Szczecin

Sister cities

• Dnipro
• St. Louis
• Esbjerg
• Greifswald
• Bari
• Rostock
• Lübeck
• Bremerhaven
• Klaipėda
• Malmö Municipality
• Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
• Kingston upon Hull

History

The recorded history of Szczecin began in the eighth century, when Vikings and West Slavs settled in Pomerania. The West Slavs, or Lechites, erected a new stronghold on the site of the modern castle. Mieszko I of Poland took control of Pomerania during the Early Middle Ages and the region became part of Poland in the 10th century. However, Mieszko II Lambert (1025–1034) effectively lost control over the area and had to accept German suzerainty over the area of the Oder lagoon. Subsequent Polish rulers, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Liutician federation all aimed to control the territory. In a campaign in the winter of 1121–1122, Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Poland, gained control of the region, including the city of Szczecin and its stronghold. The Polish ruler initiated Christianization, entrusting this task to Otto of Bamberg, and the inhabitants were Christianised At this time, the first Christian church of Saints Peter and Paul was erected. The Poles' minted coins were commonly used in trade in this period. Polish rule ended with Boleslaw's death in 1138. During the Wendish Crusade in 1147, a contingent led by the German margrave Albert the Bear, an enemy of Slavic presence in the region, There, a Polish contingent supplied by Mieszko III the Old joined the crusaders. indicating they already had been Christianised. Duke Ratibor I of Pomerania, negotiated the disbanding of the crusading forces. After the Battle of Verchen in 1164, Stettin duke Bogusław I, Duke of Pomerania became a vassal of the Duchy of Saxony's Henry the Lion. In 1173, Stettin castellan Wartislaw II, could not resist a Danish attack and became vassal of Denmark. In 1185, Bogusław again became a Danish vassal. Following a conflict between his heirs and Canute VI of Denmark, the settlement was…

Geography

Szczecin has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb), typical of Western Pomerania. The winters are colder than on the immediate coast and the summers are warm, but still with some moderation, especially due to the Baltic Sea. The average air temperature in Szczecin ranges from 8 to 8.4 °C. The hottest month is July with a temperature of 15.8 °C to 20.3 °C, the coldest January from -1.1 °C to 2.6 °C. Air temperature below 0 °C occurs on average over 86 days a year, most frequently in January and February. The average annual rainfall is 537 mm, the average rainfall in the cool half-year is 225 mm, and in the warmer half-year is 350 mm. On average, 167 days with precipitation occurs. Szczecin's architectural style reflects trends popular in the last half of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century: Academic art (historicist Gründerzeit) and Art Nouveau. In many areas built after 1945, especially in the city centre, which had been partly destroyed due to Allied bombing, social realism is prevalent. The city has an abundance of green areas: parks and avenueswide streets with trees planted in the island separating opposing traffic (where often tram tracks are laid); and roundabouts corresponding to the Orion constellation. Szczecin's city plan resembles that of Paris, mostly because Szczecin was remodelled in the 1880s according to a design by Georges-Eugène Haussmann, who had redesigned Paris under Napoléon III. This pattern of street design is still used in Szczecin, as many recently built (or modified) city areas include roundabouts and avenues. The motivation behind this decision was that Renaissance architecture was used by the Griffin dynasty, which had Lechitic and West Slavic roots and was seen to be of Piast…

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  269
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  260
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  253
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  247
• Common Crane

  Grus grus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  233
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  232
• Mute Swan

  Cygnus olor (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  223
• Black-headed Gull

  Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  213