Augustów
Encyclopedia
Augustów AUD is a town in north-eastern Poland
with 29,600 inhabitants (1995). It lies on the Netta River
and the Augustów Canal
. It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship
(since 1999), having previously been in Suwałki Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the seat of Augustów County
and of Gmina Augustów
.
In 1970 Augustów became officially recognized as a health and relaxation
resort
. In 1973 surrounding settlements were named a part of it, forming a popular resort town
.
when the Real union
called Union of Lublin
was signed between Poland
, Grand Duchy of Lithuania
and Royal Prussia
. As a result, the town became a part of the Kingdom of Poland
, while its cemetery was left in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
. Tatar invaders destroyed Augustów in 1656, and the second half of the 17th century saw the town afflicted by plague
.
In 1795 Prussia
annexed Augustów. In 1807 it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw
, followed by incorporation into the Kingdom of Poland
in 1815. It was made a county seat in 1842. The first railway connection reached Augustów in 1899.
During World War I
, the Russian army successfully counterattacked the German army across Augustów in 1914. In the aftermath of World War I
, it was a site of the Battle of Augustów in 1920. From 1939 to 1941, Soviet
troops occupied the town. Many inhabitants were sent to exile in Kazachstan, from where some were able to return after 6 years. The Nazi German forces occupied Augustów until 1944. World War II
brought destruction of about 70% of the town and death or departure of most of its residents, amongst them a community of several thousand Jews who were imprisoned in the ghetto situated between the canal and the river. The Germans executed practically all of them before they left. In 1945 the Soviets conducted the nearby Augustów chase 1945
- a special operation against former Armia Krajowa
anticommunist fighters.
(65 mi) connecting the Vistula
with the Neman River
, was also known as Augustowo, wrote Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
(1911). It was founded in 1557 by Sigismund II Augustus, hence its name, and laid out in a very regular manner, with a spacious market-place. It carried a large trade in cattle and horses, and manufactured linen and huckaback. Population in 1897 was 12,746.
s of the Rospuda Valley, attracted great controversy in 2007. The work was halted after the European Commission
applied for an immediate injunction. See Rospuda River
, European route E67
.
streets.
with the following cities and towns:
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
with 29,600 inhabitants (1995). It lies on the Netta River
Netta River
The Netta is a river in north-east Poland, a right tributary of the Biebrza, approximately long. It is a continuation of the Rospuda, which flows into Lake Rospuda north of the town of Augustów...
and the Augustów Canal
Augustów Canal
The Augustów Canal is a cross-border canal built in the 19th century in the present-day Podlaskie Voivodeship of northeastern Poland and the Hrodna Voblast of north-western Belarus...
. It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship , is a voivodeship in northeastern Poland. It borders on Masovian Voivodeship to the west, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship to the northwest, Lublin Voivodeship to the south, the Belarusssian Voblasts of Grodno and Brest to the east, the Lithuanian Counties of Alytus and...
(since 1999), having previously been in Suwałki Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the seat of Augustów County
Augustów County
Augustów County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland, on the border with Belarus. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest...
and of Gmina Augustów
Gmina Augustów
Gmina Augustów is a rural gmina in Augustów County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. Its seat is the town of Augustów, although the town is not part of the territory of the gmina....
.
In 1970 Augustów became officially recognized as a health and relaxation
Relaxation
Relaxation stands quite generally for a release of tension, a return to equilibrium.In the sciences, the term is used in the following ways:*Relaxation , and more in particular:...
resort
Resort
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
. In 1973 surrounding settlements were named a part of it, forming a popular resort town
Resort town
A resort town, sometimes called a resort city or resort destination, is a town or area where tourism or vacationing is a primary component of the local culture and economy...
.
History
The town was first mentioned in 1496 and was granted city rights by king Sigismund II in 1557. Until 1569 Augustów belonged to the Grand Duchy of LithuaniaGrand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
when the Real union
Real union
Real union is a union of two or more states, which share some state institutions as in contrast to personal unions; however they are not as unified as states in a political union...
called Union of Lublin
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin replaced the personal union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a real union and an elective monarchy, since Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. In addition, the autonomy of Royal Prussia was...
was signed between Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
and Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
. As a result, the town became a part of the Kingdom of Poland
Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)
The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...
, while its cemetery was left in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
. Tatar invaders destroyed Augustów in 1656, and the second half of the 17th century saw the town afflicted by plague
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
.
In 1795 Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
annexed Augustów. In 1807 it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...
, followed by incorporation into the Kingdom of Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
in 1815. It was made a county seat in 1842. The first railway connection reached Augustów in 1899.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Russian army successfully counterattacked the German army across Augustów in 1914. In the aftermath of World War I
Aftermath of World War I
The fighting in World War I ended in western Europe when the Armistice took effect at 11:00 am GMT on November 11, 1918, and in eastern Europe by the early 1920s. During and in the aftermath of the war the political, cultural, and social order was drastically changed in Europe, Asia and Africa,...
, it was a site of the Battle of Augustów in 1920. From 1939 to 1941, Soviet
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
troops occupied the town. Many inhabitants were sent to exile in Kazachstan, from where some were able to return after 6 years. The Nazi German forces occupied Augustów until 1944. World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
brought destruction of about 70% of the town and death or departure of most of its residents, amongst them a community of several thousand Jews who were imprisoned in the ghetto situated between the canal and the river. The Germans executed practically all of them before they left. In 1945 the Soviets conducted the nearby Augustów chase 1945
Augustów chase 1945
The Augustów roundup was a military operation against the Polish World War II anti-communist partisans and sympathizers following the Soviet takeover of Poland...
- a special operation against former Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
anticommunist fighters.
Augustowo
The town of Augustów, located on a canalAugustów Canal
The Augustów Canal is a cross-border canal built in the 19th century in the present-day Podlaskie Voivodeship of northeastern Poland and the Hrodna Voblast of north-western Belarus...
(65 mi) connecting the Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
with the Neman River
Neman River
Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
, was also known as Augustowo, wrote Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time...
(1911). It was founded in 1557 by Sigismund II Augustus, hence its name, and laid out in a very regular manner, with a spacious market-place. It carried a large trade in cattle and horses, and manufactured linen and huckaback. Population in 1897 was 12,746.
Augustów ring road controversy
The construction of the Augustów bypass called Via Baltica, through the wetlandWetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s of the Rospuda Valley, attracted great controversy in 2007. The work was halted after the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
applied for an immediate injunction. See Rospuda River
Rospuda River
The Rospuda is a small river in north-eastern Poland. It flows through the Suwałki Region of Poland, including the north-western part of the large Augustów Primeval Forest wilderness area. Its continuation, the Netta, is a tributary of the Biebrza...
, European route E67
European route E67
European route E 67 is a E-road running from Prague in the Czech Republic to Helsinki in Finland by way of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia....
.
Tourism
The town, although small, has many attractions for the visitors. The Oficerski Yacht Club Hotel, built in the 1930s, is an army yacht club that has been restored and converted into a resort. It is located on the edge of one of many lakes in the region. Pope John Paul II has a memorial chair from the first and last time he visited the town right outside the club. Boat tours are also popular and the old town square still has its original cobblestoneCobblestone
Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...
streets.
Twin towns — Sister cities
Augustów is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with the following cities and towns:
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