Olsztyn ( , ; ) is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. The population of the city was estimated at 169,793 residents
Olsztyn is the largest city in Warmia, and has been the capital of the voivodeship since 1999. In the same year, the University of Warmia and Masuria was founded from the fusion of three other local universities. The city is the seat of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Warmia.
The most important sights of the city include the Old Town with the medieval Castle of Warmian Cathedral Chapter and St. James Co-cathedral, which dates back more than 600 years. The market square is part of the European Route of Brick Gothic and the co-cathedral is regarded as one of the greatest monuments of Gothic architecture in Poland. The city is also known for its association with Nicolaus Copernicus, who lived there and commanded the successful Polish defense of the city during a 1521 Teutonic invasion, with the castle containing an astronomical table made by Copernicus. Today, the castle houses a museum and is a venue for concerts, art exhibitions, film shows and other cultural events, which make Olsztyn a popular tourist destination.
Olsztyn has been ranked highly in quality of life, income, employment and safety. It is one of the best places in Poland to live and work. It is also one of the happiest cities in the country.
History Middle Ages
In 1334, a watchtower was established on the Łyna River. In 1346, the forest was cleared at the location for a new settlement, mentioned in a historical document from 1348. The following year, the Teutonic Knights began the construction of an Ordensburg (castle) as a stronghold against the Baltic Prussians. Allenstein was granted municipal rights by the cathedral chapter of the Bishopric of Warmia in October 1353. The German "Allenstein" referred to the river's Baltic Prussian name Alna, which meant a hind. Local Poles, having arrived along with German settlers, called it Holstin and Olsztyn, which are Polonizations of the German name. The castle was completed in 1397. The town was captured by the Kingdom of Poland during the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War in 1410, and again in 1414 during the Hunger War, but it was returned to the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights after hostilities ended.
The city joined the Prussian Confederation in 1440, and rebelled against the Teutonic Knights in 1454 upon the outbreak of the Thirteen Years' War to join the Kingdom of Poland under King Casimir IV Jagiellon. In 1454, upon the request of the Confederation, King Casimir IV signed the act of incorporation of the region to Poland,Górski, p. 54 and the townspeople took the castle and recognized the Polish king as the rightful ruler. Although the Teutonic Knights recaptured the city the following year, it was retaken by Polish troops in 1463. The Second Peace of Thorn in 1466 confirmed Allenstein as part of the Kingdom of Poland. Administratively it was located in the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia within the provinces of Royal Prussia and Greater Poland.
Early modern era
From 1516 to 1521, Nicolaus Copernicus lived in the town castle as an administrator and then in Mehlsack (Melzak, now Pieniężno). Copernicus was in charge of the Polish defences in the Siege of Allenstein during the Polish-Teutonic War of 1519–21. He also started and managed the repopulation of the region, inviting a new wave of Polish settlers from Mazovia. The town along with Warmia then entered what is considered the region's golden age, when crafts and trade developed, thanks also to the city's location on the Warsaw-Königsberg trade route. During this period, the city was still visited several times by Copernicus, as well as leading figures of the Polish Renaissance, writers, royal secretaries and diplomats: Johannes Dantiscus, called the "father of Polish diplomacy", and Marcin Kromer, who was also a historian and music theorist. St. James' Pro-Cathedral, one of the most distinctive landmarks of the cityscape, was completed at that time.
Prosperity was halted in the 1620s, when the town suffered a fire and an epidemic. In 1626, during the Swedish invasion, clerics from Frauenburg (Frombork) took refuge in the town, which the Swedes did not reach. The city was sacked by Swedish troops later, in 1655 and 1708, during the next Polish-Swedish wars, and its population was nearly wiped out in 1710 by epidemics of the bubonic plague and cholera.
The town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772 after the First Partition of Poland and its economy initially collapsed. Poles became subject to extensive Germanisation policies. A Prussian census recorded a population of 1,770 people, predominantly farmers, and Allenstein was administered within the newly created Province of East Prussia.
Late modern era
On February 3, 1807, the Battle of Allenstein took place. The French Army clashed with the Imperial Russian army. On that day, Allenstein was visited by Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon gathered enormous forces in the city and planned to engage the Russians and Prussians in a decisive battle. The Russian army was stationed in Jonkowo, but retreated after the French attack. Thanks to the victory at Allenstein, Napoleon's army was able to move north and a few days later the general Battle of Eylau took place.
The growth of the city started again after it became a district seat in 1818, a significant influx of German settlers began and by 1825, the town was inhabited by 1,341 Germans and 1,266 Poles.Historia Pomorza: (1815–1850), Gerard Labuda, Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, page 157, 1993 In the early 1830s the city suffered from a cholera epidemic and a hunger crisis, however afterwards it flourished again, when despite Germanisation policies it was administered by Polish mayor Jakub Rarkowski from 1836 to 1865. Under Rarkowski the city was expanded and modernized, and the mayor also hid Polish insurgents in the city during the January Uprising. The first German-language newspaper, the Allensteiner Zeitung, began publishing in 1841. Polish historian Wojciech Kętrzyński was arrested in Jomendorf (the present-day district of Jaroty), and imprisoned in the city's High Gate in 1863 for smuggling weapons for the Polish January Uprising in the Russian Partition of Poland. The town hospital was founded in 1867.
In 1871, with the unification of Germany, Allenstein became part of the German Empire. Two years later, the city was connected by railway to Thorn (Toruń). Despite Germanisation attempts the city remained an important Polish centre. Its first Polish language newspaper, the Gazeta Olsztyńska, was founded in 1886. Further Polish newspapers, Nowiny Warmińskie and Warmiak, were founded in 1890 and 1893, respectively. Allenstein's infrastructure developed rapidly: gas was installed in 1890, telephones in 1892, public water supply in 1898, and electricity in 1907. The Provincial Mental Sanatorium Kortau was established in 1886 just south of Allenstein (today part of Olsztyn-Kortowo). In 1905, the city became the capital of Regierungsbezirk Allenstein, a government administrative region in East Prussia. From 1818 to 1910, the city was administered within the East Prussian Allenstein District, after which it became an independent city.
World War I, interbellum and World War II
Shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Russian troops captured Allenstein, but it was recovered by the Imperial German Army in the Battle of Tannenberg.
After the defeat of Germany in World War I, the East Prussian plebiscite was held in 1920 to determine whether the populace of the region, including Allenstein, wished to remain in German East Prussia or become part of Poland, which had just regained independence. In order to advertise the plebiscite, special postage stamps were produced by overprinting German stamps and sold on 3 April of that year. One kind of overprint read PLÉBISCITE / OLSZTYN / ALLENSTEIN, while the other read TRAITÉ / DE / VERSAILLES / ART. 94 et 95 inside an oval whose border gave the full name of the plebiscite commission. Each overprint was applied to 14 denominations ranging from 5 Pfennigs to 3 Marks. The Polish community faced discrimination, Polish rallies were dispersed, the participants were threatened and beaten. In March, Polish activist Bogumił Linka died in Allenstein, a few weeks after being attacked by the German militia in nearby Szczytno in Masuria.Piotr Stawecki Warmiacy i Mazurzy - kawalerowie Krzyża i Medalu Niepodległosci Komunikaty Mazursko-Warmińskie issue 2-3, page 309 He was buried in Allenstein, however, his grave was soon devastated by local German nationalists. A monument to Linka was unveiled after Poland regained control of the city after World War II. The presence of a Royal Irish battalion ensured a relative peace in Allenstein. The plebiscite, held on 11 July, produced 16,742 votes for Germany and 342 votes for Poland.
In the interwar period, numerous Polish organisations operated in the city, including the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association, Union of Poles in Germany, a People's Bank (Bank Ludowy), local Poles organised a school, library, puppet theatre. The Polish Consulate also operated. Apart from Gazeta Olsztyńska, new Polish newspapers were issued in the city, i.e. the youth magazine Życie Młodzieży. Dwutygodnik młodzieży polskiej w Niemczech from 1924, and the Mazurski Przyjaciel Ludu and Mazur newspapers dedicated to the nearby region of Masuria in 1923–1928 and 1928–1939, respectively. As a result of pro-Polish publications, the Mazur newspaper was suspended twice in 1933, its editors were twice fined by German courts, and the German administration threatened to close it down on several occasions. After the January 1933 Nazi seizure of power in Germany, Poles and Jews in Allenstein were increasingly persecuted. In 1935, the German Wehrmacht made the city the seat of the Allenstein Militärischer Bereich. It was then home of the 11th and 217th infantry divisions and 11th Artillery Regiment. At the same time, the football club SV Hindenburg Allenstein played in Allenstein from 1921 to 1945.
Beginning in 1936, members of the Polish minority were increasingly persecuted, especially members of the Union of Poles in Germany. In early 1939, many local Polish activists were expelled. In an attempt to rig the results of an upcoming census and understate the number of Poles in the city and region, the Germans terrorized the Polish population and, in May 1939, the Gestapo confiscated 10,000 Polish information leaflets in the headquarters of the Gazeta Olsztyńska.Cygański, p. 39 In August 1939, Germany introduced martial law in the region, which allowed for even more blatant persecution of Poles.Cygański, p. 40 In August and September 1939, the authorities carried out mass arrests of local Poles, including the chairman of the local Polish bank and his assistant, the chief of the "Rolnik" Cooperative, and the principal of the local Polish school.Cygański, p. 42