Gryfino () is a town in

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 ...

, northwestern

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 21,393 inhabitants (2017). It is the capital of Gryfino County in

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 ...

. The town is located on the Odra Wschodnia, the eastern branch of the Oder river, about south of

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

in Poland. The western branch of the Oder, away from the town center, marks 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 ...

. There is a direct road link between Gryfino and the German town of Mescherin across the river. The Crooked Forest is located in the village of Nowe Czarnowo, just outside Gryfino.

History

The territory became part of the emerging Polish state under Mieszko I around 967. Following the fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies it formed part of the Duchy of Pomerania. There are archaeological traces of Slavic settlement dating back to the 12th century. The settlement was built in 1230 when the area was part of the Duchy of Pomerania-Stettin in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. It was granted Magdeburg town rights by Duke Barnim I under the name Greifenhagen in 1254. In 1271 Barnim I granted

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

privileges modelled after Szczecin. In 1281 the town was exempted from customs duties and declared a free port. In 1284 it obtained a permission to build defensive walls and was one of the Pomeranian towns that guaranteed a peace treaty between the Duchy of Pomerania 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 ...

. Greifenhagen was in conflict with the town of Gartz across the Oder (current twin town), which was resolved in 1304.Kratz, p. 182 In 1306 Duke Otto I allowed the town to build a bridge and a dam over the Oder and collect customs duties on it like

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

(Szczecin). Lubinus_Greiffenhagen

In 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 hit by epidemics in 1625 and 1638, and was occupied by the

in 1627–1630 and by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in 1630–1640. After the war, it remained in Swedish possession. In 1675 it was captured by the Brandenburg-Prussia, into whose possession it came finally in 1679. In 1709 Polish King Stanisław Leszczyński stopped in the town. In 1723, French

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

settled in Greifenhagen. 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 ...

, the town was plundered by the Russians. Following the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). I ...

in 1871, Greifenhagen 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 1877 it was connected to the railroad and in 1914 the Berlin-Stettin shipping route was opened allowing Greifenhagen's economy to expand. Two labour camps of the Reich Labour Service were located in the town under

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 ...

. In the final 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 ...

, in March 1945, it was captured by

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 conquest the town center was heavily destroyed. Afterwards, the region became again part of Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s. The remaining German population was 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 ...

and gradually replaced by Polish settlers. Despite the existence of the old Polish name ''Gryfów'', the town was first renamed to ''Gryfin'', and in 1946 to ''Gryfino'' by replacing the German suffix -hagen by the Polish suffix -ino. After the war, the town's life was reestablished, in 1945 the first schools began teaching, in 1946 the Gryf cinema was opened, and in 1947 the municipal library was opened. A new hospital and culture center were opened in 1955 and 1958, respectively. From 1975 to 1998 Gryfino was administratively located in the Szczecin Voivodeship. Underground anti-communist press was published in Gryfino from 1982 to 1984. In 2021, a mural to Polish resistance hero Witold Pilecki was unveiled in Gryfino. In 1974 the first unit of Dolna Odra Power Station, a large coal-fired power station, went in service.

Demographics

Sports

The main local sports team are

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

team KPR Gryfino, which competes in the I liga (as of 2023–24), and

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 , which competes in the lower divisions. There are also various youth clubs dedicated to athletics,

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

, swimming, chess, etc.

Transport

There is a railway station in the town, located on the significant Wrocław–Szczecin railway.

International relations

Gryfino is twinned with: * Barlinek,

* Bersenbrück,

* Gartz,

* Raciechowice,

Schwedt Schwedt (or Schwedt/Oder; ) is a town in Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. With the official status of a ''Große Kreisstadt, Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (major district town), it is the largest town of the Uckermark (district), Uckermark ...

Towns near Gryfino

(

) *

Stargard Stargard (; 1945: ''Starogród'', 1950–2016: ''Stargard Szczeciński''; or ''Stargard an der Ihna''; ) is a city in northwestern Poland, located in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 2021 it was inhabited by 67,293 people. It is situated on ...

(

) * Cedynia (

) * Chojna (

) * Mieszkowice (

) * Moryń (

) * Trzcińsko-Zdrój (

) * Myślibórz (

) * Pyrzyce (

) *

(

) *

Vierraden Vierraden was the name of a small town in the northeast of the German state of Brandenburg. On October 26, 2003, it was incorporated into the city of Schwedt, Schwedt (Oder), which is about 3 kilometers to the south. Until the incorporation, Vierr ...

(

) * Gartz (

) * Penkun (

)

Gallery

File:Gryfino - panoramio (5).jpg, Bańska Gate File:Urząd Miasta Gryfino.JPG, Town hall File:Bridge across Odra in Gryfino (4).jpg, A bridge on the Oder River in Gryfino File:Gryfino mury obronne.jpg, Medieval defensive walls

Notable people

* Manfred Hinze (born 1933), German athlete * Michał Bieniek (born 1984), Polish former athlete who specialized in the high jump. He competed at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

References

External links

*
Jewish Community in Gryfino
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Gryfino County Germany–Poland border crossings Populated riverside places in Poland