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Kociewie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the former Austrian enclave with this name, see Gottschee.
Kociewie
Ethnocultural region
Starogard Gdański
Świecie
Gniew Castle
Pelplin Cathedral
Road bridge over the Vistula in Tczew
Flag of Kociewie
Flag
Coat of arms of Kociewie
Coat of arms
CountryPoland
Traditional capitalStarogard Gdański
Largest citiesTczew, Starogard Gdański, Świecie
DemonymKociewians
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Highway

Kociewie is an ethnocultural region in the eastern part of Tuchola Forest, in northern Poland, Pomerania, that is inhabited by the Kociewians. Its cultural capital is Starogard Gdański, the biggest town is Tczew, while other major towns include Świecie, and Pelplin. The region has about 250,000 inhabitants. It has well-developed industry and agriculture. Administratively, it is divided between the Pomeranian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeships.

Kociewie is bordered by the Chełmno Land in the south, Powiśle in the east, Kashubia and Żuławy Wiślane in the north, and other parts of historic Pomerania in the west.

History

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Prehistory

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The earliest inhabitants of what is now Kociewie are believed to have been from the Upper Paleolithic period. Evidence of the Linear Pottery culture has been unearthed in the region, and a Neolithic settlement discovered at Barłożno.[1] Archeological evidence from Tczew County indicates that the Kociewian lands were inhabited by people from the prehistoric Funnelbeaker culture. Later Iron Age settlements and cemeteries have also been uncovered in the same area.[2]

Early history

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A reconstruction of the 11th century fortified settlement (gard) at Owidz, the original of which was destroyed c. 1090 by Władysław I Herman in order to preclude an uprising in the region[citation needed]

In the mid-10th century, the region was first included within the newly formed Polish state by Mieszko I. Later on, it separated from Poland until the 12th century when Bolesław III Wrymouth re-conquered the region, which was subsequently placed under the rule of Swietopelk I. By the end of the century, the region was ruled under the stewardship of Grzymisław, whose power was organised from the centres of Lubiszewo and Świecie. Kociewie then passed under the nominal rule of Sobiesław I, Sambor I, and Mestwin I before being controlled more directly from Lubiszewo by Sambor II and later his brother Świętopełk II in fortified Tczew.[3]

A castle of the Knights Hospitaller in Skarszewy, former court in which Józef Wybicki, the author of the lyrics of the Polish national anthem, studied law

The latter half of the thirteenth century saw Polish control of Kociewie threatened by the forces of both the Teutonic Order and the Holy Roman Empire. This pressure led to Mestwin II ceding the lands around Gniew to the Teutonic Order in 1282. The region then went through a succession of local rulers owing their allegiance to Wenceslaus II of Bohemia or neighbouring states such as the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Eventually, Kociewie was taken over by the Teutonic Order.[4] In 1440, several towns and nobles of Kociewie joined the newly formed anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation.[5] In 1454, the organization asked Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon to reincorporate the region into the Kingdom of Poland, to which the King agreed and signed an act of re-incorporation in Kraków.[6] After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466), the longest of all Polish–Teutonic wars, the Teutonic Knights renounced any claims to the region and recognized it as part of Poland.[7]

Within the Kingdom of Poland and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth it formed part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship with the capital located in Skarszewy in Kociewie, and county seats located in Nowe, Skarszewy, Starogard, Świecie and Tczew. In the 16th and 17th centuries, there were instances of Scottish immigrants living in Gniew, Starogard and Tczew.[8] In the second half of the 17th century, prior to becoming King of Poland, John III Sobieski served as the starost of Gniew and built the Marysieńka Palace for his wife, Queen Marie Casimire, there. John III Sobieski, as starost, often visited Piaseczno, a local Catholic pilgrimage destination, and as king he ordered the construction of a new, greater vault in the local church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, and visited Piaseczno shortly before his death in 1696.[9] In 1762–1765, Józef Wybicki, the author of the lyrics of the Polish national anthem, studied law at the court in Skarszewy.[10] Following the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the region was annexed by Prussia.

19th century

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The first known mention of the region in the historical record dates to 10 February 1807 when the name Gociewie was used in correspondence between Jan Henryk Dąbrowski and one of his Lieutenant colonels’ during the Greater Poland Uprising.[11] Although, it is likely that the name Kociewie had been in use since the late Middle Ages.[12]

One of the main escape routes for insurgents of the unsuccessful Polish November Uprising from partitioned Poland to the Great Emigration led through Tczew and Starogard.[13]

A map incorporating Florian Ceynowa’s ethnographic classifications

In the mid-19 century the ethnographer Florian Ceynowa described the inhabitants of Kociewie; he named the people around Gniew and Pelplin as the Fetrów and Kociewiem respectively, distinguished by their melodic accents, who farmed pigs and horses. To their north were the Pola of the fields around Starogard Gdański.[14]

Many inhabitants of the region of the region militantly agitated against Prussian rule in Kociewie. The most notorious attempt at an uprising in Kociewie was led by Ceynowa in 1846.[15] In February of that year he organised a force of about 100 Kosynierzy to storm the barracks in, what was then named, Preußisch Stargard. However, the Prussian authorities had been forewarned about the imminent attack, which was subsequently abandoned.[16] The Kociewian uprising was planned to coincide with the Greater Poland Uprising.[17] In 1906–1907, Polish children in Kociewie joined the children's school strikes against Germanisation that spread throughout the Prussian Partition of Poland.[18] Following World War I, Poland regained independence and control of Kociewie.

World War II

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Former Nazi German transit camp for Poles expelled from the region, now Vistula River Museum in Tczew

Following the Nazi German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Kociewie was declared part of the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia on 8 October 1939, with its judicial institutions being incorporated into the German system of regional, national, and Higher National courts the following year.[19] Under German occupation, the Polish population was subjected to various crimes, such as mass arrests, imprisonment, slave labor, expulsions, kidnapping of children, deportations to concentration camps and genocide, including the Intelligenzaktion. Major sites of massacres of Poles in the region included Szpęgawsk, Mniszek, Skarszewy and Grupa.[20] The occupiers also murdered the patients of the psychiatric hospitals in Kocborowo (district of Starogard) and Świecie.

Geography

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Cities and towns

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City Population Voivodeship Additional information
1. Tczew 59,111 Pomeranian Former royal town of Poland.
2. Starogard Gdański 47,272 Pomeranian Traditional capital of Kociewie. Former royal town of Poland.
3. Świecie 25,614 Kuyavian–Pomeranian Former stewardship of Duke Grzymisław. Former royal town of Poland.
4. Pelplin 8320 Pomeranian Site of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption. Seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pelplin.
5. Skarszewy 6468 Pomeranian Known as the Pearl of Pomerania, it was the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship from 1613. Former royal town of Poland.
6. Gniew 6870 Pomeranian Former royal town of Poland. Capital of the independent Republic of Gniew.[21]
7. Nowe 6252 Kuyavian–Pomeranian Founded by Sobieslaw I. Former royal town of Poland.
8. Skórcz 3512 Pomeranian Located in Starogard County.
9. Czarna Woda 2735 Pomeranian Located in Starogard County.

Genetics

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In a 2013 study, Y-DNA haplogroups among the Polish population indigenous to Kociewie (n=158) were reported as follows:

56.3% R1a, 17.7% R1b, 8.2% I1, 7.6% I2, 3.8% E1b1b, 1.9% N1, 1.9% J and 2% of other haplogroups.[22]

See also: Greater Poland and Kashubians § Genetics

Culture

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Medieval town walls with the Narożna Tower, part of the Museum of Kociewie Land in Starogard Gdański

The region is rich in historic architecture of various styles, including Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau. Most notable Gothic landmarks are the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Pelplin and Gniew Castle. John III Sobieski often resided in Gniew as a local starost before he became King of Poland.

Main museums of the region include:

More unique museums include:

  • Museum of the History of the Polish Peasant Movement (Muzeum Historii Polskiego Ruchu Ludowego) in Piaseczno, one of three such museums in Poland.[25]
  • Museum of Firefighting (Muzeum Pożarnictwa) in Świecie.[26]

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kociewie.

References

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  1. ^ Jellonek, Szymon. "Prehistoria Tczewa". dawnytczew.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Zanim powstalo miasto (do 1260)". dawnytczew.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  3. ^ Piotrowska, Agnieszka; Kowalkowski, Krzysztof. "Historia regionu". dialektologia.uw.edu.pl (in Polish). University of Warsaw.
  4. ^ Piotrowska, Agnieszka; Kowalkowski, Krzysztof. "Historia regionu". dialektologia.uw.edu.pl (in Polish). University of Warsaw.
  5. ^ Górski, Karol (1949). Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych (in Polish). Poznań: Instytut Zachodni. p. XXXVII.
  6. ^ Górski, pp. 51, 56
  7. ^ Górski, p. 88–90, 206–207
  8. ^ Wijaczka, Jacek (2010). "Szkoci". In Kopczyński, Michał; Tygielski, Wojciech (eds.). Pod wspólnym niebem. Narody dawnej Rzeczypospolitej (in Polish). Warszawa: Muzeum Historii Polski, Bellona. p. 202. ISBN 978-83-11-11724-2.
  9. ^ Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom VIII (in Polish). Warsaw. 1887. p. 47.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ "90 lat Mazurka Dąbrowskiego. Autor Hymnu Narodowego mieszkał w Skarszewach". Kociewiak.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  11. ^ Kowalkowski, Krzysztof; Piotrowska, Agnieszka. "Historia regionu". dialektologia.uw.edu.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  12. ^ Gierczyk, Zbysław; Ocieczek, Bolesław (2010). "Kociewie na Turystycznym Szlaku" [Kociewie on the Tourist Route]. Studia Periegetica (in Polish). 5 (5): 46. ISSN 1897-9262.
  13. ^ Umiński, Janusz (1998). "Losy internowanych na Pomorzu żołnierzy powstania listopadowego". Jantarowe Szlaki (in Polish). Vol. 4, no. 250. p. 16.
  14. ^ Kurowski, Mariusz (3 August 2015). ""Kociewie w gazecie" – tytuł prześmiewczy, ale sprawa poważna". kociewiacy.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Starogard Gdański – historia i atrakcje". pomorskie.travel (in Polish).
  16. ^ Cholcha, Sławomir. "Florian Ceynowa (1817-1881) - życie i żniwo" (PDF). Kaszëbskô Jednota (in Polish).
  17. ^ Szymikowski, Dariusz. "170 lat od wystąpienia Floriana Ceynowy". Kaszëbskô Jednota (in Polish).
  18. ^ Korda, Krzysztof (2019). "Strajk szkolny na Kociewiu 1906–1907". Kociewski Magazyn Regionalny (in Polish). Vol. 2, no. 105. p. 5.
  19. ^ Helmin, Maciej (2021). "The Organisation and Functioning of the Polish Justice System in the Districts of Tczew and Starogard Gdański in the Years 1945-1950: A Contribution to the History of the Justice System in Pomerania (Kociewie)". Biuletyn Stowarzyszenia Absolwentów i Przyjaciół Wydziału Prawa Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego. XVI (18 (2)): 107. doi:10.32084/sawp.2021.16.2-6. ISSN 2719-3128.
  20. ^ Wardzyńska, Maria (2009). Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. pp. 145–153, 167, 182.
  21. ^ Korda, Krzysztof. "Republika Gniewska 1919-1920". historia.interia.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  22. ^ Rebala, K.; et al. (April 2013). "Contemporary paternal genetic landscape of Polish and German populations: from early medieval Slavic expansion to post-World War II resettlements". European Journal of Human Genetics. 21 (4). Figure 1. doi:10.1038/ejhg.2012.190. PMC 3598329. PMID 22968131.
  23. ^ "History of the building - Vistula River Museum". National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  24. ^ "Muzeum Ziemi Kociewskiej w Starogardzie Gdańskim" (in Polish). Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  25. ^ "Piaseczno". Muzeum Historii Polskiego Ruchu Ludowego (in Polish). Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  26. ^ "Muzeum Pożarnictwa". eŚwiecie (in Polish). Retrieved 10 April 2025.
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