Cedynia (; , ) is a small historic

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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 ...

, and the administrative seat of Gmina Cedynia in Gryfino County,

West Pomeranian Voivodeship West Pomeranian Voivodeship is a Voivodeships of Poland, 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 Janua ...

. It is situated close to the Oder river and the border with

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 ...

. The town is known for the 972 Battle of Cedynia, the first historically recorded battle of

Geography

Cedynia lies in an area that formed part of historic regions of

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

and

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

, before later being part of Neumark. It is situated close to the Oder river, which forms the

Germany–Poland border The Germany–Poland border (, ) is the state international border, border between Poland and Germany, mostly along the Oder–Neisse line, with a total length of . (Downloadable pdf file) It stretches from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Czec ...

; it thereby is the westernmost town in Poland (neighbouring Osinów Dolny lies even further to the west, right on the German border, but is classified as a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

). A road border crossing leads to the German town of Bad Freienwalde in the southwest. The town gives its name to an extended

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

known as Cedynia Landscape Park.

Demographics

Number of inhabitants by year

History

Largely depopulated during the

Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

, the first Slavic settlement came into existence in the 8th century, when a gród fortification was erected in the area. Around 967, it became part of the emerging Polish state. According to the Cedynia website, the "Name of city appears in documents under oldest written records already in the year 972 as ''Cidini'', in 1187 as ''Zedin'' and ''Cedene'', in 1240 as ''Ceden''. " On 24 June 972, the first historically recorded battle of the Polan dukes, the Battle of Cedynia, took place at this location: the Piast duke

Mieszko I of Poland Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...

and his brother Czcibor defeated the invading forces of the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

count Odo I, who then ruled as a

margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

in the Saxon Eastern March (

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

). Information about this battle is found both in the chronicles by Thietmar of Merseburg and in the '' Gesta principum Polonorum'' by Gallus Anonymus. After Emperor Otto II intervened, a peace was reached at the Imperial Diet in

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the Harz (district), district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg becam ...

the next year. Under Mieszko's son Bolesław the name Poland was used for the first time. The Battle of Cedynia was the first of Mieszko and Bolesław's numerous battles that they took up in their conquest attempts in the Polabian border territories soon after they received positions as dukes, mainly in the German–Polish War that lasted from 1002 until the 1018 Peace of Bautzen. Following the death of

Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth (; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between 1107 and 1138. He was the onl ...

and the fragmentation of Poland, Cedynia was part of the Duchy of Greater Poland. Together with Santok and Drezdenko, it remained the seat of a (Greater) Polish

castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

y on the Pomeranian border in the 12th and 13th centuries. 18-06-12-Cedynia RRK4554

With adjacent

Lubusz Land Lubusz Land (; ) is a historical region and cultural landscape in Poland and Germany on both sides of the Oder river. Originally the settlement area of the Lechites, the swampy area was located east of Margraviate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and ...

in the south, the town became a part of the ''Neumark'' acquisitions of the Ascanian margraves John I and of Otto III of Brandenburg in 1248/52. In 1278 the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

s from nearby Chorin Abbey erected a nunnery there, which was secularised in 1555 and finally dissolved in 1611, after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. In 1373 the town became part of the Lands of the Bohemian (Czech) Crown, ruled by the Luxembourg dynasty. In 1402, the Luxembourgs reached an agreement with

, upon which Poland was to buy and re-incorporate the region, but eventually the Luxembourgs sold it to the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

. In 1454 the Teutonic Knights sold the town to the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...

in order to raise funds for war with Poland. 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 destroyed by Swedes, whose King

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

took quarter in the former nunnery. Town and nunnery were badly destroyed in subsequent battles. In 1641 the House of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern elector Frederick William of Brandenburg had the western wing of the nunnery's ruin rebuilt as a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

hunting lodge. In 1701 the town, with all of Brandenburg, became a 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 ...

. In 1815 Zehden became part of the Königsberg district within the Brandenburgian Frankfurt Region. In 1871, with all of Prussia, the town became part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. In the last weeks of

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 ...

, in March 1945, the town was conquered by joint

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Polish forces during the Vistula-Oder offensive. After the war, the town was handed over to the Republic of Poland according to the 1945

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 ...

and the remaining German population was expelled, also in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. The town was repopulated by

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

, often displaced from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union. A monument to the 972 Battle of Cedynia was erected in the town on the occasion of the millennial anniversary in 1972.

Culture

A local museum ( Muzeum Regionalne w Cedyni) is located in central Cedynia.

Cuisine

The officially protected

traditional food Traditional foods are foods and Dish (food), dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national ...

s and beverages of Cedynia and its surroundings are the Cedynia

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

honey (''akacjowy miód cedyński''), and two types of local Polish mead: ''trójniak cedyński'' and ''trójniak Czcibor'' (as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland).

Sports

The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team is Czcibor Cedynia. It competes in the lower leagues.

References

External links

Official town websitePolish site with early spellings of town nameJewish Community in Cedynia
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Gryfino County Populated places established in the 8th century Populated riverside places in Poland