Świecie

Sister cities

• Perth
• Kuusankoski
• Gernsheim

History

A fishermen's village existed at the site of the present-day town in the Early Middle Ages. The Teutonic Knights renounced any claims to the town, and recognized it as part of Poland in 1466. It was a county seat and royal town of Poland, administratively located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in the province of Royal Prussia in the Greater Poland Province. The town prospered due to its location at the intersection of the Amber Road and the trade route connecting Western Pomerania with Warmia, Masuria and Lithuania. In 1910, Schwetz had a population of 8,042, of which 4,206 (52.3%) were German-speaking, 3,605 (44.8%) were Polish-speaking and 166 (2.1%) were bilingual in German and another language. After World War I and the restoration of independent Poland, Świecie was restored by Germany to Poland in 1920 according to the Treaty of Versailles and became part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic. In 1920, Stanisław Kostka, a distinguished Polish activist who was active in Grudziądz and Świecie under Prussian rule, became the mayor of the town. Stanisław Kostka built new flood embankments that protect Świecie from floods to this day, and under his administration the town developed economically and culturally. Local Poles were murdered in large massacres in Świecie, Grupa and Mniszek. {{blockquote|People shot were finished off by blows delivered by shovels and the butts of assault rifles; they were buried in mass graves when still alive. Mothers were forced to place their children in the pits where they were shot together. Before executions women and girls were raped.(...) [The atrocities] evoked horror even in the Germans, including some soldiers. Terrified at what they saw in the town of Świecie two of them felt compelled to submit a report [to…

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  233
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  220
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  216
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  210
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  186
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  180
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  173
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  172