo. There is also network of city buses that also offers connections to

and

Sports

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 ...

team Orkan Rumia and

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

team Arka Rumia are based in the city.

People from Rumia

Erika Steinbach Erika Steinbach (, born 25 July 1943) is a German right-wing politician. She previously served as a member of the Bundestag from 1990 until 2017. She was a member of the Christian Democratic Union from 1974 to 2017, and served as a member of t ...

(born 1943) a German CDU politician, served in the Bundestag 1990-2017 *

Jerzy Treder Jerzy Treder (14 April 1942 – 2 April 2015) was a Polish philologist and linguist, focusing on Kashubian studies, among other interests. He was born in Biała Rzeka, Rumia, in the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia of German-occupied Poland. In 1987- ...

(1942–2015) a Polish philologist and linguist, focusing on Kashubian studies * Magdalena Damaske (born 1996) a Polish volleyball player

International relations

Rumia is twinned with:

References

Notes

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Pomeranian Voivodeship Wejherowo County Holocaust locations in Poland Sites of Nazi war crimes during the Invasion of Poland