Węgorzewo (; until 1946 ; ) is a tourist town on the Angrapa River in northeastern Poland, within the ethnographic region of Masuria. It is the seat of Węgorzewo County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship and is located not far from the border with Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast. Lake Mamry is close to the town.

Etymology

The town's names in different languages are derived from local names for European eels, which used to live in the area in great numbers. The German name Angerburg () is derived from the Old Prussian word for eel, Anger, which the German Teutonic Knights appropriated after conquering the Old Prussians. The Polish name Węgorzewo (and the older Węgobork) is derived from Węgorz, while the local Lithuanian names Ungura and Unguris comes from Ungurys. A Lithuanian variation is Angerburgas.

History

Beginnings

The town was first mentioned in a 1335 chronicle as Angirburg, or "eel castle", a settlement of the Teutonic Knights with a block house, a palisade, and a watchtower. A 1341 document reported that the Teutonic Order had bestowed land on the river Angerapp (Angrapa) upon twelve Old Prussians for their loyal service. The Grand Duke of Lithuania, Kęstutis, destroyed the castle in 1365, although it was rebuilt in 1398. After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War, since 1466, it formed part of Poland as a fief. The land around the castle began to be settled by the end of the 15th century. As it was primarily farmland, the Lake Mamry was blocked up to allow the construction of a watermill. Ca. 1510 a locality known as Neudorf ("new village") or Gerothwol had developed near the Angerburg. After the foundation of the Duchy of Prussia as a fief of the Kingdom of Poland in 1525, Angerburg/Węgobork became the seat of a district head. It was granted town rights in 1571. The Polish inhabitants called the city by its Polish name Węgobork. A large part of the town was destroyed by a fire in 1608, including a wooden church and the 20-year-old town hall.

Being situated in Masuria, in the transition area with the ethnographic region of Lithuania Minor, Węgobork/Angerburg had a Polish majority with sizable minorities of Germans and Lithuanians. The town suffered from the Swedish-Polish Wars, attacks by the Tatars, and plague epidemics, the last outbreak of which occurred in 1710 and claimed 1,111 victims. To help repopulate the town, 48 people from Salzburg, Austria were resettled here in 1732. The Lithuanian minority diminished after the 16th and 17th centuries, while Poles still formed the majority of the district's population in the early 19th century (52% in 1825).

Kingdom of Prussia

Angerburg became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and was named a garrison town of the Prussian Army in 1718. A harbor was built on the Angerapp, allowing an aqueduct to be built in 1740, as well as an expansion of the garrison to include ten barracks. A water supply system was built in 1740 by Jan Władysław Suchodolec.

Angerburg was included in the Prussian province of East Prussia in 1773 and became the district seat of Landkreis Angerburg in 1818. The town became part of the German Empire upon the Prussian-led unification of Germany in 1871. A teaching seminary and a deaf-mute school were opened in 1820, and the town's population increased to over 3,500. In year 1825, the county of Angerburg/Węgobork (including the town) had 24,351 inhabitants, including (by mother tongue): 12,535 (~52%) Polish, 11,756 (~42%) German and 60 Lithuanian. Between 1848 and 1858, Polish pastor and opponent of Germanisation of Masuria Jan Fryderyk Anders was a pastor of the Węgobork Lutheran Parish. In November 1864, local resistance leader Albert Mahler was arrested by the Prussians.

The canalization of the Angerapp and the expansion of the harbor in 1856 allowed business to expand, and the garrison left the town in 1858. The district court and the office of the public prosecutor moved from Angerburg to Lyck (Ełk) after the Kreistag, or district parliament, hindered the connection of the town to developing road network and railways. Four annual fairs and two weekly markets were held in the town in the late 19th century.

Twin towns — Sister cities

Węgorzewo is twinned with:

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  • Leffrinckoucke in France
  • Yavoriv in Ukraine

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  • Chernyakhovsk in Russia
  • Nemenčinė in Lithuania

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References

  • Municipal website
  • Węgorzewo rock music festival