| Tychowo | |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Voivodeship |
| Subdivision Name1: | West Pomeranian |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Białogard |
| Subdivision Type3: | Gmina |
| Subdivision Name3: | Tychowo |
| Established Title: | First mentioned |
| Established Date: | 1250 |
| Established Title2: | Town rights |
| Established Date2: | 2010 |
| Coordinates: | 53.9303°N 16.2608°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Poland |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Population Total: | 2500 |
| Timezone: | CET |
| Utc Offset: | +1 |
| Timezone Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
| Website: | http://www.tychowo.pl |
Tychowo (; German: Groß Tychow) is a town in Białogard County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Tychowo.[1] It lies approximately 20km (10miles) south-east of Białogard and 1250NaN0 north-east of the regional capital Szczecin. It is located in the historic region of Pomerania.
The town has an approximate population of 2,500. It gained town status on 1 January 2010, and was the newest city in Poland as at July 2012.
Tychowo dates back to an early medieval Slavic settlement,[2] which became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century. From the 12th century it was part of the Duchy of Pomerania, which split off from Poland as a result of the fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies. The oldest known mention of the village comes from 1250.[2] In the 15th century, the timber-framed church was built.[2]
From 1701 the village was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, and from 1871 to 1945 it was part of Germany. During World War II the Germans established the Stalag Luft IV prisoner-of-war camp. The prisoners were mainly Americans, but also the British, Canadians, Russians, Poles, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Czechs, French and one Norwegian.[3] In February 1945, a German-perpetrated death march of Allied prisoners-of-war from the Stalag XX-B POW camp passed through the settlement.[4] After the war the region became part of Poland again according to the post-war Potsdam Agreement.
Tychowo was granted town rights in 2010.
Among the town's landmarks are the 15th-century timber-framed church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a manor park, dating back to the 18th century and Trygław, i.e. the largest glacial erratic in Poland and one of the largest in Europe, listed as a natural monument.[2]