Pelplin () is a

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 ...

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 ...

, in the Tczew County, Pomeranian Voivodship. Population: 8,320 (2009). Pelplin is located in the ethnocultural region of Kociewie 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 ...

. It is home to one of the finest collections of

medieval art The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, with over 1000 years of art in Europe, and at certain periods in Western Asia and Northern Africa. It includes major art movements and periods, national and regional ar ...

in Poland held at the Diocesan Museum in Pelplin.Diocesan Museum in Pelplin.
Homepage. It is known for the landmark Gothic Pelplin Cathedral, former abbey church, one of the largest Gothic churches in Poland. The former Pelplin Abbey is the seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Pelplin The Diocese of Pelplin (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese located in the city of Pelplin, Poland. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of metropolitan Archdiocese of Gdańsk. The biggest city of dioc ...

. The cathedral complex, with the abbey, theological seminary, Corpus Christi church, Episcopal Palace and Park, etc. is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland, as one of the most precious Polish heritage sites of its kind.

Geographical location

Pelplin lies in a valley on both sides of river Wierzyca, a left affluent of river

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 ...

in Pomeralia, which ends up in the Vistula at the town of Gniew. Pelplin is located about west of the Vistula, south-east of the town 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 ...

, south-west the town 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 south of the regional capitol of

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

. It is surrounded by a chain of little hills, its altitude varies between

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

at the lowlands of the Vistula in the east and above sea level at 'Czubatka' hill in the west.

History

Archaeological findings have revealed that human settlements existed in the region of the town already during the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

and the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. The history of Pelplin is tightly interwoven with the history of the Monastery of Pelplin, which according to the monastery's chronicle was founded in 1274 by Mestwin II, Duke of Pomerania. The monastery of Pelplin had a forerunner in the monastery of the

Cistercians 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 ...

in Pogódki located at the upper course of the Wierzyca, which had been founded in 1258 by Sambor II, Duke of Pomerania. In 1276 the monks, which had come from the Monastery of Doberan in Mecklenburg to Pogódki, began to transfer their monastery to Pelplin. From Pelplin, the German monks organized an extensive settlement campaign. They brought in dispossessed farmers and craftsmen and founded a number of villages in the area. The initiative came from Duke Sambor II, who wanted to compensate population losses of the past, which had occurred because of wars with Pomeralia's neighbours, 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 ...

in the south and the Old Prussians in the east. The monks also began to build an impressive Gothic cathedral, now the Pelplin Abbey, using mainly bricks as construction material. According to the monastery's chronicle, work on the building was taken up already prior to 1294 by Mestwin II, Duke of Pomerania, and was completed during the second half of the 14th century, amounting to a building time of almost 200 years. The monastery was attached to the southern side of the cathedral. It was enlarged considerably during subsequent centuries. The cathedral of the Cistercians, now Pelplin Abbey, is recognized as one of the most important examples of sacral architecture in the Vistula region. As far as matters concerning the church were concerned, the region of Pelplin was at that time subordinated to the administration of the Diocese of Gniezno. Pelplin was part of the Duchy of Pomerania (Eastern/Gdańsk Pomerania), which in 1227 separated from

as a result of the fragmentation of the state. In 1282, Duke Mestwin II and Polish Duke

Przemysł II Przemysł II ( also given in English and Latin language, Latin as ''Premyslas'' or ''Premislaus'' or in Polish as '; 14 October 1257 – 8 February 1296) was the Duke of Poznań from 1257–1279, of Greater Poland from 1279 to 1296, of Kraków fr ...

(future King of Poland) signed the Treaty of Kępno, which transferred the suzerainty over Gdańsk Pomerania including Pelplin to Przemysł II and, subsequently, after Mestwin II's death in 1294, Pelplin was reintegrated with Poland. In 1310 the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

captured Gdańsk Pomerania and incorporated it into the monastic State of the Teutonic Order. In 1454, Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of re-incorporation of the territory to the

, and in the Second Peace of Thorn of 1466, the Teutonic Knights renounced any claims to the region, and recognized it as part of Poland. Pelplin was since 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 autonomous province of Royal Prussia in the Greater Poland Province. In the following centuries several Polish Kings visited the Pelplin Abbey, among them

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

and

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 ...

. During the

reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the last abbot of the monastery of Doberan moved in 1552 to the affiliated monastery of Pelplin.

Partitions of Poland

In 1772, during the

First Partition of Poland The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that eventually ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The growth of power in the Russian Empire threatened the Kingdom of Prussia an ...

by the

Russia 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 ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

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, ...

, Pelplin was annexed into the Kingdom of Prussia, in 1773 it was included into the newly formed province West Prussia, composed from just annexed Polish territory, and the religious and political discrimination of the

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

greatly intensified. Pelplin was subjected to Germanisation policies. In 1819 the Pelplin monastery was suppressed. After the monastic buildings had been modified, they were utilized since 1824 as the seat of the Bishopric of Chełmno (Culm), which was moved to Pelplin. By that time Pelplin had remained a small village with several pubs. Since 1824 it began to develop rapidly due to the accommodation of a number of ecclesiastical and clerical institutions. In 1238 a training school for priests was founded, and since 1835 there existed also the ''Collegium Marianum'', an episcopal Progymnasium. The economical development of Pelplin accelerated after 1852, when the village was connected to the new railway line

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

—

(Bromberg—Danzig). In 1905 there existed in addition a supreme forestry superintendent's office, an engineering-works and a sugar factory.''Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon'',6th edition, Vol. 15, Leipzig and Vienna 1908, p. 554. In 1906–1907, local Polish children joined the children school strikes against Germanisation that spread throughout the Prussian Partition of Poland. Up to 1920 Pelplin belonged to '' Kreis Dirschau'' in the administrative district of Regierungsbezirk Danzig in West Prussia.

Return to 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 ...

Poland regained independence, and as a consequence of

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 ...

the Pelplin was re-integrated into the Second Republic of Poland. In 1925 the bishopric of Chełmno was renamed as bishopric of Pelplin. In 1931, Pelplin received town rights.

World War II

In 1939, after the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, which started

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 ...

, Gdańsk Pomerania was annexed 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 ...

and incorporated into the newly formed province of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia. During the German occupation, the Polish population was subjected to mass arrests, repressions, deportations to concentration camps, expulsions and massacres. Mass arrests especially pertained to Polish teachers and clergy, and were carried out in September and October 1939 (see: ''

Intelligenzaktion The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders committed against the Polish people, Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) during the ...

'', '' Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Poland''). 16 priests were murdered at the local shooting range, and others were imprisoned in

, and later murdered during large massacres of Poles in the Szpęgawski Forest. On 20 October 1939, 44 inhabitants were murdered in the Szpęgawski Forest. The Germans removed traces of Polish heritage from the cathedral and the seminary, and also looted or destroyed historic Polish collections, including the library and the archive.Wardzyńska, p. 156 The '' Einsatzkommando 16'' established a prison for local Polish activists, teachers and priests at the seminary, and the victims were later either murdered in the Szpęgawski Forest, deported to concentration camps, or moved to the prison in

. In 1940 the Germans shortly operated a subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp in the town. In the final stages of the war Pelplin was captured by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. After the end of war Pelplin became part of

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

Transport

Pelplin is located at the intersection of the

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 229 and 230, and the Polish A1 motorway runs nearby, west of the town.

Sports

The town has two

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 ...

teams KS Wierzyca Pelplin and KS Centrum Pelplin, both of which compete in the lower leagues.

Notable people

* Andrzej Liss (born 1950), Polish politician, elected to the Sejm in 2005

International relations

Pelplin is twinned with: * Gniew,

* Teisnach,

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 ...

* Grafling,

Footnotes

External links

Official Website of the Community
(multi-linguistic) {{Authority control Cities and towns in Pomeranian Voivodeship Tczew County Towns in Kociewie Intelligenzaktion massacre locations