Barwice () is a town in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, in

West Pomeranian Voivodship West Pomeranian Voivodeship is a voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals , and in 2021, it was inhabited by 1,682,003 people. It was established on 1 January 1999, out of the form ...

, in

Szczecinek County __NOTOC__ Szczecinek County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms pa ...

. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 3,627.

Geography

The town is located on the

Baltic Uplands The Baltic UplandsDickinson, Robert E. (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 614. . ( or ''Nördlicher Landrücken'') is a chain of morainic hills about wide that border the southern Baltic Sea from ...

Farther Pomerania Farther Pomerania, Hinder Pomerania, Rear Pomerania or Eastern Pomerania (; ), is a subregion of the historic region of Pomerania in north-western Poland, mostly within the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, while its easternmost parts are within the Po ...

at an altitude of about 150 to 180 meters

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

within the upper region of the river

Parsęta Parsęta (; ) is a river in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship (''Zachodniopomorskie'') of north-western Poland, with a length of and a basin area of .Drawsko Pomorskie Drawsko Pomorskie (until 1948 ; ) is a town in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northwestern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Drawsko County and the urban-rural commune of Gmina Drawsko Pomorskie. As of December 2021, the town has a ...

begins. The next larger city is

Szczecinek Szczecinek (; ) is a historic city in Middle Pomerania, northwestern Poland, capital of Szczecinek County in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, with a population of more than 40,000 (2011). The town's total area is . The turbulent history of Szcze ...

History

The settlement is first mentioned as ''civitas Barwitz'' in historical records from 1286, when it was granted by Polish Duke

Przemysł II Przemysł II ( also given in English and Latin language, Latin as ''Premyslas'' or ''Premislaus'' or in Polish as '; 14 October 1257 – 8 February 1296) was the Duke of Poznań from 1257–1279, of Greater Poland from 1279 to 1296, of Kraków fr ...

to the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

, but since it is located in the vicinity of a pre-historical salt road leading to the saltworks of

Kołobrzeg Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section ...

, it probably had been founded much earlier. The town and its neighbouring villages became in 1477 under duke Bogislaw X (1454–1523) part of the

Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (; ; 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 existed in the Middle Ages between years 1121–11 ...

. In the 16th century the town and the surrounding lands were in the possession of four noble families: ''von Glasenapp'', ''von Wolde'', ''von Zastrow'' and ''von Münchow''. The oldest town seal is from 1564 and carries the inscription ''Sigillum civitatis Berwoldie''.Kratz (1865)
p. 18 (in German)
/ref> During the second half of the 16th century, duke John Frederick (1542–1600) granted to the town the right to hold trade fairs three times a year. In 1626 a blaze destroyed parts of the town, including both the town hall and the church. Because of this, the town was freed from tax paying for the next five years. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

the town was occupied in 1630 by

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 ...

military of Gustav II Adolph (1534–1632) and suffered heavy damages. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

troops devastated the town's archives within the town hall, so that all older historical documents went lost. In the 18th century the town became part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

, and from 1871 to 1945 it was part of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Since 1766 five fairs per year were allowed to be arranged. In the 18th century, immigrants from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

founded a tobacco factory in the town. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it had been the site of a county court and of a customs office, and it had a secondary school. The local industry manufactured machinery and produced building materials made from sandstone. There existed both sawmills and grain mills. The town was a centre of agricultural trade, the main trade products being grain, potatoes and cattle. During World War II, the Germans operated a

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...

for

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

prisoners of war from the

Stalag II-B Stalag II-B was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp situated west of the town of Hammerstein, Pomerania (now Czarne, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland) on the north side of the railway line. It housed Polish, French, Belgian, Serbian, Du ...

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

in the town. In March 1945, shortly before the end of

, the town was captured by the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

. Under the terms of the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

, the town became again part of Poland after the war.

Demographics

;Number of inhabitants by yearKratz (1865)
p. 19 (in German)
/ref> * 1740: 472 * 1783: 533; incl. 6 Jews. * 1794: 663; incl. 7 Jews. * 1812: 804; incl. 6 Catholics and 34 Jews. * 1816: 854; incl. 5 Catholics and 59 Jews. * 1831: 1,180; incl. 6 Catholics and 85 Jews. * 1843: 1,571; incl. 3 Catholics and 129 Jews. * 1852: 1,741; incl. 4 Catholics and 143 Jews. * 1861: 1,964; incl. 8 Catholics and 180 Jews. * 1900: 2,338 * 1925: 2,530 * 2004: 3,876 * 2021: 3,627

Transport

Voivodeship road According to classes and categories of public roads in Poland, a voivodeship A voivodeship ( ) or voivodate is the area administered by a voivode (governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed sinc ...

s nr. 171 and 172 pass through the town. Since 1999 the railway between Grzmiąca and Kostrzyn has been closed down, hence a rail connection to Barwice no longer exists.

Sports

The local football team is Błonie Barwice, founded in 1952. It competes in the regional lower leagues.

Notable people

* Angelika Waller (born 1944), an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

actress.IMDb Database
retrieved 24 October 2018.

References

;Literature * Gustav Kratz: ''Die Städte der Provinz Pommern - Abriß ihrer Geschichte, zumeist nach Urkunden''. Berlin 1865 (reprinted in 1996 by Sändig Reprint Verlag, Vaduz/Liechtenstein, ; reprinted in 2011 by

Kessinger Publishing Kessinger Publishing, LLC is an American print-on-demand publishing company located in Whitefish, Montana, that specializes in rare, out-of-print books. In 2009, the company produced 190,175 titles and was reported to be the third-largest prod ...

, U.S.A., ), pp. 18–19.
in German, online
. ;Notes

External links

Official website

Jewish Community of Barwice
on

Virtual Shtetl The Virtual Shtetl () is a bilingual Polish-English portal of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, devoted to the Jewish history of Poland. History The Virtual Shtetl website was officially launched on June 16, 2009 by founder A ...

{{Pomerania Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Szczecinek County