Wartenburg (Ostpreußen)
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Barczewo (until 1946 ''Wartembork''; german: Wartenburg in Ostpreußen) is a town in Olsztyn County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland. It is situated 20 km northeast of Olsztyn, in the historic region of Warmia. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 7,483.


Name

The German name of the town ("Wartenburg") has its origins from the town of Wartenburg ( Elbe). In Polish the town was known historically as Wartembork, Wartenberg, Wartenbergk, Wathberg, Bartenburg, Warperc, Wasperc, Wartbór or Wartbórz. In the
aftermath of World War II The aftermath of World War II was the beginning of a new era started in late 1945 (when World War II ended) for all countries involved, defined by the decline of all colonial empires and simultaneous rise of two superpowers; the Soviet Union (US ...
, the town was transferred from Germany back to Poland.
Commission for the Determination of Place Names The Commission for the Determination of Place Names ( pl, Komisja Ustalania Nazw Miejscowości) was a commission of the Polish Department of Public Administration, founded in January 1946. Its mission was the establishment of toponyms for places, ...
decided to change the town's name. It was briefly named ''Nowowiejsk'', after local composer
Feliks Nowowiejski Feliks Nowowiejski (7 February 1877 – 18 January 1946) was a Polish composer, conductor, concert organist, and music teacher. Nowowiejski was born in Wartenburg (today Barczewo) in Warmia in the Prussian Partition of Poland (then admini ...
, in September 1946. In December that year the Commission settled on another name, ''Barczewo'', honouring Polish national activist who fought against Prussian oppression of Poles in Warmia,
Walenty Barczewski Walenty is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Jan Walenty Tomaka (born 1949), Polish politician * Jan Walenty Węgierski (1755–1796), Deputy Chancellor and Chamberlain of last king of Poland * Walenty Kłyszejko (1909–1987), ...
(1865–1928).


History

The town was first located in 1325 but was soon after destroyed by
Lithuanians Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Uni ...
. The rebuild town was granted city rights in 1364. It was known at the time as ''Wartberg''.Barczewo.pl
In 1440 the town joined the Prussian Confederation, at the request of which Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of incorporation of the region to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454. In 1466, after the Second Peace of Toruń, the town was confirmed as part of Kingdom of Poland. It was the place of fights of the Polish–Teutonic War of 1519–1521. In April 1520 a battle was fought in the vicinity, in November 1520 the town was successfully defended by the Poles, and in January 1521 the Teutonic Knights came back and launched artillery fire on the town, but eventually withdrew. During the Deluge, Brandenburg forced occupied the town in 1656. During the Great Northern War, Polish and
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
troops marched through the town. In 1772, after the First Partition of Poland it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1807, the town was occupied by France. According to German statistics Poles constituted 72% of population in 1825 and 62% in 1861; Gerard Labuda and August von Haxthausen give the number of 1500 Poles and 590 Germans living in the town in 1825. The local monastery was
secularised In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
in 1810, in 1819/1820 Prussian authorities decided to close down the monastery that has been described as "the stronghold of Polishness." After the death of Father Tyburcjusz Bojarzynowski, last leader of the monastery, in 1834 it has been converted into a state prison. According to this was part of Prussian repressions against Poles as the monastery was seen as particularly problematic by Prussian authorities for being a center of Polish resistance. A Jewish Synagogue was built in 1847, and a Jewish cemetery from the 19th century exists as well. During the
January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...
in 1860s in the Russian Partition of Poland, the town was the local centre of supplying medicine, food and even firearms to Polish rebels, with the Polish society in the town becoming active in war effort and led by . In 1885 a mass rally was organised by Poles, demanding among others that Polish children should be allowed to use their language in education In 1886 a bookstore with Polish books and publications was opened in the town and came into conflict with German authorities who wanted it to remove Polish language signs. In the plebiscite of 1920 3,020 inhabitants voted to remain in Weimar German
East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
, 140 votes supported reborn Poland. In the interwar era the town was the residence of the fictional Kuba spod Wartemborka, a pseudonym of a figure in Polish press in Warmia created by which ridiculed
Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationa ...
efforts against Poles in the region. Polish organisations continued to thrive in the town, up until Second World War; as Nazi Party was elected to power in Germany, repressions intensified, eventually many Polish activists were either imprisoned or, like Pieniężny, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and
prisons A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...
. During that war, the remaining Jewish community was murdered in the Holocaust. During the war, the Germans operated a Nazi prison in the town, with several
forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
subcamps in the region, including one in the town itself. Many inhabitants fled the town since 21 January 1945, and the last German units withdrew during the night of 30–31 January. The town was occupied by Soviet troops without a fight on 31 January 1945. The Russians then plundered the town and carried out mass deportations of remaining people into the USSR, especially to Siberia. On 22 May 1945 the town, now destroyed at 60%, was handed over to Polish officials. After 173 years, the town was reintegrated with Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s.


Historical population

* 1825: 2,090 including by
mother tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
1,500
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
(72%) and 590 Germans (28%). * 1837: 2,550 including by mother tongue 1,794 Poles (70%) and 756 Germans (30%). * 1861: 3,272 (77 Jews) * 1880: 4,499 (111 Jews) * 1933: 4,818 (40 Jews) * 1939: 5,841 (23 Jews)


Sites of interest

There is a preserved historic Old Town in Barczewo, with several distinctive monuments, including the
Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (german: Backsteingotik, pl, Gotyk ceglany, nl, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resourc ...
St. Anne church, and the Gothic- Renaissance-
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
Saint Andrew church, which contains a Mannerist cenotaph of
Andrew Báthory Andrew Báthory ( hu, Báthory András; pl, Andrzej Batory; 1562 or 1563 – 3 November 1599) was the Cardinal-deacon of Sant'Adriano al Foro from 1584 to 1599, Prince-Bishop of Warmia from 1589 to 1599, and Prince of Transylvania in 1599. His ...
and
Balthasar Báthory Balthasar Báthory de Somlyó ( hu, Báthory Boldizsár; 1560 – 11 September 1594) was a Transylvanian politician from the Báthory family, and like his brother, prince Andrew Báthory, an opponent of the Habsburgs in Transylvania. Biograp ...
, cousins of Polish King Stephen Báthory. The Feliks Nowowiejski Museum, dedicated to Polish composer and organist
Feliks Nowowiejski Feliks Nowowiejski (7 February 1877 – 18 January 1946) was a Polish composer, conductor, concert organist, and music teacher. Nowowiejski was born in Wartenburg (today Barczewo) in Warmia in the Prussian Partition of Poland (then admini ...
is located at his birthplace and family home in the Old Town. There are also remains of the old Barczewo Castle.


Transport

The Polish National road 16 and Voivodeship road 595 pass through the town. There is also a train station.


Sports

The local
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club is Pisa Barczewo. It competes in the lower leagues.


Notable people

*
Feliks Nowowiejski Feliks Nowowiejski (7 February 1877 – 18 January 1946) was a Polish composer, conductor, concert organist, and music teacher. Nowowiejski was born in Wartenburg (today Barczewo) in Warmia in the Prussian Partition of Poland (then admini ...
(1877–1946), Polish composer * Robert Pruszkowski (1907–1983), German Roman Catholic priest *
Tomasz Zahorski Tomasz Zahorski (; born 22 November 1984) is a former Polish footballer.
sport.wm/pl
(born 1984), Polish footballer


International relations


Twin towns - sister cities

Barczewo is twinned with: *
Hagen am Teutoburger Wald Hagen () is the 41st-largest city in Germany. The municipality is located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme (met by t ...
, Germany


References


External links


Official site

Local information

Jewish community of Barczewo
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Olsztyn County Holocaust locations in Poland