Świnoujście
From Free net encyclopedia
Świnoujście (pronounce: [,ɕvinɔ'ujɕtɕȋe], German Swinemünde) is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland, situated on the islands of Uznam and Wolin with about 44,500 inhabitants (2004). It is also a county-status town in the West Pomeranian Voivodship (since 1999), and was previously in the Szczecin Voivodship (1975–1998).
Contents |
History
Historical population
of Świnoujście
| 1900 | 10,300 | |
| 1905 | 13,700 | |
| 1925 | 18,200 | |
| 1938 | 30,100 | |
| 1947 | 5,800 | |
| 1960 | 17,000 | |
| 1970 | 28,100 | |
| 1975 | 42,400 | |
| 1980 | 47,100 | |
| 1990 | 43,300 | |
| 1995 | 43,200 | |
| 2003 | 42,881 | |
| 2005 | 44,585 |
The river Swina was formerly flanked by the fishing villages of West and East Swina. Towards the beginning of the seventeenth century it was made navigable for large ships, and Swinemuende, which was founded on the site of West Swina in 1748, was fortified and raised to the dignity of a town by Frederick the Great in 1765.
It served as the outer port of Stettin/Szczecin. The city had broad unpaved streets and one-storey houses built in the Dutch style, which gave it an almost rustic appearance, although its industries, beyond some fishing, were entirely connected with its shipping. The entrance to the harbour, which was regarded as the best on the Prussian Baltic coast, is protected by two long breakwaters, and was strongly fortified. On the island of Wolin, on the other side of the narrow Swina, there was a great lighthouse. In 1897 the canal of the Kaiserfahrt was opened to navigation, and this waterway between the Stettin harbour and the Baltic Sea was deepened between 1900–1901. After this Stettin could be directly reached by ships, and city's importance diminished somewhat.
On March 12, 1945, Świnoujście suffered heavy destruction by USAAF bombing. At least 23,000 civilians died, mainly refugees fleeing from East Prussia and from surrounding areas. After the war the city was annexed into Poland, even though it is on the west bank of the Oder River, along with the former German territory east of the Oder-Neisse line border established for Poland by the Potsdam Conference. Its German population was expelled and the city was repopulated by Poles.
Tourist towns and villages near Świnoujście
Internet Pages
- Official Page of Świnoujście
- Świnoujście in Photos
- Virtuals Świnoujście
- Świnoujście On-line
- http://erwin-rosenthal.de/swinemuende1 Homepage (english)
See also
Template:Commonsda:Świnoujście de:Świnoujście fr:Świnoujście nl:Świnoujście no:Swinoujscie pl:Świnoujście ro:Świnoujście sv:Świnoujście