Grunwald, Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship Explained

Grunwald
Settlement Type:Village
Total Type: 
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Voivodeship
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Ostróda
Subdivision Type3:Gmina
Subdivision Name3:Grunwald
Coordinates:53.4858°N 20.0919°W
Pushpin Map:Poland
Population Total:417[1]
Population As Of:2011
Timezone:CET
Utc Offset:+1
Timezone Dst:CEST
Utc Offset Dst:+2
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:14-110
Area Code:+48 89
Registration Plate:NOS

Grunwald is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Grunwald, within Ostróda County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland.[2] The village is chiefly known for a historic battle which took place there, namely the 1410 Battle of Grunwald between Polish-Lithuanian and Teutonic Knights forces.

Geography

It lies approximately 26km (16miles) south of Ostróda and 430NaN0 south-west of the regional capital Olsztyn. It is located within the historic region of Masuria.

History

On 15 July 1410, the Battle of Grunwald was fought near the village (in the direction of the Stębark village). In it, Polish–Lithuanian forces commanded by King Władysław II Jagiełło defeated the Teutonic Knights. It was one of the largest battles in medieval Europe and one of the most important and magnificent victories in the history of Poland and Lithuania. The Grunwald Battlefield, listed as a Historic Monument of Poland,[3] is located nearby. Festivities and battle reenactments take place every year on the battle anniversary.After the battle, the King of Poland, Władysław II Jagiełło, intended to erect a chapel on the battlefield[4] at "loco conflictus nostri ... dicto Grunenvelt". Despite the Polish–Lithuanian victory in the battle and the war, the battle site initially remained under the control of the Teutonic Order, which built a chapel dedicated to Mary instead. In 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region to the Kingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation.[5] After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466), it became a part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Knights.[6] The village was mentioned in the 15th-century Latin chronicles as Grunenvelt. Chronicler Jan Długosz used the Polish name Grunwald, and that name was used in Polish historiography since.

After the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement, the village became again part of Poland. A museum and memorial site are located in the fields where the battle was fought, roughly in the middle of a triangle, with Stębark and Łodwigowo.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wieś Grunwald (warmińsko-mazurskie). Polska w liczbach. 12 October 2019. Polish.
  2. Web site: Central Statistical Office (GUS) - TERYT (National Register of Territorial Land Apportionment Journal) . 2008-06-01 . Polish.
  3. Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 17 września 2010 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii "Grunwald - Pole Bitwy". 2010. 184. 1235.
  4. On 16 September ... the Polish King made his intentions clear in a letter to the bishop of Pomesania to have a Brigittine cloister and church built on the battlefield at Grunenvelt, literally - Sven Ekdahl Web site: Ekdahl.de . 2009-04-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090526092023/http://www.ekdahl.de/bibliografie.html . 2009-05-26 . : The Battle of Tannenberg-Grunwald-Žalgiris (1410) as reflected in Twentieth-Century monuments, p. 175ff, in: Victor Mallia-Milanes, Malcolm Barber et al.: The Military Orders Volume 3: History and Heritage, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2008 https://books.google.com/books?id=dSM_w4Q1sUwC&pg=PA175
  5. Book: Górski, Karol. Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych. 1949. Instytut Zachodni. Poznań. pl. 54.
  6. Górski, pp. 96–97, 214–215