Olsztyn

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Template:Infobox Poland Olsztyn (pronounce: [:ɔlʃtin], German Allenstein) is a city in north-east Poland, historically capital of Warmia, on the Lyna River, with a population of 173,350 (2004). Olsztyn is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodship, previously Olsztyn Voivodship.

Geography

The town is beautifully situated in a lake region of forests and plains, barely touched by man. There are 13 lakes inside the administrative bounds of the town and many more surrounding it: (Krzywe, Dlugie, Zbik, Redykajny and others).

History

  • 1348 first mentioned.
  • 1353 town located.
  • 1410 captured temporary by Polish army
  • 1414 captured temporary by Polish army
  • 1440 Olsztyn accessed pro-Polish Union of Prussia
  • 1454 Uprising against Teutonic Knights. Olsztyn and Union of Prussia ask Polish King for incorporation of the city into the Polish Crown.
  • 1455 captured by Teutonic Knights mercenaries
  • 1463 recaptured by Polish army
  • 1464 officially annexed to Poland
  • 1466 Treaty in Toruń confirms that Olsztyn belongs to Poland
  • 1655 captured temporary by Swedish army
  • 1708 burned down by Swedes
  • 1709 epidemic
  • 1772 to Prussia
  • 1807 visit of Napoleon
  • 1846 population 4000
  • 1867 city hospital founded
  • 1871 German Empire
  • 1873 railway connection to Toruń
  • 1875 population 6000
  • 1886 found "Gazeta Olsztyńska" Polish newspaper in Warmia
  • 1890 found city gas infrostructure
  • 1892 first telephone line
  • 1895 population 25 000
  • 1898 water system
  • 1907 electricity
  • 1914 start of WWI. Russian army captures the city
  • 1920 Olsztyn remains in Germany as an exclave of East Prussia
  • 1921 Polish activists emigrate to Poland
  • 1933 Nazi in power - persecutions of Poles and Jews
  • 1935-1939 fast development of the city
  • 1939 population 50 000
  • 1939 deportation of Polish minority to concentration camps (see Union of Poles in Germany)
  • 1939 WWII German invasion of Poland
  • 1945 Olsztyn captured by Red Army (January 22)
  • 1945 Taken over by Polish administration (May 23)
  • 1946 population 23 000
  • 1950 population 45 000
  • 1967 tyre manufacture plant founded
  • 1980-1981 revolution of Solidarity
  • 1989 democratic elections

Economy

For industry, it features a tire company, Stomil, a subsidiary of Michelin. There are also food processing plants and furniture manufacturers.

Buildings

Education

Regional and scientific societies

Sports

Famous people

  • Lucas David, a historian of Olsztyn wrote a number of volumes on Prussian history, some are in the collection (Prussica Sammlung Trunz) started by Dr. August Trunz (1875-1963) of Olsztyn.

Politics

Olsztyn constituency

Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from Olsztyn constituency

  • Mieczysław Aszkiełowicz, Samoobrona
  • Jerzy Czepułkowski, SLD-UP
  • Jerzy Dziewulski, SLD-UP
  • Sebastian Florek, SLD-UP
  • Tadeusz Iwiński, SLD-UP
  • Halina Nowina-Konopka, LPR
  • Joanna Sosnowska, SLD-UP
  • Aleksander Szczygło, PiS
  • Marek Żyliński, PO


Postage stamps

5-pfennig stamp

Originally the town was in a district of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights. Then, since 1466, it was a capital city of the Polish province of Warmia. In 1920 a plebiscite was held to determine whether the people wished to become part of East Prussia or Poland. In order to avoid bias, and to advertise the plebiscite, special postage stamps were produced by overprinting German stamps and sold from 3 April. One kind of overprint read PLÉBISCITE / OLSZTYN / ALLENSTEIN, while the other read TRAITÉ / DE / VERSAILLES / ART. 94 et 95 inside an oval whose border gave the full name of the plebiscite commission. Each overprint was applied to 14 denominations ranging from 5pf to 3m.

The plebiscite was held on 11 July, and produced 362,209 votes (97.8 percent) for Germany and 7,980 votes (2.2 percent) for Poland. The stamps became invalid 20 August. Despite the short period of use, almost all the types of these stamps are cheaply available both used and unused. The relatively large portion of southern East Prussia contained in the plebescite area thus remained part of Germany until after World War II, when it was transferred to Poland.

External links:

Template:Poland

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