Grudziądz

Grudziądz

Panorama from Vistula River

Flag

Coat of arms

Motto: Grudziądz - miasto na szczęście
(Grudziądz - City for luck)

Grudziądz

Coordinates: 53°29′N 18°46′E / 53.483, 18.767

city county

Grudziądz

Established

11th century

City Rights

1291

Government

- Mayor

Robert Malinowski

Area

- City

km² ( sq mi)

Elevation

m ( ft)

Population (2007)

- City

Time zone

CET ([[UTC+1]])

- Summer (DST)

CEST ([[UTC+2]])

Postal code

86-300 to 86-311

Area code(s)

+48 056

Car Plates

Website: www.grudziadz.pl

Grudziądz (pronounce: ['grudʑȋɔ̃ʣ]; German: Graudenz) is a city in northern Poland with 100,787 inhabitants (2000). Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (since 1999), the city was previously in the Toruń Voivodeship (1975-1998).

History

One of the famous granaries

Grudziądz (then called Graudenz) acquired city rights in 1291, and joined the Prussian Confederation in 1440. Between 1466 and 1772 the city belonged to the crown of Poland as part of the province of Royal Prussia.

With the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the city was annexed by King Frederick II of Prussia. The following year it was made part of the province of West Prussia within the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1871, Grudziądz became part of the Prussian-led German Empire during the unification of Germany.

After the construction of a railroad bridge across the Vistula in 1878, Grudziądz became a rapidly growing industrialized city and a city district in 1900. In the 1912 Reichstag elections, 21% of the votes were given to Polish candidates, while the National Liberal Party of Germany received 53% of all votes.

On January 23 1920, after nearly 150 years under Prussian sovereignty, Grudziądz came under the sovereignty of the newly reborn Polish republic although 84 % of the population of the town and 58 % of the county were Germans. In the 20 years between the world wars, Grudziądz was an important centre of culture and education as well as one of the biggest military garrisons with several military schools located both within the confines of the city and around it. A large economic potential, and the existence of important institutions like the Pomeranian Tax Office and the Pomeranian Chamber of Industry and Trade, helped Grudziądz become the economic capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship in the interwar period. Grudziądz's economic potential was featured at the First Pomeranian Exhibition of Agriculture and Industry in 1925, officially opened by Stanisław Wojciechowski, the President of the Second Polish Republic.

Historical population
of Grudziądz

1880		17,321
1905		35,958
1980		90,000
1990		102,300
1995		102,900
1999		102,434
2000		100,787
2006		99 578

The 64th and 65th Infantry Regiments and the 16th Light Artillery Regiment of the Polish Army were stationed in Grudziądz during the interwar period. They were part of the 16th Infantry Division, which had its headquarters in the city, as did the cavalry's famous 18th Pomeranian Uhlans Regiment. The Grudziądz Centre of Cavalry Training educated many notable army commanders. Military education in Grudziądz was also provided by the Centre of the Gendarmerie, the Air School of Shooting and Bombarding, and the N.C.O. Professional School, which offered courses for infantry reserve officer cadets.

On September 3, 1939 military troops of Nazi Germany entered Grudziądz and annexed the city into the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, starting a five-year occupation of the town during World War II. Grudziądz was the location for the German concentration camp Graudenz, a subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp. As the result of heavy fighting in 1945, over 60% of Grudziądz was destroyed. It was restored to Polish control at war's end. The German-speaking portion of the city's population was expelled and replaced with Poles.