Olecko

Olecko [ɔˈlɛt͡skɔ] (former German:  Marggrabowa  since 1560, colloquially also  Oletzko ,  Treuburg  since 1928, Lithuanian: Alėcka) is a city in Masuria, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of Poland, near Ełk and Suwałki. It is situated at the mouth of the Lega river which flows into the Great Olecko Lake (Jezioro Oleckie Wielkie) on its south-western shore. Olecko is the seat of Olecko County.

History

Marggrabowa was founded as a town by Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Duke of the Duchy of Prussia, on January 1, 1560. The town's Masurian Slavic-sounding name is derived from the German word Markgraf, the duke's title as the margraviate of Brandenburg's prince. The city's coat of arms still reflects the Brandenburg red eagle and the Hohenzollern black and white which go back to Albert of Brandenburg Prussia. The populace became Lutheran-Protestant within the Duchy of Prussia in 1525.

At the same location as the present location of the town there has been a hunting lodge called Oletzko since 1544. At a peninsula towards the lake, across the Lega river, in 1619 the Castle of Oletzko (Schloss Oletzko) was established as a regional administrative seat for the Dukes of Prussia.