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Frombork (Template:Lang-de) is a town in northern Poland, on the Vistula Lagoon in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodship, with a population of 2,602 in 2005. Frombork was meticulously reconstructed after its destruction in World War II and is a popular tourist attraction.
Early History
The town was founded as a defensive stronghold on an Old Prussian site. According to local legend, its inhabitants were baptised by Anselm, the first Bishop of Warmia. Supposedly when the stronghold's lord died, his widow Gertruda offered the settlement to the bishop and in her honor it was named Frauenburg (Frau means "wife" in German). A somewhat more historic theory attributes the name to a later German translation of the town's Latin name, Castrum Dominae Nostrae, so-called after its cathedral.
The village was first mentioned in a 1278 document signed by Bishop Gerko Fleming. On July 8, 1310, Bishop Eberhard of Neisse (Nysa) granted the town, then described as Civitas Warmiensis, Lübeck city rights, as used by many member cities of the Hanseatic League.
In 1329-1388, the magnificent Gothic cathedral was built, and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, or "Our Lady" (in Latin, Domina Nostra; in German, Unsere Frau, hence Frauenburg, Fromborg, finally Frombork). Over the centuries, the cathedral has been expanded and rebuilt repeatedly. There are also several other historic churches, dedicated to St. Nicolas, St. George, and St. Anne, all built in the 13th century.
Copernican Era
In 1414 the city was plundered and burned during a war between Poland and the Teutonic Order. In 1454, during the Thirteen Years' War, the hill and its cathedral were occupied by Jan Skalski. From the 1466 Second Peace of Toruń, Frombork was an important city of the Bishopric of Warmia. As part of the province of Royal Prussia, the town remained in Poland for the next three centuries.
In the Middle Ages, Frombork's inhabitants were mainly merchants, farmers and fishermen. The most famous resident was the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who lived in the town from 1512-16 and 1522-43. Copernicus, who wrote his De revolutionibus orbium cœlestium at Frombork, died there and was buried in the cathedral, where his tomb may be seen. The city was featured by the Prussian historian Christoph Hartknoch of Toruń in his Alt- und Neues Preußen (Old and New Prussia, 1679).
Modern History
Frombork was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia during the First Partition of Poland in 1772 and became part of the German Empire in 1871. The Preußische Ostbahn railway line was opened in 1899 connecting Elbing (Elbląg) and Braunsberg (Braniewo) via Frombork, leading further to the Imperial Russian border at Eydtkuhnen (Chernyshevskoye).
The city remained part of Prussia and Germany after World War I when Poland was restored. After World War II Frombork returned to Poland as a result of the Potsdam Conference after 173 years of German rule. The German inhabitants were either evacuated or expelled with the rest of East Prussia's German population. Because of the population loss resulting from the war, Frombork was resettled by Poles, many of them expellees from eastern Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union.
In 1959 Frombork regained its city rights. Having been heavily (70%) damaged in World War II, it was rebuilt by Polish Boy Scouts from 1966-1973, in time for the 500th anniversary of Copernicus' birth.
Political Timeline of Frombork
- 1278 first mentioned
- 1310 July 8, Lübeck law granted rights for Civitas Warmiensis
- 1388 cathedral built and dedicated to the Virgin Mary
- 1466 Second Peace of Toruń ends the Thirteen Years' War, started when several cities rebel against the Teutonic Order and ask Poland for protection. Frombork, along with other cities, joins Poland and becomes part of the Bishopric of Warmia and Royal Prussia
- 1772 Kingdom of Prussia annexes the town during the First Partition of Poland
- 1871 Frauenburg automatically becomes part of the new German Empire
- 1945 Potsdam Conference returns Frombork to Poland
Monuments
Several monuments are on display in Frombork (see external links):
- monument to Nicolaus Copernicus, was replaced in the mid-1950s as the monument erected by Imperial Germany's Wilhelm II was destroyed in World War II
- monument honoring Red Army soldiers, inscribed: "Glory to the Red Army heroes fallen in liberating Frombork"
- monument to people of East Prussia who drowned in the Vistula Lagoon during the 1945 exodus, made from a glacial erratic rock found in the water
- memorial honoring the Boy Scouts and others who took part in "Operation 1001" 1966-73, the rebuilding of the town from its devastation in World War II
- Copernicus' astronomical observatory, work room, instruments and planetarium are on display at Frombork's Copernicus Museum
External links
- Template:En icon Municipal website
- Template:En icon Nicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
- Template:Pl icon Monuments in Frombork
- Template:De icon History at Ostpreussen.net
- Map of the area in 1629
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