Choszczno

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Choszczno

	(Coat of arms)


Basic Information
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	West Pomeranian
Population	20 700
City rights	1284
Latitude Longitude	53°10'N 15°24'E
Area	12,30 km²
Agglomeration	26 500
Density	1743/km²
Area code	+48 95
Car plates	ZCH
Twin towns	Alytus, Wolvega, Fürstenwalde
Economy and Traffic
Administration
Mayor	Robert Adamczyk
Municipal Website

Choszczno (former German: Arnswalde) is a town (population around 20.000) in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. The town is located in a marshy district between the river Stobnica and Klukom lake, 32 km S.W. of Stargard Szczeciński and on the main railway line between Szczecin and Poznań. Besides the Gothic church there are a number of buildings from the 19th century industrial period, namely a gasification plant and a water pressure tower which dominates the town skyline.

Choszczno is the administrative centre of the Choszczno County. The town was badly affected by the Second World War and up 80% of its buildings were damaged or destroyed. The town was rebuilt and is now a center for local government of the Choszczno province. Due to its microclimate the town has become a rehabilitation center for convalescing patients. The close proximity of the lakes has made it a tourist destination for water sports. Other tourist attractions are an aqua park 'Wodny Raj' and Drawieński National Park 20 km east located in the town of Drawno.

Choszczno has strong military traditions and is the home base for the 2nd Artillery Regiment which is part of the 12th Mechanised Division with headquarters in Szczecin.

Its industries include iron founding, machinery, and manufactures of cloth, matches and starch.

1 General information
2 Local government details
3 History
- 3.1 Post 1945
4 Education institutions
5 Partner towns
6 External links
7 References

[edit] General information

Area: 10 km²
Population:circa 20,000
Location: 53° 10' N, 15° 24' E
Post code: 73-200, 73-210
Local telephone code: 0-95

[edit] Local government details

Address

ul. Wolności 24

73-200 Choszczno

tel. +48 95 765-78-16

fax. +48 95 765-78-06

E-Mail: || promocja@choszczno.pl

[edit] History

Arnswalde was since its foundation in the 13th century situated in Brandenburg and Kingdom of Prussia and Germany until 1938, when due to its close proximity to the new Polish border, it was added to the German border region Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia and thus West Pomerania until 1945.

The name Arnswalde was first mentioned in the written chronicles in 1269. The Cistercian Order gave up the lands around Arnswalde (Choszczno) probably in 1283. The Margrave of Brandenburg founded the town of Arnswalde at its present location. The Brandenburg red eagle coat of arms attests to Arnswalde's Brandenburg history. In 1289 Arnswalde is described as a town. In 1402 the town become a center of central European politics when the Brandenburg Neumark (New March) signed a vassal treaty with the Teutonic Order. The Teutonic Order's influence in the region lasted for 50 years. As the town was on the side of the Teutonic Order in the war with Poland it was invaded and pillaged by the Polish side a number of times.

Due to the nature of the Teutonic Order's policies towards it's vassals the citizens of Arnswalde rebelled in 1443 and were finally successful in gaining special privileges in 1445. The town got stronger economically due its location, becoming a regional market town. Its strategic importance as a crossing of two tracks - from Stettin to Posen (Szczecin to Poznań) and from Landsberg towards Thorn (Gorzów Wielkopolski towards Toruń), was recognised and the city was fortified. This did not help as the town was ravaged by the 30 years war from 1618 to 1648.

Stability occurred once Arnswalde become part of the Kingdom of Prussia and to signify its importance a permanent garrison was stationed in the town from 1719. in this period the town advanced economically and socially with the establishment of a new postal route to Stargard. The 18th century again brought difficulties and the town experienced a number of tragedies caused by the plague, the worst one occurred in 1800 when 65 children perished.

19th century was a great time for the development of Arnswalde. It was linked by railway with Stettin and Posen (Szczecin and Poznań) in 1848 and later with Berlin, also in theBrandenburg region. The town experienced lower cost mass public transportation, which lead to the creation of new tourist industry in the town. The microclimate in the region drew in weekend tourists from as far as Berlin and Brandenburg whilst the new hospital next to the lake catered for convalescing patients. The railway was also a catalyst for the local manufacturing industry as it provided an affordable transport of goods to the Port of Stettin (Szczecin), because of this a brewery and a textile industry flourished.

In 1905 a new hospital was opened by the bank of the lake Klukom. The First World War had little effect on Arnswalde but the post-war German depression damaged the tourist economy. The demilitarisation of post-war Germany meant that the garrison was disbanded until 1938 when it was reinstated.

The second world war saw the establishment of the prisoner of war camp Oflag II B on the outskirt of the town in 1939. The majority of the prisoners were Polish and French. With the collapse of the eastern front in the Russian offensive Wisla to Oder of 1945 Arnswalde was on the front line. The towns strategic position of protecting Stargard and Stettin (Szczecin) Sea port meant that there was a strong German garrison defending the town. The Russian offensive meant that bitter fighting occurred which resulted in almost 80% damage of the towns infrastructure. After the German resistance stopped in spring of 1945 Arnswalde was handed over to the Poles for administration as a part of Recovered Territories and renamed Choszczno.

The German inhabitants, who composed almost 99 % of the town population, either fled westwards or were expelled, often violently, by Soviet forces and the new local Polish administration. The town was repopulated mostly by Poles displaced from terrains of today's Lithuania and Ukraine, which Poland lost to the USSR.

[edit] Post 1945

The first polish institution to send it's representatives to the newly liberated town was the Polsh Railways (PKP). In 1946 the first polish education institution the "Bolesław Krzywousty" high school was opened. Due to the damage sustained by the town, the majority of the burnt out buildings were dismantled and the reclaimed bricks were sent for the rebuilding of Warsaw. This short-sighted policy of 'cannibalisation' was created by the unknown legal status of the newly acquired polish territories. Only after 1956 when the territory situation was clarified did the process of rebuilding started properly and investment by the polish government start. Due to the population growth the local government invested in new housing and in 1959 the first newly built housing block was completed. The rebuilding continued and the majority of the architecture is now post 1950s. In 1990s the local government started investing in sporting facilities (covered swimming pool, sports arena, tennis courts) to promote active tourism.

Starting with Fürstenwalde in 1978 the local government has been active in the foreign co-operation and creation of links with different partner towns.

In 1984 Choszczno celebrated 700 years since its foundation. The traditional annual Days of Choszczno festival is held over the first weekend of June.