Kostrzyn nad Odrą

{{About||the town in west-central Poland|Kostrzyn, Greater Poland Voivodeship|the village in east-central Poland|Kostrzyn, Masovian Voivodeship}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Kostrzyn nad Odrą | image_skyline = {{multiple image | border = infobox | total_width = 270 | image_style = border:1 | perrow = 1/2/2 | image1 = Kostrzyn nad Odra dron (1).jpg{{!}}Aerial view | image2 = Kostrzyn, Poland - panoramio (2).jpg{{!}}Kostrzyn railway station | image3 = Kostrzyn nad Odrą - panoramio (11).jpg{{!}}Berlin Gate | image4 = Urząd Miasta - Kostrzyn n.O.JPG{{!}}Wedding Palace | image5 = Parafia Matki Bożej Rokitniańskiej.jpg{{!}}Mother of God of Rokitno church | caption1 = Aerial view | caption2 = Railway station | caption3 = Berlin Gate | caption4 = Wedding Palace | caption5 = Mother of God of Rokitno church}} | image_flag = POL Kostrzyn nad Odrą flag.svg | image_shield = POL Kostrzyn nad Odrą COA.svg | image_map = Gorzowski-kostrzyn.gif | map_caption = Location in Gorzów County | pushpin_map = Poland | pushpin_label_position = right | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{POL}} | subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship | subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Lubusz Voivodeship|name=Lubusz}} | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Gorzów | subdivision_type3 = Gmina | subdivision_name3 = Kostrzyn nad Odrą <small>(urban gmina)</small> | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Andrzej Kunt | established_title = Established | established_date = 13th century | established_title3 = Town rights | established_date3 = 1300 | area_total_km2 = 46.17 | population_as_of = 2019-06-30<ref>{{cite web |title=Population. Size and structure and vital statistics in Poland by territorial division in 2019. As of 30th June|url=https://stat.gov.pl/en/topics/population/population/population-size-and-structure-and-vital-statistics-in-poland-by-territorial-division-in-2019-as-of-30th-june,3,26.html|website=stat.gov.pl|publisher=Statistics Poland|date=2019-10-15|access-date=2020-02-24}}</ref> | population_total = 17778 | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | coordinates = {{coord|52|35|18|N|14|40|0|E|region:PL|display=title,inline}} | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 66-470 | area_code = +48 95 | registration_plate = FGW | blank2_name = Climate | blank2_info = Cfb | blank1_name_sec2 = National roads | blank1_info_sec2 = 32px 32px | blank2_name_sec2 = Voivodeship roads | blank2_info_sec2 = 32px | website = http://www.kostrzyn.pl }} '''Kostrzyn nad Odrą''' (translated literally as Kostrzyn upon the Oder; {{IPA|pl|ˈkɔst.ʂɨn ˌnad ˈɔdrɔ̃}}; {{langx|de|Küstrin}} {{IPA|de|kʏsˈtʁiːn|}}) commonly known as '''Kostrzyn''' is a town in Gorzów County, Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland, on the border with Germany.{{TERYT}}

==Geography== The town is situated within the historic Lubusz Land (''Ziemia Lubuska'') region at the confluence of the Oder and Warta rivers, on the western rim of the extended Warta mires. The town centre is located about {{convert|90|km|mi}} south of Szczecin.

Until the end of World War II and the implementation of the Oder–Neisse line in 1945, the municipal area also comprised the Küstrin-Kietz suburb on the west bank of the Oder river, which today is part of the German Küstriner Vorland municipality. The former town centre, the Kostrzyn fortress located on the headland between the Oder and Warta rivers, was destroyed by the Red Army as an act of revenge weeks before the end of WW2 and not rebuilt. Today Kostrzyn's central area is located around Kostrzyn railway station east of the Warta's mouth.

==History== ===Middle Ages=== thumb|left|Castle ruins Settled since the Bronze Age, the area was held by the Piast dukes and kings of Poland from about 960 until 1261, who had a gord laid out in the borderlands with the Pomeranian tribes in the north. Duke Mieszko I used Kostrzyn's strategic location as a staging area during his expedition to the Battle of Cedynia in 972. Likewise, beginning in 1002, his successor Bolesław I the Brave used the area to prepare for conquests and battles in the German–Polish War against King Henry II.<ref>{{cite web|url=//www.kostrzyn.um.gov.pl/historia/historia.htm |title=Kostrzyn nad Odrą |date=2006-03-06 |access-date=2013-03-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060306151113/http://www.kostrzyn.um.gov.pl/historia/historia.htm |archive-date=March 6, 2006 }}</ref>

In 1223 Duke Władysław Odonic of Greater Poland granted the fortress to the Knights Templar. The name of the town was first mentioned in 1232 in a Polish letter by the Lubusz bishop Wawrzyniec to the Knights Templar, in which the old Slavic name ''Cozsterine'' (hence the later German name ''Küstrin'') was mentioned. In the 12th century it developed into a fortified castellany and a Polish taxation post, however, together with Lubusz Land it was seized by the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg in 1261 and incorporated into their Neumark territory east of the Oder river. By 1300 the town had received Magdeburg town rights from Margrave Albert III of Brandenburg and started to grow rapidly, owing largely to trade on the rivers. From 1319 there was a dispute over the town between the Piasts, the Griffins and the Ascanians, and there were heavy fights between the Duchy of Pomerania and the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg in the area in 1322–1323.<ref name=er>{{cite journal|last=Rymar|first=Edward|year=1979|title=Rywalizacja o ziemię lubuską i kasztelanię międzyrzecką w latach 1319–1326, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem stosunków pomorsko-śląskich|journal=Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka|publisher=Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk|location=Wrocław|language=pl|volume=XXXIV|issue=4|page=489}}</ref> A peace treaty between Pomerania and Saxe-Wittenberg was signed in the town on 5 December 1323.<ref name=er/>

In 1373 the town became part of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown (or ''Czech Lands''), ruled by the Luxembourg dynasty. In 1402, the Luxembourgs reached an agreement with Poland in Kraków, under which Poland was to buy and reincorporate Kostrzyn and the surrounding region,<ref>{{cite book|last=Rogalski|first=Leon|year=1846|title=Dzieje Krzyżaków oraz ich stosunki z Polską, Litwą i Prussami, poprzedzone rysem dziejów wojen krzyżowych. Tom II|language=pl|location=Warszawa|pages=59–60}}</ref> but eventually the Luxembourgs sold the town to the Teutonic Order. After the Thirteen Years’ War broke out in 1454, the Teutonic Knights sold the town to Brandenburg in order to raise funds for war against Poland.

===Modern era=== thumb|left|The town in around 1700 In 1535–1571 the town was the seat of John of Brandenburg-Küstrin, who made it the capital of the Neumark region and built a castle. With time this castle was expanded into a fortress, one of the largest such facilities in the region. The town's development was hampered by the expansion of the fortress, as the area available for urban development was limited, and staple rights and high customs duties, which often caused merchants to bypass the town.<ref name=jt12>{{cite magazine|last=Trepczyk|first=Jerzy|date=8 July 1974|title=Przez kostrzyńską chyżę Stefan Czarniecki ciągnął do Danii|magazine=Celuloza|language=pl|volume=IV|issue=12 (49)|page=5}}</ref> During the Second Northern War, in 1658, Stefan Czarniecki passed through Chyża on his way to relieve Polish-allied Denmark from Swedish occupation.<ref name=jt12/>

While still crown prince, Frederick the Great was imprisoned in the fortress, from which he witnessed the execution of his friend Hans Hermann von Katte on 6 November 1730. In the 18th century, the city consisted of the Old Town, the Short Suburb and the Long Suburb.<ref name=jt13>{{cite magazine|last=Trepczyk|first=Jerzy|date=27 July 1974|title=Wstrząsy|magazine=Celuloza|language=pl|volume=IV|issue=13 (50)|page=5}}</ref>

The town was besieged by the Russians during the Seven Years' War. In 1806 the fortress surrendered to the French without a fight<ref name=jt13/> and then was occupied by a French military garrison for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars. The Polish 5th Infantry Regiment was stationed there in 1810–1811. During the French retreat from the east in 1814, the town was set on fire and burnt to the ground.

The town recovered and became one of the most important railway hubs in the Kingdom of Prussia and later the German Empire. One of the main escape routes for surviving insurgents of the Polish November Uprising from partitioned Poland to the Great Emigration led through the town.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Umiński|first=Janusz|year=1998|title=Losy internowanych na Pomorzu żołnierzy powstania listopadowego|magazine=Jantarowe Szlaki|volume=4 |language=pl|issue=250|page=16}}</ref> Some 640 Polish insurgents of the Greater Poland Uprising of 1848 were imprisoned in the local fortress by the Prussians, including Wawrzyniec Benzelstjerna Engeström, {{ill|Aleksander Babiński|pl}}, {{ill|Ignacy Wendziński|pl}}, Konstanty Borzęcki and {{ill|Antoni Szymborski|pl}}, grandfather of Nobel laureate in Literature Wisława Szymborska.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Budrewicz|first=Tadeusz|year=2020|title=Śladem "Pieśni o ziemi naszej". Poematy Wawrzyńca Engeströma|magazine=Ruch Literacki|language=pl|issue=3 (360)|page=231|issn=0035-9602}}</ref><ref name=gl>{{cite web|url=https://gazetalubuska.pl/kostrzyn-siedzial-tu-dziadek-slawnej-noblistki/ar/7966884|title=Kostrzyn: Siedział tu dziadek sławnej noblistki|website=Gazeta Lubuska|language=pl|date=25 June 2013|access-date=21 January 2026}}</ref><ref name=jp>{{cite web|url=https://pomysle.pl/Artykul/140769/TajemniceTwierdzyBuntpodchorążychSzermierzeWolności|title=Tajemnice Twierdzy – Bunt podchorążych – Szermierze Wolności|website=Pomyśle|author=Józef Piątkowski|language=pl|date=6 November 2023|access-date=21 January 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Zienkowicz|first=Leon Józef|title=Wizerunki polityczne dziejów Państwa Polskiego. Tom Czwarty: Polska w kraju w 1848 roku|year=1865|language=pl|page=78}}</ref> In June 1848, imprisoned insurgents staged a rebellion, which was joined by part of the garrison.<ref name=gl/><ref name=jp/> The rebellion was suppressed, but ultimately, fearing that the Poles would capture the fortress, the Prussians released them.<ref name=gl/><ref name=jp/>

In 1857 the town was linked to Berlin and Frankfurt (Oder) and in 1875 with Stettin (Szczecin) on the Pomeranian coast. In 1900 its population reached 16,473, including the garrison of the fortress.

===20th century=== [[File:Sarbinowo fort.jpg|thumb|left|Fort Sarbinowo, which housed the German prisoner-of-war camp for Allied officers during World War I]] During World War I, a German strict regime prisoner-of-war camp for French, Russian, Belgian, British and Canadian officers was operated at the local fortress.<ref>{{cite book|last=Orłow|first=Aleksander|editor-last1=Mykietów|editor-first1=Bogusław|editor-last2=Bryll|editor-first2=Wolfgang Damian|editor-last3=Tureczek|editor-first3=Marceli|year=2011|title=Forty. Jeńcy. Monety. Pasjonaci o Twierdzy Kostrzyn|language=pl|location=Zielona Góra|publisher=Księgarnia Akademicka|pages=18, 21|chapter=Oficerski obóz jeniecki twierdzy Kostrzyn nad Odrą 1914−1918}}</ref> Notable inmates included Leefe Robinson, Jocelyn Lee Hardy, Roland Garros and Jules Bastin, who all made unsuccessful escape attempts.<ref>Orłow, pp. 22−24</ref> It is considered the only German POW camp of World War I from which no one managed to escape.<ref>Orłow, p. 27</ref>

In September 1923, the Black Reichswehr attempted a putsch from the Küstrin Fortress, but it was suppressed by the regular Reichswehr.

At the outbreak of World War II Küstrin had 24,000 inhabitants. During the war, the Germans used Polish prisoners of war as forced labourers to build the Stalag III-C POW camp in the present-day district of Drzewice.<ref name=ushm>{{cite book|last1=Megargee|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Overmans|first2=Rüdiger|last3=Vogt|first3=Wolfgang|year=2022|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=408–409|isbn=978-0-253-06089-1}}</ref> It housed Polish, French, Serbian, Soviet, Italian, British, American and Belgian POWs.<ref name=ushm/> In 1943–45 the town also housed a sub-camp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, whose prisoners were Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Germans, French, Belgians and Dutch, with Poles and Russians treated particularly badly either by guards or ethnic German camp elders,<ref>{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|year=2009|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=1321–1322|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}}</ref> and a number of German forced labour camps. Due to Allied air raids on the railway hub and local factories and its position as a German bridgehead on the east bank of the Oder during the Battle of the Oder-Neisse and the Battle of the Seelow Heights, almost 95% of its buildings were destroyed (including all 32 of the city's factories) and the town was generally deserted. The town was captured by the Red Army on 11 March 1945. Soviet troops killed some American POWs mistaking them for enemy troops.<ref name=ushm/>

thumb|Memorial to the return of Kostrzyn to Poland in 1945 After the war the ruined town became part of Poland again by decision of the Potsdam Conference; Germans remaining in the town were expelled westward in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. The town was repopulated by Poles, many of whom were refugees from Soviet-annexed former eastern Poland, from where they had been displaced by Soviet authorities in accordance to new borders decided at Yalta Conference, while most were re-settlers from central Poland.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

The remnants of the old town within the fortress walls, including the castle in which the young Frederick the Great had been imprisoned, were razed after the war and the bricks were used to rebuild Polish cities elsewhere. More recently, plans to rebuild some of the old town in a historical style were considered, but this project appears to be on hold. The section of the town on the west bank of the Oder remained in Germany and is now called Küstrin-Kietz. Between 2004 and 2019 Kostrzyn hosted the annual Pol'and'Rock Festival (formerly Przystanek Woodstock) in the summer, the largest open-air music festival in Europe and one of the largest in the world. thumb|Kostrzyn nad Odrą Fortress

===Population in selected years=== {{Historical populations|align=left|cols=2|1880|14069|1890|16672|1900|16473|1910|17600|1925|19383|1939|23771|1960|6843|1971 (est.)|11000|2010|17704 |footnote=Note that the above numbers are based on primary, possibly inaccurate or biased sources.<ref>{{cite book|author= |title=Meyers Konversations-Lexikon|year=1908|volume=11|edition=6th|location=Leipzig and Vienna|language=de|page=890}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author= |title=Der Große Brockhaus|year=1931|volume=12|edition=15th|location=Leipzig|language=de|page=788}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=|title=Dokumentacja Geograficzna|volume=3/4|year=1967|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Instytut Geografii Polskiej Akademii Nauk|page=22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author= |title=Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon|year=1975|volume=14|edition=9th|location=Mannheim/Vienna/Zürich|language=de|page=511}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=|url=https://stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/PUBL_l_ludnosc_stan_struktura_31_12_2010.pdf|title=Stan i struktura ludności oraz ruch naturalny w przekroju terytorialnym w 2010 r.|year=2011|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny|page=60|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113152513/https://stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/PUBL_l_ludnosc_stan_struktura_31_12_2010.pdf|archive-date=13 November 2011}}</ref>}} thumb|Amphitheatre in Kostrzyn nad Odrą {{clear|left}}

==Sports== The local football club is {{ill|Celuloza Kostrzyn nad Odrą|pl}}. It competes in the lower leagues.

==Industry== thumb|Paper mills in Kostrzyn Kostrzyn is an industrial town with various factories. Arctic Paper (a paper manufacturer), Hanke Tissue (a hygiene products manufacturer) and ICT Poland (a stationery manufacturer) all have factories in western Kostrzyn.<ref>{{cite web | title=O firmie - Firma Hanke Tissue Sp. Z o.o. | url=https://www.hanketissue.pl/about-the-company,37.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250208133744/https://www.hanketissue.pl/about-the-company,37.html | archive-date=8 February 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Arctic Paper Kostrzyn - Arctic Paper | url=https://www.arcticpaper.com/arctic-paper-mills/arctic-paper-kostrzyn/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250415160203/https://www.arcticpaper.com/arctic-paper-mills/arctic-paper-kostrzyn/ | archive-date=15 April 2025 }}</ref>

==Notable people== *Jan Latalski (1463–1540), medieval Archbishop of Gniezno *Kaspar von Barth (1587–1658), philologist *Christian Albert, Burgrave and Count of Dohna (1621–1677), Prussian general *Philipp von Stosch (1691–1757), Prussian antiquarian *Alfred von Tirpitz (1849–1930), German grand admiral *Fedor von Bock (1880–1945), German field marshal *Gerhard Matzky (1894–1983), German general *Joseph Kushner (1922–1985), American property developer *Dariusz Dudka (born 1983), Polish footballer *Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (born 1984), Polish footballer *Łukasz Fabiański (born 1985), Polish footballer

==Twin towns – sister cities== {{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland}} Kostrzyn nad Odrą is twinned with: *{{flagicon|GER}} Seelow, Germany<ref>{{cite web |title=Städtepartnerschaften|url=https://www.seelow.de/seite/69004/st%C3%A4dtepartnerschaften.html|website=seelow.de|publisher=Seelow|language=de|access-date=2020-03-24}}</ref> *{{flagicon|GER}} Peitz, Germany<ref>{{cite web | title = Uchwała w sprawie porozumienia partnerskiego z miastem Peitz|url=https://kostrzyn.nowoczesnagmina.pl/?a=779|website=kostrzyn.nowoczesnagmina.pl|publisher=Kostrzyn|language=pl|access-date=2022-05-28}}</ref> *{{flagicon|UKR}} Sambir, Ukraine<ref>{{cite web | title = Uchwała w sprawie porozumienia partnerskiego z miastem Sambor|url=https://kostrzyn.nowoczesnagmina.pl/?a=831|website=kostrzyn.nowoczesnagmina.pl|publisher=Kostrzyn|language=pl|access-date=2022-05-28}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons}} *[http://www.kostrzyn.um.gov.pl Municipal website] {{in lang|pl}} *[https://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/k/511-kostrzyn-nad-odra Jewish Community in Kostrzyn nad Odrą] on Virtual Shtetl *[https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.591369,14.642887&spn=0.049931,0.118069&t=k&hl=en Google Maps] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050922140200/http://www.steinionline.de/kuestrin/index_en.htm Information about the fortress ''Küstrin'']

Category:Kostrzyn nad Odrą Category:Cities and towns in Lubusz Voivodeship Category:Gorzów County Category:Divided cities Category:Germany–Poland border crossings Category:Populated riverside places in Poland