Gniew (; ) is a 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 ...
situated on the left bank of the
Vistula
The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...
River, in the
Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship ( ; ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk.
The voivodeship was established on January 1, 1999, out of the former voivodeships of Gdańsk Voivo ...
, in northern
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 ...
. It has 6,870 inhabitants (2016).
It is one of the oldest towns in
Eastern Pomerania, and is renowned for its medieval
Brick Gothic
Brick Gothic (, , ) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Baltic region, Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resources of standing rock (though Glacial erratic, ...
Castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
, which has become one of the region's most recognizable monuments. The town also has other medieval Gothic monuments, and in early modern times it was a centre for the wine trade and the seat of local
starost
Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands.
The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...
s, most notably
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696.
Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...
, who was elected King of Poland. Gniew is located in the ethnocultural region of
Kociewie
Kociewie is an ethnocultural region in the eastern part of Tuchola Forest, in northern Poland, Pomerania, that is inhabited by the Kociewians. Its cultural capital is Starogard Gdański, the biggest town is Tczew, while other major towns include ...
in the historic region 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 ...
.
History
The first recorded mentions of Gniew appear in written documents of the first half of the 13th century, which refer to the region as ''Terra Gymeu'' (Gmewan, Gimen, Gymen) in 1229, ''terra Mewe'' in 1250, and terra Gemewe in 1283, terra Mewa. The name ''Gniew'' is of native, Polish origin. The name Wansca (''Wońsk'') was also used. The German name of ''Mewe'' is a Germanized form of the Polish name ''Gmewe''. The town's coat of arms is an example of
canting, as it depicts a seagull (German: ''Möwe''), which alludes to the town's Germanized name.

Beginning in the 10th century, the region belonged to Poland and was part of
Gdańsk Pomerania
Gdańsk Pomerania (; ; ) is the main geographical region within Pomerelia (also known as Vistula Pomerania, Eastern Pomerania, and previously Polish Pomerania) in northern Poland, covering the bulk of Pomeranian Voivodeship. In contrast to ''Pome ...
. After the division of Poland by
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 ...
, Gniew fell to the
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 ...
of
Starogard Gdański
Starogard Gdański (; until 1950: ''Starogard''; formerly ) is a city in Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland with 48,328 inhabitants (2004). Starogard is the capital of Starogard County.
Founded in the Middle Ages, Starogard is a city with ...
. The land later fell to the Dukes of
Świecie
Świecie (; ) is a town in northern Poland with 24,841 inhabitants (2023), capital of Świecie County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is located within the ethnocultural region of Kociewie in the historic region of Pomerania.
Founded ...
and in 1229 Duke
Sambor and
Świętopełk II of Pomerania granted it to 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 ...
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...
in
Oliwa. In the second half of the 13th century, Sambor retook Gniew from the Cistercians and in 1276 bestowed it on the
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 ...
. Their claim was formally recognized by
Mestwin II of Pomerania in 1282, and the city became the first stronghold of the Teutonic Order on the left riverside of the Vistula.
A castle was built as a result of this important strategic location, and in 1297 the Teutonic Knights gave Gniew
town privileges
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...
. In 1306, the town returned to Poland, and several years later it was occupied by Teutonic Knights.
The town changed hands various times between 1410 and 1466. In 1440, it joined the anti-Teutonic
Prussian Confederation, and upon its request it was re-incorporated to Poland by 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 ...
in 1454, which was confirmed in the
Second Peace of Toruń
The Peace of Thorn or Toruń of 1466, also known as the Second Peace of Thorn or Toruń (; ), was a peace treaty signed in the Hanseatic city of Thorn (Toruń) on 19 October 1466 between the Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon and the Teutonic ...
in 1466. Administratively, it was part of the
Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship ( ; ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk.
The voivodeship was established on January 1, 1999, out of the former voivodeships of Gdańsk Voivo ...
in the Polish province of
Royal Prussia, later also in the
Greater Poland Province. Gniew was the seat of the
starosts (local district governors), they resided in the Gniew castle. In 1454 Gniew was temporarily the first seat of the Polish voivodes of Pomerania. In 1626, during the
Swedish-Polish War, a battle between 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 ...
and
Swedish forces was
fought in the area of Gniew, resulting in a (formal) victory for the army of King
, though the battle was unresolved.
In the second half of the 17th century, prior to becoming King of Poland,
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696.
Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...
served as the
starost
Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands.
The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...
of Gniew and built the "Marysieńka Palace" for his wife, Queen
Marie Casimire.
Gniew was annexed by 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 ...
during the
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...
and 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 1871. 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 ...
, General
Jan Henryk Dąbrowski spent four months in Gniew for medical treatment.
In November 1831, several Polish cavalry units of the
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. ...
stopped near the town on the way to their internment places. During the partition period, the population was subjected to
Germanisation
Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people, and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In l ...
policies, however, Gniew was a strong Polish pro-independence centre. Polish organisations were established and operated here, demonstrations were held and volunteers were secretly recruited for 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 ...
in 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 ...
.
[ In 1906–1907, local Polish children joined the children school strikes against Germanisation that spread throughout the Prussian Partition of Poland. With the defeat of Imperial Germany in ]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 ...
, Gniew became the capital of the short lived Republic of Gniew before becoming part of the restored 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 ...
according to 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 ...
. This date is celebrated in Gniew till today as the anniversary of liberation from Prussian oppression and the end of 148 years of attempts to eradicate its Polish past.
After the First World War, the number of ethnic Germans in the town decreased. During the first few months 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 ...
and the German occupation of Poland
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
many of the Polish residents of Gniew and the surrounding area were killed by Germans in the nearby Forest of Szpęgawsk. Gniew castle was used by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
as a prison for the ethnically cleansed Polish population of Tczew
Tczew (, formerly ) is a city on the Vistula River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, with 59,111 inhabitants (December 2021). It is the capital of Tczew County and the largest city of the ethnocultural region of Kociewie within th ...
and the surrounding area. In November 1939, the Germans carried out the first expulsions of some 600 Poles from Gniew.
Main sights
The most notable landmark of the town is the Ordensburg
''Ordensburg'' (plural ''Ordensburgen'') is a German language, German term meaning a "castle of a (military) order". It is used specifically for the fortified structures built by Crusades, crusading German Military order (religious society), m ...
castle built by the Teutonic Order at the turn of the 14th century, which later served as the seat of the local starost
Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands.
The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...
s, as well as Marysienka's Palace, built during the second half of the 17th century. The town also boasts a well preserved medieval
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 World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
old town, with buildings dating from the 15th to 19th century and a Gothic church dating to the 14th century.
Sport
The town is represented by the lower league 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 Mewa Gniew who play at the GOSiR stadium. Local football teams Keramzyt Szprudowo and Piast Piaseczno also share the ground.
Transport
Gniew lies on the route of national road 91 and is served by 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 234 and 518. Until the opening of the river crossing at Opalenie in 2013, a reaction ferry connected Gniew to Janowo on road 510. Prior to WWI the town was connected by railway to Kwidzyn via a Train ferry. Gniew railway station closed in 1992 and the town is no longer connected to the national network.
Notable people
* Ezekiel Caro (1844 – 1915), worked as rabbi to the Jewish community in the town
* Leon Wyczółkowski (1852–1936), Realist painter of the Young Poland movement, was a resident of the town from 1928
* Iwan Knorr (1853–1916), German composer and teacher of music
* Christa Lörcher (born 1941), former German politician
* Grzegorz Bonin (born 1983), Polish footballer
International relations
Gniew is twinned with:
References
External links
Municipal website
Homepage of the Zamek Gniew Hotel in Gniew Castle
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Pomeranian Voivodeship
Tczew County
Towns in Kociewie
Populated places on the Vistula