Kętrzyn

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Template:Short description Template:Infobox settlement Kętrzyn (Template:IPAc-pl, until 1946 Rastembork; Template:Langx Template:IPA) is a town in northeastern Poland with 27,478 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Kętrzyn County in the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship.Template:TERYT

The town is known for the surrounding Masurian Lakeland and numerous monuments of historical value such as the Wolf's Lair in nearby Gierłoż, which was Adolf Hitler's primary headquarters over the course of Nazi Germany's military campaign on the Eastern Front during World War II. The town is also known for its 14th century Teutonic Kętrzyn Castle.

History

File:Altes Gymnasium Rastenburg.JPG
Old gymnasium, attended by Wojciech Kętrzyński between 1855 and 1859

The original inhabitants of the region were the Balt tribe of the Aesti, mentioned by Tacitus in his Germania (AD 98). The town, known in German as Rastenburg and in Polish as Rastembork, was established in 1329 in the State of the Teutonic Knights and was granted town rights in 1357 by Henning Schindekop.

After the Battle of Grunwald, in 1410, the mayor surrendered the town to Poland, however, it fell back to the Teutonic Knights in 1411. In 1440, the town joined the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation.<ref name=JS>Template:Cite web dr Jerzy Sikorski, Historia miasta Kętrzyn</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Upon the request of the Confederation, King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region and town to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454.<ref>Górski, p. 54</ref> The town then recognized the Polish King as the rightful ruler and the townspeople sent their representative to Königsberg to pay homage to the King.<ref>Tomasz Darmochwał, Marek Jacek Rumiński, Warmia Mazury. Przewodnik, Agencja TD, Białystok, 1996, p. 123 (in Polish)</ref>

After the Thirteen Years’ War (1454–1466) the town was part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Order's state<ref>Górski, pp. 96–97, 214–215</ref> and, from 1525 to 1701, it was part of the Duchy of Prussia, a Polish fief until 1657. In the second half of the 17th century, Poles constituted around a half of the town's population, the other half being Germans.<ref name=JS/> In 1667, a Polish church school was established.<ref name=JS/>

In 1701 the town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia and subsequently, in 1871, part of Germany. During the Seven Years' War, from 1758 to 1762, the town was occupied by the Russians, in June 1807, throughout the Napoleonic Wars, the division of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski was stationed in the town. Following the unsuccessful Polish November Uprising, in 1832–1833, Polish insurgents, including several officers, were interned in the town.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In the late 19th century a Polish Lutheran parish still existed,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> despite the policy of Germanisation conducted by the Prussian authorities.<ref name=JS/> In the second half of the 19th century, a sugar factory, brewery and mill were built.

20th century

File:Schron Kętrzyn 001.JPG
A preserved air raid shelter from World War II in Kętrzyn

Rastenburg and the surrounding district was the scene of the First World War's First Battle of the Masurian Lakes and Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes. During the Second World War Adolf Hitler's wartime military headquarters, the Wolf's Lair, was in the forest east of Rastenburg. The bunker was the setting for the failed assassination attempt of the 20 July plot against Hitler. During the war, the Germans operated a forced labour camp for Jews in the town.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1945, the area suffered devastation from both the retreating Germans and advancing Soviets during the Vistula-Oder campaign. Some ruins of the Wolf's Lair remain. The town was a Wehrmacht garrison town until it was occupied by the Red Army on 27 January 1945. The largely abandoned town was heavily destroyed by the Soviets.<ref name=JS/>

After German surrender, the town was assigned to Poland by the Soviets. Sovereignty over the town was officially transferred on May 18, 1945.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> At the Potsdam Conference, the Western Allies accepted establishment of Polish rule. The town's surviving German residents who had not evacuated were subsequently expelled westward in accordance with provisions included in the Potsdam Agreement and replaced with Poles, most of whom were themselves expelled from the pre-war Polish Vilnius Region that was annexed by the Soviet Union and given to the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.<ref name=JS/> The town was given the historic Polish name Rastembork in 1945, and in 1946 it was renamed to Kętrzyn after the Polish historian, activist and patriot Wojciech Kętrzyński, who attended the local gymnasium in the years 1855–1859.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Malec2002">Template:Cite book</ref>

After the war, the town's life was being rebuilt. In 1945, the Municipal Theater was established.<ref name=JS/> Thanks to voluntary contributions, books were purchased for newly organized public libraries.<ref name=JS/> A museum was created in the renovated castle.<ref name=JS/>

From 1975 to 1998, Kętrzyn was administratively located in the Olsztyn Voivodeship.

Population

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Climate

Kętrzyn's climate is either oceanic (Köppen: Cfb) or humid continental (Köppen: Dfb), depending on the isotherm used. The climate of the city has a considerable thermal amplitude, but still with some not so pronounced influence of the sea.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="kiedy" />

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Sports

The local football team is Template:Interlanguage link. It competes in the lower leagues.

People

File:2005-09 Kętrzyn pomnik Kętrzynskiego.jpg
Monument to Wojciech Kętrzyński in the town center

International relations

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Twin towns – Sister cities

Kętrzyn is twinned with:

References

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Template:Kętrzyn County Template:Gmina Kętrzyn Template:Authority control

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