Koszalin ( ; ; ) is the
largest city of Middle Pomerania in north-western Poland
.
It is
located 11 km south of the Baltic Sea
coast. Koszalin is also a county-status city and
capital of Koszalin
County
of West Pomeranian Voivodeship
since 1999. Previously, it was a capital of
Koszalin Voivodeship
(1950-1998).
History
Middle Ages
Koszalin
is first mentioned in 1108 in the Chronicle of Greater Poland
(Kronika Wielkopolska)
describing that duke Boleslaw
Krzywousty has captured and subjugated multiple Pomeranian
cities including Kołobrzeg
, Kamień, Wolin
and Koszalin
Colibregensium, quam Caminensium, Veolinensium, Cosoniensium et
munitissimarum alliarum. Although the name
Cosoniensium seams to be corrupt and questioned by some
researchers, the city is identified with Koszalin by top historians
including
Józef Spors, W.Kowalenko,
B.Kurbisówna and
Martin
Wehrmann.
In 1214
Bogislaw II,
duke of Pomerania made a donation
of a village known as Koszalice/Cossalitz by Chełmska Hill in
Kołobrzeg Land (
una villa
... Cussalitz iuxta Cholin in terra
Cholbergensis) to the Premonstratensian (Norbertine) monastery
in Białoboki
(Belbuck) near Trzebiatów
(Treptow an der Rega). New, mostly
German, settlers from outside of Pomerania
were invited to
settle the territory. In
1248 the eastern part of Kołobrzeg Land, including the village, was
transferred by Duke
Barnim
I to the
Roman
Catholic Diocese of Kammin.
On 23 May 1266, Kammin bishop
Hermann von Gleichen granted a charter
to the village
Cussalin, giving it
Lübeck law, local government, autonomy and
multiple privileges; it became known in German as
Cöslin.
When in
1276 the bishops became the sovereign in neighboring Kołobrzeg
, they moved their residence there, while the
administration of the diocese was done from Koszalin.
The city
obtained direct access to the Baltic Sea
when it gained the village of Jamno (1331), parts
of Lake Jamno (Jamunder See, now
Jezioro Jamno), a spit between the lake and the sea and
the castle of Nest
(now
Unieście) (1353). Thence, Cöslin participated in the Baltic
Sea trade as a member of the Hanseatic
League, which led to several conflicts with the competing
seaports of Kolberg (Kołobrzeg) and Rügenwalde
. From 1356 until 1417/1422, the city was
part of the Duchy of
Pomerania-Wolgast.
Modern Age
In 1534 during the
Protestant
Reformation, Cöslin became
Lutheran
under the influence of
Johannes
Bugenhagen. In 1568,
Johann Friedrich, Duke of
Pomerania and
bishop of
Cammin, started constructing a residence. After the 1637 death
of the last Pomeranian duke,
Bogislaw XIV, Cöslin passed
to his cousin, Bishop
Ernst
Bogislaw von Croÿ of Kammin.
Occupied by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War, the city was granted to
Brandenburg-Prussia after the
Treaty of Westphalia (1648) and
the Treaty of Stettin , and
with all of Farther Pomerania
became part of the Brandenburgian Pomerania
.
Part of
the Kingdom of
Prussia
since its foundation in 1701, Cöslin was heavily
damaged by a fire in 1718, but was rebuilt in the following
years. It was occupied by
French troops in 1807 after the
War of the Fourth Coalition.
Following
the Napoleonic wars, the city became
the capital of Fürstenthum
District (county) and Regierungsbezirk Cöslin (government region) within the province of
Pomerania
. The Fürstenthum District was dissolved on 1
September 1872 and replaced with the
Cöslin District on
December 13.

Coat of arms of Köslin from
1800-1939
Cöslin
became part of the German
Empire
in 1871 during the unification of Germany.
The
railroad from Stettin
through Cöslin and Stolp
to Danzig
was constructed from 1858-78. A military cadet
school created by Frederick the
Great in 1776 was moved from Kulm
to Cöslin in
1890. In the 1920s during the Weimar
Republic
, the
spelling of the city's name was changed from Cöslin to
Köslin. The city was detached from Köslin District
on 1 April 1923, becoming an
urban district.
After the
Nazis had closed down Dietrich Bonhoeffer's seminar in
Finkenwerder
in 1937, Bonhoeffer chose Köslin as one of the
sites where he illegaly continued to educate vicars of the Confessing
Church. This seminar was located in the Superintendentur
building and actively supported by local
Superintendent Onnasch and
his son. During the
Second World
War Köslin was the site of the first school for the
rocket troops created on orders of
Walter Dornberger, the
Wehrmacht's head of the
V-2
design and development program.
After World War II
On 4
March 1945, Köslin was occupied by the Soviet Union
. According to the post-war
Potsdam Agreement, the city was placed
under Polish administration and renamed
Koszalin. Most of
the German population
fled or was expelled to
post-war Germany. The city was
resettled by Poles from
Central and
pre-war Eastern
Poland and
Kashubians.
Initially, the city was considered to become
the capital of the voivodeship created from the former German
province east of the Oder-Neisse
line, which nevertheless was assigned to Szczecin
(Szczecin
voivodeship, 1945-1950). In 1950 this voivodeship was
divided into a truncated
Szczecin
Voivodeship and
Koszalin
Voivodeship.
In years 1950-75 Koszalin was the capital of the enlarged
Koszalin Voivodeship sometimes called
Middle Pomerania (out of 17
voivodeships total) due to becoming the fastest growing city in
Poland. In years 1975-98 it was the capital of the smaller
Koszalin Voivodeship (out of 49
total).
As a
result of the Local Government Reorganization Act (1998) Koszalin
was assigned to become part of the West
Pomeranian Voivodeship
(effective 1 January 1999) regardless of an earlier
proposal for a new Middle Pomeranian Voivodeship covering
approximately the area of former Koszalin Voivodeship
(1950-75).
Historical population
| Historical population of
Koszalin |
| Year |
1905 |
1939 |
1945 |
1950 |
1960 |
1970 |
1975 |
1980 |
1990 |
1999 |
2002 |
2003 |
2006 |
2008 |
| Population |
21,474 |
33,500 |
17,000 |
18,900 |
44,400 |
65,200 |
77,600 |
93,500 |
108,700 |
112,375 |
108,480 |
107,877 |
106,125 |
107,146 |
Landmarks
The city borders on Chełmska hill ( ), a site of
pagan worship in prehistory, and upon which is now
built the tower "sanctuary of the covenant", which was consecrated
by
Pope John Paul II in 1991, and
is currently a pilgrimage site.
Koszalin's most distinctive landmark is St. Mary's cathedral
(
Marienkirche), dating from the early 14th century.
Positioned in front of the cathedral is a monument commemorating
John Paul II's visit to the city.
Education
- Koszalin University of Technology (Politechnika
Koszalińska)
- Baltic College (Baltycka Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczna)
- Air Force training center (Centrum Szkolenia Sił Powietrznych
im. Romualda Traugutta)
- Koszalin University of Humanities {Koszalińska Wyższa Szkoła
Nauk Humanistycznych}
- State Higher Vocational School in Koszalin (Państwowa Wyższa
Szkoła Zawodowa w Koszalinie)
- Major Seminary of the Diocese of Koszalin-Kolobrzeska in
Koszalin (Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne Diecezji
Koszalińsko-Kołobrzeskiej w Koszalinie)
- Team State School of Music (Zespół Państwowych Szkół Muzycznych
im. Grażyny Bacewicz)
- School Arts Team (Zespół Szkół Plastycznych im. Władysława
Hasiora)
Sports Club
Major corporations
- Zakład Energetyczny Koszalin SA
- Brok SA
- JAAN Nordglass Autoglass
People
- Ewald Christian von
Kleist (1715-1759), poet and officer
- Rudolf Clausius (1822-1888),
physicist
- Paul Dahlke (1904-1984), actor
- Mirosław Okoński
(born 1958), footballer
- Kuba Wojewódzki (born
1963), journalist and showman
- Beata Pawlikowska (born 1965),
traveler, writer, journalist
- Mirosław Trzeciak (born
1968), footballer, director of sport development of Legia
Warszawa
- Sebastian Mila (born 1982),
footballer
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Koszalin is
twinned with:
Citations and notes
- Gerhard Köbler, Historisches Lexikon der Deutschen Länder:
die deutschen Territorien vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart,
7th edition, C.H.Beck, 2007, p.113, ISBN 3406549861
- Kyra Inachim, Die Geschichte Pommerns, Hinstorff
Rostock, 2008, p.61, ISBN 978-3-356-01044-2
- Peter Zimmerling, Bonhoeffer als praktischer Theologe,
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2006, p.59, ISBN 3525554516
- p.37, Dornberger
- Immediately following
Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World
War II
- The surge in population is the result of mass repatriation of
Poles and the forced deportations of ethnic Poles from Polish areas annexed by
the Soviet Union
References
- Dornberger, Walter, Peenemuende, Moewig, Berlin,
1985
Further reading (in Polish)
- collective work, Z dziejów Koszalina, Biblioteka
Słupska, tom 7, Wydawnictwo Poznańskie i Polskie Towarzystwo
Historyczne, Poznań-Słupsk 1960
- (ed.) A.Lesiński, B.Drewniak, Dzieje Koszalina,
Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, Poznań 1967
- Tadeusz Gasztołd, Adam Muszyński, Hieronim Rybicki,
Koszalin. Zarys dziejów, Wydawnictwo Poznańskie,
Poznań 1974
External links
Media