Giżycko

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Giżycko
Canal in Giżycko
Canal in Giżycko
Flag of Giżycko
Flag		 Coat of arms of Giżycko
Coat of arms
Giżycko (Poland)
Giżycko
Giżycko
Coordinates: 54°2′24″N 21°45′32″E / 54.04, 21.75889
Country Flag of Poland Poland
Voivodeship Warmian-Masurian
County Giżycko County
Gmina Giżycko (urban gmina)
Established 1335
Town rights 1612
Government
 - Mayor Jolanta Piotrowska
Area
 - Total 13.87 km² (5.4 sq mi)
Highest elevation 142 m (466 ft)
Lowest elevation 116 m (381 ft)
Population (2006)
 - Total 29,667
 - Density 2,138.9/km² (5,539.8/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 11-500
Area code(s) +48 87
Car plates NGI
Website: http://www.gizycko.pl

Giżycko [giˈʐɨt​͡skɔ] (German: Lötzen (help·info); former Polish: Lec) is a town in northeastern Poland with 29,796 inhabitants (2004). It is situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been in the Suwałki Voivodeship (1975-1998). It is the seat of Giżycko County.

Contents

[edit] History

The Teutonic Knights built a castle in Prussia named Lötzen (Lec in Polish) in 1340, located at the isthmus between two lakes in Masuria. It was administered within the Komturei of Balga. The settlement near the castle received town privileges, with a coat of arms and seal, in 1612 while part of the Duchy of Prussia.

As a legend Holy Bruno of Querfurt was killed on his missionary of Old Prussians by Sudovians near Lake Niegocin in 1009, as a memorial the Bruno – cross was erected near Gizycko in 1909.

Lötzen became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and was made part of the province of East Prussia in 1773. In the 19th century, a Lutheran church designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel was erected in the centre of the town. Lötzen became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany.

1844 – 1848 the “Feste Boyen“, a fortress named after the prussian war-minister Hermann von Boyen, was built on a small landtongue between lake Mamry ( Mauersee ) and lake Niegocin ( Löwentinsee ). This fortress is one of the largest and best conditioned fortresses of the 19th century. In 1942 – 1945 it was the headquarter of the german military intelligence service ( Fremde Heere Ost ) under Reinhard Gehlen.

As a result of the treaty of Versailles on 11 july 1920 the East Prussian plebiscite was organized under the control of the League of nations, which resulted 99,97 % of votes to remain in Germany (29.378 total) and 0,03 % for Poland (9 total).

In the 1930s Lötzen was garrison of several military units of the Wehrmacht as a Sub-area Headquarter of Wehrkreis I, which was headquartered at Königsberg. Staff-, maintenance- and guardtroops of Hitlers headquarter Wolfsschanze and the Oberkommando des Heeres ( OKH, army highcommand ) were also based in or nearby Lötzen. The OKH was based at the Mauerwald area, ca. 10 km north of Gizycko, an undestroyed bunker system.

The town was occupied by the Soviet Union's Red Army in 1945 during World War II and placed under Polish administration after the war ended. The German-speaking populace who had not evacuated during the war were subsequently expelled westward. The town was renamed Giżycko in 1946 in honor of the Masurian folklorist Gustav Gisevius, a 19th century Evangelical-Lutheran pastor who had greatly supported the Polish language in German-dominated southern East Prussia.

[edit] Education

[edit] Primary School

[edit] Middle School

[edit] High School

[edit] College

  • Medyczne Studium Zawodowe im. Hanny Chrzanowskiej
  • Prywatna Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa

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[edit] Notable residents

  • Wojciech Kętrzyński (1838-1918), born Adalbert von Winkler, Pro-Polish activist of Kashubian-German descent
  • Rudolf Nadolny (1873-1953) diplomat
  • Franz Pfemfert (1879-1954), publisher
  • Lothar Gall (born 1936), historian
  • Jan Bułhak (1876-1950), pioneer of photography in Poland
  • Maria Pakulnis actress
  • Mateusz Kusznierewicz sailor

[edit] Sister cities

Giżycko is twinned with:

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:


Coordinates: 54°03′N, 21°46′E


v • d • e
Gminas of Giżycko County

Seat: Giżycko (urban gmina)

Urban-rural gmina: Gmina Ryn  Rural gminas: Gmina Giżycko • Gmina Kruklanki • Gmina Miłki • Gmina Wydminy
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