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]]