Białogard
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Białogard (German: Belgard (help·info); Kashubian/Pomeranian: Biôłogard) is a town in Middle Pomerania, northwestern Poland with some 25,000 inhabitants. The capital of Białogard County in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, the town was previously in Koszalin Voivodeship (1950-1998).
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[edit] History
According to archaeologists the Białogard stronghold was built in the fork of the Parsęta and Leśnica Rivers as early as the 8th century. In the 10th century it was an important centre of long-range international trade at the crossroads of two important trade routes: a north-south "salt route" from Kołobrzeg to Poznań and Greater Poland, and the west-east Pomeranian route from Szczecin to Gdańsk.
Pomerania was inhabited by 5-6 local tribes, and Białogard was probably the centre of one of them. In the 10th century Pomerania was conquered bythe Polish dukes Mieszko I and Boleslaus the Brave, who established a bishopric in the nearby Kołobrzeg in 1000, but the area was soon lost to Poland and Christianity.
Białogard is first mentioned in the chronicle of Gallus Anomynmous as a rich and populous stronghold in the middle of Pomerania, a famous royal city called white (Alba Regia). This city was conquered by Boleslaus III of Poland in 1107. By the invitation of Boleslaus the Wrymouth and his vassal Warcisław I of Pomerania, Bishop Otto of Bamberg came with a mission to Pomerania in 1124; Białogard was one of the places he visited. In the 12th century Białogard was a seat of a regional governor (castellan).
The town developed quickly as one of the more important economic centres of the Duchy of Pomerania, and this was strengthened by the privilege of Lübeck law granted to the city by Duke Boguslaw IV in 1299. In the 14th century Białogard was a member of the Hanseatic League. As a result of the feudal fragmentation of Pomerania, Białogard was part of Duchy of Wolgast from 1295 and the Duchy of Słupsk from 1368. Duke Warcislaw IV chose Białogard as his main place of residence in 1315. Pomerania was united under Duke Boguslaw X in 1478, after 1569 Białogard was part of the Duchy of Szczecin, and later was again in the united Duchy of Pomerania under Boguslaw XIV, the last Pomeranian monarch.
After the extinction of the Pomeranian dukes, and as a result of the Thirty Years' War, Pomerania was divided between Sweden, Brandenburg-Prussia, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1653 the town, then known as Belgard, fell to Brandenburg and became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. In 1724 Belgard was made the capital of a county in the Province of Pomerania, and after the administrative reorganization in 1815, the capital of Landkreis Belgard in Farther Pomerania.
The first post office in Belgard was opened in 1825. In 1858 the first railroad connecting Belgard to Köslin (Koszalin) and Schivelbein (Świdwin) was completed; it was extended to Stargard and Neustettin (Szczecinek) in 1878. Belgard became part of the German Empire in 1871.
As a result of the Potsdam Conference following World War II, Belgard was placed under Polish administration in 1945; its German population was expelled and replaced with Poles, many themselves expellees from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union. Białogard was made a county city in the Szczecin Voivodeship, later Koszalin Voivodeship, and now is located in Western Pomeranian Voivodeship.
[edit] Population
- 1875: 7,081 inhabitants
- 1900: 8,407 inhabitants
- 1939: 16,455 inhabitants
- 1940: 16,500 inhabitants
- 1945: 14,300 inhabitants
- 1950: 12,700 inhabitants
- 1960: 17,800 inhabitants
- 1970: 20,600 inhabitants
- 1975: 21,800 inhabitants
- 1980: 22,500 inhabitants
- 1990: 24,200 inhabitants
- 1995: 25,100 inhabitants
- 2000: 25,740 inhabitants
[edit] Famous residents
- Erika Fuchs (1906-2005), translator of Donald Duck
- Aleksander Kwaśniewski (born 1954), President of Poland (1995-2000, 2000-2005)
- Czesław Niemen (1939-2004), musician
[edit] External links
