Chociwel (; ) is a town in 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 ...

, 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 ...

, in

Stargard County __NOTOC__ Stargard County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms pass ...

. As of December 2021, it has 3,105 inhabitants.

History

In the

Middle Ages 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 ...

it was a Slavic

gród A gord is a medieval Slavonic fortified settlement, usually built on strategic sites such as hilltops, riverbanks, lake islets or peninsulas between the 6th and 12th centuries in Central and Eastern Europe. A typical gord consisted of a group ...

. In 967 it became part of Poland under first historic ruler

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 ...

. The first church was built around 1124. The settlement was mentioned in 1190 and 1321. In 1338 it was granted Magdeburg town rights and was known as ''Freienwalde''. In the 15th century the town's main landmark was built – the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

Our Lady of Sorrows church. After the dissolution of the

Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (; ; Latin: ''Ducatus Pomeraniae'') was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania (''Griffins''). The country existed in the Middle Ages between years 1121–11 ...

, in the mid-17th century it fell 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 ...

, then from 1701 it was 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, ...

, and from 1871 to 1945 it was part of

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 ...

. It had a population of 3,406 in 1939. In 1945 it was awarded to Poland, along with most of

Western Pomerania Historical Western Pomerania, also called Cispomerania, Fore Pomerania, Front Pomerania or Hither Pomerania (; ), is the western extremity of the historic region of Pomerania, located mostly in north-eastern Germany, with a small portion in no ...

, at the insistence of

Josef Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, and its entire population was expelled. Because of this, the population in 1946 was only 402, all of them

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

newcomers. After the war, the town was given the name Chociwel, which is a modern version of the

Old Polish The Old Polish language () was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Old Polish language are the data of the co ...

name of the nearby lake ''Kotzavil'', as it appeared in medieval documents. Among the settlers were Poles displaced from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, Poles returning from forced labour both from the

USSR 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 Germany and soldiers of the

Polish Armed Forces in the West The Polish Armed Forces in the West () refers to the Polish Armed Forces, Polish military formations formed to fight alongside the Allies of World War II, Western Allies against Nazi Germany and its Axis powers, allies during World War II. Poli ...

Demographics

Detailed data as of 31 December 2021:

Number of inhabitants by year

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 ...

club is Piast Chociwel. It competes in the lower leagues.

Gallery

Chociwel Urzad Miejski.jpg, Municipal office Chociwel pomnik sybirakow.jpg, Memorial to Polish prisoners of Soviet

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

camps and deportees to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Chociwel pomnik.jpg, Polish First Army Memorial Chociwel zbor baptystow.jpg, Baptist church

Notable residents

Hugo von Kathen Hugo Karl Gottlieb von Kathen (27 August 1855 – 2 April 1932) was a German infantry general during World War I. Family Kathen was born in Freienwalde, Farther Pomerania to the Prussian Major Karl von Kathen (1803–1876) (a landowner from La ...

(1855–1932), general * Herbert Hoffmann (1919–2010), artist

References

External links

Official town webpage

Jewish Community in Chociwel
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Stargard County