Prabuty

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Prabuty

Cathedral in Prabuty

Coat of arms

Prabuty

Coordinates: 53°45′21″N 19°11′51″E / 53.75583, 19.1975

Country

Poland

Town rights

1330

Government

- Mayor

Bogdan Józef Pawłowski

Area

- Total

5.92 km² (2.3 sq mi)

Elevation

90 m (295 ft)

Population (2006)

- Total

8,488

- Density

1,433.8/km² (3,713.5/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

- Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

82-550

Area code(s)

+48 55

Car plates

GKW

Website: http://www.prabuty.pl

Prabuty [praˈbutɨ] (German: Riesenburg) is a town in Kwidzyn County within the Pomeranian Voivodeship of northern Poland.

[edit] History

The Teutonic Knights destroyed an Old Prussian settlement at Lake Liwieniec in 1236. The nearby town of Riesenburg was founded in 1330 with Culm law. Its coat of arms, first recorded in 1405, depicts a giant (Riese in German) and a castle (Burg). During the 15th century the town was burnt down by the army of King Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland.

Part of Poland's province of Royal Prussia since the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), the town became the capital of Pomesania during the 16th century. In 1509 Eobanus Helius Hessus became secretary to Bishop Hiob von Dobeneck of Prabuty. A synod was held there in 1556. The town suffered during the 17th century Polish-Swedish wars

During the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the town was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. Administered under its German name Riesenburg, the town became part of the new Prussian province of West Prussia in 1773. It then became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany.

Riesenburg was captured by the Soviet Red Army in 1945 during World War II. According to the post-war Potsdam Conference, the town was transferred from Germany to Poland and renamed to the Polish Prabuty. Most of the former east-prussian Inhabitants were expelled, as in the whole former German territories, of course due to the European war catastrophy caused by Hitler's Germany.