Bartoszyce

Infobox Settlement
name = Bartoszyce

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imagesize = 250px
image_caption = Lidzbark gate ("Heilsberger Tor")

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image_shield = POL Bartoszyce COA.svg
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position = bottom
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = POL
subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship
subdivision_name1 = Warmian-Masurian
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Bartoszyce County
subdivision_type3 = Gmina
subdivision_name3 = Bartoszyce (urban gmina)
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Krzysztof Franciszek Nałęcz
established_title = Established
established_date = 1240
established_title3 = Town rights
established_date3 = 1326
area_total_km2 = 11
population_as_of = 2006
population_total = 25423
population_density_km2 = auto
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST = CEST
utc_offset_DST = +2
latd = 54 | latm = 15 | lats = | latNS = N | longd = 20 | longm = 48 | longs = | longEW = E
postal_code_type = Postal code
postal_code = 11-200
area_code = +48 89
blank_name = Car plates
blank_info = NBA
website = http://www.bartoszyce.pl

Bartoszyce Audio-IPA-pl|pl-Bartoszyce.ogg|b|a|r|t|o|'|sz|y|c|e ( _de. BartensteinAudlisten|Bartenstein.ogg, _lt. Baršteinas) is a town on the Łyna River in northeastern Poland with 25,621 inhabitants (as of 2004). It is the capital of Bartoszyce County within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.

History

In 1240 the Teutonic Knights constructed a castle on the left shore of the Alle (Łyna) River on the border between the Prussian regions of Natangia and Bartia."Ostpreußen.net". [http://www.ostpreussen.net/index.php?seite_id=12&kreis=15&stadt=01 Geschichte der Stadt Bartoszyce - Bartenstein] . Accessed 1 April 2007. de icon] The castle was part of the Komturei Balga and was composed of block houses, palisades, and earthworks. Besieged by Old Prussians for four years during a Prussian uprising, the castle was destroyed in 1264. The Order rebuilt the castle shortly afterwards, but this was besieged by Sudovians in 1273. After uprisings ended, the knights built the Ordensburg out of stone from 1274-80. During the 14th and 15th centuries, the castle was administered by the Komtur of Balga.

A settlement developed near the caste on the right shore of the Alle River opposite the castle. First documented in 1326 under the name Rosenthal, it received town privileges from Grand Master Luther von Braunschweig in 1332. After that the name was changed to Bartenstein and the settlement of Rosenthal below the castle on the left shore of the river was relocated, as the left side had become too dangerous from warfare. Komtur Henning Schindekopf of Balga began construction of a wall for Bartenstein in 1353.

Bartenstein sided with the Prussian Confederation during the Thirteen Years' War (1454-66). The Teutonic castle was destroyed by the town's citizens at the beginning of the war and was not rebuilt afterward. The townsfolk reconciled with the Teutonic Knights in 1460. To stabilize the Order's financial situation, it pawned the ruined castle's farmyard and meadows to Wend von Eulenburg in 1469; the entire department of Bartenstein was pawned in 1513 to one of the "Heinrich Reuß von Plauen" (not the Grand Master) .

With the secularization of the Teutonic Order's Prussian territories in 1525, Bartenstein became part of the Duchy of Prussia. The town converted to Protestantism in the same year during the Protestant Reformation; it then did not have a Catholic church until the 19th century.

Bartenstein became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and the Prussian Province of East Prussia in 1773. During the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia and the Russian Empire signed a treaty of alliance in the town on 16 April 1807. Administrative reform following the wars placed the town within East Prussia's Landkreis Friedland in 1818.

The Ostpreußische Südbahn ran through Bartenstein in 1868, leading to the establishment of industries, including an iron foundry, a machine factory, and a wagon factory. Bartenstein was also noted for its oak trade. A garrison town for the Prussian Army, Bartenstein was the seat of the district court. Because it had grown to become the largest town in Landkreis Friendland during the 19th century, the town was made the district capital in 1902. Landkreis Friedland was renamed Landkreis Bartenstein in 1927. The foundation of the old castle was used in the construction of the administrative seat; this building was destroyed in 1945.

Never before in its entire history defeated by aggressors, in January 1945 during World War II, Bartenstein was 50-60% destroyed during fighting with the Soviet Red Army. After the Potsdam Conference, the town was placed under Polish administration in 1945. The German population was either evacuated or later expelled, and the town was repopulated with Poles and other Slavs.

The town, renamed Bartoszyce, was in Olsztyn Voivodeship from 1975-1998. It became part of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in 1999.

References

External links

* [http://www.bartoszyce.pl Municipal website] pl icon
* [http://mapa.szukacz.pl/?x=617747&y=711210&m=Bartoszyce&w=warmi%f1sko%2dmazurskie&p=bartoszycki&g=Bartoszyce&z=3 Map from mapa.szukacz.pl] pl icon
* [http://bartoszyce.pl/ez39/index.php/ger/ History of Bartenstein in German language]
* [http://www.ostpreussen.net/index.php?seite_id=12&kreis=15&stadt=01 Geschichte der Stadt Bartoszyce - Bartenstein] de icon
* [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Bartoszyce Photos of Bartoszyce] pl icon