Sztum

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Sztum

Teutonic castle in Sztum

Flag

Coat of arms

Sztum

Coordinates: 53°55′18″N 19°2′1″E / 53.92167, 19.03361

Country

Poland

Established

Town rights

1416

Government

- Mayor

Leszek Jan Tabor

Area

- Total

4.59 km² (1.8 sq mi)

Population (2006)

- Total

9,945

- Density

2,166.7/km² (5,611.6/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

- Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

82-400

Area code(s)

+48 55

Car plates

GSZ

Website: http://sztum.pl

Sztum [ʂtum] (German: Stuhm) is a town in Poland, capital of Sztum County, located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, with some 10,141 inhabitants (2004).

[edit] History

A historical drawing of the town

Signs of settlement dating back to the Roman Empire era have been found. In the early Middle Ages a fortified settlement of the Prussian people existed at the site, conquered by the Teutonic Knights in 1236. City rights were granted to the settlement in 1416.

In 1466 the town with other western Prussian territory passed to the crown of Poland as Royal Prussia. As part of Royal Prussia under Poland and then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the town functioned as a seat of Sztum County in Malbork Voivodeship (1466-1772) and a place to hold local court sessions and sejmiks. In 1635 the Treaty of Sztumska Wieś was signed in the village of Sztumska Wieś, just south of the city of Sztum.

In 1772 as a result of the First Partition of Poland the town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1871 it became part of the newly created German Empire.

According to the treaty of Versailles after WWI the inhabitants were asked whether they want to remain in Germany or join the new Second Polish Republic by the Warmia and Masuria plebiscite on 11 july 1920. 19.984 votes were given to remain in Germany, 4.904 votes for Poland. Caused on that result Stuhm was included in the Regierungsbezirk Marienwerder within East Prussia.

Towards and after the end of World War II, the German inhabitants were either expelled like most of the German population of East Prussia. After the war, the town, along with the rest of southern East Prussia, was given to Poland under territorial changes promulgated by the Potsdam Conference. The city was resettled by Poles, many of them expellees from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union.

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Sztum

[edit] Twin towns

Ritterhude, Val de Reuil, Varde

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 53°56′N, 19°02′E

v • d • e Sztum County

Seat: Sztum Urban-rural gminas: Gmina Dzierzgoń • Gmina Sztum Rural gminas: Gmina Mikołajki Pomorskie • Gmina Stary Dzierzgoń • Gmina Stary Targ