Dzierzgoń

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Location of Dzierzgoń in Poland

Dzierzgoń (IPA: [ˈʥɛʒgɔɲ]; German: Christburg) is a town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is located in Sztum County east of Malbork and south of Elbląg on the Dzierzgoń River. Dzierzgoń has a population of 5,800, while the city and its environs have a combined population of 10,000.

[edit] History

In 1247, a castle known as Neu Christburg (German for "New Castle of Christ") was founded overlooking the Dzierzgoń River, a few kilometers away from an older fortress known as Alt Christburg (Stary Dzierzgoń). In 1249 a peace treaty was signed at the new castle between the victorious Teutonic Order and defeated local Old Prussians. In 1254, the town which had developed near the castle was first referred to as Christburg. Within the Monastic State of the Teutonic Order, Christburg was an administrative seat for the regional Komtur.

After the Second Peace of Toruń in 1466, Christburg became part of the Polish province of Royal Prussia and was known in Polish as Krispork. In 1772 it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia during the First Partition of Poland and was incorporated into the new province of West Prussia. Christburg became part of the German Empire upon its foundation in 1871 during the unification of Germany. After the Polish Corridor was created following World War I, the town was transferred to East Prussia in Weimar Germany.

After World War II ended in 1945, Christburg was placed under Polish administration and renamed Dzierzgoń, based on an Old Prussian name. The German population either evacuated during the war or was subsequently expelled afterward. The town was resettled by Poles from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union and Ukrainians expelled from southeast Poland in 1947. The former Roman Catholic Cloister is now a Ukrainian Eastern Rite Catholic Church.