Elblag

City name

According to various sources the city name of Elbląg comes from the river name, which is of (Old)Prussian or Germanic(Gothic) origin. Early sources: river Ilfing (890), Castrum de Elbingo quod a nomine fluminis Elbingum appellavit (1237 — Peter Dusburg, Chronicon Terre Prussiae), in Elbingo (1239), in Elbing (1242), in Elbinge ... fluvium Elbinc (1246, city charter), de Elbingo (1250), in Elbyngo (1258), vitra Elbingum (1263), Elvingo (1293), in Elbingo (1300), in Elvingo (1389), czum Elbinge (1392), czu Elbing (1403), Elwing (1410), czum Elwinge (1412), Elbing (1414–1438), Elbyang (before 1454), Elbing (1508), ku Elbiągowi (1634), w Elblągu (1661), w Elblągu (1661).

Literature:

• Elbląg, in: Kazimierz Rymut, Nazwy Miast Polski, Ossolineum, Wrocław 1987
• Hubert Gurnowicz, Elbląg, in: Nazwy miast Pomorza Gdańskiego, Ossolineum, Wrocław 1978

History

(Old)Prussian city of Truso

The seaport of Truso on the Ilfing river was first mentioned in ca. 890 by Wulfstan, an Anglo-Saxon sailor, travelling on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. The exact location of Truso is not certain, as the seashore was significantly changed, but most of the historians trace the the settlement inside or near to modern Elbląg.

It was an important seaport serving the Vistula river bay on the early medieval Baltic Sea trade routes. The main goods were amber, furs and slaves. The town was inhabited by the (old) Prussian tradesmen and craftsmen, but also visited by merchants from the Baltic territories (Poland, Scandinavia). Truso importance declined in 10th century, and its functions were taken over by Gdansk and later by Elblag.

Bringing Christianity — Teutonic Order

In 12th–13th centuries region of Pogesania was loosely dependent on the Polish duchy of Eastern Pomerania. The task of Christianization of the territory was given to the Christian, bishop of Prussia (Zantyr) and the Teutonic Order who received Chelmno Land as fief from the Polish duke Konrad of Mazovia. Conquest of Prussia was only accomplished with great bloodshed over more than 50 years, during which new castles were built and trade and administration cities were founded.

A city named Elblag in Pogesania was founded in 1237 by German tradesmen near the ruins of the Prussian fortress and trading settlement of Truso, on the ancient Amber Road. The Teutonic Knights built a castle, which the burghers later destroyed. When Prussia was divided into four dioceses, Elblag and Pogesania became part of one of the four dioceses named Pomesania.

In 1246 Elbląg received Lübeck Rights marking its importance as a seaport (unlike many other cities in east-central Europe, which received Magdeburg Rights). At this time it was a significant seaport, member of Hansa League, having important trading contacts with England, Flanders, France and Holland. The city received numerous merchant privileges from dukes of Poland, Pomerania and the Teutonic Order. e.g. in the privilege of the Elblag Old Town was upgraded in 1343, in 1393 it was granted an emporium privilege for grains, metals and forest products. A separate settlement called Elblag New Town was founded in ca. 1337 and it received a Lubeck law charter in 1347.

The oldest copy of the Polish common law, called the Book of Elbląg (Księga Elbląska) was written in the second half of 13th century. A vocabulary of the Baltic Old Prussian language, named the Elbing-Preussisches Wörterbuch (Elblag Prussian Vocabulary), was written around 1350 by the leading administrators.

Member of the Hanseatic league

The trading cities of Elbing, Danzig (now Gdańsk), and Thorn (now Toruń), under the leadership of Imperial Cologne, formed the Hanseatic League.

In 1440 the eastern Prussian cities formed the Prussian Confederation (Preussische Bund), which led the successful rising (1454) of Prussia against the rule of the Teutonic Order. The Prussian Confederation asked King of Poland Casimir IV of Poland for help in their struggle against the Teutonic Knights. On the request of the confederation Casimir IV annexed Prussia and this led to the Thirteen Years War. As a result of it the city of Elbing/Elblag became a part of the province of Royal Prussia under the sovereignty of the Polish crown. Since the 1569, Elblag became the part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that respected local languages and law. The administration switched from Low German Language to use High German language, as was the case in all Hanseatic cities.

With the reformation the burghers became protestants and in 1535 the first Protestant Gymnasium was established in Elbing.

From 1579 Elbing had close trade relations with England, to which the city accorded free trade. English and Scots merchants settled in Elbing and formed the Scots Reformed Church of Elblag (Schottische Reformierte Kirche Elbing). The Scottish newcomers remained and aided Protestant Sweden in the Thirty Years War. The rivalry of nearby Danzig/Gdansk several times interrupted trading links. By 1618 Elbing left the Hanseatic League owing to its close business dealings with England.

Famous inhabitants of the city at that time included native sons Hans von Bodeck, Samuel Hartlib or Hartlieb and for six years the Moravian Brethren refugee Johann Amos Comenius.

Imperial Cartographer Johann Friedrich Endersch of Elbing completed a map of Ermland/Warmia in 1755 and also made a copper etching of the galiot, named Die Stadt Elbing (The City of Elbing).

At the time of the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the city lost it's privileges and was annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia, which in 1871 became a part of the German Empire.

Industrialization

In 1828 the first steamship was built by Ignatz Grunau. In 1837 Ferdinand Schichau started the Schichau-Werke in Elbing and later a large shipyard in nearby Danzig as well. Schichau constructed the Borussia, the first screw-vessel in Germany. Elbings Schichau-Werke built hydraulic machinery, ships, steam engines and torpedoes. After the inauguration of the railroad to Königsberg in 1853, Elbing's industry began to grow. Schichau worked together with his son-in-law Carl H. Zise, who continued the industrial complex after Schichau's death. Schichau erected large complexes for his many thousands of workers.

Another Prussian engineer Baurat Georg Steenke from Königsberg, had connected Elbing near the Baltic Sea with the southern part of Prussia, by building the Oberland Kanal.

As Elbing became an industrialized city, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) got the majority of votes, in 1912 Reichstag elections even 51 %.

The LDS Mormons started filming church records of people affected. The Elbing church records (Kirchenbuch) vital statistics are available since 1577.

A large number of the German inhabitants of Elbing fled when the Soviet army approached the city. Almost all who had returned or remained, were expelled during and after the end of World War II, when the city came under Polish administration by order of the Soviet Union.

Directly after 1945 the old city, burnt down by the Soviet Army, was demolished and the bricks were used to rebuild Warsaw and Gdansk.

History after 1945

Elblag was the scene of one of the riots in the coastal cities in 1970 together with Tricity and Szczecin (formerly Stettin), see also Coastal cities events.

After 1989 restoration of the Old City began. Since 1990 there has been an Elbing German minority group, named Elbinger Minderheit, it counts some hundred persons.

External links

• Wirtualny Elblag (in Polish)
• The interactive map of Elblag
• The Elblag Municipal Authorities

Historical sources

• [1] Elbing church records filmed by LDS
• Endersch map of 1755 : for Elblag click on second down from top left section of map
• http://www.elbing.de
• Gesellschaft der deutschen Minderheit Stadt und Kreis Elbing
• private Elbing page in German

Internet directories

• Open Directory Project — Elbląg
• ChefMoz Dining Guide — Elbląg
• Wirtualna Polska — Elbląg
• Ogólnolnopolski Katalog Onetu OKO — Elbląg

Referenced By