Oltszyn

Places of Interest - Poland

introduction

Olsztyn lies on the river Lyna and is nowadays the capital of the province (Voivodship) of Warmia-Masuria. The city became Allenstein when it was swallowed in West Prussia that lasted until the end of WWII. It was heavily wounded during the last war in words like devastation.

Nowaday’s it’s a pleasant medium-sized Polish city with a renovated and restored center including a typical open central market square with merchant houses and a town hall with library in the centre. Another great attraction is the old castle surrounded by a nice park also located in the center of the city.

highlights

Centre Oltszyn

The most important building of Oltszyn is the historic castle built in the 14th century with red bricks. You can look without paying the entrance-fee in the courtyard and inside is the museum of Warmia and Masuria located (here you have to pay). Next to the castle you can see the new amphitheater and the statue of Copernicus.

Not far from the castle is the beautiful Rynek (market square) to see with its heavily renovated but impressive merchant houses around the centre block which is the city hall including library. The two monuments of the great lions come from the ruins of the entrance of the Tannenberg monument destroyed by the Nazis at the end of WW2.

Around the market square are numerous narrow cobbledstoned streets and lanes filled with small shops and restaurants. Another symbol of Oltszyn is the High gate that is the only remaining structure of the old city wall.

history

The current Olsztyn was founded under the name Allenstein on 31 October 1353 on the banks of the Alle river (now Polish: Łyna) as a city under the protection of the castle already established by the Teutonic Order. After continuous wars between this German Order and the Polish kings, who fought its authority, in 1466 they had to allow in 1478 the Ermlander bishops to make a personal oath of allegiance to the Polish crown. Copernicus would write history here.

During the First Polish Division in 1772, Allenstein, which was left behind for centuries, remained inside the kingdom of Prussia, where it retained its function as an administrative and legal center. Only after 1870 when the city was connected to the German railway network, it grew from a few thousand to 30,000 inhabitants. The city remained inhabited by a majority of the Catholic population, despite the influx of people from the whole of southern East Prussia (Masuria).

At the Peace of Versailles, Poland demanded the entire Regierungsbezirk Allenstein in 1919 because the population would be Polish-speaking, but the Allies stipulated that the city council and local people would decide on this. The population chose 98% for a stay with Prussia and Germany. Despite the difficult economic conditions, the city grew to 50,000 inhabitants until 1940.

The Battle of Tannenberg (1914):

The strategy of the German Imperial Army during WWI was that the focus would be put first on the Western Front (France) where areas such as East Prussia were considered less important and were even expected to give up the Russians in the first confrontation. Nevertheless, some forts were built along the Weichsel river to stop the Russians.

The defense was in the hands of General "von Prittwitz" and the 8th German Army. The Russians had two whole armies ready to invade. The German Commander-in-Chief "Von Francois" ignored the orders of the High Command and went on the attack. The German battle plan foresaw that the Russians would need at least six weeks to complete their mobilization, but the Russians were much faster, because they did not make all the necessary logistical preparations - which would later result in a total failure.

It was not until 17 August that Von Prittwitz learned that Von François had not followed his orders and gave him the order to withdraw. In the center the Germans were driven back and "Von Prittwitz" panicked and wanted to give up East Prussia. They expected that the two Russian armies could unite at any moment. Von Prittwitz was replaced on 22 August by the retired German General Paul von Hindenburg.

Colonel Hoffman's plan provided for a risky strategy that was possible only by etreme good German communication and transport; moreover, the Russians were unable to send messages encrypted over the radio, so that the Germans knew their plans accurately. The Njemen army of Paul von Rennenkampf was very far away and only moved slowly towards Koningsbergen, the capital of Prussia at that time. According to the German plan there was only one division of the Landwehr and the only cavalry division of the 8th German Army opposite. Intercepted radio messages on August 25 confirmed that Von Rennenkampf was not a threat for the time being. The Germans concentrated entirely on the Narev army of Aleksandr Samsonov.

They kept the center relatively weak and strengthened the flanks as much as possible, in order to achieve an encirclement. The command to attack followed on 26 August. On August 27, Von François had access to his entire artillery. The flank attacks continued and the German center remained in place with great difficulty. The Russians were able to occupy Allenstein (now: Oltszyn) and so ran into the German trap. In the meantime, insufficient logistical preparations have been committed. The Russians suffered from ammunition deficits. In the evening of 28 August the Russian flanks were on the withdrawal and the encirclement was completed.

On August 30, the Russian general said goodbye to his staff, after which he committed suicide in the woods southwest of Willenberg. The battle ended on 31 August. The Narev army was completely destroyed. The Russians lost more than 120,000 soldiers, many more were taken prisoner. Hindenburg and Ludendorff became heroes.

The city was captured by the Red Army on January 22, 1945, and for a large part destroyed. Hereby it came to atrocities, such as rapes and mass murders to the local German population. A particularly strange event was the killing of all patients in a hastily put up field hospital. In the fifties, several larger and smaller mass graves were found during renovations.

More than a thousand houses were lost as a result of arson attacks and, as in all East Prussia, a massive influx of refugees started as a result of these ethnic cleansing. After WW2, Allenstein came under Polish rule as a result of the Potsdam treaty and was given the Polish name Olsztyn, a name already used in Poland for Allenstein. The city became the capital of the Olsztyn voivodship. The German population, insofar as they had not already fled, was expelled from the city and the surrounding region under the Potsdam treaty.

Only about 7 percent of German residents were allowed to live in the new Polish city. This concerned only residents who could prove that they sufficiently spoke Polish and could be to a certain aspect to be socialized to Polish. These inhabitants came from the villages south of the city where the rural population still traditionally spoke a Polish dialect, although in 1945 it was extensively extorted. The last Soviet troops left the city in 1956.

The Polish authorities opened up the depopulated Olsztyn to the expelled Polish population from the eastern provinces, which in turn had been annexed by the Soviet Union.

tips & advice (2016)

The bus and train station are almost next to each other (Plac Konstytucji) northeast of the center (about a quarter of an hour's walk).

Oltszyn - Plock: there is certainly a bus at 09:20 from the bus station towards the city of Plock; cost 35 Zloty, arrival13:10 at Plock bus station.

Next to the bus and train station is a nice terrace and a small restaurant where you can eat well and cheaply. The name is Dokuza bar.

Name: PTSM youth hostel

Address: Ul Kosciuszki 72/74

Price: 28 Zlt + 2.75 Zlt (dormitory)

Phone nr. : 089 527 6650

Email: schronisko@ssmolsztyn.pl

Content:

A real “youth” hostel within walking distance of the old town of Olstzyn. It is a professional big hostel with a large kitchen in the basement with refrigerator, two gas cookers and numerous cupboards and tables. The rooms are spacious, usually contain their own table, TV and a private toilet and shower.

Many schoolclasses stay here so most of the time it’s full.