Gryfice County
Gryfice County (Polish: powiat gryficki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western Poland, on the Baltic coast. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Gryfice, which lies 69 kilometres (43 mi) north-east of the regional capital Szczecin. The county also contains the towns of Trzebiatów, lying 17 km (11 mi) north of Gryfice, and Płoty, 13 km (8 mi) south of Gryfice.
The county covers an area of 1,018.19 square kilometres (393.1 sq mi). As of 2006 its total population is 60,773, out of which the population of Gryfice is 16,702, that of Trzebiatów is 10,113, that of Płoty is 4,142, and the rural population is 29,816.
Neighbouring counties
Gryfice County is bordered by Kołobrzeg County to the east, Łobez County to the south-east, Goleniów County to the south-west and Kamień County to the west. It also borders the Baltic Sea to the north.
Gryfice
Gryfice ([ɡrɨˈfʲit͡sɛ]; Kashubian: Grëfice), formerly known by its German name Greifenberg, is a town in Pomerania, north-western Poland with 16 632 inhabitants (2008). It is the capital of Gryfice County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Szczecin Voivodeship (1975–1998).
History
The Battle of Niekładź took place in the area of Gryfice in 1121, in which Polish ruler Bolesław III Krzywousty defeated Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania and Swantopolk I, Duke of Pomerania
In 1262, throughout the German Ostsiedlung, Wartislaw III, Duke of Pomerania founded a town under Lübeck law on the Rega river. After his death, his successor, Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania, named the settlement Civitat Griphemberch super Regam (Griffinsmountain) after the coat of arms symbol of the Dukes of Pomerania. In 1365 the town entered the Hansa and prospered due to the right of free navigation on the Rega.
A town wall was built and at the end of the 13th century the construction of the St. Mary’s church was begun. In a document of 1386 a Latin school is mentioned, which is generally called the oldest in Pomerania. After the death of the last Pomeranian Duke and by the Treaty of Westphalia Greifenberg became part of Brandenburg-Prussia in 1648 and part of Imperial Germany in 1871. In 1818 the town became the capital of the Greifenberg district (Kreis Greifenberg).
