Wiele is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the administrative district of

Gmina Karsin __NOTOC__ Gmina Karsin () is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Kościerzyna County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. Its seat is the village of Karsin, which lies approximately south of Kościerzyna and south-west of the regi ...

, within

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

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. It lies approximately north-west of

Karsin Karsin is a village in Kościerzyna County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Karsin. It lies approximately south of Kościerzyna and south-west of the regional capita ...

, south of

Kościerzyna Kościerzyna (; Pomeranian language, Pomeranian and ; former ) is a town in Kashubia in Gdańsk Pomerania region, northern Poland, with 23,327 inhabitants as of June 2023. It has been the capital of Kościerzyna County in Pomeranian Voivodeship si ...

, and south-west of the regional capital

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 ...

. It is located in the Zabor Land, a southern part of the ethnocultural region of

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 ...

History

The village was already established as early as 1300. The area is hampered by poor, sandy soil, which is why the primary crops are rye, hay and potatoes. Wiele was a royal village of the

Polish Crown The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (; ) was a political and legal concept formed in the 14th century in the Kingdom of Poland, assuming unity, indivisibility and continuity of the state. Under this idea, the state was no longer seen as the pa ...

, administratively located in the Tuchola County in the

. It was annexed by

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, ...

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 ...

in 1772. In 1800 there was a church, saw-mill, bakery and flour mill which defined the Village. In 1835-36 farmers were liberated from serfdom under Prussian Law and a few farms were established. From 1871 the village was part of Germany and then it was restored to Poland, after it regained independence following

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. The area is the home of Farmers and Artisans.

Sights and culture

The museum of Zaborland lies here, displaying local folk art and contemporary Kashubian artistry. The greatest attraction in the area is the Wiele Calvary with station chapels built in 1915.

Kashubian Emigration to America

During the

Kashubian diaspora The Kashubian diaspora resulted from the emigration of Kashubians mainly in two waves occurring in the second half of the 19th century. The majority of Kashubian emigrants settled in the United States; others emigrated to Canada and Brazil. An onlin ...

, many families from Wiele emigrated to the area of

Winona, Minnesota Winona ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota, United States. Located in bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf (Winona, Minnesota), Sugar Loaf. The population was 2 ...

in the United States, beginning in the late 1850s. The most famous of Winona's immigrants from Wiele was

Hieronim Derdowski Hieronim Derdowski ( Kashubian ''Hieronim Derdowsczi'' or ''Jarosz Derdowsczi''; March 9, 1852 – August 13, 1902) was a Kashubian intellectual and activist. He was born to Kashubian parents in the Pomeranian village of Wiele in the German Empi ...

, famed Kashubian poet and, after emigration to the United States, editor of the Winona Polish-language newspaper

Wiarus ''Wiarus'' (Veteran Defender) was the name of a Polish-language newspaper published in Winona, Minnesota from 1886 to 1893 and 1895 to 1919; in 1893 it was renamed ''Katolik'', but reverted to its original name in 1895. Although Winona's Polish com ...

. Many also travelled to

Wilno, Ontario Wilno is a settlement in the Madawaska Valley, Ontario, Township Municipality of Madawaska Valley, Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. Geography Wilno is nestled in the rolling, picturesque terrain of the Madawaska River (Ontario), Madawaska valle ...

, Canada and the Brudenell Township.

References

"Kashubia "Homeland of the Baltic Slav" by Jaroslaw Ellwart English translation by John M. Hingst & Liesel Herchenroether Hingst Editing by Carol Alyce Kasischke" {{Authority control Villages in Kościerzyna County Kashubian-American history