Tczew
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Image:HerbTczew.jpg Tczew (Template:Lang-de (Template:Audio); Kashubian/Pomeranian: Dërszewò) is a town on the Vistula river in Eastern Pomerania, northern Poland with 60,128 inhabitants (1 January 2005). It is an important railway junction with a classification yard dating to the Prussian East Railway. The city is known for its attractive old town and the Vistula Bridge, or Bridge of Tczew, damaged during World War II.
It is the capital of Tczew County in Pomeranian Voivodship since 1999, and was previously a town in Gdańsk Voivodship (1975-1998).
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History
Tczew was first mentioned as Trsow in a privilege of the Knights Hospitaller in 1198. By 1252 the settlement was known by the names Tczew and Dirschau, and in 1258 Tczew hosted the first city council in Poland. It received Lübeck rights from Duke Sambor II in 1260. In 1309 Tczew was destroyed by the Teutonic Knights, but was rebuilt from 1364-1384 and granted Chełmno rights. After the Peace of Toruń in 1466, Tczew was transferred from the Teutonic Order to the newly-created Polish province of Royal Prussia.
During the Reformation most of Tczew's inhabitants converted to Lutheranism. In 1577 the town was burnt to the ground by troops of King Stefan Batory of Poland after they defeated a rebellion by Gdańsk. Although Tczew was rebuilt, it then suffered during the Polish-Swedish Wars.
Tczew was annexed from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Kingdom of Prussia during the Partitions of Poland. It was occupied by Polish troops of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski in 1807 during the Napoleonic Wars, but became Prussian again in 1815. It became part of the German Empire in 1871.
Tczew grew rapidly during the 19th century after the opening of a railroad line connecting Berlin and Königsberg. The Prussian census of 1905 counted 15,144 Polish or Kashubian-speaking citizens and 25,466 German-speaking citizens in Tczew.
After World War I, Tczew became part of the Second Polish Republic when troops of General Józef Haller entered the town on January 30 1920. During the Interwar period, Tczew was famous for its maritime academy (later moved to Gdynia).
According to the city's website, Tczew was the location of the start of World War II when German bombers attacked local targets at 04:34 on 1 September 1939 (the shelling of Westerplatte commenced at 04:45). The town was occupied by Nazi Germany during the war and liberated in 1945.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of Tczew depicts a red griffin in honor of Duke Sambor II, who granted the town municipal rights in 1260.
Famous residents
- Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995), photographer
- Johann Reinhold Forster (1729-1798), naturalist
Population
1960: 33,700 inhabitants
1970: 41,100 inhabitants
1975: 47,000 inhabitants
1980: 53,600 inhabitants
1990: 59,500 inhabitants
1995: 60,600 inhabitants
2000: 61,200 inhabitants
2001: 61,400 inhabitants
2002: 60,000 inhabitants
2005: 60,128 inhabitants
Sister cities
Tczew is twinned with:
- Witten, Germany, home of many Germans expelled from Tczew after World War II
- London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, United Kingdom
- Dębno, Poland