Szczecin

A Slavic settlement, that developed into a fortress, existed on a hill above the left bank of the River Oder in the 8th century. In 967 the area was brought into dependence by the Polish Duke Mieszko I. Another hundred years later, a new Wendish settlement was established below the castle, which became an important trading and port centre.

The Kingdom of Poland under the dynasty of the Piasts took Szczecin in 1091. Pomerania made itself free again, but in 1119/21 under Duke Boleslaw III, Pomerania was again attacked, devastated and occupied. The latter summoned Bishop Otto of Bamberg to convert the pagan Wends to Christianity. During the "Wendish crusade" the castle was besieged in 1147. The capture was averted by the intervention of the Bishop of Cammin, who had claimed that the inhabitants had already converted to Christianity. In 1173 the Danes captured the castle, destroyed it, but rebuilt it in 1190. The Danes ruled the country until 1227.

Meanwhile, Germans had settled next to the Wendish settlement and founded the "Upper Town" and later the "Lower Town". In the Upper Town, the Jacobi Church was built from 1180 to 1187, donated by the merchant Beringer of Bamberg.

Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania (= "Barnim the Good") granted the Wendish settlement together with the German suburbs as "oppidum Stetin" the town charter in 1243. It was further promoted through customs remission, trade privileges and fishing rights so that the city strengthened economically. In 1245 the construction of a town hall was allowed. In 1263 the construction of St. Mary's Church began. The construction of a harbour gave the town a further boost, which led to membership in the Hanseatic League in 1278.

Duke Otto I officially made Szczecin the residential city of Pomerania in 1309. At the end of the 14th century, Szczecin's economy received another boost when, in the course of the conflict between Poland and the Teutonic Order, the city was granted extensive trading privileges in order to replace Gdansk, which was dominated by the Order.

During the Thirty Years' War, the Swedes occupied the town. It remained Swedish even after the Peace of Westphalia. During the Nordic War, Russian troops besieged Szczecin in 1713. With the Peace of Stockholm in 1720, King Frederick William I succeeded in acquiring Szczecin for Prussia.

From 1806 to 1813 Szczecin was occupied by the French. After Napoleon's expulsion, Prussia was back and so Szczecin became German in 1871.

After the Second World War, the German "Stettin" became the Polish "Szczecin". At that time, only about 80,000 Germans and 6000 Poles still lived in the devastated city. The German population was pushed out and Poles from the former Polish eastern territories settled in. Today Szczecin is a lively town with about 400.000 inhabitants
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During WWII, bombing raids caused extensive damage. About 90 % of all buildings of the Old Town and the harbor area were devasted at the end of the war. Standing on the tower of the cathedral facing west nearly all buildings are less than 60 years old.