Szczecin

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For other meanings, see Szczecin (disambiguation) and Stettin (disambiguation). Szczecin
Oder River in Szczecin

Flag
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Floating Garden
Motto: "Szczecin jest otwarty"
("Stettin is open")

Szczecin

Coordinates: 14°35′E / 53.417°N 14.583°E / 53.417; 14.583
Country  Poland
Voivodeship West Pomeranian
County city county
Established 8th century
Town rights 1243
Government
 - Mayor Piotr Krzystek
Area
 - City 301 km² (116.2 sq mi)
Population (2009)
 - City 406,427
 - Density 1,350.3/km² (3,497.1/sq mi)
 - Metro 777,000
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code PL-70-017
to 71-871
Area code(s) +48 91
Car plates ZS
Website http://www.szczecin.pl

Szczecin [ˈʂt​͡ʂɛt​͡ɕin] ( listen) (German: Stettin English: Stettin [ʃtɛˈtiːn] ( listen); Kashubian: Sztetëno [ʂtɛˈtənɔ]; Latin: Stetinum, Sedinum) - is the capital city of West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of the 2005 census the city had a total population of 420,638. In June 2009 its population was 406,427.

Stettin is located on the Oder River, south of the Lagoon of Szczecin and the Bay of Pomerania. The city is situated along the southwestern shore of Dąbie Lake, on both sides of Oder and on several large islands between western and eastern branch of the river. Stettin borders with town of Police, seat of the Police County, situated at an estuary of the Oder River.

The city evolved from an early medieval Pomeranian stronghold, which in 1243 was merged with two adjacent German settlements, creating the present-day Old Town. At the site of the former stronghold, a castle was built as a residence of the Griffin dukes, who ruled the Duchy of Pomerania until 1637. In addition to the castle, the Brick Gothic churches were built in the medieval era. These landmarks still dominate the skyline and can be assessed via the European Route of Brick Gothic. Four important treaties were concluded in the town, the Treaty of Stettin (1570) ending the Northern Seven Years' War, the Treaty of Stettin (1630) settling the conditions of Swedish occupation of the Duchy of Pomerania during the Thirty Years' War, the Treaty of Stettin (1653) settling the border between Brandenburg-Prussian and Swedish Pomerania after the war, and Frederick I of Prussia and George I of Great Britain concluded an alliance in the Treaty of Stettin (1715) during the Great Northern War.

Stettin remained with Sweden until the Treaty of Stockholm (1720), when it was integrated into the Brandenburg-Prussian part of Pomerania. From 1815 to 1945, the city was the capital of both the reorganized Prussian Province of Pomerania and of its central government region. Stettin became the largest and most industrial city of the province, and the surrounding towns and villages were subsequently amalgamated. After the Second World War, the city was annexed by Poland, and its inhabitants fled or were forcibly expelled. Subsequently, the devastated town was rebuilt by Polish settlers. Szczecin became the capital of the Szczecin Voivodeship, which in 1999 was merged into the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.

Name and its etymology

The name of Szczecin, its neighbourhood locations and oldest districts is considered to be of Slavic origins, however the exact word upon which it is based on is subject of ongoing research[1]

Spelling variants in medieval sources include:

• Stetin,[2] recorded e.g. in 1133,[2] 1159,[2] 1177[2]
• Stetyn,[2] recorded e.g. in 1188,[2] 1243[2]
• Stetina,[2] by Herbord[2]
• Stetinum
• Stitin, recorded e.g. in 1251,[2] in the Annales Ryensis,[2] in 1642[3]
• Stitinum, by Saxo Grammaticus[2]
• Stittinum
• Stytin,[2] in the Annales Colbacensis[2]

Other medieval names are:

• Burstaborg, in the Knytlinga saga[2][4]
• Burstenburgh, in the Annales of Waldemar[2][4]

These names, literally "brush burgh", most possibly are derived from the translation of the city's Slavic name.[4]

Maria Malec in Etymological dictionary of geographical names of Poland has counted 11 distinct theories regarding the origin of the name, that may be derived from

• hill peak (Polish: szczyt)
• grass (Polish: szczeć = Dipsacus)
• a personal name (Szczota)[5]

Historian Marian Gumowski (1881–1974) argued, based on his studies of early city stamps and seals, that the earliest name of the town was, in modern Polish spelling, Szczycin.[6][7]

In Latin language, the city is referred to as Stetinum.

In 1310, Wartislaw IV, Duke of Pomerania founded the city of Neustettin ("New Stettin", now Szczecinek). For distinction, the town was called Alten Stettin, Alten-Stettin or Altenstettin[8] ("Old Stettin", Polish: Stary Szczecin).

History

Middle Ages

The history of Szczecin began in the 8th century, when West Slavs settled Pomerania and erected a stronghold on the site of the modern castle.[9] Since the 9th century, the stronghold was fortified and expanded toward the Oder bank.[9] Mieszko I of Poland and Piast rulers took control of parts of Pomerania between the 960s and 1005, but not of the lower Oder region.[10][11] Subsequent Polish rulers, the Holy Roman Empire and the Liutician federation aimed at control of the territory.[1]

After the decline of neighboring regional center Wolin in the 12th century, the settlement became one of the more important and powerful seaports of the Baltic Sea south coasts.