Lębork (; ; ) is a town on the Łeba and Okalica rivers in the Gdańsk Pomerania region in northern Poland. It is the capital of Lębork County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Its population is 33,865.

History

Middle Ages

thumb|left|175px|Ivy Tower (Wieża Bluszczowa), part of the medieval city walls

The region formed part of Poland since the establishment of the country in the 10th century. The town was founded on the site of a previous Slavic settlement, dating back to the 10th century. Its name was Germanised to Lewin and then Lewinburg by the Teutonic Knights, after annexation from Poland in 1310. presumably to secure the territory around Stolp (Słupsk). East of the original city the Teutonic Order completed the Ordensburg castle in 1363. The castle was partly razed after the 1410 Battle of Grunwald and remained under Polish control until 1411. In 1440 the town joined the Prussian Confederation, which opposed the Teutonic Knights, and at the request of which King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of re-incorporation of the town and region to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454. The population of Lębork was composed in large part of Kashubians, later Slovincians.

In 1454 after the outbreak of the Thirteen Years' War, troops from Danzig (Gdańsk) occupied Lębork and Bütow (Bytów); the following year they were turned over to Eric II, Duke of Pomerania, to form an alliance. and was granted by Casimir IV Jagiellon to Eric and his Pomeranian successors as part of the Lauenburg and Bütow Land, a Polish fief.

Modern era

thumb|left|upright=0.85|Lębork coat of arms on the facade of the town hall

The Protestant Reformation was introduced in the town soon after 1519. The starosts were Stanisław Koniecpolski and Jakub Wejher. The 1773 Treaty of Warsaw granted full sovereignty over the territory to Prussia after the First Partition of Poland. The Lauenburg and Bütow Land, transformed into a district (Lauenburg-Bütowscher Kreis), was first included in the newly established province of West Prussia, but was transferred to the province of Pomerania in 1777.

thumb|right|Staromiejska Street, one of the most prominent promenades in the town

When the district was divided in 1846, Lauenburg became the capital of a new district (Landkreis Lauenburg i. Pom.). Lauenburg began to develop as an industrial center after its 1852 connection to the Prussian Eastern Railway to Danzig and Stettin (Szczecin). while many Poles, including Kashubians, left for the nearby Polish Pomeranian Voivodeship. The town's economy has declined and the nationalists, communists and Nazis gained popularity among the German population. The Poles were active in the Union of Poles in Germany. Further prisoners were sent from the main Stutthof camp, and the subcamp was dissolved only in February 1945, during the German-organized evacuation of the Stutthof main camp. In 1944, the Polish resistance assassinated an SS officer in the town. The town was occupied without resistance by the Soviet Red Army on 10 March 1945. Most of the Old Town burned in the subsequent Soviet rampage, although the Gothic Church of St. James and the Teutonic castle survived.

thumb|Plaque commemorating the return of Lębork to Poland

As Lębork, the town became again part of Poland in accordance with the post-war Potsdam Agreement. Germans remaining in the town were either immediately expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement or were allowed to voluntarily leave in the 1950s. The remaining Polish inhabitants were joined by other Poles, including those displaced from Poland's eastern lands annexed after the war by the Soviet Union. The town was administratively part of the Gdańsk Voivodeship in 1945–1975, and then the Słupsk Voivodeship in 1975–1998.

Transport

The S6 expressway bypasses Lębork to the south. Two exits of the S6 expressway serve Lębork (exits 45 and 44) and allow for quick access to Słupsk and Gdańsk. The bypass will open fully in a dual carriageway form in 2026.

Lębork is a minor railway junction where the Gdańsk-Szczecin railway line meets the line to the coastal town of Łeba.

Geography

Climate

The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb". (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).

Demographics

In terms of confession, the population was predominantly Catholic since the Christianization of Poland, then it was mostly composed of Protestants after the Reformation, and since the end of World War II it is once again predominantly Catholic.

;Number of inhabitants in years

  • 1782: 1,482, incl. 36 Jews.
  • 1794: 1,432, incl. 29 Jews.
  • 1910: 13,916
  • 1925: 17,161, incl. 1,850 Catholics, 290 Jews and 300 others.
  • 1933: 18,962
  • 1939: 19,108
  • Ewa Paradies (1920–46), concentration camp overseer
  • Jürgen Echternach (1937–2006) CDU politician
  • Hilbert Meyer (de) (born 1941) professor of the science of education in Oldenburg
  • Eugeniusz Geno Malkowski (1942–2016), artist and painter
  • Peter Roehr (1944–68) a German artist
  • Maciej Gołąb (born 1952), professor of musicology
  • Else Streit (1869-?), composer
  • Anna Fotyga (born 1957) a Polish politician and MEP, former Minister of Foreign Affairs

; Sport

  • Philo Jacoby (1837–1922) a former San Francisco sharpshooter, wrestler, weightlifter and gymnast
  • Zbigniew Zarzycki (born 1948) a former Polish volleyball player, Olympic Champion in 1976
  • Zbigniew Kaczmarek (born 1962) a former Polish football player, played 30 times for Poland
  • Alexandra Wojcik (born 1985) a Polish group rhythmic gymnast, participated at the 2004 Summer Olympics
  • Damian Schulz (born 1990) a Polish volleyball player, member of Poland men's national volleyball team
  • Paula Wrońska (born 1991) a Polish sports shooter, competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics

International relations

Lębork is twinned with:

{| class="wikitable"

|- valign="top"

|

  • Dudelange, Luxembourg

||

  • Lauenburg, Germany

||

  • Manom, France

||

  • Balta, Ukraine

||

  • Ogre, Latvia

|}

See also

  • Lauenburg and Bütow Land

Notes

References

  • (in 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, ), pp.&nbsp;247–251 (in German, <!-- pg=247 --> online)
  • Municipal website
  • Lębork dawniej i dziś (zdjęcia)
  • reconstruction of the old city