Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland, with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section divided by the Oder and Vistula Rivers). It is the capital of Kołobrzeg County.
During the Early Middle Ages, the Pomeranian tribes established a settlement at the site of modern-day Budzistowo. In 1000, when the city was part of Poland, it became the seat of the Diocese of Kołobrzeg, one of five oldest Polish dioceses. During the High Middle Ages, the town was expanded with an additional settlement inhabited by German settlers a few kilometers north of the stronghold and chartered with Lübeck law, which settlement eventually superseded the original Pomeranian settlement. The city later joined the Hanseatic League. Within the Duchy of Pomerania the town was the urban center of the secular reign of the prince-bishops of Kamień and their residence throughout the High and Late Middle Ages. In the modern age, it passed to Brandenburg and Prussia, and withstood a Polish-French siege in 1807. In the late 19th century it became a popular spa town at the Baltic Sea. In 1945, Polish and Soviet troops captured the town. Kołobrzeg, now part of post-war Poland and devastated in the preceding battle, was rebuilt, but lost its status as the regional center to the nearby city of Koszalin.
Etymology "Kołobrzeg" (and its Kashubian equivalent "Kòłobrzeg") translates as 'by the shore'; koło means 'by', and brzeg means 'shore'. Its original name, Cholberg, was taken by Polish and Kashubian linguists in the 19th and 20th centuries to reconstruct the name. After German settlement, "Cholberg" evolved into "Kolberg".
History
Pomeranian stronghold at modern Budzistowo
According to Piskorski (1999) and Kempke (2001), Slavic and Lechitic immigration reached Farther Pomerania in the 7th century. First Slavic settlements in the vicinity of Kołobrzeg were centered around nearby deposits of salt and date to 6th and 7th century.Tadeusz Gasztold, Hieronim Kroczyński, Hieronim Rybicki, Kołobrzeg: zarys dziejów, Wydaw. Poznańskie, 1979, , p.8 Historic calendar of the city's Official webpage
In the late 9th century, the Pomeranian tribes erected a fortified settlement at the site of modern part of Kołobrzeg county called BudzistowoWinfried Schich, Ralf Gebuhr, Peter Neumeister, Wirtschaft und Kulturlandschaft: Gesammelte Beiträge 1977 bis 1999 zur Geschichte der Zisterzienser und der "Germania Slavica", BWV Verlag, 2007, p.280, near modern Kołobrzeg,Gerhard Köbler, Historisches Lexikon der Deutschen Länder: die deutschen Territorien vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 7th edition, C.H.Beck, 2007, p.341, replacing nearby Bardy-Świelubie, a multi-ethnic emporium, as the center of the region.Ole Harck, Christian Lübke, Zwischen Reric und Bornhöved: Die Beziehungen zwischen den Dänen und ihren slawischen Nachbarn vom 9. Bis ins 13. Jahrhundert: Beiträge einer internationalen Konferenz, Leipzig, 4.-6. Dezember 1997, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, pp.15,16, The Parseta valley, where both the emporium and the stronghold were located, was one of the Pomeranians' core settlement areas.Jörg Jarnut, Peter Johanek, Die Frühgeschichte der europäischen Stadt im 11. Jahrhundert, Köln-Weimar-Wien 1998, pp.273–305, republished in Winfried Schich, Ralf Gebuhr, Peter Neumeister, Wirtschaft und Kulturlandschaft – Siedlung und Wirtschaft im Bereich der Germania Slavica, BWV Verlag, 2007, p.263, The stronghold consisted of a fortified burgh with a suburbium.Eckhard Müller-Mertens, Heidelore Böcker, Konzeptionelle Ansätze der Hanse-Historiographie, Porta Alba, 2003, p.133, Jörg Jarnut, Peter Johanek, Die Frühgeschichte der europäischen Stadt im 11. Jahrhundert, Köln-Weimar-Wien 1998, pp.273–305, republished in Winfried Schich, Ralf Gebuhr, Peter Neumeister, Wirtschaft und Kulturlandschaft – Siedlung und Wirtschaft im Bereich der Germania Slavica, BWV Verlag, 2007, p.277,
The Pomeranians mined salt in salt pans located in two downstream hills.Jörg Jarnut, Peter Johanek, Die Frühgeschichte der europäischen Stadt im 11. Jahrhundert, Köln-Weimar-Wien 1998, pp.273–305, republished in Winfried Schich, Ralf Gebuhr, Peter Neumeister, Wirtschaft und Kulturlandschaft – Siedlung und Wirtschaft im Bereich der Germania Slavica, BWV Verlag, 2007, p.278, 'Historical eras' Official webpage of the city: The local Slavic population engaged in fishery, salt trade and various crafts. They also engaged in fishing, and used the salt to conserve foodstuffs, primarily herring, for trade.Jörg Jarnut, Peter Johanek, Die Frühgeschichte der europäischen Stadt im 11. Jahrhundert, Köln-Weimar-Wien 1998, pp.273–305, republished in Winfried Schich, Ralf Gebuhr, Peter Neumeister, Wirtschaft und Kulturlandschaft – Siedlung und Wirtschaft im Bereich der Germania Slavica, BWV Verlag, 2007, p.274, Other important occupations were metallurgy and smithery, based on local iron ore reserves, other crafts like the production of combs from horn, and in the surrounding areas, agriculture.Jörg Jarnut, Peter Johanek, Die Frühgeschichte der europäischen Stadt im 11. Jahrhundert, Köln-Weimar-Wien 1998, pp.273–305, republished in Winfried Schich, Ralf Gebuhr, Peter Neumeister, Wirtschaft und Kulturlandschaft – Siedlung und Wirtschaft im Bereich der Germania Slavica, BWV Verlag, 2007, p.289, Important sites in the settlement were a place for periodical markets and a tavern, mentioned as forum et taberna in 1140.
In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Budzistowo stronghold was the largest of several smaller ones in the Persante area, and as such is thought to have functioned as the center of the local Pomeranian subtribe. By the turn from the 10th to the 11th century, the smaller burghs in the Parseta area were given up. With the area coming under the control of the Polish Duke Mieszko I, only two strongholds remained and underwent an enlargement, the one at Budzistowo and a predecessor of later Białogard. These developments were most likely associated with the establishment of Polish power over this part of the Baltic coast. In the 10th century, the trade of salt and fish led to the development of the settlement into a town.
Piast Poland and conversion
During Polish rule of the area in the late 10th century, the chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg (975–1018) mentions salsa Cholbergiensis as the see of the Bishopric of Kołobrzeg, set up during the Congress of Gniezno in 1000 and placed under the Archdiocese of Gniezno. The congress was organized by Polish duke Bolesław Chrobry and Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, and also led to the establishment of bishoprics in Kraków and Wrocław, connecting the territories of the Polish state. It was an important event not only in religious, but also political dimension in the history of the early Polish state, as it unified and organized medieval Polish territories.
The missionary efforts of bishop Reinbern were not successful, the Pomeranians revolted in 1005 and regained political and spiritual independence.Nora Berend, Christianization and the Rise of Christian Monarchy: Scandinavia, Central Europe and Rus' C. 900–1200, Cambridge University Press, 2007, p.293, , David Warner, Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg, Manchester University Press, 2001, p.358, , Michael Borgolte, Benjamin Scheller, Polen und Deutschland vor 1000 Jahren: Die Berliner Tagung über den"akt von Gnesen", Akademie Verlag, 2002, p.282, , Michael Müller-Wille, Rom und Byzanz im Norden: Mission und Glaubenswechsel im Ostseeraum während des 8.-14. Jahrhunderts: internationale Fachkonferenz der deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Verbindung mit der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz: Kiel, 18.-25. 9. 1994, 1997, p.105, , In 1013 Bolesław Chrobry removed his troops from Pomerania in face of war with Holy Roman Emperor Henry III. The Polish–German war ended with Polish victory, which was confirmed by the 1018 Peace of Bautzen.
During his campaigns in the early 12th century, Bolesław III Wrymouth reacquired Pomerania for Poland, and made the local Griffin dynasty his vassals. The stronghold was captured by the Polish army in the winter of 1107/08, when the inhabitants (cives et oppidani) including a duke (dux Pomeranorum) surrendered without resistance.Jörg Jarnut, Peter Johanek, Die Frühgeschichte der europäischen Stadt im 11. Jahrhundert, Köln-Weimar-Wien 1998, pp.273–305, republished in Winfried Schich, Ralf Gebuhr, Peter Neumeister, Wirtschaft und Kulturlandschaft – Siedlung und Wirtschaft im Bereich der Germania Slavica, BWV Verlag, 2007, p.275, A previous Polish siege of the burgh had been unsuccessful; although the duke had fled the burgh, the Polish army was unable to break through the fortifications and the two gates.Jörg Jarnut, Peter Johanek, Die Frühgeschichte der europäischen Stadt im 11. Jahrhundert, Köln-Weimar-Wien 1998, pp.273–305, republished in Winfried Schich, Ralf Gebuhr, Peter Neumeister, Wirtschaft und Kulturlandschaft – Siedlung und Wirtschaft im Bereich der Germania Slavica, BWV Verlag, 2007, pp.273–274, The army had however looted and burned the suburbium, which was not or only lightly fortified. The descriptions given by the contemporary chroniclers make it possible that a second, purely militarily used castle existed near the settlement, yet neither is this certain nor have archaeological efforts been able to locate traces thereof.Jörg Jarnut, Peter Johanek, Die Frühgeschichte der europäischen Stadt im 11. Jahrhundert, Köln-Weimar-Wien 1998, pp.273–305, republished in Winfried Schich, Ralf Gebuhr, Peter Neumeister, Wirtschaft und Kulturlandschaft – Siedlung und Wirtschaft im Bereich der Germania Slavica, BWV Verlag, 2007, pp.274 ff, In the 12th-century Polish chronicle Gesta principum Polonorum Kołobrzeg was named a significant and famous city.
During the subsequent Christianization of the area by Otto of Bamberg at the behest of Bolesław, a St. Mary's church was built. This marked the first beginnings of German influence in the area. After Bolesław's death, as a result of the fragmentation of Poland, the Duchy of Pomerania became independent,Joachim Herrmann, Die Slawen in Deutschland, Akademie-Verlag Berlin, 1985, pp.386 before the dukes became vassals of Denmark in 1185 and the Holy Roman Empire in 1227.
Besides St. Mary's, a St. John's church and a St. Petri's chapel were built.Jörg Jarnut, Peter Johanek, Die Frühgeschichte der europäischen Stadt im 11. Jahrhundert, Köln-Weimar-Wien 1998, pp.273–305, republished in Winfried Schich, Ralf Gebuhr, Peter Neumeister, Wirtschaft und Kulturlandschaft – Siedlung und Wirtschaft im Bereich der Germania Slavica, BWV Verlag, 2007, p.282, A painting of the town of Kołobrzeg from the 13th century is located in the Museum of Polish Arms in the city.Nazwa Kołobrzeg Official website of the city
From the late Middle Ages to the Thirty Years' War