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Kętrzyn Rastembork
From top, left to right: Panorama of the town Saint George Basilica Former Masonic Lodge
FlagCoat of arms
Kętrzyn
Coordinates: 54°5′N 21°23′E / 54.083°N 21.383°E / 54.083; 21.383
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Warmian–Masurian
County	Kętrzyn
Gmina	Kętrzyn (urban gmina)
Established	1329
Town rights	1357
Government
• Mayor	Ryszard Niedziółka
Area
• Total	10.34 km (3.99 sq mi)
Population
• Total	27,478
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	11-400
Area code	+48 89
Car plates	NKE
Voivodeship roads
Website	ketrzyn.pl

Kętrzyn ( , until 1946 Rastembork; German: Rastenburg [ˈʁastn̩bʊʁk] ) is a town in northeastern Poland with 27,478 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Kętrzyn County in the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship.

The town is known for the surrounding Masurian Lakeland and numerous monuments of historical value such as the Wolf's Lair in nearby Gierłoż, which was Adolf Hitler's primary headquarters in Eastern Europe over the course of Nazi Germany's military campaign on the Eastern Front during World War II. The town is also known for its 14th century Teutonic Kętrzyn Castle.

History

The original inhabitants of the region were the Balt tribe of the Aesti, mentioned by Tacitus in his Germania (AD 98). The town, known in German as Rastenburg and in Polish as Rastembork, was established in 1329 in the State of the Teutonic Knights and was granted town rights in 1357 by Henning Schindekop.

After the Battle of Grunwald, in 1410, the mayor surrendered the town to Poland, however, it fell back to the Teutonic Knights in 1411. In 1440, the town joined the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation. Upon the request of the Confederation, King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region and town to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454. The town then recognized the Polish King as the rightful ruler and the townspeople sent their representative to Königsberg to pay homage to the King.

After the Thirteen Years’ War (1454–1466) the town was part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Order's state and, from 1525 to 1701, it was part of the Duchy of Prussia, a Polish fief until 1657. In the second half of the 17th century, Poles constituted around a half of the town's population, the other half being Germans. In 1667, a Polish church school was established.

In 1701 the town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia and subsequently, in 1871, part of Germany. During the Seven Years' War, from 1758 to 1762, the town was occupied by the Russians, in June 1807, throughout the Napoleonic wars, the division of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski was stationed in the town. Following the unsuccessful Polish November Uprising, in 1832–1833, Polish insurgents, including several officers, were interned in the town.

In the late 19th century a Polish Lutheran parish still existed in Rastenburg, despite the policy of Germanisation conducted by the Prussian authorities. In the second half of the 19th century, a sugar factory, brewery and mill were built.

20th century

Rastenburg and the surrounding district was the scene of the First World War's First Battle of the Masurian Lakes and Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes. During the Second World War Adolf Hitler's wartime military headquarters, the Wolf's Lair, was in the forest east of Rastenburg. The bunker was the setting for the failed assassination attempt of the 20 July plot against Hitler. During the war, the Germans operated a forced labour camp for Jews in the town.

In 1945, the area suffered devastation from both the retreating Germans and advancing Soviets during the Vistula-Oder campaign. Some ruins of the Wolf's Lair remain. The town was a Wehrmacht garrison town until it was occupied by the Red Army on 27 January 1945. The largely abandoned town was heavily destroyed by the Soviets.

After the war, the town was transferred to Poland under border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference. Its surviving German residents who had not evacuated were subsequently expelled westward in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement and replaced with Poles, most of whom were themselves expelled from the pre-war Polish Vilnius Region that was annexed by the Soviet Union and given to the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. The town was given the historic Polish name Rastembork in 1945, and in 1946 it was renamed to Kętrzyn after the Polish historian, activist and patriot Wojciech Kętrzyński, who attended the local gymnasium in the years 1855–1859.

After the war, the town's life was being rebuilt. In 1945, the Municipal Theater was established. Thanks to voluntary contributions, books were purchased for newly organized public libraries. A museum was created in the renovated castle.

From 1975 to 1998, Kętrzyn was administratively located in the Olsztyn Voivodeship.

Climate

Kętrzyn's climate is either oceanic (Köppen: Cfb) or humid continental (Köppen: Dfb), depending on the isotherm used. The climate of the city has a considerable thermal amplitude, but still with some not so pronounced influence of the sea.

Sports

The local football team is Granica Kętrzyn [pl]. It competes in the lower leagues.

People

• Johann Dietrich von Hülsen (1693–1767), Prussian general
• Karl Bogislaus Reichert (1811–1883), German anatomist, embryologist and histologist.
• Wojciech Kętrzyński (1838–1918), Polish historian and activist
• Elisabet Boehm (1859–1943), German women's rights advocate
• Arno Holz (1863–1929), German poet and dramatist
• Wilhelm Wien (1864–1928), German physicist worked on blackbody radiation
• Emma Döll (1873–1930), German politician (SPD/USPD/KPD)
• Rüdiger von Heyking (1894–1956), German Luftwaffe general
• Hanns Scharff (1907–1992), German Luftwaffe interrogator internationally renowned for developing humane, effective interrogation techniques
• Waldemar Grzimek (1918–1984), German sculptor
• Siegfried Tiefensee (1922–2009), German composer
• Dietrich von Bausznern (1928–1980), German composer, cantor, organist and music teacher
• Marek Ziółkowski (born 1955), Polish diplomat
• Krzysztof Kononowicz (born 1963), former candidate for the office of mayor of Białystok and internet celebrity
• Piotr Lech (born 1968), Polish footballer
• Krzysztof Raczkowski (1970–2005), musician and drummer of the Polish death metal band Vader
• Piotr Trafarski (born 1983), Polish footballer

Gallery

• Kętrzyn Castle
• Town Hall
• Saint Catherine of Alexandria church
• Kętrzyn Lake
• Saint John church
• Kętrzyn County seat
• Train station
• Tax office
• Old townhouses in the town center
• Old townhouses in the town center
• Former bank building
• Old house

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Kętrzyn is twinned with:

• Volodymyr, Ukraine
• Wesel, Germany
• Zlaté Hory, Czech Republic

References

1. "Kętrzyn (Warmińsko-mazurskie) » mapy, nieruchomości, GUS, noclegi, szkoły, regon, atrakcje, kody pocztowe, wypadki drogowe, bezrobocie, wynagrodzenie, zarobki, tabele, edukacja, demografia".
2. ^ "Historia miasta Kętrzyn | Dr Jerzy Sikorski". Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) dr Jerzy Sikorski, Historia miasta Kętrzyn
3. Górski, Karol (1949). Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych (in Polish). Poznań: Instytut Zachodni. p. XXXVII.
4. Górski, p. 54
5. Tomasz Darmochwał, Marek Jacek Rumiński, Warmia Mazury. Przewodnik, Agencja TD, Białystok, 1996, p. 123 (in Polish)
6. Górski, pp. 96–97, 214–215
7. Kasparek, Norbert (2014). "Żołnierze polscy w Prusach po upadku powstania listopadowego. Powroty do kraju i wyjazdy na emigrację". In Katafiasz, Tomasz (ed.). Na tułaczym szlaku... Powstańcy Listopadowi na Pomorzu (in Polish). Koszalin: Muzeum w Koszalinie, Archiwum Państwowe w Koszalinie. p. 177.
8. Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom IX, Warsaw, 1888, p. 531 (in Polish)
9. "Zwangsarbeitslager für Juden Rastenburg". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 6 November 2020.
10. "Urząd Miasta Kętrzyn – Zainwestuj w Kętrzynie". Retrieved June 21, 2019.
11. Maria Malec (2002). Słownik etymologiczny nazw geograficznych Polski. Wydawn. Naukowe PWN. p. 122. ISBN 9788301138578. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
12. "Ketrzyn, Poland Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
13. ^ "Klimacie Kętrzyn – Temperatura • Kiedy jechać • Pogoda". Kiedy-jechac.pl (in Polish). Retrieved August 5, 2019.
14. "Średnia dobowa temperatura powietrza". Normy klimatyczne 1991-2020 (in Polish). Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. Archived from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
15. "Średnia minimalna temperatura powietrza". Normy klimatyczne 1991-2020 (in Polish). Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
16. "Średnia maksymalna temperatura powietrza". Normy klimatyczne 1991-2020 (in Polish). Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
17. "Miesięczna suma opadu". Normy klimatyczne 1991-2020 (in Polish). Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
18. "Liczba dni z opadem >= 0,1 mm". Normy klimatyczne 1991-2020 (in Polish). Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
19. "Średnia grubość pokrywy śnieżnej". Normy klimatyczne 1991-2020 (in Polish). Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
20. "Liczba dni z pokrywą śnieżna > 0 cm". Normy klimatyczne 1991-2020 (in Polish). Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
21. "Średnia suma usłonecznienia (h)". Normy klimatyczne 1991-2020 (in Polish). Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
22. "Kętrzyn Absolutna temperatura maksymalna" (in Polish). Meteomodel.pl. April 6, 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
23. "Kętrzyn Absolutna temperatura minimalna" (in Polish). Meteomodel.pl. April 6, 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
24. "Kętrzyn Średnia wilgotność" (in Polish). Meteomodel.pl. April 6, 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2022.

External links

• Municipal webpage
• Kętrzyn

v t e Gminas of Kętrzyn County
Seat: Kętrzyn (urban gmina)
Urban-rural gminas	Gmina Korsze Gmina Reszel
Rural gminas	Gmina Barciany Gmina Kętrzyn Gmina Srokowo

v t e Gmina Kętrzyn
Seat (not part of the gmina)	Kętrzyn
Villages	Bałowo Bałtrucie Banaszki Biedaszki Biedaszki Małe Brzeźnica Cegielnia Czerniki Dąbrowa Działki Filipówka Gałwuny Gierłoż Gnatowo Gnatowo-Kolonia Godzikowo Góry Grabno Gromki Gryzławki Henrykowo Jankowo Jeżewo Karolewo Kaskajmy Katkajmy Koczarki Kotkowo Kruszewiec Kwiedzina Langanki Łazdoje Linkowo Marszewo Martiany Mażany Muławki Muławki-Dwór Nakomiady Nowa Różanka Nowa Wieś Kętrzyńska Nowa Wieś Mała Nowy Mikielnik Nowy Młyn Olchowo Osewo Ostry Róg Owczarki Owczarnia Parcz Poganówko Poganowo Porębek Pożarki Pręgowo Przeczniak Rybniki Salpik Sławkowo Smokowo Stachowizna Stadniki Stara Różanka Strzyże Suchodoły Sykstyny Trzy Lipy Ugiertowo Wajsznory Wilamowo Wilkowo Windykajmy Wólka Wopławki Wymiarki Zalesie Kętrzyńskie

• Cities and towns in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
• Kętrzyn County
• Populated places established in the 1320s