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Myślibórz (pronounced ; german: Soldin; csb, Żôłdzëno) is a town in northwestern
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, in
West Pomeranian Voivodeship The West Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as the West Pomerania Province, is a voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals 22 892.48 km² (8,838.84 sq mi), and in 2021, it was ...
. It is the capital of the Powiat of Myślibórz (powiat myśliborski), with a population of 11,867. It is home to the first monastery of the Congregation of Sisters of Merciful Jesus and a sanctuary of the
Divine Mercy The Divine Mercy is a form of God's compassion, an act of grace based on trust or forgiveness. In Catholicism, it refers specifically to a devotion which had its origin in the apparitions of Jesus Christ reported by Faustina Kowalska. Etym ...
.


History


Middle Ages

The city's official webpage mentions a settlement inhabited by a pre-Slavic population from Lusatian culture on the shores of the lake (Polish: Jezioro Myśliborskie; German: Soldiner See) in the 7th century, which later turned into a West Slavic or Lechitic fortress in the 10th and 11th centuries; the area was incorporated into
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
by the
Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branche ...
duke
Mieszko I Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was the first ruler of Poland and the founder of the first independent Polish state, the Duchy of Poland. His reign stretched from 960 to his death and he was a member of the Piast dynasty, a son of Siemomysł and ...
by the end of the 10th century. According to the city's webpage, the town site was a fishing settlement called ''Sołtyń'', located on trading route between
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...
and
Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest cit ...
towards Oder delta. It is from this fishing settlement that the later German name of the town comes: ''Soldin''. The site was acquired as a rest house by the
Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...
in 1234, while the fort was granted to the
Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...
by Duke
Władysław Odonic Władysław Odonic, nicknamed Plwacz or the Spitter, ( – 5 June 1239) was a duke of Kalisz 1207–1217, duke of Poznań 1216–1217, ruler of Ujście in 1223, ruler of Nakło from 1225, and duke of all Greater Poland 1229–1234; from 1234 un ...
and finally sold to the
Ascanian The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schloss ...
margraves Johann I and
Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...
of
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
in 1261. Together with the nearby
castellany A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant of ...
of
Santok Santok (german: Zantoch) is a village in Gorzów County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Santok. Geography It is located at the confluence of the Noteć and Warta rive ...
, the former Greater Polish lands were incorporated into the Brandenburgian
Neumark The Neumark (), also known as the New March ( pl, Nowa Marchia) or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945. Call ...
("New March"; pl, Nowa Marchia) territory. The town was first mentioned as ''Soldin'' in a 1270 deed and quickly became the administrative centre of the region, a Dominican monastery was founded there in 1275. However, in the first half of the 14th century Soldin declined due to famine and political strife of the Ascanian dynasty, in the course of which the Soldin Castle was destroyed. In 1373 the New March became part of the
Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of B ...
(or ''Czech Lands''), ruled by the
Luxembourg dynasty The House of Luxembourg ( lb, D'Lëtzebuerger Haus; french: Maison de Luxembourg; german: Haus Luxemburg) or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as kin ...
. In 1402, the Luxembourgs reached an agreement with
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
in
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
. Poland was to buy and re-incorporate the region, but eventually the Luxembourgs sold it to the
Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
. During the
Polish–Teutonic War Polish–Teutonic War may refer to: * Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk) (1308–1309) *Polish–Teutonic War (1326–1332) over Pomerelia, concluded by the Treaty of Kalisz (1343) *the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War or ''Great War'' (140 ...
, in 1433 the town was destroyed by the
Hussites The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...
. In 1455 the Teutonic Knights sold the town to the
Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out o ...
, now under the rule of the
House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzol ...
, in order to raise funds for another war with Poland. Elector Frederick Irontooth had Brandenburg's suzerainty over the area formalized in the 1466 Treaty of Soldin with the Pomeranian dukes (see below). In 1473 the town was briefly captured by
Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania Bogislaw X of Pomerania, ''the Great'', (3 June 1454 – 5 October 1523) was Duke of Pomerania from 1474 until his death in 1523. Biography Bogislaw was born in Rügenwalde (now Darłowo, Poland). His parents were Eric II, Duke of Pomerania ...
.


Modern era

In the 16th century, Margrave
Johann Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
of
Brandenburg-Küstrin The Neumark (), also known as the New March ( pl, Nowa Marchia) or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945. Calle ...
converted the Neumark to
Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
, seceded from Brandenburg and transferred his court from Soldin to Küstrin (now Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Poland). The Dominican monastery was dissolved. Soldin suffered heavy damage in the
Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...
, when it was overrun by the
Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...
army under
Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...
marching against King
Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...
. It began to recover only in the 18th century as a garrison town of the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
under
Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
. When the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
was formed in 1871, Soldin was the capital of a
rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...
(''Landkreis'') within the Prussian
Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...
. In the 19th century, Soldin was largely bypassed by the industrial revolution, and was not served by rail until 1888. Electrification came in 1898, and a municipal water system only in 1912. In the nearby forest, the
Lituanica ''Lituanica'' was a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker airplane flown from the United States across the Atlantic Ocean by Lithuanian pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas in 1933. After successfully flying 6,411 km (4,043 miles), it crashed, ...
plane crash occurred on 17 July 1933. By the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, Soldin had 6,284 inhabitants. The city was captured without a fight by the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
on 31 January 1945. After a Soviet soldier attempting to rape a local woman was shot and killed by her husband on 3 February, the Soviets rounded up 160 civilians from the town, mostly teenaged boys and elderly men, and murdered 120 of them in a nearby quarry four days later. After the discovery of the mass grave of the victims in 1995, a memorial commemorating the victims was erected. With the end of the war in 1945, the partly depopulated area was transferred to Poland under border changes promulgated at the
Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Pe ...
. The surviving German population of Soldin was forcibly expelled and the town, renamed Myślibórz, was gradually repopulated by Polish settlers. It was a powiat centre initially in Szczecin Voivodeship (1945-1975), then in Gorzów one (1975-1998), finally in West Pomeranian one since 31 December 1998. Historically, the town was the site of two important treaties: The
Treaty of Soldin (1309) The Treaty of Soldin (german: Vertrag von Soldin) was signed on 13 September 1309 at Soldin (Myślibórz) by Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal, and the Teutonic Order. In 1308, the Order had agreed to help Polish forces retake the city ...
between the
Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out o ...
and the
Teutonic Order State The State of the Teutonic Order (german: Staat des Deutschen Ordens, ; la, Civitas Ordinis Theutonici; lt, Vokiečių ordino valstybė; pl, Państwo zakonu krzyżackiego), also called () or (), was a medieval Crusader state, located in Centr ...
, and the
Treaty of Soldin (1466) The Treaty of Soldin (german: Vertrag von Soldin) was signed on 21 January 1466 at Soldin (now Myślibórz) by the Brandenburgian elector Frederick II and the Pomeranian dukes Eric II and Wartislaw X.Heitz (1995), p. 194 It was mediated by t ...
between the
Electorate of Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...
and the
Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (german: Herzogtum Pommern; pl, Księstwo Pomorskie; Latin: ''Ducatus Pomeraniae'') was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania (''Griffins''). The country ha ...
.


Notable residents

*
Friedrich Wilhelm von Dossow Friedrich Wilhelm von Dossow (17 December 1669 – 28 March 1758) was a Prussian ''Generalfeldmarschall'' and Governor of Wesel. Family Friedrich Wilhelm was a member of the von Dossow family (also ''Dossau'' and ''Dossen''), old Pomeranian n ...
(1669-1758), Prussian field marshal * August Piepenhagen (1791–1868) a German landscape painter * Daniel Lessmann (1794–1831), German-Jewish historian and poet. *
Hermann Kennemann Hermann Kennemann-Klenka (1815–1910) was a Prussian politician and landowner, co-founder of the German Eastern Marches Society. He was notable as one of the main supporters of Germanization of Polish lands then ruled by German Empire. Kennemann ...
(1815–1910) a Prussian politician and landowner, co-founder of the
German Eastern Marches Society German Eastern Marches Society (german: Deutscher Ostmarkenverein, also known in German as ') was a German radical,Geoff Eley, op.cit.p.43/ref> extremely nationalist xenophobic organization founded in 1894. Mainly among Poles, it was sometimes kno ...
* Anna Schepeler-Lette (1829–1897) a German politician, feminist and women's social reformer. *
Heino Schmieden Heino Schmieden (May 15, 1835 – September 7, 1913) was a German architect. Biography Schmieden was born in Soldin, New March (modern Myślibórz, Poland) In 1866 Schmieden graduated from the renowned Bauakademie in Berlin with a diploma in ...
(1835–1913) a German architect *
Max Fesca Max Fesca (31 March 1846 – 31 October 1917) was a German specialist in agricultural science and agronomy, hired by the Meiji government of Japan as a foreign advisor from 1882–1894. Biography Fesca was born in Soldin, Neumark, Province of ...
(1846–1917) a German specialist in agricultural science and agronomy * William C. Rauschenberger (1855–1918), German-American mayor of
Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
* Gisela Kallenbach (born 1944) a German politician, MEP for Alliance '90/The Greens, *
Jan Grabowski Jan Grabowski (born 1962) is a Polish-Canadian professor of history at the University of Ottawa, specializing in Jewish–Polish relations in German-occupied Poland during World War II and the Holocaust in Poland.Adam Ostolski (born November 8, 1978) a Polish politician, activist and sociologist. *
Adam Hrycaniuk Adam Hrycaniuk (born March 15, 1984) is a Polish professional basketball player for Arka Gdynia of the Polish Basketball League. College career After spending two years in community college, Hrycaniuk spent the 2007–08 season with the Cincinna ...
(born March 15, 1984) a Polish basketball player for Stelmet Zielona Góra of the Polish Basketball League.


International relations


Twin towns — sister cities

Myślibórz is twinned with: *
Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...
,
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
*
Neuhardenberg Neuhardenberg is a municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the site of Neuhardenberg Palace, residence of the Prussian statesman Prince Karl August von Hardenberg (1750-1822). The municipal area comprises th ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
*
Soltau Soltau () is a mid-sized town in the Lüneburg Heath in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has around 22,000 inhabitants. The city is centrally located in the Lüneburg Heath and is known nationwide especially for its touri ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...


Sources


External links


Official town websiteUnofficial town websiteVirtual MysliborzLocation via Encarta Maps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mysliborz Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Myślibórz County