Ełk is a city in northeastern

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 ...

with 61,677 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of Ełk County in the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship. It lies on the shore of Ełk Lake, which was formed by a

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

, and is surrounded by extensive forests. It is the largest city and unofficial capital of historical

Masuria Masuria ( ; ; ) is an ethnographic and geographic region in northern and northeastern Poland, known for its 2,000 lakes. Masuria occupies much of the Masurian Lake District. Administratively, it is part of the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship (ad ...

. Founded in

medieval times In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

, Ełk, became a notable regional printing and publishing centre and home to the leading Polish school in Masuria since the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

, and in the late modern period it was a center of resistance to preserve Polish language in Masuria against Germanisation policies. It is an important rail and road junction and food industry hub in north-eastern Poland, and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ełk. One of the principal attractions in the area is legal hunting.

History

Middle Ages

The area where the town of Ełk is located was originally inhabited by Jatvingians, a Baltic peoples, during the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

. By 1281, Skomand the last leader of the pagan Jatvingians, capitulated to the crusading

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

, who initially were invited in 1226 by Konrad I of Masovia from the Polish

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...

to put an end to the constant pagan raids into his territory. After 1323, the northern part of the region was administered by the commandery of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, while the larger part with the later town belonged to Balga commandery. A former

Old Prussian Old Prussian is an extinct West Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to av ...

settlement, the town was first documented in 1398 around a castle built by the Teutonic Knights. The town's name has various postulated origins. Its German version ''Lyck'' is postulated to be derived from its

name, ''Luks'' (from the word for waterlily, ''luka''), while another theory holds that the name comes from Polish word "łęg" meaning meadow. Old Polish names of the town included ''Łek'', ''Łęg'' and ''Łęk''. It received its town rights in 1445. After the outbreak of the Thirteen Years' War in 1454, the town sided with the Prussian Confederation, at whose request the 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 ...

announced the incorporation of the region into 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 ...

, which resulted in the town becoming part of the Polish state. The town was briefly captured by the Teutonic Knights in 1455, and later on, it was conquered alternately by the Poles and the Teutonic Knights. After 1466 it was a part of Poland as a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

Early modern era

In 1537, Duke Albert of Prussia donated an estate to Jan Malecki, a Polish printer from

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

who had either fled or moved to Ducal Prussia for material reasons, to establish a printing house. After converting to Lutheranism, Malecki translated and published

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

Small Catechism Luther's Small Catechism () is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, the Apostles' Creed, Lord's Prayer, the Lord's Prayer ...

in Polish In 1546 a Polish school, the first school for secondary education in

, was founded in the city, where apart from locals also Polish nobles from the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

were taught. Polish pastor, translator, publisher and co-creator of the literary Polish language, Hieronim Malecki, was the school's first rector. In the mid-16th century Ełk was one of the most thriving centers of Polish-language printing. In 1600, the town's population was Polish, and almost all innkeepers had Polish surnames. In 1639 the King of Poland

Władysław IV Vasa Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and claimant of the thrones of Monarchy of Sweden, Sweden and List of Russian monarchs, Russia. Born into the House of Vasa as a prince ...

visited the town. It remained under Polish suzerainty until 1660.

18th and 19th centuries

In 1709-10, the plague claimed 1,300 victims.
In 1831, 300 people, about 10 percent of the populace, died of the

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

, in 1837 another 80 and 333 in 1852. At the beginning of the 19th century, a Polish-language teachers' college was organised in the city by Tymoteusz Gizewiusz. Until 1802, students of the local school spoke almost exclusively Polish. In 1813 the school was transformed into a German gymnasium. The position of a Polish teacher remained in place until 1819. In 1820, Fryderyk Tymoteusz Krieger became the superintendent of the school and actively defended the rights of local Poles to use the Polish language. Krieger also prepared Polish educational programs, in opposition to attempts at

Germanization 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 nati ...

by Prussian authorities. He was the first pastor in Masuria to protest against the Germanization of Polish schools in the region. Prussian authorities launched investigations against him three times.Sukertowa-Biedrawina, p. 65 Among the students of the local gymnasium was Gustaw Gizewiusz, a relative of Krieger, who became one of the best-known advocates against the Germanisation of Masuria. Polish people who had acquired knowledge of the German language, including children whose parents did not speak German, were officially classified as ethnic Germans by the authorities, and were denied the right to attend Polish church services. In 1825, Lyck was "officially" inhabited by 1,748 Germans and 1,394 Poles. In 1840, the German-language newspaper ''"Lycker gemeinnütziges Unterhaltungsblatt"'', later called ''"Lycker Zeitung"'', was founded. Between 1842 and 1845, a Polish newspaper ''"Przyjaciel Ludu Łecki"'' (Łek's Friend of the People) was printed in the city, whose aim was to resist Germanisation and cultivate Polish folk traditions as well as educate the local rural population. In May 1845, a Polish resistance movement in the city was organized by Kazmierz Szulc, whose aim was to prepare local Polish youth for an uprising. During the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

, weapons were smuggled through the city to 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, and Polish insurgents fleeing the Russian Partition took refuge in the city; among others, a detachment of Colonel passed through it. In 1885 the city, under its modern name ''Ełk'', was named capital of Masuria by the '' Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland''. In the late 19th century it was the largest town of the region (according to data from 1880 and 1890), before being surpassed by Osterode (Ostróda) (according to data from 1905 and 1925). From 1896 to 1902, ''"Gazeta Ludowa"'', a Polish-language newspaper, heavily subsidised by banks from

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 ...

representing the Polish national movement in Masuria, was published in the city. It soon faced repression and discrimination from the German authorities which led to its demise; its paid circulation dropped from 357 copies in 1896 to less than 250 at the turn-of-the-century. According to German-American author, Richard Blanke, the "demise marked the end of the second major effort by Polish nationalists to establish a journalistic foothold in Masuria". In 1896, Polish and Masurian activists founded the Masurian People's Party in the city, which sought to resist efforts of German authorities at forced Germanization. The co-founder of the party was poet Michał Kajka, today honoured in Ełk with a monument in the centre of the city. From the start, the party was subject to severe repressions and attacks by Prussian authorities. In the German federal elections, the MPL received 229 votes in 1898 and 20 in 1912 in the Lyck constituency.

20th century

In 1910, Lyck had more than 13,000 inhabitants. Mateusz Siuchniński gives the percentage of Poles in 1900 as 35.7% but warns that the numbers come from lowered German estimates. Many citizens fled during

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 ...

, when Imperial Russian troops attacked the region, but returned after the battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes. English and Italian troops were deployed in the town after the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

to supervise the East Prussian plebiscite. The plebiscite was preceded by a campaign of violence and terror by the Germans against the Poles and even against Allied soldiers. The Germans vandalized Polish information boards and held an anti-Polish rally at which they encouraged the beating of Poles and the devastation of their homes and property. In April 1920, the German ''Sicherheitswehr'' even battered Italian soldiers, two fatally. Voting under such conditions resulted in 8,339 votes for

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 ...

and 8 for

, which just regained independence. During the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

, on 31 July 1920, some 1,000 Polish soldiers arrived and were soon interned by Germany in nearby Orzysz. In 1922, a Polish consular agency was opened, which was upgraded to a vice-consulate the next year. It was in Lyck that the first-ever weekly newspaper in the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

language, Ha-Magid ("the preacher") was founded in 1856 by Eliezer Lipmann Silbermann, a local rabbi. The paper was eventually moved to Berlin. In Weimar Germany anti-Semitism became prevalent, which led to persecution of the local Jewish population even before 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 ...

took power. An anti-Semitic publication, ''Die jüdische Überlegenheit'' (''The Jewish Supremacy'') attacking the Jews circulated in 1927 at a local gathering of fascist sympathizers In 1932, the local pharmacist Leo Frankenstein was attacked; a hand grenade was thrown into his home.Ełk History The wave of anti-Semitic repressions intensified after Nazis gained power in Germany in 1933 and many local merchants and intellectuals of Jewish descent were arrested. During Kristallnacht, Jewish shops and synagogue were plundered and devastated in the town. Facing these events, several Jews of Lyck decided to escape, some abroad, some to Berlin, others as far as

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Of those Jews who remained, 80 were murdered in various Nazi concentration and death camps. The city also was the site of German prison camps for Norwegian and Soviet PoWs 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 ...

. Over 60 Italian PoWs were imprisoned as forced labour in the town. The Polish resistance was active and operated one of the region's main smuggling points for Polish underground press in the city. It was heavily damaged by bombardments. 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 ...

approached in January 1945. The city was placed under Polish administration in April 1945 and the remaining German inhabitants were expelled in accordance with 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 ...

. It was rebuilt and its modern Polish name ''Ełk'' was confirmed as official.

Contemporary times

In 1999, Ełk was visited by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. About 300,000 people attended a papal Mass. In 2017, the anti-Muslim Ełk riots occurred after a fatal stabbing of a 21-year-old man by a Muslim kebab cook. Several hundred men surrounded the ''Prince Kebab'' restaurant,Zawadzka, Anna. "Drinking vodka with anti-Semites. A case study of ‘Polish-Jewish relations’ today." Adeptus 11 (2018): 1-23.
/ref>Tunisian charged over Poland stabbing that sparked riot
BBC, 2 January 2017 tossing firecrackers, stones, and

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see '') is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a Fuse (explosives), fuse (typically a glass bottle filled wit ...

s at the shop. Police initially stood by and did not intervene for several hours; however, when they did intervene the crowd turned against them as well. Following the riots in Ełk, other attacks on

kebab Kebab ( , ), kebap, kabob (alternative North American spelling), kebob, or kabab (Kashmiri spelling) is a variety of roasted meat dishes that originated in the Middle East. Kebabs consist of cut up ground meat, sometimes with vegetables an ...

restaurants took place throughout Poland.Died by the kebab knife

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by Mediahuis NRC. It is widely regarded as a newspaper of record in the country. History was first published on 1 October 1970 after a merger of the Amst ...

, 29 December 2017, Roeland Termote & Pieter van Os In 2018, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Poland's independence, a monument to

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

was erected in front of the town hall. The Marshal of Poland was also honored with a

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

on one of the townhouses in the city center.

Population

Number of inhabitants by year

Demographic changes

ImageSize = width:800 height:300 PlotArea = left:50 right:20 top:25 bottom:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late Colors = id:linegrey2 value:gray(0.9) id:linegrey value:gray(0.7) id:cobar value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.8) id:cobar2 value:rgb(0.6,0.9,0.6) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:65000 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:2000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey2 PlotData = color:cobar width:20 align:left bar:1910 from:0 till:13428 bar:1925 from:0 till:15159 bar:1939 from:0 till:16243 bar:1946 from:0 till:6104 bar:1950 from:0 till:13665 bar:1955 from:0 till:19478 bar:1960 from:0 till:21952 bar:1965 from:0 till:24472 bar:1970 from:0 till:27400 bar:1975 from:0 till:31958 bar:1980 from:0 till:38175 bar:1985 from:0 till:44195 bar:1990 from:0 till:52430 bar:1995 from:0 till:54991 bar:2000 from:0 till:56610 bar:2005 from:0 till:56120 bar:2010 from:0 till:57897 bar:2015 from:0 till:60462 bar:2020 color:cobar2 from:0 till:61903 bar:2021 from:0 till:61677 PlotData= textcolor:black fontsize:S bar:1910 at: 13428 text: 13.428 shift:(-15,5) bar:1925 at: 15159 text: 15.159 shift:(-15,5) bar:1939 at: 16243 text: 16.243 shift:(-15,5) bar:1946 at: 6104 text: 6.104 shift:(-15,5) bar:1950 at: 13665 text: 13.665 shift:(-15,5) bar:1955 at: 19478 text: 19.478 shift:(-15,5) bar:1960 at: 21952 text: 21.952 shift:(-15,5) bar:1965 at: 24472 text: 24.472 shift:(-15,5) bar:1970 at: 27400 text: 27.400 shift:(-15,5) bar:1975 at: 31958 text: 31.958 shift:(-15,5) bar:1980 at: 38175 text: 38.175 shift:(-15,5) bar:1985 at: 44195 text: 44.195 shift:(-15,5) bar:1990 at: 52430 text: 52.430 shift:(-15,5) bar:1995 at: 54991 text: 54.991 shift:(-15,5) bar:2000 at: 56610 text: 56.610 shift:(-15,5) bar:2005 at: 56120 text: 56.120 shift:(-15,5) bar:2010 at: 57897 text: 57.897 shift:(-15,5) bar:2015 at: 60462 text: 60.462 shift:(-15,5) bar:2020 at: 61903 text: 61.903 shift:(-15,5) bar:2021 at: 61677 text: 61.677 shift:(-15,5)

Districts

The city of Ełk is divided into 14 administrative units, known in Polish as '' osiedla'': * Baranki * Centrum * Jeziorna * Konieczki * Osiedle Bogdanowicza * Osiedle Grunwaldzkie * Osiedle Kochanowskiego * Osiedle Tuwima * Osiedle Wczasowe * Pod Lasem * Północ I * Północ II * Szyba * Zatorze

Notable people

* Arthur Ludwich (1840–1920), German classical philologist who specialized in Homeric studies * Charles Edward Moldenke (1860–1935), American Lutheran minister and

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

* Theodor Simon Flatau (1860–1937), German physician * Karol Bahrke (1868–1935), Polish activist, journalist and book publisher * Otto von Schrader (1888–1945), German admiral * Theodor Horydczak (1889–1971), American photographer * Alfred Müller (1905–1959), German middle-distance runner, competed in the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

* Kurt Symanzik (1923–1983), German physicist * Siegfried Lenz (1926–2014), German author; honorary citizen of Ełk since 2011. * Klaus Gerwien (1940–2018), German soccer player * Leszek Błażyński (1949–1992), Polish boxer * Roman Czepe (born 1956), Polish politician * Andrzej Zgutczyński (born 1958), Polish footballer * Dariusz Zgutczyński (born 1965), Polish footballer * Cezary Zamana (born 1967), Polish cyclist * Paweł Sobolewski (born 1979), Polish footballer * Tomasz Abramowicz (born 1979), Polish footballer * Marek Bujło (born 1993), Polish mixed martial artist

Mayors

* Adam Puza (1990–1994) * Zdzisław Fadrowski (1994–2002) * Janusz Nowakowski (2002–2006) * Tomasz Andrukiewicz (since 2006)

Education

* Private Economic Academy *

Nursery School A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin c ...

* Higher Catholic Seminary

High schools

Zespół Szkół Ekonomicznych

Zespół Szkół Mechaniczno - Elektrycznych

Zespół Szkół nr 1
* Zespół Szkół nr 2 im. K. K. Baczyńskiego
swww
* Zespół Szkół nr 3 im. J. H. Małeckich
www
* I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. S. Żeromskiego
www
* Zespół Szkół Rolniczych im. M. Rataja
Zespół Szkół Samorządowych
* Zespół Szkół nr.6 im. M. Rataj
(www)

Sports

Local sports clubs include

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 ...

club Mazur Ełk,

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

club Mazur Ełk, cycling club LUKK Ełk,

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

club MKS Żak Ełk and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

club Wilki Ełk. The Polish

Cyclo-cross Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...

Championships were held in Ełk in 1998, 2005 and 2012.

Religion

Since the medieval Christianization of the region, the city's population was

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, and after the Reformation, it was almost entirely

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

until World War II. After the war, the main religion in Ełk became again Roman Catholicism, although a number of

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

churches are also represented and play an important role in the religious life of the population. These include the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

(

Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

- ''Kościół Zielonoświątkowy'') and other churches. Ełk is the center of the Catholic Diocese of Ełk with its bishop Jerzy Mazur.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Ełk is twinned with: * Galatone,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Lørenskog is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. A suburb of Oslo, it is part of the Oslo urban area and the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipa ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

* Nettetal,

* Alytus,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

* Orbassano, Italy Former twin towns: * Ozyorsk,

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

* Lida,

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

In March 2022, Ełk ended its partnership with the Russian city of Ozyorsk as a reaction to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Coat of arms

The current

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of Ełk were adopted in 1999, after the town was visited by the

. The colors have been changed (from green to yellow), the

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

is different than in the former emblem. Lastly is the addition of the insignia of the Papacy. Until 1967, a different emblem with the two-faced head of the god

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianu ...

was used, but its origin is unknown.

Gallery

File:Gmina Ełk Ełk ul.3 maja 8.JPG, Baptist church File:Ełk - Ratusz.jpg, Town hall File:Ełk - most.jpg, Bridge on the Ełk Lake File:Kamienice przy ul. Mickiewicza w Ełku.JPG, Elaborate tenement houses on Mickiewicz Street File:Ełk Piłsudski 13.11.2018 B.jpg,

monument File:EŁK-PKP, AB-001.jpg, Ełk

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

File:Ełk PKP EKW 05.08.2015 B skal.jpg, The Ełk

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

station File:Ełk Małeckich 08.11.2016-1 skal.jpg, Solidarity Park at night File:Ełk Małeckich 26.03.2017 s.jpg, District Court File:Ełk AK 29.03.2015 C-SL.jpg, Technical school File:Ełk scena 29.06.2015.jpg, John Paul II Square File:Obwodnica Ełku.jpg, Ełk bypass route File:Ełk jez 25.06.2017s.jpg, Promenade File:Ełk szpital 20.04.2014 skal.jpg, Shopping mall File:Ełk Szyba 24.09.2017-1s.jpg, Southern districts of Szyba and Jeziorna

Notes

References

External links

Municipal website

Ełk information

Jewish community of Ełk
on Virtual Shtetl
Google satellite photo
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Masuria (region) Populated lakeshore places in Poland Populated places established in the 14th century Holocaust locations in Poland