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Elblag

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Elbląg ([[ˈɛlblɔ̃g]][Media help?]·[i]; local Polish dialect: Elbiąg ([ˈɛlbiɔ̃g]); German: [] ([Media helphelp]·[info]); Old Prussian: Truso, Ilfing) is a city in northern Poland with 128,700 inhabitants, the capital of the Powiat of Elbląg, situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodship since 1999, previously capital of Elbląg Voivodship (1975–1998), and a county-site of Gdańsk Voivodship (1945–1975).

The city is located on the Elbląg river connecting Lake Drużno to the Vistula Lagoon.

Contents

Etymology

According to various sources the city name of Elbląg comes from the river name, which is of Old Prussian or Germanic (Gothic) origin. Early sources: river Ilfing (890), Castrum de Elbingo quod a nomine fluminis Elbingum appellavit (1237 — Peter Dusburg, Chronicon Terre Prussiae), in Elbingo (1239), in Elbing (1242), in Elbinge ... fluvium Elbinc (1246, city charter), de Elbingo (1250), in Elbyngo (1258), vitra Elbingum (1263), Elvingo (1293), in Elbingo (1300), in Elvingo (1389), czum Elbinge (1392), czu Elbing (1403), Elwing (1410), czum Elwinge (1412), Elbing (1414–1438), Elbyang (before 1454), Elbing (1508), ku Elbiągowi (1634), w Elblągu (1661), w Elblągu (1661).

Literature:

History

Old Prussian Truso

The seaport of Truso on the Ilfing river was first mentioned ca. 890 by Wulfstan of Hedeby, an Anglo-Saxon sailor, travelling on the south coast of the Baltic Sea at the behest of King Alfred the Great of England. The exact location of Truso is not certain, as the seashore has significantly changed, but most historians trace the settlement inside or near to modern Elbląg on Lake Drużno.

It was an important seaport serving the Vistula river bay on the early medieval Baltic Sea trade routes which led from Birka in the north to the island of Gotland and to Visby in the Baltic Sea. From there, traders continued further south to Carnuntum along the Amber Road. The ancient Amber Road led further southwest and southeast to the Black Sea and eventually to Asia. The east-west trade route went from Truso, along the Baltic Sea to Jutland, and from there inland by river to Hedeby, a large trading center in Jutland.

The main goods of Truso were amber, furs and slaves. The town was inhabited by the Old Prussian tradesmen and craftsmen, but was also visited by merchants from the Baltic lands of Poland and Scandinavia. Truso's importance declined in the 10th century, and its functions were taken over by Gdańsk and later by Elbląg.

Teutonic Order

Old town and St. Nicholas Cathedral
Enlarge
Old town and St. Nicholas Cathedral

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Truso was loosely dependent on the Polish duchy of Eastern Pomerania. The task of Christianization of the territory was given to Bishop Christian of Prussia and the Teutonic Knights. The Conquest of Prussia was only accomplished with great bloodshed over more than 50 years, during which new castles were built and trade and administration cities were founded.

The town of Elbing in Pogesania was founded in 1237 by German tradesmen near the ruins of the Prussian fortress and trading settlement of Truso. The Teutonic Order built a castle, which the burghers later destroyed. When Prussia was divided into four dioceses, Elbing and Pogesania became part of the diocese of Pomesania.

In 1246 Elbing received Lübeck rights marking its importance as a seaport, unlike many other cities in central Europe which received Magdeburg rights. At this time it was a significant member of the Hanseatic League, having important trading contacts with England, Flanders, France, and the Netherlands. The city received numerous merchant privileges from the rulers of England, Poland, Pomerania, and the Teutonic Order. For instance, the privilege of the Elbing Old Town was upgraded in 1343, while in 1393 it was granted an emporium privilege for grains, metals, and forest products. A separate settlement called Elbing New Town was founded ca. 1337 and received a Lübeck rights in 1347.

The oldest copy of the Polish common law, called the Book of Elbląg (Polish: ) was written in the second half of the 13th century. A vocabulary of the Baltic Old Prussian language, named the Elbląg-Prussian Dictionary (German: ), was written ca. 1350 by the leading administrators.

The Order's trading cities of Elbing, Danzig (Gdańsk), and Thorn (Toruń), under the leadership of Lübeck and Cologne in the Holy Roman Empire, were prominent participants in the Hanseatic League.

Kingdom of Poland

In 1440 several eastern Prussian towns formed the Prussian Confederation, which led the successful revolt of Prussia against the rule of the Teutonic Order in 1454. The Confederation asked King Casimir IV of Poland for help in their struggle against the Teutonic Knights. Casimir claimed Prussia, which led to the Thirteen Years' War. After Poland's victory over the Teutonic Order, the city became part of the autonomous province of Royal Prussia under the sovereignty of the Polish crown, and was known by the Polonized version of Elbing, Elbląg. With the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, the city was brought under the direct control of the Polish crown, although local language and custom was allowed. The administration switched from Middle Saxon to Standard German, as was the case in all Hanseatic cities.

With the 16th century Protestant Reformation the burghers became Protestantism|Protestants]] and the first Protestant Gymnasium was established in Elbląg in 1535.

From 1579 Elbląg had close trade relations with England, to which the city accorded free trade. English and Scottish merchants settled in Elbląg and formed the Scots Reformed Church of Elbing. The Scottish newcomers remained and aided Protestant Sweden in the Thirty Years' War. The rivalry of nearby Danzig several times interrupted trading links. By 1618 Elbląg left the Hanseatic League owing to its close business dealings with England.

Famous inhabitants of the city at that time included native sons Hans von Bodeck, Samuel Hartlib, and for six years the Moravian Brethren refugee Johann Amos Comenius. In 1646 the city recorder Daniel Barholz noted that the city council employed licensed and guilded amber craftsmen who worked on rosaries. Members of the Barholz family became mayors and councillors. The poet Christian Wernicke was born in 1661 in Elbląg, while Gottfried Achenwall became famous for his teachings in natural law and human rights law.

The Imperial cartographer Johann Friedrich Endersch completed a map of Warmia in 1755 and also made a copper etching of the galley named Die Stadt Elbing (The City of Elbląg).

Elbląg was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia during the First Partition of Poland in 1772. The city became part of the new province of East Prussia in 1773 and was administratively referred to as Elbing.

Hohenzollern Prussia

Elbing industrialized under the sovereignty of the Hohenzollern kings in Berlin. In 1828 the first steamship was built by Ignatz Grunau. In 1837 Ferdinand Schichau started the Schichau-Werke in Elbing as well as another shipyard in Danzig later on. Schichau constructed the Borussia, the first screw-vessel in Germany. Elbing's Schichau-Werke built hydraulic machinery, ships, steam engines, and torpedoes. After the inauguration of the railway to Königsberg in 1853, Elbing's industry began to grow. Schichau worked together with his son-in-law Carl H. Zise, who continued the industrial complex after Schichau's death. Schichau erected large complexes for his many thousands of workers.

Georg Steenke, an engineer from Königsberg, connected Elbing near the Baltic Sea with the southern part of Prussia by building the Oberländischer Kanal (Elbląg Canal).

Upon the unification of Germany, Elbing became part of the German Empire in 1871. As Elbing became an industrialized city, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) frequently received the majority of votes; in the 1912 Reichstag elections the SPD received 51% of the vote.

Mormons started filming the church records of Elbing's citizens in Kirchenbücher. Records dating to 1577 are available.

Nazi Germany

During the time of Nazi Germany, three subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp were located near Elbing: Elbing, Elbing (Org. Todt), and Elbing (Schinau).

A large number of the German inhabitants of Elbing fled when the Soviet Red Army approached the city during World War II. During the siege of February 1945 the Old Town was burnt down by the Red Army. The city was 65% destroyed, including most of the historical city center. Almost all Germans who returned or remained were expelled as the city was granted to Poland in the Potsdam Conference.

History after 1945

After the German population had been expelled, the city was repopulated and the name changed to Elbląg. 98% of the new inhabitants were Poles expelled from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union or were Polish peasants from overpopulated villages in central Poland. Some of the damaged historical city center was demolished and the bricks were used to rebuild Warsaw and Gdańsk.

The Communist authorities planned that the Old Town, utterly destroyed in 1945, be rebuilt with blocks of flats. However, economic difficulties thwarted this plan. The ruins of the old town were torn down in the 1960s and only two churches were left for reconstruction.

Elbląg was the scene of one of the riots in the coastal cities in 1970 together with Tricity and Szczecin (see also coastal cities events).

After 1989 restoration of the Old Town began. The local authorities passed a plan of rebuilding it with new houses that fit the same dimensions and size rather than the reconstruction of historical buildings. On some occasions the private investors incorporated parts of preserved stonework into new architecture. So far approximately 2/3 of the Old Town has been reconstructed.

Since the beginning of the restoration, an extensive archaeological programme has been carried out. Most of the city's heritage was destroyed in the 19th century during the construction of basements and the 1945 bombardment, however the backyards of the houses were not changed and the latrines are a source of priceless information on the city's history. Many pieces of art and utilities of everyday use can be seen in the city museum. Among them are the only 15th century binoculars preserved in Europe.

Since 1990 there has been an emergence of an Elbing German minority group, named Elbinger Minderheit; it counts some 100 persons.

Tourist attractions

Until World War II there were many Gothic, renaissance and baroque houses in Elbląg's Old Town; some of them are reconstructed. Other preserved builings are:

Education

Sports

Politics

Elbląg constituency

Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from Elbląg constituency

City partnerships

Elbląg has partnerships with the following cities:

Leer (Germany)
    • Kaliningrad (Russia)
    • Baltiysk (Russia)
    • Ronneby (Sweden)
    • Druskininkai (Lithuania)
    • Liepāja (Latvia)
    • Navahradak (Belarus)
    • Ternopil (Ukraine)
    • Compiègne (France)
    • Trowbridge (United Kingdom)
    • Coquimbo (Chile)
    • Baoji (China)
    • Tainan (Taiwan)

    Famous people

    See also

    External links

    Web portals:

     

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