{{Short description|Town in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Nowogard | image_skyline = Nowogard - ratusz 2009.jpg | image_caption = Town hall in Nowogard | image_flag = | image_shield = POL Nowogard COA.svg | pushpin_map = Poland | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{POL}} | subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship | subdivision_name1 = West Pomeranian | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Goleniów | subdivision_type3 = Gmina | subdivision_name3 = Nowogard | established_title = First mentioned | established_date = 1268 | established_title2 = Town rights | established_date2 = 1309 | area_total_km2 = 12.46 | population_as_of = 2006 | population_total = 16745 | population_density_km2 = auto | coordinates = {{coord|53|40|N|15|7|E|region:PL|display=title,inline}} | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | elevation_m = | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 72–200 | registration_plate = ZGL | blank_name_sec2 = Highways | blank_info_sec2 = 32px|link=Expressway S6 (Poland) | blank1_name_sec2 = Voivodeship roads | blank1_info_sec2 = 32px|link=Voivodeship road 106 (Poland) 32px | website = http://nowogard.pl }} '''Nowogard''' ({{IPAc-pl|n|o|'|w|o|g|a|r|t}}) ({{langx|csb|Nowògard}}; {{langx|de|Naugard}}) is a town in northwestern Poland, in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.{{TERYT}} {{As of|2004}} it had a population of 16,733.
==Name== ''Nowogard'' is a combination of two Slavic terms: '''novi''' (new) and '''gard''', which is Pomeranian for ''town'', ''city'', or ''fortified settlement''. In this capacity, the term '''gard''' (or '''gôrd''') is still being used in the only surviving variation of the Pomeranian language, Kashubian.
==Location== Nowogard has been situated in Goleniow County of West Pomeranian Voivodship since 1999, but formerly in Szczecin Voivodship from 1975 to 1998. It is located {{convert|60|km|mi}} northeast of Szczecin and {{convert|55|km|mi}} south of the Baltic coast
==History== thumb|left|Medieval town walls In the 10th century the area became part of Poland.<ref name=KAL>{{cite web |url=http://www.kalendarium.com.pl/index.php/kalendarium-nowogardu|title=Kalendarium Nowogardu|access-date=14 July 2019|language=pl |last1=Karolewski |first1=Franciszek }}</ref> Probably then the first Catholic chapel was established in present-day Nowogard.<ref name=KAL/> The town's origins go back to a fortified Slavic settlement which was the seat of the local castellan.<ref name=nowograd/> The settlement was first mentioned in 1268 as "Nogart" when Barnim I, the Duke of Pomerania granted it as a fief to the Bishopric of Cammin (Kamień Pomorski). The bishops erected a castle in the city.<ref name=nowograd>[http://www.nowogard.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=199&Itemid=96 nowogard.pl] {{in lang|pl}}</ref> In 1274, the town and its surrounding area was administered by Otto von Eberstein, it remained in the possession of the von Eberstein family until 1663. They were a collateral branch of the Counts of Everstein (sometimes also called Eberstein) from Lower Saxony with their ancestral home Everstein Castle on the Burgberg (ridge).<ref>See German article ''Eberstein-Naugard''.</ref>
In 1309 the town adopted German municipal law. In the first half of the 14th century, new fortifications were erected with an oblong market square in the center of the town. This is where the town hall and St. Mary's Church were erected.
thumb|left|upright|Plaque commemorating the capture of the town by Polish and allied Napoleonic troops in 1807 In 1663, after the death of the last Eberstein, Naugard became property of Ernst Bogislaw von Croÿ and in 1684, property of the electors of Brandenburg.<ref name=nowograd/> During the Napoleonic Wars, in 1807, the town was captured by allied Polish-French-Italian forces.<ref name=KAL/> In the 18th century, the town became part of Prussia, and from 1871 it was also part of Germany.
During World War II many forced labourers of different nationalities were brought to the town by the Germans,<ref name=KAL/> there were at least seven forced labour camps for Allied POWs, mostly French and Africans,<ref name=ww2>{{cite web|url=http://www.kalendarium.com.pl/Kalendarium%205.htm|title=Strona 5|access-date=13 June 2025|language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095548/http://www.kalendarium.com.pl/Kalendarium%205.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> and there was a Nazi German prison for youth in the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=100000121|title=Jugendgefängnis Naugard|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=27 November 2021|language=de}}</ref> On 1 March 1945, the Germans committed a massacre of 40 POWs.<ref name=ww2/> Throughout the Soviet East Pomeranian Offensive operation of World War II up to 60 percent of the town was destroyed.<ref name=nowograd/> On 5 March 1945, the town was taken by Polish and Soviet troops.<ref name=ww2/> The population fled or was expelled in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement. Following the war, Nowogard became again part of Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s. It was resettled with Poles. The first new Polish settlers were the freed forced labourers.<ref name=KAL/>
In 2016, town limits were slightly expanded by including a part of the village of Miętno.<ref>{{Cite Polish law|title=Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z dnia 28 lipca 2015 r. w sprawie ustalenia granic niektórych miast, nadania niektórym miejscowościom statusu miasta, ustalenia granic oraz zmiany nazw i siedzib władz niektórych gmin|year=2015|number=1083}}</ref> {{clear|left}}
==Sights== thumb|Church of the Assumption The city's main tourist attraction is a large lake which extends to the center of Nowogard. Its surface covers {{convert|1.12|sqkm|sqft}} with a length of {{convert|2680|m|ft}} and a width of {{convert|620|m|ft}}. Surrounding forests have mushrooms, berries and game. Historic heritage sights include the Gothic Church of the Assumption and medieval town walls.
==Population== {{Historical populations|align=left|cols=2|1871|4833|1880|4949|1890|4872|1900|4953|1910|5087|1925|6409|1933|7355|1939|8148|1950|4574|1960|6533|1970|8800|1975|9900|1980|11300|2010|16816 |source=<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Dokumentacja Geograficzna|volume=3/4|year=1967|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Instytut Geografii Polskiej Akademii Nauk|page=33}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|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=108|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|A police station in Nowogard {{clear|left}}
==Transport== The Polish S6 highway acts as a bypass of the town, and the Voivodeship roads (roads of regional importance) 106 and 144 pass through the town. There is also a train station in Nowogard.
== Notable residents== * Friedrich Michael Ziegenhagen (1694–1776), German clergyman, court preacher of George I of Great Britain * Paul Manasse (1866 in Naugard – 1927) a German physician, who specialized in the field of otology * Zbigniew Szczepkowski (born 1952) a Polish former cyclist, competed in the team pursuit at the 1976 Summer Olympics * Ewa Durska (born 1977) a two time Paralympic gold medalist, competing mainly in category T20 shot put
==International relations== {{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland}}
===Twin towns — sister cities=== Nowogard is twinned with: *{{flagicon|GER}} Gützkow, Germany *{{flagicon|GER}} Heide, Germany *{{flagicon|SWE}} Kävlinge, Sweden *{{flagicon|NMK}} Veles, North Macedonia
In 1963 West Germany (''FRG'') town of Heide took over a partnership for the expelled populace of Naugard. In 1996 this led to the signing of a contract of partnership between Heide and Nowogard in which the former populace is regarded "constitutive partners".<ref>[http://www.heide.de/rathaus-buergerservice/buergerdienste-und-sicherheit/buergerservice/staedtefreundschaften-patenschaften.html heide.de] {{in lang|de}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.nowogard.pl Homepage of City] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20041116170423/http://lo1nowogard.w.interia.pl/ Homepage of High School no 1]
{{Gmina Nowogard}} {{Pomerania}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship Category:Goleniów County Category:Populated lakeshore places in Poland Category:Sites of Nazi war crimes in Poland