Tczew

Geographical location

Tczew is located on the west bank of river Vistula, approximately 30 kilometres (19 miles) south of Gdańsk Bay at the Baltic Sea and 35 kilometres (22 miles) south-east of Gdańsk.

History

Tczew (Trsow, Dersowe, ‘weaver's town’) was first mentioned as Trsow in a document by Pomeranian Duke Grzymisław bestowing the land to the Knights Hospitaller in 1198. Around 1200 Sambor I, Duke of Pomerania, built a fortress here. In some documents, the name Derszewo appears, which stems from the name of a feudal lord, Dersław. It is unknown whether Trsow and Derszewo referred to the same or two neighboring settlements. In order to obtain better control of traffic on the Vistula, Pomeranian Duke Sambor II moved his residence form Lubiszewo Tczewskie to here. By 1252 the settlement was known by the names Tczew and Dirschau. In 1260 it became a town and received Lübeck rights, Tczew was purchased by Heinrich von Plötzke of the Teutonic Knights following the Treaty of Soldin in 1309. It was rebuilt from 1364–1384, and was granted Kulm law by Winrich von Kniprode. In 1434 the town was burnt down by the Hussites. After the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), it was transferred from the Teutonic Order to the newly created Polish province of Royal Prussia.

During the Protestant Reformation most of town's inhabitants converted to Lutheranism. In 1626 it was occupied by king Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, who built a pontoon bridge across river Vistula and who had his camp at the southern side of the town. Although it was rebuilt, it then suffered during the Polish-Swedish Wars. In a nearby battle on 2 September 1657, the Poles were defeated by the combined troops of Brandenburg and Sweden under general Josias II, Count of Waldeck-Wildungen.

The region was annexed from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Kingdom of Prussia during the First Partition of Poland in 1772. Dirschau became part of the newly founded Province of West Prussia. During the Napoleonic invasion in Prussia the town was occupied by Polish troops of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski in 1807, but became Prussian again in 1815. It became part of the German Empire in 1871.

The town grew rapidly during the 19th century after the opening of the Prussian Eastern Railway line connecting Berlin and Königsberg, with the Vistula bridge near Dirschau being an important part.

Under Prussian and German rule, the Polish minority suffered from forced Germanization; for example Poles were denied Polish schools, and refused to teach their children German. The German official Heinrich Mettenmeyer wrote that German-appointed teachers were treated with highest disdain by Polish children and their parents

After World War I as a consequence of the Treaty of Versailles Tczew became part of the Polish Corridor and was incorporated into the Second Polish Republic. On January 30, 1920, Polish General Józef Haller arrived in the town with his troops. The town became a center of cultural activities of the German minority in Poland, a German-language school and a theater was founded. The regional member of the Polish Parliament represented the German minority.

During the Interwar period, Tczew was famous for its maritime academy which 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 Polish sapper installations to prevent the bridge from being blown up at 04:34 on 1 September 1939 (the shelling of Westerplatte commenced at 04:45). During the time span 1939–45 Dirschau was integrated into Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia of the administrative district of Regierungsbezirk Danzig of Germany's Third Reich. After World War II the town, was one of the most damaged cities of Gdańsk Pomerania. Virtually none of its remaining factories were capable of production. There had been considerable loss of population down to around 18-20 thousand people. Short before the end of World War II it was occupied by the Soviet Army. After the end of war the town became part of People's Republic of Poland and renamed Tczew again. Residents took the first effort of reconstruction, and revitalization. Currently, there are several companies in the electrical industry and machine building.

Number of inhabitants by year

Note that the above table is based on primary sources which may be biased:

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.

Sights

English Language Camp

For the last 19 years, the town has been the host location for the annual English Language Camp. The camp, often nicknamed "Camp Tczew" is hosted by the American-Polish Partnership for Tczew and offers students a three-week program where they have the opportunity to interact with Americans and improve their English.

Famous residents

Twin towns — Sister cities

Tczew is twinned with: