Szczecin

Szczecin
Top: Market; Old Town Hall, The Oder River Middle: National Sea Museum, PAZIM building Bottom: Ducal Castle, St James' Cathedral, Virgin Tower
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Szczecin jest otwarty" ("Szczecin is open")
Szczecin
Coordinates: 53°25′57″N 14°32′53″E / 53.43250°N 14.54806°E / 53.43250; 14.54806
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	West Pomeranian
County	city county
Established	8th century
Town rights	1243
Government
• Mayor	Piotr Krzystek
Area
• City	301 km2 (116 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• City	407,811
• Density	1,400/km2 (3,500/sq mi)
• Metro	777,000
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	PL-70-017 to 71-871
Area code(s)	+48 91
Car plates	ZS
Website	http://www.szczecin.pl

Szczecin (/ˈʃtʃɛtʃɪn/; Polish pronunciation: [ˈʂt͡ʂɛt͡ɕin]; German: Stettin, Swedish: Stettin known also by other alternative names) is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. In the vicinity of the Baltic Sea, it is the country's seventh-largest city and a major seaport in Poland. As of June 2011 the population was 407,811.^[1]

Szczecin is located on the Oder River, south of the Lagoon and the Bay of Pomerania. The city is situated along the southwestern shore of Dąbie Lake, on both sides of the Oder and on several large islands between the western and eastern branches of the river. Szczecin borders directly with the town of Police and is the urban center of the Szczecin agglomeration, that includes communities in the German states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The city's history began in the 8th century as a Slavic Pomeranian stronghold, built at the site of today's castle. In the 12th century, when Szczecin had become one of Pomerania's main urban centres, it lost its independence to Piast Poland, Saxony, the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark. At the same time, the Griffin dynasty established themselves as local rulers, the population was converted to Christianity, and German settlers arrived from Western European states. The native Slavic population was assimilated in the following centuries. Between 1237 and 1243, the town was rebuilt, granted vast autonomy rights, and eventually joined the Hanseatic League.

After the Treaty of Stettin in 1630, the town came under the control of the Swedish Empire. It was fortified and remained a Swedish-controlled fortress until 1720, when it was acquired by the Kingdom of Prussia and became capital of the Province of Pomerania, which after 1870 was part of the German Empire. In the late 19th century, Stettin became an industrial town, and vastly increased in size and population, serving as a major port for Berlin. During the Nazi era, opposition groups and minorities were persecuted and treated as enemies. By the end of World War II Stettin's status was in doubt, and the Soviet occupation authorities at first appointed officials from the city's almost entirely German pre-war population. In July 1945, however, Polish authorities were permitted to take power. Stettin was renamed Szczecin and became part of the newly established People's Republic of Poland, and from 1989 the Republic of Poland.

After the flight and expulsion of the German population and Polish settlement in the newly acquired territories, Szczecin became the administrative and industrial center of Polish Western Pomerania, the site of the University of Szczecin, Pomeranian Medical University, Maritime University of Szczecin, West Pomeranian University of Technology and Art Academy of Szczecin, and the see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Szczecin-Kamień.

From 1999 onwards, Szczecin has served as the site of the headquarters of NATOs Multinational Corps Northeast.

Name and etymology

The names "Szczecin" and "Stettin" are of Slavic origins, though the exact etymology is subject of ongoing research.^{[2][lower-alpha 1]}

In Etymological dictionary of geographical names of Poland, Maria Malec lists eleven theories regarding the origin of the name, including derivations from:

• a Slavic word for hill peak, (Polish: szczyt)
• the plant fuller's teasel (Polish: szczeć)
• the personal name Szczota^[6]

Other medieval names for the town are Burstaborg (in the Knytlinga saga^[3][7]) and Burstenburgh (in the Annales of Waldemar^[3][7]). These names, which literally mean "brush burgh", are likely derived from the translation of the city's Slavic name.^[7]

History

Middle Ages

The history of Szczecin began in the 8th century, when West Slavs settled Pomerania and erected a new stronghold on the site of the modern castle.^[8] Since the 9th century, the stronghold was fortified and expanded toward the Oder bank.^[8] Mieszko I of Poland took control of Pomerania between 960 and 967 and the region with the city of Szczecin became part of Poland in 967.^[9][10] Subsequent Polish rulers, the Holy Roman Empire and the Liutician federation aimed at control of the territory.^[2]

After the decline of neighboring regional center Wolin in the 12th century, the city became one of the more important and powerful seaports of the Baltic Sea south coasts.

In a campaign in the winter of 1121–1122,^[11] Bolesław III Wrymouth, the Duke of Poland, gained control of the region as well the city of Szczecin and its stronghold.^{[2][12][13][14][15][16][17]} The inhabitants were converted to Christianity^[2] by two missions of bishop Otto of Bamberg in 1124 and 1128.^[18] At this time, the first Christian church of St. Peter and Paul was erected. Polish minted coins were commonly used in trade in this period.^[2] The population of the city at that time is estimated to be at around 5,000–9,000 people.^[19]

Polish rule ended with Boleslaw's death in 1138.^[20] During the Wendish Crusade in 1147, a contingent led by the German margrave Albert the Bear, an enemy of Slavic presence in the region,^[2] papal legat, bishop Anselm of Havelberg and Konrad of Meissen besieged the town.^{[21][22][23][24]} There, a Polish contingent supplied by Mieszko III the Old^[25][26] joined the crusaders.^[21][22] However the citizens had placed crosses around the fortifications,^[27] indicating they already had been Christianized.^[2][28] Ratibor I, Duke of Pomerania, negotiated the disbandement of the crusading forces.^[21][22][29]

After the Battle of Verchen in 1164, Szczecin duke Bogislaw I became a vassal of the Saxony's Henry the Lion.^[30] In 1173, Szczecin castellan Wartislaw II could not resist a Danish attack and became vassal of Denmark.^[30] In 1181, duke Bogislaw I of Szczecin became a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire.^[31] In 1185, Bogislaw again became a Danish vassal.^[31] Following a conflict between his heirs and king Canute VI, the settlement was destroyed in 1189,^[32] but the fortress was reconstructed and manned with a Danish force in 1190.^[33] While the empire restored her superiority over Pomerania in the Battle of Bornhöved in 1227,^[31] Szczecin was one of two bridgeheads remaining under Danish control (until 1235, Wolgast until 1241/43 or 1250).^[32]

In the second half of the 12th century, a group of German tradesmen ("multus populus Teutonicorum"^[34] from various parts of the Holy Roman Empire) settled in the city around St. Jacob's Church, which was donated in 1180^[34] by Beringer, a trader from Bamberg, and consecrated in 1187.^[34][35] Hohenkrug (now in Szczecin-Struga) was the first village in the Duchy of Pomerania which was clearly recorded as German (villa teutonicorum) in 1173.^[36] Ostsiedlung accelerated in Pomerania during the 13th century.^[37] Duke Barnim I of Pomerania granted Szczecin a local government charter in 1237, separating the German settlement from the Slavic community settled around the St. Nicholas Church in the neighborhood of Kessin (Polish: Chyzin). In the charter, the Slavs were put under German jurisdiction.^[38]

When Barnim granted Szczecin Magdeburg rights in 1243, part of the Slavic settlement was reconstructed.^[39] The duke had to promise to level the burgh in 1249.^[40] Most Slavic inhabitants were resettled to two new suburbia north and south of the town.^[41] Last records of Slavs in Stettin are from the 14th century, when a Slavic bath (1350) and bakery are recorded, and within the walls, Slavs lived in a street named Schulzenstrasse.^[42] By the end of the 14th century, the remaining Slavs had been assimilated.^[43]

In 1249, Barnim I granted town law also the town of Damm (also Altdamm) on the eastern bank of the Oder,^[44][45] which only on 15 October 1939 was merged to neighboring Szczecin and is now the Dąbie, Szczecin neighborhood.^[46] This town had been built on the site of a former Pomeranian burg, "Vadam" or "Dambe", which Boleslaw had destroyed during his 1121 campaign.^[45]

On 2 December 1261, Barnim I allowed Jewish settlement in Szczecin according to Magdeburg law in a privilege renewed in 1308 and 1371.^[47] The Jewish Jordan family was granted citizenship in 1325, but none of the 22 Jews allowed to settle in the duchy in 1481 lived in the city, and in 1492, all Jews in the duchy were ordered to convert to Christianity or leave – this order remained effective throughout the rest of the Griffin era.^[47]

Stettin was part of the federation of Wendish towns, a predecessor of the Hanseatic League, in 1283.^[48] The city prospered due to the participation in the Baltic Sea trade, primarily with herrings, grain and timber; also craftmenship prospered and more than forty guilds were established in the city.^[49] The far-reaching autonomy from the House of Pomerania was in part reduced when the dukes reclaimed Stettin as their main residence in the late 15th century.^[49] The anti-Slavic policies of German merchants and craftsmen intensified in this period, resulting in bans on people of Slavic descent joining craft guilds, doubling customs tax for Slavic merchants, or bans against public usage of their native language.^[2] More prosperous Slavic citizens were forcefully stripped of their possessions which were awarded to Germans.^[2] In 1514, the guild of the tailors added a Wendenparagraph to its statutes, banning Slavs.^[50]

While not as heavily affected by medieval witchhunts as other regions of the empire, there are reports of the burning of three women and one man convicted of witchcraft in 1538.^[51]

In 1570, during the reign of Pomeranian duke Johann Friedrich, a congress was held at Stettin ending the Northern Seven Years' War. During the war, Stettin had tended to side with Denmark, while Stralsund tended toward Sweden – as a whole, the Duchy of Pomerania however tried to maintain neutrality.^[52] Nevertheless, a Landtag that had met in Stettin in 1563 introduced a sixfold rise of real estate taxes to finance the raising of a mercenary army for the duchy's defense.^[52] Johann Friedrich also succeeded in elevating Stettin to one of only three places allowed to coin money in the Upper Saxon Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, the other two places were Leipzig and Berlin.^[53] Bogislaw XIV, who resided in Stettin since 1620, became the sole, and Griffin duke when Philipp Julius died in 1625. Before the Thirty Years' War reached Pomerania, the city as all of the duchy declined economically due to the sinking importance of the Hanseatic League and a conflict between Stettin and Frankfurt (Oder).^[54]

The 17th to 19th centuries

Following the Treaty of Stettin of 1630, the town (along with most of Pomerania) was allied to and occupied by the Swedish Empire, which managed to keep the western parts of Pomerania after the death of Bogislaw XIV in 1637 and the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 – despite the protests of Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg, who had a legal claim to inherit all of Pomerania. The exact partition of Pomerania between Sweden and Brandenburg was settled in Stettin in 1653.

Stettin was turned into a major Swedish fortress, which was repeatedly besieged in subsequent wars.^[55] It was on the path of Polish forces led by Stefan Czarniecki moving from Denmark; Czarniecki's sea based route which led his forces to the city^[56] is today mentioned in Polish anthem and numerous locations in the city honour his name. Wars inhibited the city's economical prosperity, which had undergone a deep crisis during the devastations of the Thirty Years' War and was further impeded by the new Swedish-Brandenburg-Prussian frontier, cutting Stettin off its traditional Farther Pomeranian hinterland.^[49] Due to the Black Death during the Great Northern War, the city's population dropped from 6,000 people in 1709 to 4,000 inhabitants in 1711.^[57] In 1720, after the Great Northern War, Sweden was forced to cede the city to King Frederick William I of Prussia. Stettin was made the capital city of the Brandenburg-Prussian Pomeranian province, since 1815 reorganized as Province of Pomerania. In 1816, the city had 26,000 inhabitants.^[58]

The Prussian administration deprived Stettin of her administrative autonomy rights, abolished guild privileges as well as its status as a staple town, and subsidized manufacturers.^[55] Also, colonists were settled in the city, primarily Huguenots.^[55]

In October 1806, during the War of the Fourth Coalition, believing he was facing a much larger force and after a threat to treat the city harshly, the Prussian commander Lieutenant General Friedrich von Romberg agreed to surrender the city to the French led by General Lassalle.^[59] In fact Lassalle had only 800 men against von Romberg's 5,300 men. In March 1809, Romberg was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for giving up Stettin without a fight.

From 1683 to 1812, one Jew was permitted to reside in Stettin, and an additional Jew was allowed to spend a night in the city in case of an "urgent business".^[47] These permissions were repeatedly withdrawn between 1691 and 1716, also between 1726 and 1730 although else the Swedish regulation was continued by the Brandenburg-Prussian administration.^[47] Only after the Prussian Edict of Emancipation of 11 March 1812, which granted Prussian citizenship to all Jews living in the kingdom, did a Jewish community emerge in Stettin, with the first Jews settling in the town in 1814.^[47] Construction of a synagogue started in 1834; the community also owned a religious and a secular school, an orphanage since 1855 and a retirement home since 1893.^[60] The Jewish community had between 1,000 and 1,200 members by 1873 and between 2,800 and 3,000 members by 1927/28.^[60] These numbers dropped to 2,701 in 1930 and to 2,322 in late 1934.^[60]

After the Franco Prussian war of 1870–1871, 1,700 French POWs were imprisoned there in deplorable conditions. As a result, 600 of them died;^[61] after the Second World War monuments in their memory were built by the Polish authorities.

Until 1873, Stettin remained a fortress.^[55] When part of the defensive structures were levelled, a new neighborhood, Neustadt ("New Town") as well as canalization, water pipes and gas works, were built to meet the demands of the growing population.^[55]

19th–20th centuries

Stettin developed into a major Prussian port and became part of the German Empire in 1871. While most of the province retained an agrarian character, Stettin was industrialized and its population rose from 27,000 in 1813 to 210,000 in 1900 and 255,500 in 1925.^[63] Major industries prospering in Stettin since 1840 were shipbuilding, chemical and food industries and machinery construction.^[55] Starting in 1843, Stettin became connected to the major German and Pomeranian cities by railways, and the water connection to the Bay of Pomerania was enhanced by the construction of the Kaiserfahrt (now Piast) canal.^[55] The city was also a scientific center, e.g. a seat of Entomological Society of Stettin.

On 20 October 1890, some of the city's Poles created the Towarzystwo Robotników Polsko Katolickich (Society of Polish-Catholic Workers) in the city, one of the first Polish organisations.^[64] In 1897, the city's ship works began the construction of the pre-dreadnought battleship Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. In 1914, before World War I, the Polish community in the city numbered over 3,000 people.^[2] These were primarily industrial workers and their families who came from the Poznań (Posen) area^[65] and a few local wealthy industrialists and merchants. Among them was Kazimierz Pruszak, director of the Gollnow industrial works and a Polish patriot, who predicted the eventual return of Szczecin to Poland.^[2]

During the interwar era, Stettin was Weimar Germany's largest port at the Baltic Sea, and her third-largest port after Hamburg and Bremen.^[66] Cars of the Stoewer automobile company were produced in Stettin from 1899 to 1945. By 1939, the Reichsautobahn Berlin-Stettin was completed.^[55]

In the March 1933 German elections to Reichstag, the Nazis and German nationalists from DNVP won most of the votes in the city, obtaining together 98,626 of 165,331 votes (59.3%), with the NSDAP getting 79,729 (47.9%) and the DNVP 18,897 (11.4%)^[67]

In 1935 the Wehrmacht made Stettin the headquarters for Wehrkreis II, which controlled the military units in all of Mecklenburg and Pomerania. It was also the Area Headquarters for units stationed at Stettin I and II; Swinemünde; Greifswald; and Stralsund.

In the interwar period the Polish minority numbered 2,000 people.^[2][68] A number of Poles were members of the Union of Poles in Germany (ZPN), which was active in the city since 1924.^[69] A Polish consulate was hosted in the city between 1925 and 1939.^[70] On initiative of the consulate^[70] and ZPN activist Maksymilian Golisz,^[71] a number of Polish institutions were established, e.g. a Polish Scout team and a Polish school.^[2][70] German historian Musekamp writes that "however, only very few Poles were active in these institutions, which for the most part were headed by employees of the [Polish] consulate."^[71] The withdrawal of the consulate from these institutions led to a general decline of these activities, which were in part upheld by Golisz and Aleksander Omieczyński.^[72] Intensified repressions by the Nazis,^[2][68] who exaggerated the Polish activities to propagate an infiltration,^[71] led to the closing of the school.^[2] In 1938 the head of Szczecin’s Union of Poles unit, Stanisław Borkowski, was imprisoned in Oranienburg.^[2] In 1939 all Polish organisations in Szczecin were disbanded by the German authorities.^[2] Golisz and Omieczyński were murdered during the war.^[2] According to Musekamp the role of the pre-war Polish community has been exaggerated for propagandistic purposes in post-war Poland which made "the numerically insignificant Polonia of Stettin... probably the best-researched social group" in the history of the city.^[70] After Nazi Germany was defeated, Golisz had a street named after him.^[71]

World War II

During the 1939 invasion of Poland, which started World War II in Europe, Stettin was the base for the German 2nd Motorized Infantry Division, which cut across the Polish Corridor and was later used in 1940 as an embarcation point for Operation Weserübung, Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway.^[73]

On 15 October 1939, neighbouring municipalities were amalgamated into Stettin, creating Groß-Stettin with about 380,000 inhabitants in 1940.^[55] The city had become the third-largest German city by area, after Berlin and Hamburg.^[74]

As the war started, the number of non-Germans in the city increased as slave workers were brought in. The first transports came in 1939 from Bydgoszcz, Toruń and Łódź. They were mainly used in a synthetic silk factory near Szczecin.^[2] The next wave of slave workers was brought in 1940, in addition to PoWs who were used for work in the agricultural industry.^[2] According to German police reports from 1940, 15,000 Polish slave workers lived within the city.^[2][75]

During the war, 135 forced labour camps for slave workers were established in the city. Most of the 25,000 slave workers were Poles, but Czechs, Italians, Frenchmen and Belgians, as well as Dutch citizens, were also enslaved in the camps.^[2]

In February 1940, the Jews of Stettin were deported to the Lublin reservation. International press reports emerged, describing how the Nazis forced Jews, regardless of age, condition and gender, to sign away all property and loaded them on to trains headed to the camp, escorted by members of the SA and SS. Due to publicity given to the event, German institutions ordered such future actions to be made in a way unlikely to attract public notice.^[76]

Allied air raids in 1944 and heavy fighting between the German and Soviet armies destroyed 65% of Stettin's buildings and almost all of the city centre, the seaport and local industries. Polish Home Army intelligence assisted in pinpointing targets for Allied bombing in the area of Stettin.^[77] The city itself was covered by the Home Army's "Bałtyk" structure and Polish resistance infiltrated Stettin's naval yards.^[78][79] Other activities of the resistance consisted of smuggling people to Sweden.^[80]

In April 1945, Nazi authorities of the city issued an order of evacuation and most of the city’s German population fled. The Soviet Red Army captured the city on 26 April. Stettin was virtually deserted when it fell, with only approx. 6,000 Germans in the city, when Polish authorities tried to gain control.^[2] In the following month the Polish administration was forced to leave again twice. Finally the permanent handover occurred on 5 July 1945.^[81] In the meantime, part of the German population had returned, believing it might become part of the Soviet occupation zone of Germany^[82] and the Soviet authorities had already appointed the German Communists Erich Spiegel and Erich Wiesner as mayors.^[83] Stettin is located mostly west of the Oder river, which was considered to become Poland's new western border, placing Stettin in East Germany. This would have been in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement between the victorious Allied Powers, which envisaged the new border to be in "a line running from the Baltic Sea immediately west of Swinemünde, and thence along the Oder River[...]". Because of the returnees, the German population of the town swelled to 84,000 again.^[82] The mortality rate was at 20%, primarily due to starvation.^[84] However, Stettin and the mouth of the Oder River (German: Stettiner Zipfel) became Polish on 5 July 1945, which had been decided in a treaty signed on 26 July 1944 between the Soviet Union and the Soviet-controlled Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN) (also known as "the Lublin Poles," as contrasted with the London-based Polish government-in-exile).^[2] On 4 October 1945, the decisive land border of Poland was established west of the 1945 line,^[2][85] but excluded the Police (Pölitz) area, the Oder river itself and the Szczecin port, which remained under Soviet administration.^[85] The Oder river was handed over to Polish administration in September 1946, and the port was subsequently handed over between February 1946 and May 1954.^[85]

After 1945

After World War II the city was transferred to Poland. Szczecin was transformed from a German into a Polish city. As the flight and expulsion of the German population went on, the Poles expelled from the East were greeted by the new pro-Soviet regime as peasant-patriots. To ease the tensions between settlers from different regions, and help overcome fear caused by the continued presence of the Soviet troops, a special event was organized in April 1946 with 50,000 visitors in partly destroyed city-core.^[86] Settlers from Central Poland made up about 70% of Szczecin's new population.^[87] In addition to Poles also Ukrainians from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union settled there.^[87] In 1945 and 1946 the city was the starting point of the northern route used by the Jewish underground organization Brichah to channel Jewish DPs from Central and Eastern Europe to the American occupation zone.^[88]

Szczecin was rebuilt and the city's industry was expanded. At the same time, Szczecin became a major Polish industrial centre and an important seaport (particularly for Silesian coal) for Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany. Cultural expansion was accompanied by a campaign resulting in the "removal of all German traces."^[89] In 1946 Winston Churchill prominently mentioned Szczecin in his Iron Curtain speech: "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent".^[90]

The 1962 Szczecin military parade led to a road traffic accident in which a tank of the Polish People's Army crushed bystanders, killing seven children and injuring many more.^[91][92][93] The resultant panic in the crowd led to further injuries in the rush to escape. The incident was covered up for many years by the Polish communist authorities.^[91][92][93]

The city witnessed anti-communist revolts in 1970. In 1980, one of the four August Agreements, which led to the first legalization of the trade union Solidarity, was signed in Szczecin. The introduction of martial law in December 1981 met with a strike by the dockworkers of Szczecin shipyard, joined by other factories and workplaces in a general strike. All these were suppressed by the authorities.^[94][95] Pope John Paul II visited the city on 11 June 1987.^[96] Another wave of strikes in Szczecin broke out in 1988 and 1989, which eventually led to the Round Table Agreement and first semi-free elections in Poland.

Since 1999 Szczecin is the capital of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.

Architecture and urban planning

Szczecin's architectural style is due to trends popular in the last half of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century, Academic art and Art Nouveau. In many areas built after 1945, especially in the city centre, which had been destroyed due to Allied bombing, social realism is prevalent.

The city has an abundance of green areas: parks and avenues – wide streets with trees planted in the island separating opposite traffic (where often tram tracks are laid); and roundabouts. In that manner, Szczecin's city plan resembles that of Paris, mostly because Szczecin was rebuilt in the 1880s according to a design by Georges-Eugène Haussmann, who had redesigned Paris under Napoléon III. This course of designing streets in Szczecin is still used, as many recently built (or modified) city areas include roundabouts and avenues.

During the city's reconstruction in the aftermath of World War II, the communist authorities of Poland wanted the city's architecture to reflect an old Polish Piast era. Since no buildings from the that time existed, instead Gothic as well as Renaissance buildings were picked as worthy of conservation.^[97] The motivation behind this decision was that Renaissance architecture was used by the Griffin dynasty, who had Slavic roots and was viewed to be of Piast extraction by some historians^[98] (later the Piast myth was replaced by a local Griffin myth, whereby the Slavic roots of the Griffin dynasty were to justify the post-war Polish presence in Pomerania).^[98] This view was manifested e.g. by erecting respective memorials, and the naming of streets and enterprises,^[99] while German traces were replaced by symbols of three main categories: Piasts, Martyrdom of Poles and gratitude to the Soviet and Polish armies which ended the Nazi German genocide of Polish people.^[100] The ruins of the former Griffin residence, initially renamed "Piast Palace", also played a central role in this concept^[98] and were reconstructed in Renaissance style, with all traces of later eras removed.^[101] In general, post-Renaissance buildings, especially from the 19th and early 20th centuries were deemed unworthy of conservation until the 1970s,^[97] and were in part used in the Bricks for Warsaw campaign (an effort to rebuild Warsaw after it had been systematically razed following the Warsaw Uprising): with 38 million bricks, Szczecin became Poland's largest brick supplier.^[102]

The Old Town was rebuilt in the late 1990s, consisting of new buildings, some of which were reconstructions of buildings destroyed in World War II.

A portion of the Szczecin Landscape Park, in the forest of Puszcza Bukowa, lies within Szczecin's boundaries.

Municipal administration

The city is administratively divided into districts (Polish: dzielnica), which are further divided into smaller neighbourhoods. The governing bodies of the latter serve the role of auxiliary local government bodies called Neighborhood Councils (Polish: Rady Osiedla). Elections for Neighborhood Councils are held up to six months after each City Council elections. Attendance is rather low (on 20 May 2007 it ranged from 1.03% to 27.75% and was 3.78% on average). Councillors are responsible mostly for small infrastructure like trees, park benches, playgrounds, etc. Other functions are mostly advisory. Official list of districts

Dzielnica Śródmieście (City Centre) Centrum, Drzetowo-Grabowo, Łękno, Międzyodrze-Wyspa Pucka, Niebuszewo-Bolinko, Nowe Miasto, Stare Miasto, Śródmieście-Północ, Śródmieście-Zachód, Turzyn.

Dzielnica Północ (North) Bukowo, Golęcino-Gocław, Niebuszewo, Skolwin, Stołczyn, Warszewo, Żelechowa.

Dzielnica Zachód (West) Arkońskie-Niemierzyn, Głębokie-Pilchowo, Gumieńce, Krzekowo-Bezrzecze, Osów, Pogodno, Pomorzany, Świerczewo, Zawadzkiego-Klonowica.

Dzielnica Prawobrzeże (Right-Bank) Bukowe-Klęskowo, Dąbie, Kijewo, Osiedle Majowe, Osiedle Słoneczne, Płonia-Śmierdnica-Jezierzyce, Podjuchy, Wielgowo-Sławociesze, Załom, Zdroje, Żydowce-Klucz.

Other historical neighborhoods

Babin, Barnucin, Basen Górniczy, Błędów, Boleszyce, Bystrzyk, Cieszyce, Cieśnik, Dolina, Drzetowo, Dunikowo, Glinki, Grabowo, Jezierzyce, Kaliny, Kępa Barnicka, Kijewko, Kluczewko, Kłobucko, Kniewo, Kraśnica, Krzekoszów, Lotnisko, Łasztownia, Niemierzyn, Odolany, Oleszna, Podbórz, Port, os.Przyjaźni, Rogatka, Rudnik, Sienna, Skoki, Słowieńsko, Sosnówko, Starków, Stoki, Struga, Śmierdnica, os.Świerczewskie, Trzebusz, Urok, Widok, Zdunowo.

Demographics

Up to the end of World War II the vast majority of the population of Stettin were German Lutheran Protestants.

Number of inhabitants in years

• 1720: 6,081^[103]
• 1740: 12,360^[103]
• 1756: 13,533^[103]
• 1763: 12,483^[103]
• 1782: 15,372 (no Jews)^[103]
• 1794: 16,700 (no Jews)^[103]
• 1812: 21,255 incl. 476 Catholics and 5 Jews^[103]
• 1816: 21,528, incl. 742 Catholics and 74 Jews.^[103]
• 1831: 27,399, incl. 840 Catholics and 250 Jews^[103]
• 1852: 48,028, incl. 724 Catholics, 901 Jews and 2 Mennonites.^[103]
• 1861: 58,487, incl. 1,065 Catholics and 1,438 Jews, 6 Mennonites, 305 German Catholics and 3 other citizens.^[103]
• 1875: 80,972^[104]
• 1880 91,756^[104]
• 1885 99,543^[104]
• 1905: 224,119 (incl. the military), among them 209,152 Protestants, 8,635 Catholics and 3,010 Jews.^[105]
• 1933: 269,557, mostly Protestant inhabitants.^[106]
• 1939: 268,421 including 233,424 Protestants, 10,845 Catholics, and 1,102 Jews^[104]
• 2009: 406,427

Politics

Recently the city has favoured the centre right Civic Platform. Over two thirds (64.54%) of votes cast in the second round of the 2010 presidential election went to the Civic Platform's Bronisław Komorowski ^[107] and in the following year's Polish parliamentary election the party won 46.75% of the vote in the Szczecin constituency with Law and Justice second garnering 21.66% and Palikot's Movement third with 11.8%.^[108]

Members of European Parliament (MEPs) from Szczecin

• Sławomir Nitras, PO, former MP in the Polish lower house of Parliament.
• Bogusław Liberadzki, SLD-UP, economist, former Minister of Transport.
• Marek Gróbarczyk, PiS, engineer and manager, former Minister of Maritime Economy.

Transportation

Air

Szczecin is served by Szczecin-Goleniów "Solidarność" Airport which is 47 kilometres (29 miles) northeast of central Szczecin. It offers regular flights to cities in Poland (Warsaw, Kraków) and to international destinations (London, Liverpool,^[109] Dublin, Oslo, Edinburgh), as well as seasonal charter flights to other destinations.^[110]

There is also a grass airstrip within city limits, the Szczecin-Dąbie Airstrip.

Trams

Szczecin has a tram network comprising 12 tram lines serving 95 tram stops and measuring 110.77 kilometres in length. Tram transport is operated by the Tramwaje Szczecińskie (TS).

Szczecin's first horse tram opened in 1879, running from Gałczyńskiego Square to Staszica Street. In 1896 was opened the first line, which used electric traction. By 1900, the horse trams had been entirely replaced by electric trams.

Buses

Szczecin has a bus network of 70 bus routes. Bus transport is operated by 5 companies: SPA Dąbie, SPA Klonowica, SPPK and PKS Szczecin.

Of all bus routes, 50 lines are designated as normal. At nighttime, Szczecin is served by a night bus network of 16 routes. There are also 7 fast bus lines, which don't serve all of stops on their route.

Roads

The A6 motorway (recently upgraded) serves as the southern bypass of the city, and connects to the German A11 autobahn (portions of which are currently undergoing upgrade), from where one can reach Berlin in about 90 minutes (about 150 km). Road connections with the rest of Poland are of lower quality (no motorways), though the S3 Expressway has improved the situation after its stretch from Szczecin to Gorzów Wielkopolski opened in 2010, and then another section connecting to A2 motorway opened in May, 2014. Construction of Express Roads S6 and S10 which are to run east from Szczecin has also started, though these roads will not be fully completed in the near future.

Rail

The main train station – Szczecin Główny railway station – is situated in the city centre (Kolumba Street). Szczecin has good railway connections with "Solidarity" Szczecin–Goleniów Airport and the rest of Poland, e.g. Świnoujście, Kołobrzeg, Poznań, Wrocław, Warsaw and Gdańsk. Szczecin is also connected with Germany (Berlin (Gesundbrunnen) and through Pasewalk to Neubrandenburg and Lübeck), but only by two single track, non-electrified lines (high quality double-track lines were degraded after 1945). Because of this, the rail connection between Berlin and Szczecin is much slower and less convenient than one would expect between two European cities of that size and proximity. Plans have been made to restore the double track on the Berlin-Szczecin main line with complete electrification and other upgrades to allow 160 km/h (99.42 mph) running, but these have not been funded yet.

Port

The Port of Szczecin is the third largest port in Poland and handles almost 10 million tons of cargo annually (data from 2006). This is a harbour of Baltic Sea and the Oder river.

Culture

Cultural events

Major cultural events in Szczecin are:

• Days of the Sea (Polish: Dni Morza) held every June
• European Night of Museums (Polish: Europejska Noc Muzeów)
• Street Artists' Festival (Polish: Festiwal Artystów Ulicy) held every July
• Days of The Ukrainian Culture (Polish: Dni Kultury Ukraińskiej) held every May
• Air show on Dabie airport held every May
• InSPIRATIONS (Polish InSPIRACJE)
• West Pomeranian Science Festival (Polish: Zachodniopomorski Festiwal Nauki) held every September
• Szczecin Music Fest
• Magnolia Rally (Polish: Rajd Magnolii)

Szczecin was a candidate for The European Capital of Culture 2016.^[111]

Museums and galeries

• National Museum in Szczecin (Polish Muzeum Narodowe w Szczecinie) is the largest cultural institution in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It has branches:
  • The Main Building of Muzeum Narodowe w Szczecinie, Wały Chrobrego 3 Street.^[112]
  • Szczecin's History Museum (Polish Muzeum Historii Szczecina) in the Old Town Hall, Szczecin, Księcia Mściwoja II Street.^[112]
  • The Old Art Galery of Muzeum Narodowe w Szczecinie, Staromłyńska 27 Street.^[112]
  • The Museum of Contemporary Art, Staromłyńska 1 Street.^[112]
  • The Narrow Gauge Railway Exhibition in Gryfice^[112]
  • Planned investments: Dialogue Center Breakthroughs (Polish Centrum Dialogu Przełomy)^[113] and Maritime Museum – Science Center (Polish Muzeum Morskie – Centrum Nauki).
• Literature Museum (Polish Muzeum Literatury)^[114]
• EUREKA – the miracles of science.^[115]
• The Castle Museum (Polish Muzeum Zamkowe) in the Pomeranian Dukes' Castle, Szczecin.
• Museum of Technique and Communication – Art Depot (Polish Muzeum Techniki i Komunikacji – Zajezdnia Sztuki).^[116]

Arts and entertainment

There are a few theatres and cinemas in Szczecin:

• The Castle Cinema (Polish Kino Zamek)
• Pionier 1909 Cinema (Polish Kino Pionier 1909)
• Kana Theatre (Polish Teatr Kana)
• Modern Theatre (Polish Teatr Współczesny)
• Opera in the Castle (Polish Opera na Zamku)
• Polish Theatre (Polish Teatr Polski)
• The Cellar by the Vault Cabaret (Polish Kabaret Piwnica przy Krypcie)
• The Crypt Theatre (Polish Teatr Krypta)
• The Pleciuga Puppetry Theatre^[117] (Polish Teatr Lalek Pleciuga)
• The Niema Theatre (Polish Teatr Niema)
• Szczecin Philharmonic

and many historic places as:

• The Pomeranian Dukes' Castle in Szczecin (Polish Zamek Książąt Pomorskich w Szczecinie)
• Bismarck tower Szczecin
• (ruins of) The Quistorp's Tower (Polish Wieża Quistorpa, German Quistorpturm)
• Napoleon mound (at the intersection of Klonowica Street and Unii Lubelskiej Street)

Local cuisine

Szczecin has a few well known dishes of its local cuisine, e.g. pasztecik szczeciński and paprykarz szczeciński.

Pasztecik szczeciński is a deep-fried yeast dough stuffed with meat or vegetarian filling, served in specialized bars as a fast food. The first bar serving pasztecik szczeciński, Bar "Pasztecik" founded in 1969, is located on Wojska Polskiego Avenue 46 in the center of Szczecin. Pasztecik szczeciński is usually served with clear barszcz.

Paprykarz szczeciński is a paste made by mixing fish paste (around 50%) with rice, onion, tomato concentrate, vegetable oil, salt and a mixture of spices including chili powder to put it on a sandwich. It is available in most grocery stores in the country.

The word szczeciński in both names, pasztecik szczeciński and paprykarz szczeciński, is an adjective from the name of the city of Szczecin, the place of its origin.

Education and science

• University of Szczecin (Polish: Uniwersytet Szczeciński) with 35.000 students, rector Waldemar Tarczyński
• West Pomeranian University of Technology (Polish: Zachodniopomorski Uniwersytet Technologiczny)
• Pomeranian Medical University (Polish: Pomorski Uniwersytet Medyczny)
• Art Academy of Szczecin (Polish: Akademia Sztuki)
• Maritime University of Szczecin (Polish: Akademia Morska w Szczecinie)
• The West Pomeranian Business School (Polish: Zachodniopomorska Szkoła Biznesu)
• Higher School of Public Administration in Szczecin (Polish: Wyższa Szkoła Administracji Publicznej w Szczecinie)
• High Theological Seminary in Szczecin (Polish: Arcybiskupie Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne w Szczecinie)
• Higher School of Applied Arts (Polish: Wyższa Szkoła Sztuki Użytkowej)
• Academy of European Integration (Polish: Wyższa Szkoła Integracji Europejskiej)
• Wyższa Szkoła Ekonomiczno-Turystyczna
• Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczna TWP
• Wyższa Szkoła Języków Obcych
• Wyższa Szkoła Techniczno-Ekonomiczna
• Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa- Collegium Balticum
• Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa "OECONOMICUS" PTE
• Wyższa Szkoła Zarządzania

Scientific and regional organizations

• Western Pomeranian Institute (Polish: Instytut Zachodnio-Pomorski)
• Szczecin Scientific Society (Polish: Szczecińskie Towarzystwo Naukowe)
• local branches of Polish scientific societies in many discipines, including Polish Philosophical Society, Polish Historical Society, Polish Philological Society, Polish Mathematical Society, Polish Economic Society, Polish Geographical Society, Polish Copernicus Society of Naturalists, Polish Phytopathological Society, Polish Parasitological Society and many medical societies
• local branches of students' societies, e.g. AIESEC, International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA) and Polish Association of Dental Students
• local sites of British Council and Goethe-Institut

Sports

There are many popular professional sports teams in Szczecin area. The most popular sport today is probably football (thanks to Pogoń Szczecin being promoted to play in Ekstraklasa in the 2012/2013 season). Amateur sports are played by thousands of Szczecin citizens and also in schools of all levels (elementary, secondary, university).

Professional teams

• Pogoń Szczecin – football team (Ekstraklasa in the 2012/2013 season)
• STK Wilki Morskie Szczecin – basketball team
• Arkonia Szczecin – football team (5th league in the 2008/2009 season)
• Pogoń II Szczecin – 2nd Pogoń football team (regional 6th league in the 2008/2009 season)
• KS Stal Szczecin – 15 youth and junior teams, 1 senior, being in 4th regional league in the 2008/2009 season
• Pogoń '04 Szczecin – futsal team (1st league of Polish futsal in the 2008/2009 season)
• KS Piast Szczecin – women's volleyball team, (Seria A in the 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 seasons)
• Pogoń Handball Szczecin – handball men and women teams playing in 2nd Polish Handball League
• Wicher Warszewo – futsal team playing in Środowiskowa Liga Futsalu (Futsal League) – two regional Futsal League: 2nd place in 2006/2007 season – promotion in the first regional Futsal League
• Husaria Szczecin – American football team playing in Polish American Football League
• Szczecin Dukes - senior baseball team

Amateur leagues

• Halowa Amatorska Liga Pilkarska – Hall Amateur Football League^[118]
• Halowa Liga Pilki Noznej – Hall Football League
• Szczecinska Liga Amatorskiej Koszykowki – Szczecin Amateur Basketball League^[119]
• Szczecinska Amatorska Liga Pilki Siatkowej – Szczecin Amateur Volleyball League^[120] – women league, 1st, 2nd and 3rd men league
• Elita Professional Sport – Elita Hall Football League^[121] – 1st and 2nd league, futsal cup
• Kaskada Szczecin Rugby Club – club rugby^[122] – 7 and 15 league, rugby cup

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

The twin towns and sister cities of Szczecin are:^[123]

Bari, Italy[123] Bremerhaven, Germany[123] Dalian, China[123] Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine[123] Esbjerg, Denmark[123][124]

Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Germany[123] Greifswald, Germany[123][125] Jinan, China[123] Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom[123][126] Klaipėda, Lithuania[123]

Lübeck, Germany[123] Malmö, Sweden[123][127] Murmansk, Russia[123] Rostock, Germany[123] St. Louis, United States[123][128]

Notable residents

Over the long course of its history Szczecin has been a place of birth and of residence for many famous individuals, including Empress Catherine the Great, composer Carl Loewe, writer Alfred Döblin, actress Dita Parlo, the mathematician Hermann Günther Grassmann, and the poet Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński.

See also

• Towns near Szczecin: Stargard Szczeciński, Police, Gryfino, Goleniów, Pyrzyce, Cedynia, Chojna, Mieszkowice, Moryń, Trzcińsko-Zdrój, Nowe Warpno, Penkun (Germany), Pasewalk (Germany), Eggesin (Germany), Gartz (Germany)
• Villages near Szczecin: Kolbacz, Przęsocin, Kołbaskowo
• Szczecin Lagoon
• Międzyodrze-Wyspa Pucka
• Wkrzanska Forest
• Central Cemetery in Szczecin

References

Explanatory notes

Bibliography

• Encyclopedia of Szczecin. Vol. I, A-O. Szczecin: University of Szczecin, 1999, ISBN 83-87341-45-2 (pl)
• Encyclopedia of Szczecin. Vol. II, P-Ż. Szczecin: University of Szczecin, 2000, ISBN 83-7241-089-5 (pl)
• Jan M. Piskorski, Bogdan Wachowiak, Edward Włodarczyk, A short history of Szczecin, Poznań 2002, ISBN 83-7063-332-3 (pl)
• Petre, F. Loraine. Napoleon's Conquest of Prussia 1806. London: Lionel Leventhal Ltd., 1993 (1907). ISBN 1-85367-145-2
• (German) Jan Musekamp: Zwischen Stettin und Szczecin – Metamorphosen einer Stadt von 1945 bis 2001 (Between Stettin and Szczecin – a town's metamorphoses from 1945 to 2005). Wiesbaden 2010 (restricted online preview)
• (German) Martin Wehrmann: Geschichte der Stadt Stettin. Stettin 1911 (reprinted in 1993 by Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg, ISBN 3-89350-119-3).
• (German) W. H. Meyer: Stettin in alter und neuer Zeit (Stettin in ancient and modern times). Stettin, 1887.
• (German) Gustav Kratz: Die Städte der Provinz Pommern – Abriss ihrer Geschichte, zumeist nach Urkunden (The towns of the Province of Pomerania – Sketch of their history, mostly according to historical records). Berlin 1865 (reprinted in 2010 by Kessinger Publishing, U.S.A., ISBN 1-161-12969-3), pp. 376–412 (online)
• (German) Fr. Thiede: Chronik der Stadt Stettin – Bearbeitet nach Urkunden und bewährtesten historischen Nachrichten (Chronicle of the town of Stettin – Worked out according to documents and reliable historical records). Stettin 1849 (online)

Bibliographical notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Szczecin.

• Szczecin City Official website (in Polish, some material available in English, German)

Principal cities of Poland 1,000,000+ Warsaw 500,000+ Kraków Łódź Wrocław Poznań 200,000+ Gdańsk Szczecin Bydgoszcz Lublin Katowice Białystok Gdynia Częstochowa Radom Sosnowiec Toruń Kielce 100,000+ Gliwice Rzeszów Zabrze Olsztyn Bytom Bielsko-Biała Ruda Śląska Rybnik Tychy Dąbrowa Górnicza Gorzów Wielkopolski Płock Elbląg Opole Wałbrzych Zielona Góra Włocławek Tarnów Chorzów Koszalin Kalisz Legnica

Counties of West Pomeranian Voivodeship City counties Szczecin (capital) Koszalin Świnoujście Land counties Białogard Choszczno Drawsko Goleniów Gryfice Gryfino Kamień Kołobrzeg Koszalin Łobez Myślibórz Police Pyrzyce Sławno Stargard Świdwin Szczecinek Wałcz

Geography of Pomerania Regions Current Vorpommern (Western or Hither Pomerania) Zachodniopomorskie Pomerelia Kashubia Pomorskie Pomerania euroregion Former Farther Pomerania Circipania Lauenburg and Bütow Land Lands of Schlawe and Stolp Administration Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany) West Pomeranian Voivodeship (Poland) Pomeranian Voivodeship (Poland) Złotów County (Greater Poland Voivodeship) (Poland) Towns Lists List of towns in Vorpommern List of towns in Farther Pomerania Pomeranian cities, towns and villages List of placenames in the Province of Pomerania A–H I–P Q–Z Largest >100,000 Tricity Gdańsk Gdynia Sopot Szczecin Koszalin >50,000 Słupsk Stargard Szczeciński Stralsund Greifswald Islands Greifswalder Oie Hiddensee Rügen Ummanz Usedom Vilm Wolin Peninsulae Fischland-Darß-Zingst Jasmund Hela Mönchgut Wittow Rivers Dziwna Grabowa Ina Łeba Oder Parsęta Peene Peenestrom Randow Recknitz Rega Ryck Słupia Świna Tollense Trebel Uecker Vistula Wieprza Lakes Lake Dąbie Lake Gardno Kummerower See Lake Łebsko Lake Miedwie Bays, lagoons Bay of Gdańsk Bay of Greifswald Bay of Pomerania Szczecin Lagoon National parks Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park Jasmund National Park Lower Oder Valley National Park Wolin National Park Słowiński National Park

History of Pomerania 10,000 BC – 600 AD 600–1100 1100–1300 1300–1500 1500–1806 1806–1933 1933–1945 1945–present   Administrative Western Pomerania Farther Pomerania (before 1945) Billung March Northern March Principality of Rügen Duchy of Pomerania House of Pomerania List of Dukes Cammin Gützkow Schlawe-Stolp Lauenburg-Bütow Partitions Pomerania-Stolp Swedish Pomerania Brandenburgian Pomerania (Draheim) Province of Pomerania 1815–1945 Neumark Köslin Region Stettin Region Stralsund Region Posen-West Prussia Region List of placenames Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Zachodniopomorskie (after 1945) Szczecin Voivodeship Koszalin Voivodeship Słupsk Voivodeship West Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomerelia (Kashubia) Medieval duchies (Samborides) State of the Teutonic Order Royal Prussia (Pomeranian Voivodeship 1466–1772) Free City of Danzig 1807–1814 West Prussia Pomeranian Voivodeship 1919–1939 (Polish Corridor) Free City of Danzig 1920–1939 Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Pomeranian Voivodeship   Ecclesiastical Roman Catholic Historical Conversion of Pomerania Diocese of Kolberg (Congress of Gniezno) Diocese of Cammin Diocese of Culm Diocese of Roskilde Diocese of Włocławek (Leslau) Prelature of Schneidemühl Extant Archdiocese of Berlin Archdiocese of Szczecin-Kamień Diocese of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg Diocese of Pelplin Protestant Protestant Reformation Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany Evangelical State Church in Prussia (extinct) Pomeranian Evangelical Church (extinct)   Demography Archaeological cultures Hamburg Maglemosian Ertebølle-Ellerbek Linear Pottery Funnelbeaker Havelland Corded Ware Comb Ceramic Nordic Bronze Age Lusatian Jastorf Pomeranian Oksywie Wielbark Gustow Dębczyn (Denzin) Peoples Gepids Goths Lemovii Rugii Vidivarii Vistula Veneti Slavic Pomeranians Prissani Rani Ukrani Veleti Lutici Velunzani German Pomeranians Kashubians Poles Slovincians Major demographic events Migration Period Ostsiedlung WWII flight and expulsion of Germans Post-WWII settlement of Poles and Ukrainians Languages and dialects West Germanic Low German Low Prussian Pomeranian Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch East Pomeranian Standard German West Slavic Polabian Polish Pomeranian Kashubian Slovincian   Treaties 1200–1500 Kremmen (1236) Landin (1250) Kępno (1282) Soldin (1309) Templin (1317) Stralsund (1354) Stralsund (1370) Thorn (1411) Soldin (1466) Thorn (1466) Prenzlau (1448 / 1472 / 1479) Pyritz (1493) 1500–1700 Grimnitz (1529) Stettin (1570) Franzburg (1627) Stettin (1630) Westphalia (1648) Stettin (1653) Labiau (1656) Wehlau and Bromberg (1657) Oliva (1660) Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679) Lund (1679) 1700–present Stockholm (1719 / 1720) Frederiksborg (1720) Kiel (1814) Vienna (1815) Versailles (1919) Potsdam (1945)

Coordinates: 53°25′57″N 14°32′53″E / 53.43250°N 14.54806°E / 53.43250; 14.54806

Authority control WorldCat VIAF: 89578943 LCCN: n80163477 GND: 4057392-8 BNF: cb119723040 (data)