{{Short description|Town in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Sztum | image_skyline = Kościół poewangelicki w Sztumie1.jpg | imagesize = 250px | image_caption = Center of Sztum with the Church of Our Lady Help of Christians in the foreground and Church of Saint Anne in the background | image_flag = POL Sztum flag.svg | image_shield = POL Sztum COA.svg | pushpin_map = Poland | pushpin_label_position = bottom | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{POL}} | subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship | subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Pomeranian Voivodeship|name=Pomeranian}} | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Sztum | subdivision_type3 = Gmina | subdivision_name3 = Sztum | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Leszek Jan Tabor (L) | established_title = Established | established_date = 13th century | established_title3 = Town rights | established_date3 = 1416 | area_total_km2 = 4.59 | population_as_of = 2006 | population_total = 9945 | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | coordinates = {{coord|53|55|18|N|19|2|1|E|region:PL|display=title,inline}} | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 82-400 | area_code = +48 55 | blank_name = Car plates | blank_info = GSZ | blank_name_sec2 = National roads | blank_info_sec2 = 32px | blank1_name_sec2 = Voivodeship roads | blank1_info_sec2 = 32px | website = {{URL|http://sztum.pl/}} }} '''Sztum''' ({{IPA|pl|ʂtum|-|LL-Q809 (pol)-Olaf-Sztum.wav}}; formerly {{langx|de|Stuhm}}) is a town in northern Poland in the Powiśle region, located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship.{{TERYT}} It is the capital of Sztum County, with some 10,141 inhabitants (2004).

==History== left|thumb|Sztum Castle Signs of settlement dating back to the Roman Empire era have been found. In the early Middle Ages, a fortified settlement of the Old Prussians existed at the site, conquered by the Teutonic Knights in 1236. The castle was captured by the Poles after the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XII|year=1892|language=pl|location=Warszawa|page=52}}</ref> Town rights were granted to the settlement in 1416 and confirmed by King Sigismund II Augustus in 1553.<ref name=SGK>''Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XII'', p. 53</ref>

In 1441 both the town and the local Teutonic county official joined the Prussian Confederation, which opposed Teutonic rule,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Górski|first=Karol|title=Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych|year=1949|publisher=Instytut Zachodni|location=Poznań|language=pl|page=XXXVIII}}</ref> and upon the request of which King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the territory to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454. The castle, which initially remained in the hands of the Teutonic Knights, was captured by Poles after a siege in 1454, but later it was taken over by the Teutonic Knights again.<ref name=SGK/> In 1466 by the Second Peace of Toruń the town was finally renounced by the Teutonic Knights<ref>Górski, p. 106</ref> and integrated with the Kingdom of Poland. As part of Poland, the town functioned as a seat of the Sztum County in Malbork Voivodeship and a place to hold the voivodeship's sejmiks (regional court sessions). The Sztum Castle was the seat of the local starosts. In 1506 and 1512 the town was visited by Nicolaus Copernicus,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://szlakkopernikowski.pl/pl/sztum|title=Sztum|website=Szlak Kopernikowski|access-date=7 December 2023|language=pl}}</ref> and in 1552 it was visited by Polish King Sigismund II Augustus.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moraczewski|first=Jędrzej|title=Dzieje Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z pierwszéj połowy szesnastego wieku|year=1847|location=Poznań|language=pl|page=277}}</ref> thumb|left|18th-century drawing of Sztum In 1772 as a result of the First Partition of Poland the town was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. In October–December 1831, some Polish infantry units and intendant troops of the November Uprising stopped in the town on the way to their final internment places.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kasparek|first=Norbert|editor-last=Katafiasz|editor-first=Tomasz|year=2014|title=Na tułaczym szlaku... Powstańcy Listopadowi na Pomorzu|language=pl|location=Koszalin|publisher=Muzeum w Koszalinie, Archiwum Państwowe w Koszalinie|pages=138, 140, 145|chapter=Żołnierze polscy w Prusach po upadku powstania listopadowego. Powroty do kraju i wyjazdy na emigrację}}</ref> In 1871, it became part of the newly created German Empire. In 1910, the Polish ''Bank Ludowy'' was founded in the town.<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Leksykon Polactwa w Niemczech|year=1939|language=pl|publisher=Związek Polaków w Niemczech|location=Opole|page=36}}</ref> In Stuhm, the German dialect High Prussian was spoken. Today, the German dialects are extinct.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Von den Mundarten um Marienburg |title=Neues Marienburger Heimatbuch |place=Herford |year=1967 |first=Rainer |last=Zacharias |publisher=W. Groll |OL=5514669M |LCCN=73453039 |oclc=27791931}}</ref>

According to the Treaty of Versailles, after World War I the inhabitants of the town and its district were asked whether they want to remain in Germany or join the new Second Polish Republic in the East Prussian plebiscite of 1920. Ultimately in Stuhm, 2,079 (73.5%) votes were cast in favor of remaining in Germany and 751 (26.5%) votes were in favor of rejoining Poland.<ref>{{cite book |title=Selbstbestimmung für Ostdeutschland – Eine Dokumentation zum 50 Jahrestag der ost- und westpreussischen Volksabstimmung am 11. Juli 1920|first1=Herbert| last1=Marzian|first2=Csaba|last2=Kenez|year=1970|page=124 |language=de}}</ref> Based on that result, Stuhm was included in the Regierungsbezirk Marienwerder within East Prussia in Germany. In the interwar period, Sztum remained one of the main centers of the Polish community in the area. The Germans arrested 30 local Polish activists in August 1939, before the invasion of Poland which started World War II.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cygański|first=Mirosław|year=1984|title=Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939-1945|journal=Przegląd Zachodni|language=pl|issue=4|pages=40–41}}</ref> During the war, the Germans operated a Nazi prison in the town.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=100001294 |title=NS-Gefängnis Stuhm |website=Bundesarchiv.de |access-date=24 October 2021 |language=de}}</ref> After World War II, Sztum again became part of Poland, under territorial changes demanded by the Soviet Union at the Potsdam Conference.

On 14 July 2012 the town and surrounding areas, including Barlewice, were hit by a Low-End F3/T6 tornado, resulting in one injury. Buildings saw significant roof damage, some of which were entirely torn off. Other buildings were damaged as well. The tornado was part of an outbreak that produced several tornadoes, one of which killed a person.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eswd.eu/cgi-bin/eswd.cgi?lang=en_0&lastquery=1894376409 |title=European Severe Weather Database |website=eswd.eu |access-date=15 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424181003/https://eswd.eu/cgi-bin/eswd.cgi?lang=en_0&lastquery=1894376409 |archive-date=24 April 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://sztum.naszemiasto.pl/traba-powietrzna-w-powiecie-sztumskim-sprzatanie-po/ar/c8-1478279#galeria | title=Trąba powietrzna w powiecie sztumskim: Sprzątanie po tornadzie w Barlewicach &#91;ZDJĘCIA&#93; | date=16 July 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://sztum.naszemiasto.pl/traba-powietrzna-w-powiecie-sztumskim-wojewoda-odwiedzil/ar/c8-1480055 | title=Trąba powietrzna w powiecie sztumskim. Wojewoda odwiedził poszkodowane miejscowości &#91;ZDJĘCIA&#93; | date=17 July 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301318516 |doi=10.1016/j.atmosres.2016.04.009|title=An isolated tornadic supercell of 14 July 2012 in Poland — A prediction technique within the use of coarse-grid WRF simulation |year=2016 |last1=Taszarek |first1=Mateusz |last2=Czernecki |first2=Bartosz |last3=Walczakiewicz |first3=Szymon |last4=Mazur |first4=Andrzej |last5=Kolendowicz |first5=Leszek |journal=Atmospheric Research |volume=178-179 |pages=367–379 |bibcode=2016AtmRe.178..367T }}</ref>

=== Number of inhabitants by year === {{Historical populations|align=left|cols=2|1789|509|1831|956|1875|2145|1880|2210|1890|2265|1905|2557|1933|6147|1939|7374|1943|7099|2006|9945| footnote=Source:<ref name="JFG">Johann Friedrich Goldbeck: ''Volständige Topographie des Königreichs Preußen''. Part II, Marienwerder 1789, [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_SQw_AAAAcAAJ/page/n224 p. 19.]</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon|year=1907|volume=8|edition=6th|location=Leipzig and Vienna|language=de|page=251}}</ref><ref name="VWG" >Michael Rademacher: ''[http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/stuhm.html Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichte Provinz Westpreußen, Kreis Stuhm]'' (2006).</ref><ref name="AEP" >August Eduard Preuß: ''Preußische Landes- und Volkskunde''. Königsberg 1835, [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_L_sAAAAAcAAJ/page/n466 p. 444, no. 59.]</ref>}} {{clear|left}} {{multiple image |align=right |caption_align=center |perrow=2 |total_width=300 |header=Historic churches in Sztum | image1 = Sztum, kościół.jpg | image2 = Kościół ewangelicki w Sztumie (1).jpg | caption1 = Saint Anne | caption2 = Our Lady Help of Christians }}

==Transport== The Polish National road 55 and Voivodeship road 517 pass through the town, and there is also a train station on the Malbork-Kwidzyn railway line.

==Sports== thumb|Stadium in Sztum Local sports clubs include football club Olimpia Sztum,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.olimpiasztum.pl/news.php|title=Olimpia Sztum - serwis klubu|access-date=24 October 2021|language=pl}}</ref> which competes in the lower leagues, and athletics club Zantyr Sztum.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://zantyr.pl|title=Zantyr Sztum|access-date=25 March 2023|language=pl}}</ref>

== Notable residents == * Emil Stumpp (1886–1941) a German painter teacher and artist known for his cartoons and drawings of well-known people including an unfavourable one in 1933 of Adolf Hitler * Goetz Oertel (born 1934) an American physicist and science manager * Richard Nowakowski (born 1955) a retired boxer, competed for East Germany, silver medallist 1976 Summer Olympics and bronze medallist 1980 Summer Olympics * Jacek Frąckiewicz (born 1969) a former Polish footballer, 169 pro games * Monika Merl (born 1979) a German 800 meter runner * Wojciech Tyszyński (born 1984) a Polish sprint canoer competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics * Wojciech Zyska (born 1994) a Polish footballer * Katarzyna Janiszewska (born 1995) a Polish handball player * Joanna Kozłowska (born 1995) a Polish handball player

==International relations== {{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland}}

Sztum is twinned with:

{| class="wikitable" |- valign="top" | * {{flagicon|GER}} Ritterhude, Germany | * {{flagicon|FRA}} Val de Reuil France | * {{flagicon|DEN}} Varde, Denmark | * {{flagicon|RUS}} Vorkuta, Russia |}

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == * [http://www.sztum.pl Official town webpage]

{{Sztum County}} {{Gmina Sztum}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities and towns in Pomeranian Voivodeship Category:Populated lakeshore places in Poland Category:Sztum County