Jastrowie j is a town in 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...

 of over 9,000 inhabitants in Zlotow County

Zlotów County

Złotów County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. Its administrative seat and largest town is Złotów, which lies north of the regional capital Poznań...

, Greater Poland Voivodship. It has 8,900 inhabitants (1998) and lies on the edge of the Gwda River valley. The town is located on the Oska stream.

History

Jastrowie was one of the southernmost centres of the Pomeranians. In the beginning of the 14th century it belonged to the Ujście

Ujscie

Ujście is a town in Piła County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,888 inhabitants ....

 castellany

Castellany

A castellany was a district administered by a castellan.Castellanies appeared during the Middle Ages and in most current states are now replaced by a more modern type of country subdivision....

. On May 5, 1602, the town received the city rights granted by Piotr Potulicki and confirmed by King Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...

. In the 17th century the town developed quickly. New inhabitants arrived, including Pomeranians, settlers from Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and Jews.

After the Partitions of Poland

Partitions of Poland

The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...

 the town was incorporated into 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...

. In 19th century Jastrowie (then called Jastrow in German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

) became one of the most important centres of horse trade. During 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...

, Jastrowie was an important point of Pommerstellung (Wał Pomorski), one of the most important German lines of fortification in the East.

Currently Jastrowie is the site of several wood and bicycle factories. It was part of the Piła Voivodship from 1975 until 1998, when the administrative region was superseded by the Greater Poland Voivodship. Jastrowie's most important cultural

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

event is its International Folk Festival, "Bukowińskie Spotkania".

Sites of interest

• Town Market (18th century)
• City House (16th century)
• St. Mary's Queen of Poland Church (1882)
• Michael's Archangel Church (1913).