Niemierzyn (; German until 1945: ) is a neighbourhood of Szczecin, Poland, located within the West district, in the administrative subdivision of Arkońskie-Niemierzyn. It is a residential area, predominantly consisting of low-rise single-family housing, including numerous villas dating to before the Second World War. It includes the St. Casimir Church, a Roman Catholic Baroque Revival parish church dating to 1889.
The area have been inhabited since the Bronze Age. In the 14th century, the village of Niemcza () was recorded in the area of thecurrent Arkońska Street, as a property of the Bishopric of Cammin. The settlement was burned down during the Thirty Years' War in the early 17th century, and was subsequently rebuilt. Until the 19th century, it was a farming community. From 1863 to 1940, Chick Mill Institute, a psychiatric and medical care facility for patients with mental disabilities and epilepsy, operated in the village. The area was incorporated into the city of Szczecin in 1900. Following the end Second World War, the city was placed under Polish administration, with the German population either fleeing or being expelled from the city and replaced by Polish settlers. The neighbourhood was renamed to Niemierzyn in 1945.
Toponomy
The village in the area of the current neighbourhood was originally referred to by the Slavic population of the region as and , later Germanised as . The name came from the Slavic exonym for the Germans who inhabited the village, in contrast to Slavic people who resided in the surrounding settlements. Comparatively, the name for German people in Polish is .
The neighbourhood is also the namesake of the Niemierzyn Valley, which covers most of the central western part of the city of Szczecin.
History
The remains of five settlements from the Bronze Age (c. 2400–750 BCE) have been discovered allongside Warszewiec stream, within the modern boundries of the neighbourhood of Arkońskie-Niemierzyn, including near the location of current Arkońska, Bartnicza, and Kochanowskiego Streets. Two settlements from the Lusatian culture (c. 1200–500 BCE) have also been discovered within the neighbourhood.
In the 14th century, the village of Niemcza (), located near the current Arkońska Street, was property of the Bishopric of Cammin. In the 1340s, it was leased to judge Conrad Barfuss, together with the surrounding farming estate, fields, forest, and windmills. In 1335, the nearby city of Szczecin signed an agreement with Barnim III, the Duke of Pomerania-Stettin, in which the city ceded ownership of the smock mills in Niemcza to the duchy, with the stipulation that they would be returned to the city after the male line of the House of Griffin died out. In 1351, the city bought three smock mills in the village from the Bishopic of Cammin for the price of 1,520 pfennigs.
In the first half of the 19th century, a hydrotherapy centre was founded in the Arkona Woods to the north of Niemierzyn. It was later transformed into a bathing complex, and reopened as a hydrotherapy centre in 1860. It was demolished in 1890, and replaced with a new hydrotherapy hospital, predominantly for people with mental disorders. It also hosted cultural events such as concerts and dancing. After the end of the Second World War, it operated as a rehabilitation centre and resort for children. Since 1991, it houses the St. Brother Albert Youth Sociotherapy Center, a Roman Catholic all-boys boarding school orphanage, operated by the Caritas Internationalis. Currently, it is located within the boundaries of the neighbourhood of Osów.
thumb|250px|The Chick Mill, a [[watermill on Warszewiec stream, dating to at least the 16th century.]]
By 1864, the village's farmlands were split between landowners in Niemcza and Niebuszewo. The village was inhabited by 110 families, with a majority of the residents employed in Szczecin. Niemcza had four gristmills, one smock mill, and four watermills on the Warszewiec stream, including the Chick Mill, dating to the 16th century. Currently, the majority of the stream in the area flows via artificial underground canals. Niemcza had an area of 504 Magdeburg morgen (128.68 ha), including 256 morgen (65.36 ha) of farmland and 23 morgen (5.87 ha) of buildings. It also had nine gardens for food cultivation.
thumb|250px|The [[Romanesque Revival architecture|Romanesque Revival chapel dating to 1900, built as part of the former cemetery on Chopina Street.]]
In 1871, a cemetery was opened alongside the current Chopina Street, serving the Chick Mill Institute and the nearby hospital. In 1900, there was built a Romanesque Revival chapel. The cemetery was later expanded in the 1930s, and last burials took place there in 1945. At the end of the 19th century, a small Lutheran cemetery was also founded on the current Tatrzańska Street, serving the residents of Niemcza. It was closed down in the 1930s. After the end of the Second World War, the chapel near Chopina Street was adopted into a mortuary of the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Pomeranian Medical University. It operated until 2001, with the chapel remaining abandoned since then. In the 1970s, the gravestones were removed from both of the cemeteries, without the exhumation of the bodies, with the area alongside Chopisa Street being redeveloped into the Frédéric Chopin Park, opened around 1980. A small portion of the gravestones is preserved and displayed in a lapidarium near the chapel.
The village was incorporated into the city of Szczecin in 1900. It operated until 2004. Since 2006, it houses the Museum of Technology and Transport. Currently, it is located within the boundaries of the neighbourhood of Niebuszewo-Bolinko.
During the Second World War, three labour camps operated in the neighbourhood for foreign forced labourers. Niemcza survived the conflict without destruction. Following the end of the conflict, the city of Szczecin was placed under Polish administration, with the German population either fleeing or being expelled from the city and replaced with Polish settlers.
From 1955 to 1976, the neighbourhood of Niemierzyn was one of the administrative subdivisions of the Pogodno district. In 1960, it had a population of 5,644 people. On 28 November 1990, the neighbourhood of Arkońskie-Niemierzyn was founded as one of the administrative subdivisions of the West district, being governed by an elected neighbourhood council. It incorporated the neighbourhood of Niemierzyn, together with the housing estates of Osiedle Arkońskie and Osiedle Tatrzańskie.
Characteristics
thumb|The Independent Public Voivodeship Polyclinical Hospital on Arkońska Street.
Niemierzyn is a residential neighbourhood, predominantly consisting of low-rise single-family housing, including numerous historical villas dating to before the Second World War. It also includes several apartments buildings. It also includes the Chick Mill, a watermill which was present on the stream since at least the 16th century.