Giżycko

Infobox Settlement
name = Giżycko


image_caption = Canal in Giżycko

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image_shield = POL Giżycko 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 = Giżycko County
subdivision_type3 = Gmina
subdivision_name3 = Giżycko (urban gmina)
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Jolanta Piotrowska
established_title = Established
established_date = 1335
established_title3 = Town rights
established_date3 = 1612
elevation_min_m = 116
elevation_max_m = 142
area_total_km2 = 13.87
population_as_of = 2006
population_total = 29667
population_density_km2 = auto
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST = CEST
utc_offset_DST = +2
latd = 54
latm = 2
lats = 24
latNS = N
longd = 21
longm = 45
longs = 32
longEW = E
postal_code_type = Postal code
postal_code = 11-500
area_code = +48 87
blank_name = Car plates
blank_info = NGI
website = http://www.gizycko.pl

Giżycko [IPA-pl|g|i|'|ż|y|c|k|o] (Audio-de|Lötzen|Lötzen.ogg; former _pl. Lec) is a town in northeastern Poland with 29,796 inhabitants (2004). It is situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been in the Suwałki Voivodeship (1975-1998). It is the seat of Giżycko County.

History

The Teutonic Knights built a castle in Prussia named Lötzen ("Lec" in Polish) in 1340, located at the isthmus between two lakes in Masuria. It was administered within the Komturei of Balga. The settlement near the castle received town privileges, with a coat of arms and seal, in 1612 while part of the Duchy of Prussia.

As a legend Holy Bruno of Querfurt was killed on his missionary of Old Prussians by Sudovians near Lake Niegocin in 1009, as a memorial the Bruno – cross was erected near Gizycko in 1909.

Lötzen became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and was made part of the province of East Prussia in 1773. In the 19th century, a Lutheran church designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel was erected in the centre of the town. Lötzen became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany.

1844 – 1848 the “Feste Boyen“, a fortress named after the prussian war-minister Hermann von Boyen, was built on a small landtongue between lake Mamry ( Mauersee ) and lake Niegocin ( Löwentinsee ). This fortress is one of the largest and best conditioned fortresses of the 19th century. In 1942 – 1945 it was the headquarter of the German military intelligence service ( Fremde Heere Ost ) under Reinhard Gehlen.

As a result of the treaty of Versailles on 11 July 1920 the East Prussian plebiscite was organized under the control of the League of nations, which resulted 99,97 % of votes to remain in Germany (29.378 total) and 0,03 % for Poland (9 total).

In the 1930s Lötzen was garrison of several military units of the Wehrmacht as a Sub-area Headquarter of Wehrkreis I, which was headquartered at Königsberg. Staff-, maintenance- and guardtroops of Hitlers headquarter Wolfsschanze and the Oberkommando des Heeres ( OKH, army highcommand ) were also based in or nearby Lötzen. The OKH was based at the Mauerwald area, ca. 10 km north of Gizycko, an undestroyed bunker system.

The town was occupied by the Soviet Union's Red Army in 1945 during World War II and placed under Polish administration after the war ended. The German-speaking populace who had not evacuated during the war were subsequently expelled westward. The town was renamed "Giżycko" in 1946 in honor of the Masurian folklorist Gustav Gisevius, a 19th century Evangelical-Lutheran pastor in southern East Prussia, who had greatly supported Polish language.

Education

Primary School

* Szkoła Podstawowa nr 4 im. I Dywizji Piechoty
* Szkoła podstawowa nr 5
* Szkoła Podstawowa nr 6
* Szkoła Podstawowa nr 7 im. Janusza Korczaka

Middle School

* Gimnazjum nr 1 w Giżycku im. Jana Pawła II
* Gimnazjum nr 2 w Giżycku
* Katolickie Gimnazjum im. św. Brunona z Kwerfurtu
* Zespół Szkół nr 1 im. Mikołaja Kopernika

High School

* I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Wojciecha Kętrzyńskiego
* II Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Gustawa Gizewiusza
* Zespół Szkół Elektronicznych i Informatycznych im. Komisji Edukacji Narodowej
* Zespół Szkół Kształtowania Środowiska i Agrobiznesu
* Zespół Szkół Zawodowych
* Katolickie Liceum im. św. Brunona z Kwerfurtu

College

* Medyczne Studium Zawodowe im. Hanny Chrzanowskiej
* Prywatna Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa

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Notable residents

* Fritz Milkau (1838-1918) librarian
* Adalbert von Winckler (1838-1918) aka Wojciech Kętrzyński, Pro-Polish activist of Kashubian-German descent
* Rudolf Nadolny (1873-1953) diplomat
* Franz Pfemfert (1879-1954), publisher
* Horst Gerlach (1919-1990) member Bundestag, European Council
* Lothar Gall 1936 historian
* Jan Bułhak (1876-1950), pioneer of photography in Poland, resettled by communists 1945
* Maria Pakulnis actress
* Mateusz Kusznierewicz sailor

ister cities

Giżycko is twinned with:
* Dubno (Ukraine)
* Querfurt (Germany)
* Silkeborg (Denmark)
* Trakai (Lithuania)

External links

* [http://www.gizycko.pl/en/main_en.html Municipal website]
* [http://www.gizycko.turystyka.pl/uk Tourism website]
* [http://feefhs.org/maps/gere/ge-eprus.html Map of East Prussia with Lötzen in 1882]
* [http://www.festeboyen.pl/] Feste Boyen ( polish )