Olsztyn

Olsztyn ([ˈɔlʂtɨn] [OL-sh-tin]; German: Allenstein ( listen); Old Polish: Holstin; Old Prussian: Alnāsteini or Alnestabs; Lithuanian: Olštynas) is a city on the Łyna River in northeastern Poland. Olsztyn is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights.

History

Teutonic Order 1353-1466
Kingdom of Poland 1466-1569
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 1569-1772
Kingdom of Prussia 1772-1871
German Empire 1871-1918
Weimar Germany 1918-1933
Nazi Germany 1933-1945
People's Republic of Poland 1945-1989
 Republic of Poland 1989-present

In 1346, the forest was cleared at a location on the Alle River (now Łyna River) for a new settlement in Prussian Warmia (former German designation: Ermland). The following year, Teutonic Knights began the construction of an Ordensburg castle as a stronghold against the Old Prussians, and the settlement of Allenstein was first mentioned the following year.

The German name Allenstein meant a castle on the Alle River – which became known in Polish transliteration as Olsztyn. Allenstein received municipal rights in October 1353, and the castle was completed in 1397. The town was captured by the Kingdom of Poland during the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War in 1410, and again in 1414 during the Hunger War, but it was returned to the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights after hostilities ended.

Allenstein (region)

Regierungsbezirk Allenstein was a Regierungsbezirk, or government region, of the Prussian province of East Prussia from 1905 until 1945. The regional capital was Allenstein (present-day Olsztyn). The territory today is part of the Polish Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.

History

The government region was created on 1 November 1905 as the third East Prussian Regierungsbezirk out of the southern districts of the two original administrative regions Gumbinnen and Königsberg, which had been established in 1815. It comprised the south of the former Duchy of Prussia; the lands of the Allenstein and Rößel districts had belonged to the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, annexed by Prussia in 1772. In 1920 East Prussian plebiscite 1920 all the Allenstein Region plus the District of Oletzko was part of the Allenstein Plebiscite precinct, with the electorate voting for remaining with Germany by more than 97%.

In 1945 following World War II, Regierungsbezirk Allenstein was dissolved when East Prussia was partitioned between the Republic of Poland and the Soviet Union (Kaliningrad Oblast) according to the resolutions at the Potsdam Conference.