Pieniężno
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Pieniężno (German: Mehlsack (pronunciation )) is a small town on the Wałsza River with 2,975 inhabitants (2004) in Braniewo County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland.
[edit] History
On the site of the town, originally there was an Old Prussian fort called Malcekuke, loosely translated as "woods of the subterraneous" or "devil's ground". This was corrupted by German settlers to Mehlsack, meaning "flour sack", and then by Poles to Melzak. In the 14th century it was founded as a town west of Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warmiński) in Warmia.
The town's coat of arms depicts three bags of flour spaced in between a golden sword and a silver key, all on a blue background. The website recalls a story that the inhabitants defied a Swedish siege in the 17th century by spilling their last sack of flour as a deception to convince them that they still had plenty of food left.
Construction of the town's castle began in 1302, when it was used by the Monastic State of the Teutonic Order. Both the castle and the town were destroyed during warfare between the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Poland in 1414. During the Thirteen Years' War, Mehlsack surrendered to the Order, and the castle burned down during Poland's recapture of the town. Nicolaus Copernicus was an administrator for the districts of Allenstein (Olsztyn) and Mehlsack for a few years in the early 16th century. From October 1518 - March 1519 Copernicus was based out of the castle while he settled nearby villages. From 1589-1599 Prince Andrew Cardinal Báthory of Transylvania, cousin of Sigismund Báthory, was the administrator for the castle. In 1550 Prussian army laid siege to the city and partially burned it down[1].
The town was captured by Swedish troops in 1626 during the Polish-Swedish War of 1625-1629, recovered by Hetman Stanisław Rewera Potocki, and then had its castle partially destroyed by Swedish troops in 1627. The town hall, dating from the 14th century and rebuilt in the 15th century, was destroyed during the Swedish occupation in 1626. It was rebuilt in 1666, but burnt in a fire the same year, only to be rebuilt again in 1770. The castle was restyled in 1640 with Baroque gables, and its function changed from being a fortress to being a château. During the 19th and 20th centuries the castle lost some of its Gothic and Baroque features, and in 1870 its eastern and southern wings were demolished after extensive deterioration. The remainder of the castle was used as administrative offices for Prussian officials. From 1920-31 the western wing was renovated so the castle could be used as a school and museum.
In 1945 Mehlsack, including its castle, was 90% destroyed by fighting during World War II and was taken by Soviet Army from Nazi Germany. After the Potsdam Conference, not the Polish name Melzak which was derived from Mehlsack was used, but an entirely new name (see List of city name changes) was introducedused after the war, as for other East Prussian towns like Sensburg (Mrągowo) or Rastenburg (Kętrzyn). It was renamed Pieniężno after Seweryn Pieniężny, an editor for Gazeta Olsztyńska, a newspaper for the Polish-speaking population of Warmia banned[citation needed] by German state.
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