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Starogard Gdański (; until 1950: ''Starogard''; formerly ) is a
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
in
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 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 ...
with 48,328 inhabitants (2004). Starogard is the capital of Starogard County. Founded in the Middle Ages, Starogard is a city with various heritage sights including medieval defensive walls and towers. It was the location of the sejmik (local parliament) of the Pomeranian Voivodeship in the early modern period. In the late modern period, it was an important center of Polish resistance against the Germanisation policies of
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
following 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 ...
. Starogard is home to one of the oldest
vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...
factories in Poland, one of the largest and oldest psychiatric hospitals in Poland and notable
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
club SKS Starogard Gdański. Starogard is the second biggest city of the ethnocultural region of Kociewie (after
Tczew Tczew (, formerly ) is a city on the Vistula River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, with 59,111 inhabitants (December 2021). It is the capital of Tczew County and the largest city of the ethnocultural region of Kociewie within th ...
). It is considered the capital of Kociewie, and as such it hosts the Museum of Kociewie Land, devoted to the history of the region.


Geographical location

Starogard Gdański is located 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 ...
on the small river Wierzyca, about south-west of
Tczew Tczew (, formerly ) is a city on the Vistula River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, with 59,111 inhabitants (December 2021). It is the capital of Tczew County and the largest city of the ethnocultural region of Kociewie within th ...
, south 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 ...
and north-east of
Chojnice Chojnice (; or ; or ) is a town in northern Poland with 38,789 inhabitants, as of June 2023, near the Tuchola Forest. It is the capital of the Chojnice County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Founded in , Chojnice is a former royal city of Poland ...
. It is from the Tricity () agglomeration on the coast of Gdańsk Bay.


Etymology

The name ''Starogard'' means "old city" in the Pomeranian language. ''Gdański'' is appended in the 20th century to the name to differentiate it from other places named Starogard. The German name ''Preußisch Stargard'' (Prussian Stargard) was similarly used to disambiguate from other places named Stargard. (''See'' Stargard (disambiguation)).


History

Archeological evidence indicates remnants of a
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
settlement from four to five thousand years ago. The area became part of the emerging Polish state under its first ruler Mieszko I of Poland in the 10th century, and during the fragmentation period in Poland it was part of a Pomeranian duchy, which separated from Poland in 1227. Starogrod (as Starigrod) was first mentioned in 1198 when
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
Grzymisław II of Pomerania granted the settlement to the
Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...
. The Slavic name Stargarde was mentioned in 1269. In 1282, Mestwin II and Polish Duke
Przemysł II Przemysł II ( also given in English and Latin language, Latin as ''Premyslas'' or ''Premislaus'' or in Polish as '; 14 October 1257 – 8 February 1296) was the Duke of Poznań from 1257–1279, of Greater Poland from 1279 to 1296, of Kraków fr ...
signed the Treaty of Kępno, which transferred the suzerainty over Gdańsk Pomerania including Starogard to Przemysł II and reunited the region with Poland. Together with the rest of Gdańsk Pomerania it came under the rule of the Teutonic Knights during the 1308 Teutonic takeover of Gdańsk. In 1348 the town received city rights under Kulm Law by Grandmaster Heinrich Dusemer. Since 31 March 1440 Starogard was a member of the Prussian Confederation. It took an active part in the 1454 uprising against the
Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...
that led to the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66). In 1454, Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon 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 ...
upon the request of the Confederation, and the city recognized the King as the rightful ruler. In 1461 the Teutonic Knights took over Starogard, which was then eventually recaptured by Poland in July 1466. In 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 ...
signed in
Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...
a few months later in 1466, the Teutonic Knights renounced any claims to the city, and recognized it as part of Poland. It was a royal city of Poland, 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 province of Royal Prussia in the larger Greater Poland Province. It remained under Polish rule until 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, when it became 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 ...
under the name ''Preußisch Stargard''. The city was subjected to Germanisation policies. One of the main escape routes for insurgents of the unsuccessful 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 led through the city. In 1871, a large
vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...
distillery was built on the western end of city, which survived both world wars and today produces Sobieski and Krupnik. It is one of Europe's oldest continuously run vodka distilleries, and one of only a very small handful of vodka distilleries predating 1945. In 1871, with the Prussian-led
unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). I ...
, Preußisch Stargard became part of the
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 the same year, it was connected to the rail network and in 1900 a water and gas network was built in the city. At the beginning of the 20th century, the city had a Protestant church, a Catholic church, a synagogue, a grammar school, a preparatory institute, a district court, a Reichsbank branch, a main tax office and a number of commercial operations. According to the census of 1905, the town had a population of 10,485, of which 6,297 (60.1%) were
Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
. In 1906–1907, local Polish children joined the children school strikes against Germanisation that spread throughout the Prussian Partition of Poland. Until 1920, the city belonged to the Preußisch Stargard district in Regierungsbezirk Danzig in the Province of West Prussia in
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 ...
. 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 ...
, it was reincorporated into Poland, which had just regained independence as 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 ...
. In the interbellum it was a county seat 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 ...
of Poland.


World War II

During the joint German-Soviet
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 ...
in September 1939, the city was invaded 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 ...
, and then the German Einsatzkommando 16 and SS Wachsturmbann "Eimann" entered the city to commit various crimes against Poles. Under German occupation, the city was annexed into the newly formed Regierungsbezirk Danzig in the new province of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia. The Polish population was subjected to mass arrests, imprisonment, tortures, massacres, expulsions, deportations to concentration camps and to forced labour. The Germans immediately carried out mass arrests of Polish teachers, priests and local activists in the town and county as part of the '' Intelligenzaktion''.Wardzyńska (2009), p. 108 Arrested Poles were then held both in the pre-war prison and the medieval Gdańsk Tower and often subjected to brutal beatings and mistreatment, especially clergymen, some of whom had even
swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...
s cut into their foreheads. Already in September 1939, the Germans murdered 150 Poles, including inhabitants of Starogard, Skórcz and
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 ...
, in the city and its vicinity. Beginning in September 1939 in nearby Szpęgawski Forest (north-east of the city) Germans killed in mass executions about 7,000
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 ...
, among them 1,680 Kocborowo (district of Starogard) and
Świecie Świecie (; ) is a town in northern Poland with 24,841 inhabitants (2023), capital of Świecie County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is located within the ethnocultural region of Kociewie in the historic region of Pomerania. Founded ...
psychiatric hospitals patients. About 500 handicapped children were killed in the hospital, in Action T4. 2,842 patients died between 1940 and 1944. Polish hospital staff was either murdered in the Szpęgawski Forest or deported to concentration camps or to forced labour to Germany. A local parish priest was murdered in a massacre of around 230 Poles in
Płutowo Płutowo () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kijewo Królewskie, within Chełmno County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. North of Płutowo village there is the Płutowo Nature Reserve with a total area ...
. The Germans also established and operated a subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp in the town. Despite such circumstances, Poles still organized an underground resistance movement, including the
Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
and Jaszczurka organizations. In 1945 the German occupation ended and the town was restored to Poland, however with a
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
-installed communist regime, which remained in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s.


Contemporary history

The Jord-Just youth anti-communist resistance organization was established in Starogard in 1951 by 16-year-old girl Teresa Block. The organization was eventually crushed by the communists, who sentenced 17 teenage members to 1.5 to 9 years in prison.


Number of inhabitants by year


Culture

The Museum of Kociewie Land (), the main museum devoted to the history of Kociewie, is located in Starogard Gdański. It contains archaeological, ethnographic and historical collections.


Major corporations

* Polpharma SA * Destylarnia Sobieski SA


Transport

The Polish National road 22 and Voivodeship road 222 pass through the city, and the A1 motorway runs nearby, east of the city. There is a train station in Starogard.


Education

* Pomorska Szkoła Wyższa w Starogardzie Gdańskim * I Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Starogardzie Gdańskim


Sports

The town's most notable sports club is
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
team SKS Starogard Gdański, which plays in the Polish Basketball League (Poland's top division), Polish Cup winners in 2011, and runners-up in 2006. 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 KP Starogard Gdański, and it competes in the
III liga III liga (Trzecia liga), currently named Betclic III liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is a Polish football league that sits in the fourth tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season, III liga ref ...
(Polish fourth tier). The team plays in green and white at the Stadion Miejski. The town was home to the Polish World Cup football player and Olympic Gold Medal winner Kazimierz Deyna. Deyna grew up in Starogard Gdański, and the local Stadion Miejski im. Kazimierza Deyny is named after him. There is also a statue to him in the seating area of the ground, and a heritage trail through the town which takes in his birthplace, family home and murals to the sportsman. Starogard Gdański also boasted Olympic bronze medal winner Oktawia Nowacka. Michael Hicks, an Olympian that represents Poland in 3x3 Basketball at the 2020 Olympic Games, currently resides in Starogard Gdański and holds basketball camps for the youth.


Notable people

* Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), physician who specialized in forensic medicine * Michael F. Blenski (1862–1932), Wisconsin politician * Adolf Wallenberg (1862–1949), internist and neurologist * John S. Flizikowski, (1868–1934), Chicago architect * Ferdinand Noeldechen (1895–1951), general * Theo Mackeben (1897–1953), pianist, conductor and composer, particularly of film music * Kazimierz Kropidłowski (1931–1998), long jumper, competed at the
1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...
* Henryk Jankowski (1936–2010), Roman Catholic priest and Member of Solidarity movement * Kazimierz Deyna (1947–1989), soccer player, over 600 pro games and 97 for Poland * Władysław Wojtakajtis (1949–2016), swimmer, competed at the 1968 and
1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...
* Andrzej Grubba (1958–2005), table tennis player * Maria Kamrowska (born 1966), heptathlete * Paweł Papke (born 1977), volleyball player * Piotr Wiśniewski (born 1982), footballer, who played 230 games for Lechia Gdańsk * Tomasz Schuchardt (born 1986), actor * Oktawia Nowacka (born 1991), modern pentathlete and bronze medalist in the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...


Twin towns – sister cities

Starogard Gdański is twinned with: * Boryslav, Ukraine *
Diepholz Diepholz (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Deefholt'') is a town and capital of the district of Diepholz in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the rivers Hunte and Lohne, approximately 45 km northeast of Osnabrück, and 60 km southwes ...
, Germany * Foshan, China * Luohe, China


References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Pomeranian Voivodeship Starogard County Towns in Kociewie Intelligenzaktion massacre locations