Founded in the 8th century, Stargard is one of the oldest cities in Poland. It owed its centuries-long prosperity to trade and crafts, and from 1377 to 1478 it was the capital of a small eponymous principality ruled by theHouse of Griffin. It became more internationally known only in the 20th century, for being the location of large German-operated prisoner-of-war camps for tens of thousands of Allied soldiers of various nationalities during each of the world wars. The city contains several notable medievalGothic landmarks, chiefly theSt. Mary's Church and defensive walls with several gates and towers, listed asHistoric Monuments of Poland, and an international military cemetery from both world wars. Stargard is the location of aPolish Army garrison and a major railroad junction, where the southwards connection fromSzczecin splits into two directions: towardsPoznań andGdańsk.
The city's name is ofPomeranian (Kashubian) origin and stands forold (stari)town/city (gard orgôrd).[3]
In this meaning, the termgard is still being used by the only surviving Pomeranian language speakers, theKashubs. However, some experts say that the name is ofproto-Norse origin:starn (star) andgate (as in English).[4]
The settlement was founded in the 8th century at the site of the present-day district of Osetno near downtown Stargard.[5] In 967 it became part of the emerging Polish state under the first Polish rulers from thePiast dynasty.[5][6] Stargard was first mentioned in 1124,[7] when it was part of Poland underBolesław III Wrymouth. A church was founded in 1140.[8] Stargard receivedMagdeburg city rights in 1243 fromBarnim I, Duke of Pomerania.
It was one of the most important towns and a major trade centre of theDuchy of Pomerania, after it split off from Poland as a result of the 12th-century fragmentation of Poland. From 1283, the city had a port at the mouth of theIna River in the nowadays abandoned village ofInoujście.[7] Defensive city walls were built in the 13th century and expanded in the 14th, 15th and early 16th centuries.[9] In 1363 the city joined theHanseatic League.
As a result of the ongoing fragmentation of Pomerania, in 1368 Stargard became part of theDuchy of Słupsk (Pomerania-Stolp) and in 1377 it became the capital of a separate eponymous duchy, which in 1403 fell back to Duchy of Słupsk, a vassal state of theKingdom of Poland. In 1478 Stargard became part of the reunified Duchy of Pomerania.
In the meantime, the trade rivalry with the nearby city ofSzczecin led to the outbreak of the Stargard-Szczecin war in 1454,[7] which ended in 1464. In 1477 Stargard helped DukeWartislaw X recapture the town ofGartz during aBrandenburgian invasion.[10]
Stargard was part of the Duchy of Pomerania until its dissolution after the death of the last dukeBogislaw XIV in 1637.[7] During theThirty Years' War the city was captured bySweden in 1630.[9] It was besieged by the troops of theHoly Roman Empire in 1635,[11] and in order to hamper the attacks the Swedish commander set fire to the suburbs, causing a city fire, however, it was still captured by imperial troops.[12] In 1636 it was recaptured by the Swedes, then it was taken and plundered by Imperial troops to fall back to the Swedes again after theBattle of Wittstock.[13] In 1637 it was again captured by Imperial troops and then by Sweden.[13] As a result of the war, the population decreased by about 75%.[14]
As a result of theunification of Germany in 1871 the city became part of theGerman Empire. On 1 April 1901 it became anindependent city, separate from the Saatzig District. According to the Prussian census of 1905, Stargard had a population of 26,907, of which 97% wereGermans and 3% werePoles.[18] DuringWorld War I, the German administration operated aprisoner-of-war camp in Stargard, which housed in total some 50,000 POWs, including Russian (including ethnic Poles from theRussian Partition of Poland conscripted to the Tsarist army), French (including Algerians), Belgian, American, English, Serbian, Romanian, Portuguese, Italian and Japanese.[19] In interwar Germany, the town was the site of a concentration camp for unwanted Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.[20] TheStargarder Zeitung was as a local newspaper published in Stargard. In theMarch 1933 German federal election theNazi Party received 58.7% of the vote in the city.[21]
In 1939, during the Germaninvasion of Poland, which startedWorld War II, the Germans established the Dulag L temporary camp forPolish (includingKashubian)prisoners of war and civilians near Stargard, which in October 1939 was transformed into the largeprisoner-of-war campStalag II-D.[22] Then, after thebattle of France in 1940, also theFrench, the Dutch and Belgians were held there, from 1941 alsoYugoslavian andSoviet POWs, from 1942 also thousands ofCanadians captured atDieppe, one of whom wasGerald MacIntosh Johnston, a Canadian actor, who was killed trying to escape, and after 1943 alsoItalians. The POWs were subjected toracial segregation, and Poles, Africans, Arabs, Jews and Soviet troops were separated from POWs of other nationalities and subjected to worse treatment.[23]Serbs also faced more severe treatment.[24] Some 6,000 POWs and civilians died in the camp.[25]
In February 1945, one of the last German armoured offensives,Operation Solstice, was launched from the Stargard area. The local population was evacuated by the Germans on the order ofHeinrich Himmler before the approaching Soviets in the final stages of the war.[14][5]
In 1950 the city was renamedStargard Szczeciński by adding the adjectiveSzczeciński after the nearby city of Szczecin to distinguish it fromStarogard Gdański inGdańsk Pomerania.[14] In 1961 the city limits were expanded by including the settlement of Kluczewo as a new district.[7]
In 1979 the city suffered a flood.
In 1993 the city celebrated the 750th anniversary of receiving city rights.[14]
In 2004 a north-western part of the town was made into anindustrial park -Stargardzki Park Przemysłowy. Another industrial park is located in the south - Park Przemysłowy Wysokich Technologii.
On January 1, 2016, the town was renamed back toStargard.[29]
Heavy bombing duringWorld War II devastated most of Stargard's fine historical sites and destroyed over 75% of the city. Some of these monuments, such as St. Mary's Church (13th–15th centuries) and the 16th-century town hall, have been rebuilt.[30] The newly restored buildings are on theEuropean Route of Brick Gothic. Some of the notable surviving examples include:
Baroque guardhouse at the marketplace, now housing a museum
Panorama Park with the Panorama Palace
Holy Spirit church
Church of the Transfiguration
War cemetery where about 5,000 soldiers of various nationalities were buried duringWorld War I andII: Polish, French, Serbian/Yugoslav, Russian/Soviet, Italian, Romanian, Belgian, British, Moroccan, Portuguese and Dutch
^ab"Local Data Bank". Statistics Poland. Retrieved15 August 2022. Data for territorial unit 3214011.
^"Główny Urząd Statystyczny" [Central Statistical Office] (in Polish). To search: Select "Miejscowości (SIMC)" tab, select "fragment (min. 3 znaki)" (minimum 3 characters), enter town name in the field below, click "WYSZUKAJ" (Search).
^Brücker, Aleksander (1927).Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish).obocznegard zachowały nazwy na Pomorzu (Stargard, 'starogród', ...)
^Kociuba, Jarosław (2012).Pomorze - Praktyczny przewodnik turystyczny po ziemiach Księstwa Pomorskiego (in Polish). Szczecin: Walkowska Wydawnictwo. p. 422.ISBN9788361805496.
^abc"O powiecie".BIP Starostwo Powiatowe w Stargardzie (in Polish). Retrieved30 May 2020.
^Labuda, Gerard (1993). "Chrystianizacja Pomorza (X–XIII stulecie)".Studia Gdańskie (in Polish). Vol. IX. Gdańsk-Oliwa. p. 47.
^abcdefg"Stargard".Encyklopedia PWN (in Polish). Retrieved14 February 2020.
^abGrzegorz PodrucznyNiezrealizowane projekty twierdzy w Stargardzie, "Stargardia X" (2015), p. 282 (in Polish)
^Kratz, Gustav (1865).Die Städte der Provinz Pommern. Abriss ihrer Geschichte, zumeist nach Urkunden. Berlin. p. 363.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Muret, Eduard (1885).Geschichte der Französischen Kolonie in Brandenburg-Preußen, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Berliner Gemeinde. Aus Veranlassung der Zweihundertjährigen Jubelfeier am 29. Oktober 1885. Berlin. p. 266.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Aniszewska, Jolanta (2011). "W obowiązku pamięci... Stalag II D i formy upamiętnienia jeńców wojennych w Stargardzie Szczecińskim".Łambinowicki rocznik muzealny (in Polish).34. Opole: 11.ISSN0137-5199.
^Megargee, Geoffrey P. (2009).The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 1210, 1226.ISBN978-0-253-35328-3.
^Chrzanowski, Bogdan (2022).Polskie Państwo Podziemne na Pomorzu w latach 1939–1945 (in Polish). Gdańsk: IPN. p. 25.ISBN978-83-8229-411-8.
Barkman, Bertil C:son; Lundkvist, Sven; Tersmeden, Lars (1966).Kungl. Svea livgardes historia: 1632(1611)-1660 [History of the Royal Swedish Life Guards: 1632(1611)-1660] (in Swedish). Vol. 3:2. Stockholm: Stift. för Svea livgardes historia.
The list includes the 107 urban municipalities governed by acity mayor (prezydent miasta) instead of a town mayor (burmistrz) ·Cities with powiat rights are initalics · Voivodeship cities are inbold
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