Draheim

Draheim (German: Starostei Draheim) or Drahim (Polish: Starostwo Drahimskie) was a starostwo (crown territory) of the Polish kingdom from the 15th century. Pawned to Brandenburg-Prussia in 1657, it was directly incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772.

History

In the High Middle Ages, the region of the later starostwo was a borderland of the Piast Kingdom of Poland with Duchy of Pomerania and Margraviate of Brandenburg. In 1268, the largely unsettled area was given to the Knights Templar by the Polish duke Przemysł II. The order invited German settlers (Ostsiedlung). The German name Tempelburg for present-day Polish Czaplinek dates back to that era, and derives from the German name of the Knights Templar, Templer.

In 1312, the order was dissolved, and its possessions were taken over by the Knights Hospitaller. Draheim Castle (in the area of modern Stare Drawsko) was built in the mid-14th century at the crossing of the trade route via marchionis from Pomeranian Stargard to Danzig and the via regalis from Kolberg to Poznań. In 1368, during an exchange of territories, Margrave Otto VII of Brandenburg gave the areas around Czaplinek and Wałcz (Deutsch Krone) to the Polish king Casimir III the Great, who in 1370 established Wałcz County (powiat Wałcz) from these accessions: part of the Poznań Voivodeship (palatinate), it consisted of seven loosely connected regions in royal or noble possession subordinate to the judicum castrensis in Wałcz.

Draheim (surname)

Draheim is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: