Колобжег: Тарихы мен географиясы

Kołobrzeg (; ; Kolberg ) is a port city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (as of 2014). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section divided by the Oder and Vistula Rivers). It is the capital of Kołobrzeg County. During the Early Middle Ages, the Pomeranian tribes established a settlement at the site of modern day Budzistowo. Thietmar of Merseburg first mentioned the site as Salsa Cholbergiensis. Around the year 1000, when the city was part of Poland, it became the seat of the Diocese of Kołobrzeg, one of five oldest Polish dioceses. During the High Middle Ages, the town was expanded with an additional settlement inhabited by German settlers a few kilometers north of the stronghold and chartered with Lübeck law, which settlement eventually superseded the original Pomeranian settlement. The city later joined the Hanseatic League. Within the Duchy of Pomerania the town was the urban center of the secular reign of the prince bishops of Cammin and their residence throughout the High and Late Middle Ages. When it was part of Brandenburgian Pomerania during the Early Modern Age, it withstood Polish and Napoleon's troops in the siege of Kolberg. From 1815, it was part of the Prussian province of Pomerania. In the late 19th century Kolberg became a popular spa town at the Baltic Sea. In 1945, Polish and Soviet troops captured the town, while the remaining German population which had not fled the advancing Red Army was expelled in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement. Kołobrzeg, now part of post war Poland and devastated in the preceding Battle of Kolberg, was rebuilt, but lost its status as the regional center to the nearby city of Koszalin.

"Kołobrzeg" means "by the shore" in Polish; "koło" translates as "by" and "brzeg" means "coast" or "shore". has a similar etymology. The original name of Cholberg was taken by Polish and Kashubian linguists in the 19th and 20th centuries to reconstruct the name. After German settlement, the original name of Cholberg evolved into link=no .

According to Piskorski (1999) and Kempke (2001), Slavic and Lechitic immigration reached Farther Pomerania in the 7th century. First Slavic settlements in the vicinity of Kołobrzeg were centered around nearby deposits of salt and date to 6th and 7th century. In the late 9th century, the Pomeranian tribes erected a fortified settlement at the site of modern part of Kołobrzeg county called Budzistowo near modern Kołobrzeg, replacing nearby Bardy Świelubie, a multi ethnic emporium, as the center of the region. The Parseta valley, where both the emporium and the stronghold were located, was one of the Pomeranians' core settlement areas. The stronghold consisted of a fortified burgh with a suburbium. The Pomeranians mined salt They also engaged in fishing, and used the salt to conserve foodstuffs, primarily herring, for trade. Other important occupations were metallurgy and smithery, based on local iron ore reserves, other crafts like the production of combs from horn, and in the surrounding areas, agriculture. Important sites in the settlement were a place for periodical markets and a tavern, mentioned as forum et taberna in 1140.

During Polish rule of the area in the late 10th century, the chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg (975–1018) mentions salsa Cholbergiensis as the see of the Bishopric of Kołobrzeg, set up during the Congress of Gniezno in 1000 and placed under the Archdiocese of Gniezno. In 1013 Bolesław Chrobry removed his troops from Pomerania in face of war with Holy Roman Emperor Henry III. A previous Polish siege of the burgh had been unsuccessful; although the duke had fled the burgh, the Polish army was unable to break through the fortifications and the two gates. The army had however looted and burned the suburbium, which was not or only lightly fortified. In the 12th century Polish chronicle Gesta principum Polonorum Kołobrzeg was named a significant and famous city. During the subsequent Christianization of the area by Otto of Bamberg at the behest of Bolesław, a St. Mary's church was built. before the dukes became vassals of Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire in the late 12th century. Besides St. Mary's, a St. John's church and a St. Petri's chapel were built. A painting of the town of Kołobrzeg from the 13th century is located in the Museum of Polish Arms in the city.

During the Ostsiedlung, a settlement was founded by German settlers some kilometres off the site of the Slavic/Lechitic one. It was located within the boundaries of today's downtown of Kołobrzeg and some of the inhabitants of the Polish town moved to the new settlement. and more settlers arrived, attracted by the duke. Hermann von Gleichen, German bishop of Kammin also supported the German colonisation of the region. while St. Mary's in the former Pomeranian stronghold was turned into a nuns' abbey. Already in 1248, the Kammin bishops and the Pomeranian dukes had interchanged the terrae Stargard and Kolberg, leaving the bishops in charge of the latter. In 1345, the bishops became Imperial immediate dukes in their secular reign. When the property of the Bishopric of Kammin was secularized during the Protestant Reformation in 1534, their secular reign including the Kolberg area became intermediately ruled by a Lutheran titular bishop, before it was turned into a Sekundogenitur of the House of Pomerania. During the Thirty Years' War, Kolberg was occupied by imperial forces from 1627 to 1630, and thereafter by Swedish forces.

Kolberg, with most of Farther Pomerania, was granted to Brandenburg Prussia in 1648 by the Treaty of Westphalia and, after the signing of the Treaty of Stettin (1653), and in accordance with the Treaty of Grimnitz, was part of the Province of Pomerania. It became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. In the 18th century, trade with Poland declined, while the production of textiles was developed. and after his release, he tried to organise a chaplaincy for the many Polish soldiers stationed in Kolberg. In the 19th century the city had a small but active Polish population that increased during the century to account for 1.5% of the population by 1905. The Polish community funded a Catholic school and the Church of Saint Marcin where masses in Polish were held (initially throughout the season, after about 1890 all the year), were established. Dating back to 1261 Kolberg's Jewish population amounted to 528 people in 1887, rising to 580 two years later, and although many moved to Berlin after that date they numbered around 500 by the end of the Nineteenth century

Between 1924 and 1935, the American German painter Lyonel Feininger, a tutor at the Staatliches Bauhaus, visited Kolberg repeatedly and painted the cathedral and environs of the town. In the May elections of 1933, the Nazi Party received by far the most votes, 9,842 out of 19,607 cast votes. When the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933, the Jewish community in Kolberg comprised 200 people, and the antisemitic repression by Germany's ruling party led several of them to flee the country. A Nazi newspaper, the Kolberger Beobachter, listed Jewish shops and business that were to be boycotted. Nazis also engaged in hate propaganda against Jewish lawyers, doctors, and craftsmen. At the end of 1935, Jews were banned from working in the city's health spas. In 1938, all Jews in Kolberg, as all over Germany, were renamed in official German documents as "Israel" (for males) or "Sarah" (for females). In the beginning of 1939, Jews were banned from attending German schools and the entire adult population had its driving licenses revoked. In 1944, the city was selected as a fortress — Festung Kolberg. The 1807 siege was used for the last Nazi propaganda film, Kolberg shortly before the end of the war by Joseph Goebbels. It was meant to inspire the Germans with its depiction of the heroic Prussian defence during the Napoleonic Wars. Tremendous resources were devoted to filming this epic, even diverting tens of thousands of troops from the front lines to have them serve as extras in battle scenes. Ironically, the film was released in the final few weeks of Nazi Germany's existence, when most of the country's cinemas were already destroyed. On 10 February 1945, the German torpedo boat T 196 brought about 300 survivors of the , which had been sunk by Soviet submarine S 13 to Kolberg. As the Red Army advanced on Kolberg, most of the inhabitants and tens of thousands of refugees from surrounding areas (about 70,000 were trapped in the Kolberg Pocket), as well as 40,000 German soldiers, were evacuated from the besieged city by German naval forces in Operation Hannibal. Only about two thousand soldiers were left on 17 March to cover the last sea transports. Between 4 and 18 March 1945, there were major battles between the Soviet and Polish forces and the German army. Because of a lack of anti tank weapons, German destroyers used their guns to support the defenders of Kolberg until nearly all of the soldiers and civilians had been evacuated. During the fights, Polish soldiers' losses were 1,013 dead, 142 MIA and 2,652 wounded.

Before the end of World War II the town was predominantly German Protestant with small Polish and Jewish minorities. Almost all of the pre war German population fled or was expelled so that since 1945, Polish Catholics make up the majority of the population. Around the turn from the 18th to the 19th century an increase of the number of Catholics was observed, because military personnel had been moved from West Prussia to the town. + Number of inhabitants in years Year Inhabitants 1740 5,027 1782 4,006 1794 4,319 1812 5,597 1816 5,210 1831 6,221 1843 7,528 1852 8,658 1861 10,082 1900 20,200 1925 30,115 1940 36,800 1945 approx. 3,000 1950 6,800 1960 16,700 1975 31,800 1990 45,400 2002 47,500 2004 45,500 2014 46,830

Kołobrzeg today is a popular tourist destination for Poles, Germans and due to the ferry connection to Bornholm also Danish people. It provides a unique combination of a seaside resort, health resort, an old town full of historic monuments and tourist entertainment options (e. g. numerous "beer gardens").

The town is part of the European Route of Brick Gothic network. A bike path "to Podczele", located along the seaside was commissioned on 14 July 2004. The path extends from Kołobrzeg to Podczele. The path has been financed by the European Union, and is intended to be part of a unique biking path that will ultimately circle the entire Baltic Sea. The path was breached on 24 March 2010 due to the encroachment of the sea associated with the draining of the adjacent unique Eco Park marsh area. The government of Poland has allocated PLN 90,000 to repair the breach, and the path re opened within a year. It was also extended in 2011 to connected with Ustronie Morskie to the east.

South of Bagicz, some from Kołobrzeg, there is an 806 year old oak (2008). Dated in the year 2000 as the oldest oak in Poland, it was named Bolesław to commemorate the king Boleslaus the Brave.

Kołobrzeg is also a regional cultural center. In the summer take place – a number of concerts of popular singers, musicians, and cabarets. Municipal Cultural Center, is located in the Park teatralny. Keep under attachment artistic arts, theater and dance. Patron of youth teams and the vocal choir. Interfolk organizes the annual festival, the International Meeting of the folklore and other cultural events. Cinema is a place for meetings Piast Discussion Film Club. In Kołobrzeg there are many permanent and temporary exhibitions of artistic and historical interest. In the town hall of Kołobrzeg is located Gallery of Modern Art, where exhibitions are exposed artists from Kołobrzeg, as well as outside the local artistic circles. Gallery also conducts educational activities, including organized by the gallery of art lessons for children and young people from schools.

The Kołobrzeg Pier is currently the second longest pier in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, after the pier in Międzyzdroje. A jetty positioned on the end of the pier enables small ships to sail for sightseeing excursions.

In town, there is a museum of Polish weapons (Muzeum Oręża Polskiego), which are presented in the collections of militaria from the early Middle Ages to the present. The palace of Braunschweig include part of museum dedicated to the history of the city. In their collections branch presents a collection of rare and common measurement tools, as well as specific measures of the workshop. The local museum is also moored at the port of ORP Fala patrol ship, built in 1964, after leaving the service transformed into a museum.

Kołobrzeg has connections among others to Szczecin, "Solidarity" Szczecin–Goleniów Airport, Gdańsk, Poznań, Warsaw, Kraków and Lublin.

A seasonal ferry service to Nexø on the Danish island of Bornholm is offered by the catamaran Jantar. The trip takes 4,5 hours and carries passengers but no cars.