Kwidzyn

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Kwidzyn

(Flag)	(Coat of arms)

Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Pomerania
Mayor	Andrzej Krzysztofiak
Area	21.82 km²
Population - city - urban - density	40,008 2004 1,738.2/km²
Founded	1233
Area code	+48 55
Car plates	GKW
Twin towns	Celle, Bar, Ukraine
Municipal Website

For other places called Marienwerder, see Marienwerder (disambiguation)

Kwidzyn (German: Marienwerder) is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa River, with 40,008 inhabitants (2004). It has been a part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously in the Elblag Voivodeship (1975-1998). It is the capital of Kwidzyn County.

[edit] History

Gothic castle of the Bishops of Pomerania in 1912

Present-day castle

The Teutonic Knights founded an Ordensburg castle in 1232 and a town the following year. This new settlement of Marienwerder became the seat of the Bishops of Pomesania within Prussia. The town was populated with Masurian settlers from the duchy of Masovia. 1330 Werner von Orseln, who died in Marienburg, was buried in the cathedral of Marienwerder. St. Dorothea of Montau lived in Marienwerder from 1391 until her death in 1394; pilgrims would later come to pray in the town at her shrine. The rebellious Prussian Confederation was founded in Marienwerder on March 14, 1440, but the town remained in the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights after their defeat in the Thirteen Years' War.

After 1525 Marienwerder was assigned to Lutheran Ducal Prussia, which became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. From 1773-1818 the town in the administrative province of East Prussia, but was then transferred to West Prussia. According to statistics,^{[citation needed]} in 1818 it was populated by a Polish speaking, Masurian majority. The policy of forceful Germanization, however, gradually decreased the share of Polish speaking inhabitants who participated in the social life of the province and forced them to speak German. Germanization markedly increased after 1871, when Marienwerder was included in Imperial Germany, thus making Poles the minority. In 1885 Marienwerder had 8,079 mostly Lutheran inhabitants, many of whose trades were connected with the manufacturing of sugar, vinegar, and machines. Other trades were brewing, dairy farming, and fruit-growing. According to official statistics, ca. 1910 35.7% of the county's population was Polish.

After World War I most of West Prussia was transferred to the Polish Second Republic. A plebiscite was held on 11 July 1920 to determine if Marienwerder would remain in Germany as part of East Prussia or join Poland; 92% voted for East Prussia, and Marienwerder was transferred to the District of West Prussia within East Prussia.

During the Weimar Republic a Polish High School was founded in the town. On August 25, 1939 pupils of the school were deported to Nazi concentration camps.

During World War II Marienwerder was plundered but not destroyed in 1945. It was assigned to Poland after the Potsdam Conference in 1945 and was officially renamed Kwidzyn. Parts of the town's old center were dismantled to provide material for the rebuilding of Warsaw.

Kwidzyn contains the partially-ruined 14th century Gothic castle of the Bishops of Pomesania within the Teutonic Order. Connected to the castle to the east is a large cathedral (built 1343-1384) containing the tombs of the Bishops of Pomesania and three Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights. The town also has a Catholic church and a cathedral-castle presently used for a district court and prison. Other sights include the appellate court for Kwidzyn County, a new town hall, and government buildings.

A branch of the company International Paper is located in Kwidzyn, as is the Kwidzyn School of Management.