Sztum

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Sztum

	(Coat of arms)

Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Pomerania
Mayor	Leszek Tabor
Area	4,59 km²
Population - city - urban - density	10 141 (2004) 2209,4/km²
City rights	1416
Area code	+48 55
Twin towns	Ritterhude, Val de Reuil, Varde
Municipal Website

Sztum (former German: Stuhm) is a town in Poland, capital of Sztum County, located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, with some 10,141 inhabitants (2004).

[edit] History

A historical drawing of the town

Signs of settlement dating back to the Roman Empire era have been found. In the early Middle Ages a fortified settlement of the Prussian people existed at the site, conquered by the Teutonic Knights in 1236. City rights were granted to the settlement in 1416.

In 1466 the town with other western Prussian territory passed to the crown of Poland as Royal Prussia. As part of Royal Prussia under Poland and then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the town functioned as a seat of Sztum County in Malbork Voivodeship (1466-1772) and a place to hold local court sessions and sejmiks. In 1635 the Treaty of Sztumska Wieś was signed in the village of Sztumska Wieś, just south of the city of Sztum.

In 1772 as a result of the First Partition of Poland the town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1871 it became part of the newly created German Empire. The city and the surrounding area voted to remain part of Germany in the 1920 plebiscite.

Towards and after the end of World War II, the German inhabitants were either evacuated like most of the German population of East Prussia. After the war, the town, along with the rest of southern East Prussia, was given to Poland under territorial changes promulgated by the Potsdam Conference. The city was resettled by Poles, many of them expellees from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union.