Ustka

Ustka [ˈustka] (German: Stolpmünde; Kashubian Ùskô) is a town in the Middle Pomerania region of northwestern Poland with 17,100 inhabitants (2001). It is also part of Słupsk County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously in Słupsk Voivodeship (1975–1998).

History

The first settlers arrived at Ustka as early as the 9th century, and established a fishing settlement with the original name of Ujść.

The area at the mouth of the river Słupia (Stolpe) was ceded to the town of Słupsk (Stolp) in 1337 with the purpose of building a fishing harbour and a commercial port there to the Baltic Sea. According to documents in 1355 a church was built. In 1382 the city of Stolp (Słupsk) became a member of the Hanseatic League.

The town was given to Brandenburg-Prussia as part of the Duchy of Pomerania after the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. On August 1, 1778, a blaze destroyed 18 houses which, however, were soon re-built. The first railway station was opened in 1878. The rails were transported by the sea and the bedding for the track was formed by sand taken from the dunes on the Western Beach. The first passenger train departed Ustka (then Stolpmünde) on 1 October 1878. The rail was also used as a main transport facilitating the trade from the harbour. The rail track was extended to run into the harbour, trading mostly grain and spirits. Records state that in 1887, the local harbour shipped 5 million litres of plain spirits. The Harbour lost its importance after the World War II, fishing taking priority over trade. The current shape of the harbour is a result of an investment between 1899 and 1903 creating the largest port between Szczecin (Stettin) and Gdańsk (Danzig).