Bytów
353305
222214695
2008-06-28T03:29:24Z
Escarbot
1554195
robot Adding: [[pt:Bytów]]
{{Infobox Settlement
| name = Bytów
| image_skyline = Poland Bytow - castle.jpg
| imagesize = 250px
| image_caption = Teutonic castle in Bytów
| image_flag = POL Bytów flag.svg
| image_shield = POL Bytow COA.svg
| pushpin_map = Poland
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{POL}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[Voivodeships of Poland|Voivodeship]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Pomeranian Voivodeship|Pomeranian]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[Powiat|County]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Bytów County]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[Gmina]]
| subdivision_name3 = [[Gmina Bytów]]
| leader_title = Mayor
| leader_name = Ryszard Sylka
| established_title = Established
| established_date = [[12th century]]
| established_title3 = Town rights
| established_date3 = 1346
| area_total_km2 = 8.72
| population_as_of = 2006
| population_total = 16715
| population_density_km2 = auto
| timezone = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset = +1
| timezone_DST = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset_DST = +2
| latd = 54 | latm = 8 | lats = | latNS = N | longd = 17 | longm = 30 | longs = | longEW = E
| postal_code_type = Postal code
| postal_code = 77-100
| area_code = +48 59
| blank_name = [[Polish car number plates|Car plates]]
| blank_info = GBY
| website = http://www.bytow.com.pl }}
'''Bytów''' {{Audio-IPA-pl|pl-Bytow.ogg|'|b|y|t|u|f}} ({{lang-de|Bütow}}{{Audlisten|Bütow.ogg}}; {{lang-csb|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).
==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, [[Pomeranian duchies and dukes|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 Masters of the Teutonic Knights|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 War]]s, 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 [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]] during [[The Deluge (Polish history)|the Deluge]], in 1657 King [[John II Casimir of Poland]] gave Bytów and [[Lębork|Lębork (Lauenburg)]] (the [[Lębork-Bytów Land]]) to [[Margrave]] [[Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg|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 [[Partitions of Poland|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|Landkreis Bütow]] district in Prussia. The town became part of the [[German Empire]] in 1871 during the Prussian-led [[unification of Germany]].
Although [[Second Polish Republic|reconstituted Poland]] desired Bütow at the end of [[World War I]], the [[Treaty of Versailles]] kept the [[Germans|ethnically German]] town in the [[Weimar Republic]] in 1919.
Bütow was occupied by the [[Soviet Union|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 [[Expulsion of Germans after World War II|expelled]] and replaced with [[Poles]], mainly from [[Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union]].
Bytów became the seat of a [[Bytów County|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 [[Catherine of Alexandria|St. Catherine]] from the 14th century
* Church of [[St. George]] from the 16th century
==Municipality of Bytów==
[[Sołectwo]]s 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 ==
* [[Treaty of Bydgoszcz]]
* [[Lauenburg and Bütow Land]]
==External links==
{{commons|Bytów}}
* [http://www.bytow.com.pl/index_en.php Official website]
* [http://members.tripod.com/~radde/Milestones.html Pomeranian history including Bütow/Bytów & Lauenburg/Lębork]
* [http://www.bytow.xt.pl Photo gallery] {{fr icon}}
{{coor title dm|54|10|N|17|30|E|region:PL_type:city}}
<br>
{{Bytów County}}
[[Category:Settlements established in the 12th century]]
[[Category:Castles of the Teutonic Knights]]
[[Category:Cities and towns in Pomeranian Voivodeship|Bytow]]
[[de:Bytów]]
[[es:Bytów]]
[[eo:Bytów]]
[[it:Bytów]]
[[jv:Bytów]]
[[csb:Bëtowò]]
[[lv:Bituva]]
[[nl:Bytów]]
[[pl:Bytów]]
[[pt:Bytów]]
[[ro:Bytów]]
[[ru:Бытув]]
[[sr:Битов]]