Wejherowo (; formerly ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

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 ...

, northern Poland, with 48,735 inhabitants (2021). It has been the capital of

Wejherowo County __NOTOC__ Wejherowo County (, ) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland, on the Baltic coast. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ...

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 ...

since 1999; previously, it was a city in Gdańsk Voivodeship (1975–1998).

Geographical location

Wejherowo is located in Pomeralia, in the ethnocultural region of

Kashubia Kashubia or Cassubia ( or ; ; or ) is an ethnocultural region in the historic Eastern Pomerania (Pomerelia) region of northern Poland. It is inhabited by the Kashubian people, and many in the region have historically spoken the Kashubian langua ...

, approximately west of the town of Rumia, east of the town of

Lębork Lębork (; ; ) is a town on the Łeba River, Łeba and Okalica rivers in the Gdańsk Pomerania region in northern Poland. It is the capital of Lębork County in Pomeranian Voivodeship. Its population is 37,000. History Middle Ages The region fo ...

and north-west of the regional metropole 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 ...

, in the broad glacial valley of the river Rheda at an altitude of

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 ...

History

Wejherowo was founded in 1643 as ''Wola Wejherowska'' (literally "Wejher's

Wola Wola () is a district in western Warsaw, Poland. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into a major financial district, featuring various landmarks and some of the tallest offi ...

"), by the

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

of the Malbork Voivodeship, and Polish noble, Jakub Wejher. It was translated in the colloquial German of the time as ''Weihersfrey'' or ''Veyersfrey''. According to the founder's will, the dwellers of the new settlement were to possess the same

city rights 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 tradition ...

as other towns in the region, hence the place granted

Kulm law Kulm law, Culm law or Chełmno Law (; ; ) was a legal constitution for a municipal form of government used in several Central European cities in the Middle Ages and early modern period. It was initiated on 28 December 1233 in the Monastic State o ...

. The town's privileges, received in 1655, were confirmed by King John II Casimir Vasa of Poland. Wejher, who survived the Smolensk War, built two churches in the new settlement (The Holy Trinity and Saint Ann). He also brought in

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

fathers, built a monastery, and founded a

calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

, consisting of 26 chapels, aligned along the border of the town forest, which were built during 1646–55. According to the founder's written statement of 1655, all honorable persons, independent of their nationality, were invited to become citizens of the new settlement if they would pay a citizen fee of ten gulden each. Schloss Neustadt Sammlung Duncker

In 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 ...

in 1772, in which 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 ...

annexed most of Pomerelia, the town was incorporated into the Kingdom, and administered within the new province of

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...

. Its name in German changed from ''Weyersfrey'' to ''Neustadt in Westpreußen'', a name which was in use also before. The affix "in West Prussia" was added to the town's name in order to avoid confusion with a number of other towns carrying the same name. Decisive factors which boosted the development of the town in the 19th century were the 1818 establishment of Landkreis Neustadt, an administrative district, and the construction of the Danzig (

) – Stettin (

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 ...

) railway line, to which Neustadt was connected with a train station in 1870. Neustadt 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 Prussian-led

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 ...

. During the second half of the 19th century, a significant number of

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish families from the region began migrating to

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

, including the Shubert theatrical family. Kashubians and Poles formed 59.3% of population in the district area of the city around this time. The city itself, however, was predominantly German. According to the census of 1910, the city had a population of 9,804, of which 6,970 (71%) were

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, 2,421 (25%) were Kashubians and 394 (4%) were

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 ...

In 1905, Neustadt had a Protestant church, two Catholic churches, a synagogue, a grammar school, a preparatory school for a training college for school teachers, a training college for evangelical school teachers, a mental asylum, a local court, a forest office, cigarette factories, sawmills, a brewery, a cattle trade and wood trade as well as

grain trade The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals such as wheat, barley, maize, rice, and other food grains. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agri ...

. During the Partitions, the German authorities led a systemic campaign of

Germanization Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people, and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nati ...

against local the Polish and Kashubian populations, which resisted by organizing the secret patriotic organization ''Zwiazek Filomatów'', distributing the Polish newspaper'' Gazeta Gdańska,'' and by establishing various local economic initiatives.Wejherowo historia miasta
/ref> Wkroczenie wojsk polskich do Wejherowa

Until 1919, Neustadt belonged to the administrative region of Regierungsbezirk Danzig in the Province of West Prussia in

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 ...

. 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 ...

and the re-establishment of independent Poland, the town was integrated into the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. Wejherowo was the capital of

, becoming a headquarters of state administration responsible for the maritime economy. In 1923–1928, there was a special educational center in Wejherowo, in which about 300 Polish orphans lived and got education after their rescue from war-stricken

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 ...

with the help of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 1920–1922.

World War II

On 9 September 1939, during 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 marked the beginning 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 ...

, Wejherowo was captured by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. Afterwards it 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 administered as part of Regierungsbezirk Danzig in the newly formed province of

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia () was an Reichsgau, administrative division of Nazi Germany created on 8 October 1939 from annexed territory of the Free City of Danzig, the Greater Pomeranian Voivodship (Polish Corridor), and the Marienwerder (regi ...

. Most of the town's Jewish community was murdered by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

during the occupation, while many local Poles were also victims of the Nazi extermination policy. The

Einsatzkommando 16 During World War II, the Nazi German ' were a sub-group of the ' (mobile killing squads) – up to 3,000 men total – usually composed of 500–1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to exterminate Jews, Polish intellectua ...

and SS Wachsturmbann "Eimann" entered the county in the first half of September 1939 to commit various crimes against the population. Poles arrested both in Wejherowo and the county were imprisoned in the local prison, and afterwards transported to the nearby village of Piaśnica Wielka, which was the site of a

mass murder Mass murder is the violent crime of murder, killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more ...

of about 12,000 Poles in 1939. Among people murdered there were the city's mayor Teodor Roman Bolduan and the

wójt A wójt is the highest administrative officer of a Polish ''rural gmina'', i.e., of a commune (''gmina'') comprising only villages. (The head of a town or city is called, respectively, the ''burmistrz'' or "president".) History and etymology T ...

of gmina Wejherowo (head of the local gmina) Edward Łakomy. Also Polish students from local high schools were massacred there. Numerous Poles arrested during the ''

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 ...

'' in other cities of the region were also briefly held in the local prison before they were murdered in Piaśnica.Wardzyńska, p. 147 Among them were local officials, merchants, activists, teachers, priests and civilian defenders of

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

. Local teachers were also among Polish teachers and principals murdered in the

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

. In March 1945, Wejherowo was captured by the

Soviet 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 Peop ...

. After the war, in 1945, Wejherowo was reintegrated with Poland. Its first post-war mayor was Bernard Szczęsny, who during the German occupation was part of the Polish resistance movement, was imprisoned in the

Stutthof concentration camp Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German-an ...

and escaped during a

death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires tha ...

. Some German perpetrators were not sentenced for their involvement in the crimes committed against Poles in Wejherowo and even retained public offices, including Gustav Bamberger, the town's deputy mayor under German occupation, who participated in the selection of prisoners in the local jail. After the war he served as the deputy mayor of

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Number of inhabitants by year

Culture

* Museum of Kashubian and Pomeranian Writing and Music, located in the Przebendowski Palace

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 Gryf Wejherowo. It competes in the lower leagues.

Education

* Kaszubsko-Pomorska Szkoła Wyższa

Gallery

Wejherowo palac 2.jpg, Przebendowski Palace 638370 Wejherowo park miejski 02.jpg, Aleksander Majkowski Park Kalwaria Wejherowska - Kaplica Spotkania z Matką (02).jpg, Wejherowo Calvary Back of Church of Pope Saint Leo the Great in Wejherowo.jpg, Saint Leo church Filharmonia Kaszubska.jpg, Kashubian Philharmonic (''Filharmonia Kaszubska'') Wejherowo Rathaus.JPG, Market Square with the Town Hall Budynek Starostwa Powiatowego w Wejherowie.jpg, Powiat (county) office Wejherowosobieskiego.JPG, Old townhouses on the Jana Sobieskiego Street Dworzec PKP w Wejherowie.jpg, Wejherowo railway station Wejherowo plac Wejhera pomnik.jpg, Jakub Wejher monument

Notable people

Hugo Blaschke Hugo Johannes Blaschke (14 November 1881 – 6 December 1959) was a German dental surgeon notable for being Adolf Hitler's personal dentist from 1933 to April 1945 and for being the chief dentist on the staff of ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Him ...

(1881–1959), a German dental surgeon, Adolf Hitler's personal dentist *

Paul Gottlieb Nipkow Paul Julius Gottlieb Nipkow (; 22 August 1860 – 24 August 1940) was a German electrical engineer and inventor. He invented the Nipkow disk, which laid the foundation of television, since his disk was a fundamental component in the first televis ...

(1860–1940), a German technician; invented the

Nipkow disk A Nipkow disk (sometimes Anglicized as Nipkov disk; patented in 1884), also known as scanning disk, is a mechanical, rotating, geometrically operating image scanning device, patented by Paul Gottlieb Nipkow in Berlin. This scanning disk was a f ...

early TV transmission technology * Paul Peter Rhode (1871–1945), a Kashubian German-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church * Henryk Szczepański (1933–2015), footballer who competed in the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

* Henryk Dampc (1935–2004), a Polish amateur boxer, competed at the

* Ryszard Kunze (born 1939), a Polish fencer, competed in the

* Hubert Skrzypczak (born 1943), a boxer from Poland, competed in the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

* Jerzy Budnik (born 1951), politician * Marcin Miotk ( pl) (born 1973), mountaineer * Kinga Baranowska (born 1975), mountaineer, she climbs without the use of supplemental oxygen * Dorota Masłowska (born 1983), a Polish writer, playwright, columnist and journalist * Marta Jeschke (born 1986), a Polish 200 metre sprinter, competed in the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

* Małgorzata Ławrynowicz (born 1988), a Polish group rhythmic gymnast, participated at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

* Paweł Poljański (born 1990), a professional racing cyclist

International relations

Wejherowo is twinned with:

References

External links

Official web page of Wejherowo

Wejherowo homepage. "Throughout the centuries."

wejher.com - news, photos, bulletin board

Wejherowo Land

Following the trail of manor houses and castles of the Northern Kashubian Region

Northern Kashubia Heritage
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Pomeranian Voivodeship Wejherowo County Populated places established in 1643 1643 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth