Sianów (Polish pronunciation: ; ) 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

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

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

, seat of

Gmina Sianów __NOTOC__ Gmina Sianów is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Sianów, which lies approximately north-east of Koszalin and north-east ...

. It has 6,555 inhabitants (2010). Sianów is a member of

Cittaslow Cittaslow is an organisation founded in Italy and inspired by the slow food movement. Cittaslow's goals include improving the quality of life in towns by slowing down its overall pace, especially in a city's use of spaces and the flow of life ...

History

The territory became part of the emerging Polish state under its first 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 ...

by . At various times, Sianów was part of the

eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

and

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

duchies of Pomerania, formed as a result of the medieval fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies. It was possibly a possession of the East Pomeranian

Swienca family The Swienca family was a medieval Pomeranian noble family which held high offices under various political powers in the Słupsk and Sławno Land and Gdańsk Pomerania from the mid-13th to the mid-14th centuries. History It is named after its fo ...

. It was granted

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1343. In 1353, the town was possibly purchased by the Bishop of Kamień, however, the actual status is not known, as in 1372 it was noted as a ducal possession and in 1386 as a diocesan possession. In 1480, during his stay at the local castle, Duke Bogislaw X was attacked and captured by the rebellious townspeople from nearby

Koszalin Koszalin (; ; , ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in Western Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-status city and capital of Koszalin County of West Pomera ...

. The town remained part of the district of

Darłowo Darłowo (; ; ) is a seaside town on the Slovincian Coast of north-western Poland, south of the Baltic Sea, with 13,324 inhabitants as of December 2021. Administratively, it is located in Sławno County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The earlie ...

, from which it was separated in 1623 by Duke Boguslaw XIV. Following the annexation by

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 ...

, the town was in dispute with the regional administration over its administrative status as it was reintegrated into the Darłowo district, and deprived of its voting rights in regional assemblies and of its local judiciary. In 1743, Sianów purchased the lake between Sianów and

Skibno Skibno () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Sianów, within Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately north of Sianów, north-east of Koszalin, and north-east of the region ...

. During 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 ...

, some 11,000 soldiers passed through the town, including of the Polish Legions. In 1833, some 100 former Polish insurgents built the road connecting Sianów and Koszalin, part of the longer road connecting

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 ...

and

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 ...

. In 1877, a road connecting Sianów with the railway station in nearby Skibno was built. Four annual

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

s were held in the town in the late 19th century. 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 ...

, Nazi Germany operated a

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 ...

subcamp of the

Stalag II-B Stalag II-B was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp situated west of the town of Hammerstein, Pomerania (now Czarne, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland) on the north side of the railway line. It housed Polish, French, Belgian, Serbian, Du ...

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

in the town. In March 1945, liberated forced labourer August Turzyński became the mayor of Sianów.

Demographics

Notable people

* Edward Żentara (1956–2011), Polish actor, appearing in more than 50 films and television shows between 1978 and 2010.

References

External links

Official town webpage
{{Authority control Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Cittaslow Koszalin County Populated riverside places in Poland