Ryn

Sister cities

• Scoreni
• Jurbarkas
• Amt Neuhaus

History

Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode of the Teutonic Knights built a fortress on the site of a former Old Prussian fortification in 1337. A settlement near the castle was first mentioned in documents in 1405. It was known as Ryne after the Rhine River, and was included within the komturship of Balga. Ryne later became known in Standard German as Rhein and in Polish as Ryn. Since the 15th century the population was mostly Polish. After the outbreak of the Thirteen Years’ War the castle was captured by the Prussian Confederation, at the request of which in 1454 King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of incorporation of the region to the Kingdom of Poland. Later on, it was captured by the Teutonic Knights and was repeatedly besieged by the Confederation troops. The Komtur Haus zur Ryne was established in 1393, after which Rhein was the seat of a Komtur first until 1422; the Komturship was re-established in 1468, following the Second Peace of Thorn. The first Komtur of Rhein was , brother of Teutonic Grand Master Konrad von Wallenrode, while the best-known one was Rudolf von Tippelskirch, who was also involved in the colonisation of Prussia. After the secularisation of the State of the Teutonic Order Rhein was part of the Duchy of Prussia, a vassal state of Poland, in 1525, an "Amtshauptmann" office was established in Rhein, which remained in use until 1775. In the 16th century the town's and district's population was almost entirely Polish. A Nazi German prison was located in the town. After Germany's defeat in World War II, the town became part of Poland due to the borders changes dictated by the Potsdam Agreement.