Węgorzewo

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Węgorzewo

	(Coat of arms)


Basic Information
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Warmia and Masuria
Population	11,719 (2004)
City rights	1571
Latitude Longitude	54°13' N 21°45' E
Area code	+48 87
Economy and Traffic
Administration
Mayor	Antoni Piotrowski
Municipal Website

Węgorzewo (former Polish name Węgobork, German: Angerburg (help·info), Lithuanian: Ungura) is a popular tourist town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, not far from the border with Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast. It is the seat of Węgorzewo County. Lake Mamry is close to the town.

Angerburg was founded by the Teutonic Knights and shared the history of Ducal Prussia, becoming part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and part of the Prussian province of East Prussia in 1773.

Being situated in Prussian Lithuania, the town had a German majority at the time, although there were sizable minorities of Masurians and Lietuvninks. The Lietuvnink minority diminished after the 16th and 17th centuries, however.

During World War II 80% of the buildings in town were destroyed. After the war it became part Poland as Węgorzewo, along with the rest of southern East Prussia, and the German population was expelled.

The town is famous for the festivals which take place in summer: rock festival, sailors' song festival, and poetic song festival.

[edit] Notable people born in the town

Georg Andreas Helwig (1666-1748), Prussian botanist
Andreas Hillgruber (1925-1989), German historian
Graf Hans Heinrich von Katte, mayor 1718 - 1741, father of Leutnant Hans Hermann von Katte
Willy Rosenau , singer