Drezdenko (; ) is a town in western

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

Lubusz Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in western Poland with a population of 972,140. Its regional capitals are Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra. The region is characterized by a landscape of forests, lake ...

, in

Strzelce-Drezdenko County __NOTOC__ Strzelce-Drezdenko County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lubusz Voivodeship, western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in ...

. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 9,804.

History

Dobrogost wraz z bracmi skladaja hold krolowi Kazimierzowi

The area was a site of a border fort of the medieval Polish state. During the reign 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 ...

it was raised to the rank of a

castellany 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 ...

. During the period of feudal fragmentation of Poland it was initially part of the

Duchy of Greater Poland The Duchy of Greater Poland was a district principality in Greater Poland that was a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Poland. It was formed in 1138 from the territories of the Kingdom of Poland, following its fragmentation started by the testament of ...

and then subject of fighting between the Duchy and 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 ...

, which took control of it after 1296. It was sold by the Brandenburgians to the Monastic Order of the Teutonic Knights in 1317, under the authority of the knights Burkhard and Heinrich von der Osten. However, in 1365 it became part of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

, during the rule of King

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...

, to be lost again to the Teutonic Knights in 1408. The town was neglected by the Teutonic Knights, the castle burned down, and parts of the town walls collapsed. In 1455, after the Thirteen Years' War broke out, the Knights sold it back to Brandenburg in order to raise funds for war against Poland. Polish King

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...

still made peaceful efforts to regain the city, but to no avail. In 1605 the town was transformed into a fortress, which 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 ...

was besieged by the Swedes, who captured in 1639 and held it until 1650. In 1662 the town suffered a fire. In 1701 it became part of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. 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 ...

, from 1758 to 1762, the town was occupied by the Russians, who imposed high contributions on the inhabitants. As a result, some of the residents escaped, some were executed, and the Russians burned some of the buildings. A typhus epidemic also broke out. After the war, the destroyed parts of the fortifications were dismantled and the town was repopulated by settlers from

, the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

and German states. After repopulation and the arrival of merchants from

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

and

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, the town prospered as a trade center. In 1775 the town received a privilege from the Polish Crown, allowing the sale of foreign

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

fabrics to Poland. Other goods were also sold there, including oxen from Poland,

Hungarian wine Hungarian wine has a history dating back to the Kingdom of Hungary. Outside Hungary, the best-known wines are the white dessert wine Tokaji aszú (particularly in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia) and the red wine Bull's Blood of Eger ( E ...

and colonial products. Driesen

During the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

French troops were stationed in the town. In 1831, several columns of Polish officers and soldiers marched through the town, fleeing the

Russian Partition The Russian Partition (), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Poland. The Russian ac ...

of Poland after the failed

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

. From 1871 to 1945 the town was part of Germany. After Poland regained independence after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the Polish-German border ran nearby, leaving the town on the German side. In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, the local economy weakened, many residents emigrated to work in western Germany. In addition, attempts to Germanize the Polish population intensified, as a result of which some left for

. Economic growth occurred in connection with the militarization of Germany by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

in the 1930s, and during

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 ...

many forced laborers, mostly Poles, were brought to the town. After the war the town became again part of Poland, in accordance to the Potsdam Conference.

Notable people

* Adam Krieger (1634–1666), German composer *

Karl Ludwig Hencke Karl Ludwig Hencke (8 April 1793 – 21 September 1866) was a German amateur astronomer and discoverer of minor planets. He is sometimes confused with Johann Franz Encke, another :German astronomers, German astronomer. Biography Hencke was born ...

(1793–1866), German astronomer * Theodor Schönemann (1812–1868), German mathematician * Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum (1828–1899), German psychiatrist * Krzysztof Soroczyński (born 1955), Polish artist * Jacek Paczkowski (born 1981), Polish footballer * Natalia Kaczmarek (born 1998), Polish athlete and Olympic Champion

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Drezdenko.

Gallery

File:Plan der Festung Driesen.tif, Fortress Driesen (around 1750) File:Drezdenko, railway station.jpg, The railway station from 1857 File:Drezdenko, Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.jpg, Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, built in 1914 File:Drezdenko, Church of The Transfiguration.jpg, Church of The Transfiguration, built in 1898–1902 File:Drezdenko, the palace.jpg, The baroque palace from about 1766, at present the seat of the second primary school File:Drezdenko, primary school n.1.jpg, Primary school N.1., built in 1903–1904 originally as a post office

References

External links

Official town webpageJewish Community in Drezdenko
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Strzelce-Drezdenko County Cities and towns in Lubusz Voivodeship