Swobnica (formerly ) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the administrative district of

Gmina Banie __NOTOC__ Gmina Banie is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. Its seat is the village of Banie, which lies approximately south-east of Gryfino and south of the regional ...

, within

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

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 north-western Poland.

Geography

The village lies approximately south-west of

Banie Banie () is a village in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Banie. It lies approximately south-east of Gryfino and south of the regional capit ...

, south of

Gryfino Gryfino () is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 21,393 inhabitants (2017). It is the capital of Gryfino County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The town is located on the Odra Wschodnia, the eastern branch of the Oder river, about ...

, and south of the regional capital

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 ...

. The village has an approximate population of 700.

History

First mentioned in a 1345 deed, the settlement became the seat of a commandry of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

, expelled from nearby Rörchen (Rurka) in 1377, on the invitation of the

Pomeranian dukes This is a list of the duchies and dukes of Pomerania. Dukes of the Slavic Pomeranian tribes (All Pomerania) The lands of Pomerania were firstly ruled by local tribes, who settled in Pomerania around the 10th and 11th centuries. Non-dynastic ...

. After the

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

, the Wildenbruch estates were held by the noble House of Putbus. Upon 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 ...

and the 1648

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

, the area became part of

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania (; ) was a dominions of Sweden, dominion under the Sweden, Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish-Swedish War, Polish War and the Thirty Years' War ...

The secularised commandry was ceded to the

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. ...

electorate 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 ...

by the 1679

Peace of Saint-Germain The Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was signed on 8 August 1570 by Charles IX of France, Gaspard II de Coligny and Jeanne d'Albret, to end the third war (1568-70) of the French Wars of Religion. The Peace went much further than the March 1568 ...

. Wildenbruch was purchased by Princess

Sophia Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Sophia most commonly refers to: * Sophia (wisdom), a central idea in Hellenistic philosophy and religion * Sophia (Gnosticism), a feminine figure in Gnosticism * Sophia (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters named Sophia ...

(1636–1689), the second wife of the "Great Elector"

Frederick William The name Frederick William usually refers to several monarchs and princes of the Hohenzollern dynasty: * Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (1620–1688) * Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1675–1713) * Frederick William I of ...

, who united it with her Brandenburg estates of

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 ...

and

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 ...

to provide for her descendants of the

Brandenburg-Schwedt Brandenburg-Schwedt was a secundogeniture of the Hohenzollern margraves of Brandenburg, established by Prince Philip William who took his residence at Schwedt Castle in 1689. By appanage, they administered the manors of Schwedt and Vierraden on t ...

secundogeniture. She had the Wildenbruch fortress rebuilt in a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style. Wildenbruch was bequested to Dorothea's first-born son Margrave Philip William (1669–1711) and her grandson

(1700–1771), who died at the castle. The last of the Brandenburg-Schwedt owners was his younger brother Frederick Henry (1709–1788), Wildenbruch fell back to the royal Hohenzollern main line. The last Schwedt heiress Elisabeth Louise (1739–1820) had married her uncle

Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia (; 23 May 1730 – 2 May 1813) was a Prussian prince and general, as well as ''Herrenmeister'' ("Master of the Knights") of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John. He belonged to the House o ...

in 1755; their son Prince Louis Ferdinand gave the title of ''von Wildenbruch'' to his illegitimate son Ludwig. Confirmed by King

Frederick William III Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved. ...

in 1810, the title was bequested to Ludwig's son, the author Ernst von Wildenbruch and his descendants. Wildenbruch was incorporated into the Prussian Province of Pomerania. After

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 ...

, the area passed to the

Republic of 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 ...

and the remaining German population was expelled (see

History of Pomerania The history of Pomerania starts shortly before 1000 AD, with ongoing conquests by newly arrived Polans (western), Polan rulers. Before that, the area was recorded nearly 2000 years ago as Germania, and in modern times Pomerania has been split betw ...

). Though declared a national monument, the former Hohenzollern castle decayed. Recently, some efforts were made towards its preservation.

Notable people

Waldemar Krzystek Waldemar Krzystek (born 23 November 1953) is a Polish film director and screenwriter. His film ''The Last Ferry, Ostatni prom'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. His 2008 cold war romance ''Little ...

(born 1953) a Polish film director and screenwriter

References

External links

Wildenbruch Castle
{{Authority control Villages in Gryfino County