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  Bytów
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country |  Poland |
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| Voivodeship | Pomeranian | ||
| County | Bytów County | ||
| Gmina | Gmina Bytów | ||
| Established | 12th century | ||
| Town rights | 1346 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Ryszard Sylka | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 8.72 km² (3.4 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| - Total | 16,715 | ||
| - Density | 1,916.9/km² (4,964.6/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 77-100 | ||
| Area code(s) | +48 59 | ||
| Car plates | GBY | ||
| Website: http://www.bytow.com.pl | |||
Bytów [ˈbɨtuf] (
listen) (German: Bütow ( listen); Kashubian: Bëtowò) is a town in the Middle Pomerania region of northern Poland in the Bytów Lakeland with 16,888 inhabitants (2004). Previously in Słupsk Voivodeship (1975-1998), it is the capital of Bytów County in Pomeranian Voivodeship (since 1999).
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History
An old Pomeranian settlement first mentioned by Latin name castrum nomine Bitom in 1113 in Gallus Anonymus' Chronicle, as conquered by Polish king Bolesław III Wrymouth. A document written in 1321 states that Wartislaw IV, Duke of Pomerania gave the town to his chancellor Henning Behr for his services. His sons sold it to the Teutonic Order in 1329. In 1346 the Grand Master Heinrich Dusemer granted Bütow city rights under Kulm Law. The Teutonic Knights had started in 1335 with construction of a rectory. The town alternated between Poland and the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights during the Polish-Teutonic Wars, and returned to Polish control after the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), who gave it as lien to Pomerania.
In 1627 during the Thirty Years' War, Bytów was rebuilt after being destroyed by a fire. To gain an ally against Sweden during the Deluge, in 1657 King John II Casimir of Poland gave Bytów and Lębork (Lauenburg) (the Lębork-Bytów Land) to Margrave Frederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia as a hereditary fief in the Treaty of Bydgoszcz. Although Poland still retained sovereignty, Bytów was administered by Brandenburg and, after 1701, by the Kingdom of Prussia. During the 18th century, the town suffered from fires and plague.
In 1773 after the First Partition of Poland, Polish sovereignty over Bytów was abandoned and the town was wholly incorporated in the Prussian Province of Pomerania as Bütow. From 1846-1945, Bütow was the seat of the Landkreis Bütow district in Prussia. The town became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany.
Although reconstituted Poland desired Bütow at the end of World War I, the Treaty of Versailles kept the ethnically German town in the Weimar Republic in 1919.
Bütow was occupied by the Soviet Red Army during World War II. The town was ceded to Poland in 1945 according to the Potsdam Conference and renamed to the Polish Bytów. Its German inhabitants were expelled and replaced with Poles, mainly from Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union.
Bytów became the seat of a powiat (1946-1975, 1999-) within Poland.
Historical population
- 1782: 990 inhabitants
- 1875: 5,820 inhabitants
- 1925: 8,890 inhabitants
- 1960: 8,600 inhabitants
- 1970: 10,700 inhabitants
- 1975: 12,500 inhabitants
- 1980: 13,300 inhabitants
Sights
- Ordensburg of the Teutonic Knights, built 1399-1405
- Church of St. Catherine from the 14th century
- Church of St. George from the 16th century
Municipality of Bytów
Sołectwos in the urban-rural commune (gmina) of Bytów (historical German names and Kashubian names in italics):
- Dąbie (Dampen, Dãbie)
- Gostkowo (Gustkow, Gòstkòwò)
- Grzmiąca (Gramenz, Grzmiãcò)
- Mądrzechowo (Mangwitz)
- Mokrzyn (Petersdorf)
- Niezabyszewo (Damsdorf, Niézabëszéwò)
- Płotowo (Platenheim, Płotowa)
- Pomysk Mały (Klein Pomeiske, Małë Pòmësk)
- Pomysk Wielki (Gross Pomeiske, Wiôlgë Pòmësk)
- Rekowo (Reckow, Rekowò)
- Rzepnica
- Sierżno (Zerrin, Sérzno)
- Świątkowo (Luisenhof)
- Udorpie (Hygendorf, Ùdorp)
- Ząbinowice (Gersdorf)
See also
External links
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