Gniewkowo

History

Archaeological excavations have shown that the site was already populated by the Bronze Age. The first historical mention of the town dates from 1185. In 1268 the town was granted city rights. In 1314 Siemomysł of Inowrocław’s larger Kuyavia duchy was divided among his three sons; Casimir III of Kuyavia inherited the Gniewkowo region which became a small autonomous duchy. The Teutonic Knights laid siege to Gniewkowo in 1332 during their war with Poland. To avoid capture Casimir set fire to his stronghold and abandoned the town. He would not regain control of the duchy until the Treaty of Kalisz in 1343. In 1364/1365, Władysław the White mortgaged Gniewkowo to Polish King Casimir III the Great. In 1408 the city hosted a meeting between Polish King Władysław II Jagiełło and the Teutonic Knights over the disputed Dobrzyń Land. From 1409 to 1411 Gniewkowo played an important role in the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. Gniewkowo was a royal town of the Kingdom of Poland, administratively located in the Inowrocław County in the Inowrocław Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province. Gniewkowo was ravaged by several fires during the 16th century, limiting its development. During the 17th and the 18th centuries, wars with Sweden and subsequent outbreaks of diseases laid waste to the town. Gniewkowo was annexed by Prussia in 1772 after the first partition of Poland (but from 1807 to 1815 Gniewkowo was part of the Duchy of Warsaw), during which time the economy began to develop. Starting in 1843, a road linked the city to Inowrocław and Toruń. Jews and Germans became more and more prominent, while the local Polish population suffered from an official policy of discrimination and forced Germanisation. Part of Germany from 1871, in 1879 the German administration, following the…