View source for Gryfice

{{Infobox settlement
| name = Gryfice
| image_flag = POL Gryfice flag.svg
| image_shield = POL_Gryfice_COA_1.svg
| image_skyline = Gryfice plac Zwyciestwa rano 2008-07 A.jpg
| image_size = 260
| image_caption = Victory Square and Saint Mary's Church
| pushpin_map = Poland
| pushpin_label_position = top
| pushpin_map_alt =
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{POL}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[Voivodeships of Poland|Voivodeship]]
| subdivision_name1 = {{flag|West Pomeranian Voivodeship|name=West Pomeranian}}
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of Polish counties|County]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Gryfice County|Gryfice]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[Gmina]]
| subdivision_name3 = [[Gmina Gryfice|Gryfice]]
| leader_title = Mayor
| leader_name = Tomasz Aniuksztys
| established_title = [[City rights]]
| established_date = 1262
| area_total_km2 = 12.4
| population_as_of = 2017
| population_total = 16600
| population_density_km2 = auto
| timezone = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset = +1
| timezone_DST = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset_DST = +2
| coordinates = {{coord|53|54|53|N|15|11|55|E|region:PL|display=title,inline}}
| postal_code_type = Postal code
| postal_code = 72-300
| blank_name = [[Polish car number plates|Car plates]]
| blank_info = ZGY
| website = http://www.urzad.gryfice.eu/
}}
'''Gryfice''' (<small>pronounced</small> {{respell|Gri|fitse}} {{IPAc-pl|AUD|Pl-Gryfice.ogg|g|r|y|'|f|J|i|c|e}}; [[Kashubian language|Kashubian]]: ''Grëfice''; {{langx|de|Greifenberg}})<ref name=eb9>"{{Cite EB9|wstitle=Greifenberg|volume=11|page=183}}. 1880.</ref> is a historic town in [[Pomerania]], north-western [[Poland]], with 16,600 inhabitants (2017). It is the capital of [[Gryfice County]] in [[West Pomeranian Voivodeship]] (since 1999), previously in [[Szczecin Voivodeship (1975–1998)|Szczecin Voivodeship]] (1975–1998). The town is situated approximately 22 kilometres from the [[Baltic Sea]] coast and seaside resorts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gryfice.eu/informacje-ogolne/polozenie|title=Gmina Gryfice - Położenie|website=www.gryfice.eu}}</ref>
==History==
{{Main|History of Gryfice}}
===Middle Ages===
[[File:Gryfice Brama Wysoka 2010-10.jpg|thumb|left|160px|Wysoka Gate was once part of the medieval [[defensive walls]] which surrounded the town]]
The region was part of Poland during the reign of the first Polish ruler [[Mieszko I]] and during the early part of the reign of his successor, [[Bolesław I the Brave]]. It broke away along with most of Pomerania in the pagan revolt that occurred around 1005, but was reconquered by the Polish king in the early 1100s. The [[Niekładź|Battle of Niekładź]] took place in the area of Gryfice in 1121, in which Polish ruler [[Bolesław III Wrymouth]] defeated [[Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania]] and [[Swantopolk I, Duke of Pomerania]].<ref>''Rodowód książat pomorskich'' Szczecin 2005 page 94-95, 98</ref><ref>Richard Roepell: ''Geschichte Polens'', vol. I, Hamburg 1840, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zl0TAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA267 pp. 267-268 (in German)]</ref> The area was part of the [[Duchy of Pomerania]], a vassal state of [[Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385)|Poland]], which later on separated itself from Poland as a result of the [[fragmentation of Poland]].
In 1262 [[Wartislaw III, Duke of Pomerania]] founded a town under [[Lübeck law]] on the [[Rega]] river to attract [[Ostsiedlung|German settlers]]. After his death, his successor, [[Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania]], named the settlement ''Civitat Griphemberch super Regam'' ([[Middle High German]] 'Griphemberch' meaning Griffin's mountain) after the coat of arms symbol of the [[Dukes of Pomerania]]. In 1365 the town entered the [[Hanseatic League]] and prospered due to the right of free navigation on the Rega, despite the 350-year [[Conflict over rafting on the Rega|conflict]] over rafting on the Rega river.
A town wall was built and at the end of the 13th century the construction of the [[St. Mary's Church, Gryfice|St. Mary's church]] was begun. In a document of 1386 a Latin school is mentioned, which is generally called the oldest in Pomerania.
===Modern era===
In the 16th century, the local Germans pursued a policy of [[Germanisation]] towards the indigenous population, which, however, did not bring results quickly.<ref>Stanisław Rzeszowski. Ważniejsze momenty dziejów Gryfic. „Szczecin, czasopismo regionu zachodnio-pomorskiego” p. 32. (in Polish)</ref> At that time, some of the indigenous peasants fled to [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland]],<ref>''Ziemia Gryficka 1969'', p. 103 (in Polish)</ref> while [[Scottish people|Scottish]] immigrants settled in the town.<ref name=XVI>{{cite web |url=http://www.gryfice.eu/historia/xvi-xx|title=Gmina Gryfice - XVI-XX wiek|access-date=June 16, 2019|language=pl}}</ref> As a result of the [[Thirty Years' War]], the population of the town decreased dramatically.<ref name=XVI/> The town was occupied by the [[Holy Roman Empire|Imperial]] and [[Swedish Empire|Swedish]] armies.<ref name=XVI/> After the death of the last Pomeranian Duke and by the [[Treaty of Westphalia]] [[Greifenberg]] became part of [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] in 1648 and part of [[Imperial Germany]] in 1871. In 1818 the town became the capital of the Greifenberg district (Kreis Greifenberg).
[[File:Panorama Gryfic (1940).jpg|thumb|left|Panorama of the town in 1940]]
In 1894 the town was connected to the railway line [[Dąbie, Szczecin|Dąbie (Altdamm)]] - [[Kołobrzeg|Kołobrzeg (Kolberg)]]. On July 1, 1896, the Greifenberger Kleinbahn was opened, a narrow-gauge railway today used as a railway Museum. In 1933 a Polish association of agricultural workers was established in Gryfice.<ref>''Ziemia Gryficka 1969'', p. 130-131 (in Polish)</ref> Local [[Polish people|Poles]] and [[Jews]] were subjected to increased repressions, after the [[NSDAP|Nazis]] came to power in Germany in 1933.<ref>A. Poniatowska, B. Drewniak, ''Polonia szczecińska (1890–1939)'', p. 61 (in Polish)</ref> After the German [[invasion of Poland]], [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labourers]] from Poland were brought to the town.<ref>K. Golczewski, ''Miasto Gryfice i powiat na przełomie lat 1944-1945'', p. 60-61 (in Polish)</ref>
At the end of [[World War II]], on March 5, 1945, the Soviet [[Red Army]] conquered the town, and on March 8, Poles entered the town. Approximately 40 per cent of the town was destroyed, however many historical monuments stayed intact or were reconstructed. Following the [[Oder-Neisse line|post-war boundary changes]], the town became part of Poland. Initially called ''Zagórze'', it was eventually given the Polish name ''Gryfice''. The Germans who did not escape during the battle with the Soviets, [[Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland after World War II|were expelled]] and the town was populated with [[Polish people|Poles]], [[Repatriation of Poles (1944–1946)|some of them expellees themselves]] from [[Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union]]. The post-war administration of Gryfice was created with the participation of the just-freed Polish forced labourers.
[[File:9.Brama Kamienna.Gryfice8.jpg|thumb|190px|The medieval Stone Gate (''Brama Kamienna'')]]
After the war, the life of the town was being rebuilt. In 1945, the first post-war schools, a hospital and a cinema were opened and the following year a mill, a [[gasworks]] and a [[marmalade]] factory were opened.<ref name=GRY>{{cite web |url=http://www.gryfice.eu/historia/kronika-wydarzen|title=Kronika wydarzeń 1945-1989|access-date=June 16, 2019|language=pl}}</ref> In 1948 a sugar factory was established, which already in 1951 was one of the leading sugar factories in Poland.<ref name=GRY/>
[[File:Gryfice deptak ruta.jpg|thumb|240px|A pedestrian precinct along Ruta Street]]
[[File:GRYFICE, AB-023.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Historic tenement houses]]
[[File:Gryfice local court new part facade 2010-10.jpg|thumb|240px|District Court in Gryfice]]
==Demographics==
Between its foundation and 1945, Greifenberg was predominantly inhabited by German-speaking people. By the 18th century, almost all inhabitants where Lutheran Protestants, with small Jewish and Catholic minorities. With the expropriation and expulsion of the German inhabitants at the end of World War II and the occupation of the vacated buildings by Polish settlers, the majority of its population has been composed of [[Roman Catholics]].
{| class="wikitable" style="width:50%;"
|+ Number of inhabitants in years
|-
! Year
! Inhabitants
! Notes
|-
| 1740 || 1,724<ref name="GK">Kratz (1965), [https://books.google.com/books?id=g2sRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA176 p. 176].</ref> ||
|-
| 1782 || 1,890 || incl. 20 [[Jews]].<ref name="GK"/>
|-
| 1794 || 2,138 || incl. 19 Jews.<ref name="GK"/>
|-
| 1812 || 2,445 || incl. 15 [[Catholics]] and 35 Jews.<ref name="GK"/>
|-
| 1816 || 2,610 || incl. 44 Catholics and 35 Jews.<ref name="GK"/>
|-
| 1831 || 3,272 || incl. 13 Catholics and 82 Jews.<ref name="GK"/>
|-
| 1843 || 4,027 || incl. 9 Catholics and 132 Jews.<ref name="GK"/>
|-
| 1852 || 4,886 || incl. 15 Catholics and 129 Jews.<ref name="GK"/>
|-
| 1861 || 5,361 || incl. 31 Catholics, and 134 Jews.<ref name="GK"/>
|-
| 1900 || 6,477<ref>''Meyers Konversations-Lexikon''. 6th edition, vol. 8, Leipzig and Vienna 1907, p. 272.</ref> ||
|-
| 1925 || 8,370 || incl. 110 Catholics, 80 Jews and 630 others.<ref>''Der Große Brockhaus''. 15th edition, vol. 2, Leipzig 1929, p. 488.</ref>
|-
| 1939 || 10,800 ||
|-
| 1946 || 4,900 || after [[expulsion of Germans after World War II]] and war losses
|-
| 1950 || 8,700 ||
|-
| 1960 || 11,600 ||
|-
| 1970 || 13,200 ||
|-
| 1980 || 15,300 ||
|-
| 1990 || 17,600 ||
|-
| 2000 || 17,300 ||
|}
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==Notable residents==
* [[David Christiani]] (1610–1688), a German mathematician, philosopher and Lutheran theologian
* [[Karl Wilhelm Gottlob Kastner]], (1783–1857) a German chemist, natural scientist and a professor of physics and chemistry
* [[Gustav von Struensee]] (1803–1875) a German writer.
* [[Herman Schatz]] (1843–1906) an American politician and blacksmith emigrated to the US in 1851
* [[Friedrich Heinrich Albert Wangerin]] (1844–1933) a German mathematician.
* [[Richard C. H. Lenski]] (1864−1936), Lutheran scholar, emigrated to the US in 1872
* [[Conrad Pochhammer]] (1873–1932) a German physician and surgeon
* [[Rita von Gaudecker]] (1879–1968) a German author of books for children and young people
* [[Moritz Seeler]] (1896–1942) a German poet, writer, film producer and victim of the Holocaust.
* [[Ehrengard Schramm]] (1900–1985) a German politician and writer
* [[Krzysztof Linkowski]] (born 1949) a retired Polish runner who specialized in the 800 metres
* [[Bartosz Nowicki]] (born 1984) a Polish middle distance runner.
* [[Grzegorz Krychowiak]] (born 1990) a Polish professional football player.
==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland}}
===Twin towns — Sister cities===
Gryfice is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with:
* {{flagicon|GER}} [[Güstrow]], Germany
* {{flagicon|GER}} [[Meldorf]], Germany
* {{flagicon|POL}} [[Gryfów Śląski]], Poland
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==Literature==
* [[Gustav Kratz]]: ''Die Städte der Provinz Pommern - Abriß ihrer Geschichte, zumeist nach Urkunden''. Berlin 1865 (reprinted in 1996 by Sändig Reprint Verlag, Vaduz/Liechtenstein, {{ISBN|3-253-02734-1}}; reprinted in 2011 by [[Kessinger Publishing]], U.S.A., {{ISBN|1-161-12969-3}}), pp.&nbsp;32–38 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=g2sRAAAAYAAJ online]).
==External links==
{{Commons category|Gryfice}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Greifenberg|volume=12|page=557|short=x}}
* [http://www.gryfice.pl/ Official website] {{in lang|pl}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928074128/http://www.thorhauer-eisdorf.de/sm_polen/Gryfice/museum_gryfice.htm narrow-gauge railway museum] {{in lang|de}}
* [http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/city/gryfice/ Jewish Community in Gryfice] on Virtual Shtetl
{{Gmina Gryfice}}
{{Gryfice County}}
{{Pomerania}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Cities and towns in West Pomeranian Voivodeship]]
[[Category:Gryfice County]]