Dobre Miasto

Dobre Miasto [ˈdɔbrɛ ˈmʲastɔ] (German:  Guttstadt ) is a town in Poland, in Olsztyn County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. It has 10,579 inhabitants (2004). It is situated in the northwestern part of the Masurian Lake District in the heart of the historical region Warmia. It is the seat of Dobre Miasto Commune which consists of the town of Dobre Miasto and 21 village administrative divisions, with 16,014 total inhabitants.

History

Dobre Miasto was founded on the place of a destroyed Old Prussian settlement. It received town privileges on 26 December 1329. The name of the town was spelled in different ways: Guddestat, Godenstat, Gudinstat, Gutberg, Gutenstat, Guthenstadt, Guthinstadt. The Latin name of the region (Pogesania) was derived from the Old Prussian word gudde (a bush/thicket). It is possible that the name of the town originated from this word. The Teutonic Order changed the Old Prussian pronunciation of the name into Guttstadt. However, as early as in 1336 the Latin translation of the name appeared - Bona Civitas. The present-day Polish name is a literal translation from the German language; in English both Guttstadt and Dobre Miasto mean "good town".