Starogard Gdański | |
|---|---|
 City Hall  Saint Matthew church  Wiechert Palace  Market Square  Saint Adalbert church | |
.svg) Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Starogard Gdański | |
| Coordinates:53°58′N18°32′E / 53.967°N 18.533°E /53.967; 18.533 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship |  Pomeranian |
| County | Starogard |
| Gmina | Starogard Gdański(urban gmina) |
| Established | 1198 |
| City rights | 1348 |
| Government | |
| • City mayor | Janusz Stankowiak |
| Area | |
• Total | 25.27 km2 (9.76 sq mi) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 47,272 |
| • Density | 1,871/km2 (4,845/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 83-200 |
| Area code | +48 58 |
| Car plates | GST |
| Website | starogard |
Starogard Gdański (Polish pronunciation:[staˈrɔɡardˈɡdaj̃skʲi]ⓘ; until 1950:Starogard; formerlyGerman:Preußisch Stargard) is acity inPomeranian Voivodeship in northernPoland with 48,328 inhabitants (2004).[1] Starogard is the capital ofStarogard 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 thesejmik (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 ofPrussia following thePartitions of Poland. Starogard is home to one of the oldestvodka factories in Poland, one of the largest and oldest psychiatric hospitals in Poland and notablebasketball clubSKS Starogard Gdański. Starogard is the second biggest city of the ethnocultural region ofKociewie (afterTczew). It is considered the capital of Kociewie, and as such it hosts the Museum of Kociewie Land, devoted to the history of the region.
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Starogard Gdański is located inPomerania on the small river Wierzyca, about 21 kilometres (13 miles) south-west ofTczew, 40 km (25 mi) south ofGdańsk and 67 km (42 mi) north-east ofChojnice. It is 50 km (31 mi) from theTricity (Polish:Trójmiasto) agglomeration on the coast ofGdańsk Bay.
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The nameStarogard means "old city" in thePomeranian language.Gdański is appended in the 20th century to the name to differentiate it from other places named Starogard. The German namePreußisch Stargard (Prussian Stargard) was similarly used to disambiguate from other places named Stargard. (SeeStargard (disambiguation)).
Archeological evidence indicates remnants of aNeolithic settlement from four to five thousand years ago.
The area became part of the emerging Polish state under its first rulerMieszko 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 whenDukeGrzymisław II of Pomerania granted the settlement to theKnights Hospitaller.[citation needed] The Slavic name Stargarde was mentioned in 1269. In 1282,Mestwin II and Polish DukePrzemysł II signed theTreaty of Kępno, which transferred the suzerainty overGdańsk Pomerania including Starogard to Przemysł II and reunited the region with Poland. Together with the rest ofGdańsk Pomerania it came under the rule of theTeutonic Knights during the 1308Teutonic takeover of Gdańsk. In 1348 the town received city rights underKulm Law by GrandmasterHeinrich Dusemer.
Since 31 March 1440 Starogard was a member of thePrussian Confederation.[2][3] It took an active part in the 1454 uprising against theTeutonic Order that led to theThirteen Years' War (1454–66). In 1454, Polish KingCasimir IV Jagiellon re-incorporated the region to theKingdom of Poland 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 thepeace treaty signed inToruń a few months later in 1466, the Teutonic Knights renounced any claims to the city, and recognized it as part of Poland.[4] It was aroyal city of Poland, administratively located in thePomeranian Voivodeship in the province ofRoyal Prussia in the largerGreater Poland Province. It remained under Polish rule until theFirst Partition of Poland in 1772, when it became part of theKingdom of Prussia under the namePreußisch Stargard. The city was subjected toGermanisation policies. One of the main escape routes for insurgents of the unsuccessful PolishNovember Uprising from partitioned Poland to theGreat Emigration led through the city.[5]
In 1871, a largevodka distillery was built on the western end of city, which survived both world wars and today producesSobieski andKrupnik. It is one of Europe's oldest continuously run vodka distilleries, and one of only a very small handful of vodka distilleries predating 1945.[6] In 1871, with the Prussian-ledunification of Germany, Preußisch Stargard became part of theGerman Empire. 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, aReichsbank branch, a main tax office and a number of commercial operations.[7] According to the census of 1905, the town had a population of 10,485, of which 6,297 (60.1%) wereGermans.[8] In 1906–1907, local Polish children joined the children school strikes against Germanisation that spread throughout the Prussian Partition of Poland.[9]
Until 1920, the city belonged to thePreußisch Stargard district inRegierungsbezirk Danzig in theProvince of West Prussia inGermany. AfterWorld War I, it was reincorporated into Poland, which had just regained independence as theSecond Polish Republic. In theinterbellum it was a county seat administratively located in thePomeranian Voivodeship of Poland.
During the joint German-Sovietinvasion of Poland, which startedWorld War II in September 1939, the city was invaded byNazi Germany, and then the GermanEinsatzkommando 16 andSS Wachsturmbann "Eimann" entered the city to commit variouscrimes against Poles.[10][11] UnderGerman occupation, the city was annexed into the newly formed Regierungsbezirk Danzig in the new province ofReichsgau Danzig-West Prussia. ThePolish population was subjected to mass arrests, imprisonment, tortures, massacres,expulsions, deportations toconcentration camps and toforced labour.
The Germans immediately carried out mass arrests of Polish teachers, priests and local activists in the town and county as part of theIntelligenzaktion.[12] Arrested Poles were then held both in the pre-war prison and the medieval Gdańsk Tower and often subjected to brutal beatings[13] and mistreatment, especially clergymen, some of whom had evenswastikas cut into their foreheads.[14] Already in September 1939, the Germans murdered 150 Poles, including inhabitants of Starogard,Skórcz andGdynia, in the city and its vicinity.[12]
Beginning in September 1939 in nearbySzpęgawski Forest (north-east of the city) Germans killed in mass executions about 7,000Poles, among them 1,680 Kocborowo (district of Starogard) andŚwieciepsychiatric hospitals patients. About 500 handicapped children were killed in the hospital, inAction T4. 2,842 patients died between 1940 and 1944.[citation needed] Polish hospital staff was either murdered in the Szpęgawski Forest or deported toconcentration camps or toforced labour to Germany.[15] A local parish priest was murdered in a massacre of around 230 Poles inPłutowo.[16] The Germans also established and operated a subcamp of theStutthof concentration camp in the town.[17]
Despite such circumstances, Poles still organized anunderground resistance movement, including theHome Army and Jaszczurka organizations.[18]
In 1945 the German occupation ended and the town was restored to Poland, however with aSoviet-installed communist regime, which remained in power until theFall of Communism in the 1980s.
The Jord-Just youthanti-communist resistance organization was established in Starogard in 1951 by 16-year-old girl Teresa Block.[19] The organization was eventually crushed by the communists, who sentenced 17 teenage members to 1.5 to 9 years in prison.[19]
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| Source: Note that the above table is based on primary, possibly biased, sources.[20][21][22][23] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TheMuseum of Kociewie Land (Muzeum Ziemi Kociewskiej), the main museum devoted to the history of Kociewie, is located in Starogard Gdański. It contains archaeological, ethnographic and historical collections.[24]
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The PolishNational road 22 andVoivodeship road 222 pass through the city, and theA1 motorway runs nearby, east of the city. There is a train station in Starogard.
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The town's most notable sports club isbasketball teamSKS Starogard Gdański, which plays in thePolish Basketball League (Poland's top division),Polish Cup winners in 2011, and runners-up in 2006. The localfootball club isKP Starogard Gdański, and it competes in theIII liga (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 winnerKazimierz 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.[citation needed] Starogard Gdański also boasted Olympic bronze medal winnerOktawia Nowacka.Michael Hicks, an Olympian that represents Poland in3x3 Basketball at the2020 Olympic Games, currently resides in Starogard Gdański and holds basketball camps for the youth.
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Starogard Gdański istwinned with:[25]
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