Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland, with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section divided by the Oder and Vistula Rivers). It is the capital of Kołobrzeg County.

During the Early Middle Ages, the Pomeranian tribes established a settlement at the site of modern-day Budzistowo. In 1000, when the city was part of Poland, it became the seat of the Diocese of Kołobrzeg, one of five oldest Polish dioceses. During the High Middle Ages, the town was expanded with an additional settlement inhabited by German settlers a few kilometers north of the stronghold and chartered with Lübeck law, which settlement eventually superseded the original Pomeranian settlement. The city later joined the Hanseatic League. Within the Duchy of Pomerania the town was the urban center of the secular reign of the prince-bishops of Kamień and their residence throughout the High and Late Middle Ages. In the modern age, it passed to Brandenburg and Prussia, and withstood a Polish-French siege in 1807. In the late 19th century it became a popular spa town at the Baltic Sea. In 1945, Polish and Soviet troops captured the town. Kołobrzeg, now part of post-war Poland and devastated in the preceding battle, was rebuilt, but lost its status as the regional center to the nearby city of Koszalin.

Etymology

"Kołobrzeg" (and its Kashubian equivalent "Kòłobrzeg") translates as 'by the shore'; koło means 'by', and brzeg means 'shore'. Its original name, Cholberg, was taken by Polish and Kashubian linguists in the 19th and 20th centuries to reconstruct the name. After German settlement, "Cholberg" evolved into "Kolberg".

History

Pomeranian stronghold at modern Budzistowo

According to Piskorski (1999) and Kempke (2001), Slavic and Lechitic immigration reached Farther Pomerania in the 7th century. First Slavic settlements in the vicinity of Kołobrzeg were centered around nearby deposits of salt and date to 6th and 7th century.

In the late 9th century, the Pomeranian tribes erected a fortified settlement at the site of modern part of Kołobrzeg county called Budzistowo near modern Kołobrzeg, replacing nearby Bardy-Świelubie, a multi-ethnic emporium, as the center of the region. The Parseta valley, where both the emporium and the stronghold were located, was one of the Pomeranians' core settlement areas. The stronghold consisted of a fortified burgh with a suburbium.

The Pomeranians mined salt They also engaged in fishing, and used the salt to conserve foodstuffs, primarily herring, for trade. Other important occupations were metallurgy and smithery, based on local iron ore reserves, other crafts like the production of combs from horn, and in the surrounding areas, agriculture. Important sites in the settlement were a place for periodical markets and a tavern, mentioned as forum et taberna in 1140.

Piast Poland and conversion

thumb|250px|St John's Church, the remains of an early medieval settlement in modern [[Budzistowo]]

During Polish rule of the area in the late 10th century, the chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg (975–1018) mentions salsa Cholbergiensis as the see of the Bishopric of Kołobrzeg, set up during the Congress of Gniezno in 1000 and placed under the Archdiocese of Gniezno. In 1013 Bolesław Chrobry removed his troops from Pomerania in face of war with Holy Roman Emperor Henry III. A previous Polish siege of the burgh had been unsuccessful; although the duke had fled the burgh, the Polish army was unable to break through the fortifications and the two gates. The army had however looted and burned the suburbium, which was not or only lightly fortified. In the 12th-century Polish chronicle Gesta principum Polonorum Kołobrzeg was named a significant and famous city.

During the subsequent Christianization of the area by Otto of Bamberg at the behest of Bolesław, a St. Mary's church was built. before the dukes became vassals of Denmark in 1185 and the Holy Roman Empire in 1227.

Besides St. Mary's, a St. John's church and a St. Petri's chapel were built.

A painting of the town of Kołobrzeg from the 13th century is located in the Museum of Polish Arms in the city.

From the late Middle Ages to the Thirty Years' War

During the Ostsiedlung, a settlement was founded by German settlers some kilometres off the site of the Slavic/Lechitic one. It was located within the boundaries of today's downtown of Kołobrzeg and some of the inhabitants of the Polish town moved to the new settlement. and more settlers arrived, attracted by the duke. Hermann von Gleichen, German bishop of Kammin also supported the German colonisation of the region. while St. Mary's in the former Pomeranian stronghold was turned into a nuns' abbey.

thumb|upright|left|Fuse Tower, last remnant of the medieval fortification

Already in 1248, the Kammin bishops and the Pomeranian dukes had interchanged the terrae Stargard and Kolberg, leaving the bishops in charge of the latter. In 1345, the bishops became Imperial immediate dukes in their secular reign.

When the property of the Bishopric of Kammin was secularized during the Protestant Reformation in 1534, their secular reign including the Kolberg area became intermediately ruled by a Lutheran titular bishop, before it was turned into a Sekundogenitur of the House of Pomerania.

During the Thirty Years' War, Kolberg was occupied by imperial forces from 1627 to 1630, and thereafter by Swedish forces.

Modern era: In Prussia

thumb|upright|left|Map of the town from 1650

Kolberg, with most of Farther Pomerania, was granted to Brandenburg-Prussia in 1648 by the Treaty of Westphalia and, after the signing of the Treaty of Stettin (1653), and in accordance with the Treaty of Grimnitz, was part of the Province of Pomerania. In the 1690s, French Huguenot immigrants and merchants from the Netherlands settled in the city, however, due to the bankruptcy of the merchants, the hired French preacher left for Warsaw in 1700, and several merchants went back to the Netherlands. It became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. In the 18th century, trade with Poland declined, while the production of textiles was developed. and after his release, he tried to organise a chaplaincy for the many Polish soldiers stationed in Kolberg.

In the 19th century the city had a small but active Polish population that increased during the century to account for 1.5% of the population by 1905. The Polish community funded a Catholic school and the Church of Saint Marcin where masses were held in Polish (initially throughout the season, after about 1890 all year). Dating back to 1261 Kolberg's Jewish population amounted to 528 people in 1887, rising to 580 two years later, and although many moved to Berlin after that date they numbered around 500 by the end of the Nineteenth century.

Between 1924 and 1935, the American-German painter Lyonel Feininger, a tutor at the Staatliches Bauhaus, visited Kolberg repeatedly and painted the cathedral and environs of the town.

In the May elections of 1933, the Nazi Party received by far the most votes, 9,842 out of 19,607 cast votes.

thumb|upright|Lapidarium to Jewish minority from the city murdered by Nazi Germany. Lapidarium raised by Polish authorities in Kołobrzeg in 2000. The inscription is in Polish, Hebrew, and German

When the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933, the Jewish community in Kolberg comprised 200 people, and the antisemitic repression by Germany's ruling party led several of them to flee the country. A Nazi newspaper, the Kolberger Beobachter, listed Jewish shops and business that were to be boycotted. Nazis also engaged in hate propaganda against Jewish lawyers, doctors, and craftsmen. At the end of 1935, Jews were banned from working in the city's health spas. In 1938, all Jews in Kolberg, as all over Germany, were renamed in official German documents as "Israel" (for males) or "Sarah" (for females). In the beginning of 1939, Jews were banned from attending German schools and the entire adult population had its driving licenses revoked. A labour subcamp of the Stalag II-D prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs was also operated in the city by Germany.

In 1944, the city was selected as a fortress — Festung Kolberg. The 1807 siege was used for the last Nazi propaganda film, Kolberg shortly before the end of the war by Joseph Goebbels. It was meant to inspire the Germans with its depiction of the heroic Prussian defence during the Napoleonic Wars. Tremendous resources were devoted to filming this epic, even diverting tens of thousands of troops from the front lines to have them serve as extras in battle scenes. Ironically, the film was released in the final few weeks of Nazi Germany's existence, when most of the country's cinemas were already destroyed.

On 10 February 1945, the German torpedo-boat T-196 brought about 300 survivors of the , which had been sunk by Soviet submarine S-13 to Kolberg. As the Red Army advanced on Kolberg, most of the inhabitants and tens of thousands of refugees from surrounding areas (about 70,000 were trapped in the Kolberg Pocket), as well as 40,000 German soldiers, were evacuated from the besieged city by German naval forces in Operation Hannibal. Only about two thousand soldiers were left on 17 March to cover the last sea transports.

Between 4 and 18 March 1945, there were major battles between the Soviet and Polish forces and the German army. Because of a lack of anti-tank weapons, German destroyers used their guns to support the defenders of Kolberg until nearly all of the soldiers and civilians had been evacuated. During the fights, Polish soldiers' losses were 1,013 dead, 142 MIA and 2,652 wounded.

Demographics

thumb|250px|[[Kołobrzeg Lighthouse|Lighthouse in Kołobrzeg]]

Before the end of World War II the town was predominantly German Protestant with Polish and Jewish minorities. Almost all of the pre-war German population fled or was expelled so that since 1945, Polish Catholics make up the majority of the population. Around the turn from the 18th to the 19th century an increase of the number of Catholics was observed, because military personnel had been moved from West Prussia to the town.

thumb|250px|Kołobrzeg eastern beach

Tourist destination

Kołobrzeg today is a popular tourist destination for Poles, Germans and due to the ferry connection to Bornholm also Danish people. It provides a unique combination of a seaside resort, health resort, an old town full of historic monuments and tourist entertainment options (e.g. numerous "beer gardens"). It’s worth noting that since 2020 there has been no direct ferry connection between Kołobrzeg and Bornholm, so travelers usually choose alternative routes, for example via Ystad in Sweden.

thumb|center|upright=2.8|Panorama of Kołobrzeg

Bike path to Podczele

The town is part of the European Route of Brick Gothic network. A bike path "to Podczele", located along the seaside was commissioned on 14 July 2004. The path extends from Kołobrzeg to Podczele. The path has been financed by the European Union, and is intended to be part of a unique biking path that will ultimately circle the entire Baltic Sea. The path was breached on 24 March 2010 due to the encroachment of the sea associated with the draining of the adjacent unique Eco-Park marsh area. The government of Poland has allocated PLN 90,000 to repair the breach, and the path re-opened within a year. It was also extended in 2011 to connected with Ustronie Morskie to the east.

Oldest oak

South of Bagicz, some from Kołobrzeg, there is an 806-year-old oak (2008). Dated in the year 2000 as the oldest oak in Poland, it was named Bolesław to commemorate the king Boleslaus the Brave.

Cultural center

Kołobrzeg is also a regional cultural center. In the summer take place – a number of concerts of popular singers, musicians, and cabarets. Municipal Cultural Center, is located in the Park teatralny. Keep under attachment artistic arts, theater and dance. Patron of youth teams and the vocal choir. Interfolk organizes the annual festival, the International Meeting of the folklore and other cultural events. Cinema is a place for meetings Piast Discussion Film Club.

In Kołobrzeg there are many permanent and temporary exhibitions of artistic and historical interest. In the town hall of Kołobrzeg is located Gallery of Modern Art, where exhibitions are exposed artists from Kołobrzeg, as well as outside the local artistic circles. Gallery also conducts educational activities, including organized by the gallery of art lessons for children and young people from schools.

Pier

thumb|Pier by night

The Kołobrzeg Pier is currently the second longest pier in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, after the pier in Międzyzdroje. A jetty positioned on the end of the pier enables small ships to sail for sightseeing excursions.

Museums

thumb|[[ORP Fala|ORP Fala, a museum ship in Kołobrzeg]]

In town, there is a museum of Polish weapons (Muzeum Oręża Polskiego), which are presented in the collections of militaria from the early Middle Ages to the present. The palace of Braunschweig include part of museum dedicated to the history of the city. In their collections branch presents a collection of rare and common measurement tools, as well as specific measures of the workshop. The local museum is also moored at the port of ORP Fala patrol ship, built in 1964, after leaving the service transformed into a museum.

Transport

Train connections

thumb|Kołobrzeg train station

Kołobrzeg has connections among others to Szczecin, "Solidarity" Szczecin–Goleniów Airport, Gdańsk, Poznań, Warsaw, Kraków and Lublin.

Ferry

A seasonal ferry service to Nexø on the Danish island of Bornholm is offered by the catamaran Jantar. The trip takes 4,5 hours and carries passengers but no cars.

Sport

  • SKK Kotwica Kołobrzeg – basketball club, which in the 2000s and 2010s competed in the Polish Basketball League, country's top flight
  • Kotwica Kołobrzeg – football club
  • Viktoria Kolberg - former German football club, dissolved in 1945

Notable people

thumb|upright=0.7|Monument of [[Marcin Dunin, 19th-century primate of Poland, in Kołobrzeg]]

thumb|upright=0.7|[[Ryszard Kukliński, Polish colonel who spied for NATO during the Cold War.]]

  • Petrus Pachius (1579–1641/42) a German Protestant minister, teacher and poet
  • Karl Wilhelm Ramler (1725–1798) German poet, translator and director at Berlin theater

19th century

  • Hermann Plüddemann (1809–1868) a German historical painter
  • Ernst Maass (1856–1929) a German classical philologist.
  • Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935), physician, sociologist and early 20th century Gay rights campaigner
  • Paul Oestreich (1878–1959), educator, reformer
  • Arnold Zadikow (1884–1943), German-Jewish sculptor
  • Hans-Jürgen Stumpff (1889–1968), German general of Luftwaffe, co-signer of unconditional surrender 8 May 1945 in Berlin
  • Günther Angern (1893–1943), Wehrmacht general

20th century

  • Werner Krüger (1910–2003), German engineer, invented Krueger flap in 1943
  • Erika von Brockdorff (1911–1943), German resistance fighter
  • Karl-Heinz Marbach (1917–1995), German U-boat commander
  • Egon Krenz (born 1937), last communist leader of East Germany
  • Christine Lucyga (born 1944), politician
  • Joanna Nowicka (born 1966) a Polish archer, competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics from 1988.
  • Sebastian Karpiniuk (1972–2010) a Polish politician, an assistant to President of Kołobrzeg, died in plane crash
  • Dariusz Trafas (born 1972), athlete, javelin throw national record holder
  • Daria Korczyńska (born 1981) a retired track and field sprint athlete
  • Robert Szpak (born 1989), athlete, javelin throw, 2008 World Junior Champion

Famous persons connected with the city

  • Marcin Dunin (1774–1842) archbishop of Poznań and Gniezno, primate of Poland. Imprisoned in the fortress in the city
  • Adolf von Lützow, (1782–1834) a Prussian officer, served with distinction in the siege of Kolberg in 1807
  • Wiktor Szostalo, (born 1952) sculptor and former Solidarity activist.
  • Jan Pogány, (born 1960) classical composer, conductor and cellist.
  • Ryszard Kukliński, (1930–2004) colonel and spy for NATO in the Cold War period, attended high school in the city.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Kołobrzeg is twinned with:

  • Bad Oldesloe, Germany
  • Barth, Germany
  • Berlin Pankow, Germany
  • Feodosia, Ukraine
  • Follonica, Italy
  • Koekelberg, Belgium
  • Landskrona, Sweden
  • Nexø, Denmark
  • Nyborg, Denmark
  • Pori, Finland
  • Simrishamn, Sweden

See also

  • Herbertiada

Notes

References

Bibliography

  • 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 1996 by Sändig Reprint Verlag, Vaduz, ; reprinted in 2011 by Kessinger Publishing, U.S.A., ), pp.&nbsp;81–99 (<!-- pg=81 --> online)
  • Municipal website
  • History of the town on the tourist promotion site
  • dutchy of Cassubia