Słupsk (Polish: [swupsk] ⓘ; Kashubian: Stôłpsk [stɞwpsk]; German: Stolp [ʃtɔlp]) is a city with powiat rights located on the Słupia River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland, in the historical region of Pomerania or more specifically in its part known in contemporary Poland as Central Pomerania (Pomorze Środkowe) within the wider West Pomerania (Pomorze Zachodnie). According to Statistics Poland, it has a population of 88,835 inhabitants while occupying 43.15 square kilometres (16.66 sq mi), thus being one of the most densely populated cities in the country as of December 2021. In addition, the city is the administrative seat of Słupsk County and the rural Gmina Słupsk, despite belonging to neither.
Słupsk had its origins as a Pomeranian settlement in the early Middle Ages. In 1265, it was given city rights. By the 14th century, the city had become a centre of local administration and trade and a Hanseatic League associate. Between 1368 and 1478, it was a residence of the Dukes of Słupsk, until 1474 vassals of the Kingdom of Poland. According to the peace treaty of 1648, Słupsk became part of Brandenburg-Prussia. In 1815, it was incorporated into the newly formed Prussian Province of Pomerania. After World War II, the city again became part of Poland, and from 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of Słupsk Voivodeship. It is a railway junction located on the main railroad between the Tricity and Szczecin.
Słupsk contains the oldest preserved industrial structure in Poland and a Renaissance Ducal Castle, which houses the Museum of Middle Pomerania with the largest collection of paintings by popular early-20th-century artist Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. It is also home to the Pomeranian University in Słupsk and notable basketball club Czarni Słupsk.
Etymology
Slavic names in Pomeranian — Stolpsk, Stôłpsk, Słëpsk, Słëpskò, Stôłp — and Polish — Słupsk — may be etymologically related to the words słup 'pole' and stołp 'keep'. There are two hypotheses about the origin of those names: that it refers to a specific way of constructing buildings on boggy ground with additional pile support, which is still in use, or that it is connected with a tower or other defensive structure on the banks of the Słupia River.
Later, under German administration, the town was named Stolp, to which the suffix in Pommern was attached in order to avoid confusion with other places similarly named. The Germanised name comes from one of five Slavic Pomeranian names of this settlement. The city was occasionally called Stolpe, referring to the Słupia River, whose German name is Stolpe. Stolpe is also the Latin exonym for this place.
History
Middle Ages
Słupsk developed from a few medieval settlements located on the banks of the Słupia River, at the unique ford along the trade route connecting the territories of modern Pomeranian and West Pomeranian Voivodeships. This factor led to the construction of a grod, a West Slavic or Lechitic fortified settlement, on an islet in the middle of the river. Surrounded by swamps and mires, the fortress had perfect defence conditions. Archaeological research has shown that the grod was situated on an artificial hill and had a natural moat formed by the branches of the Słupia, and was protected by a palisade. Records confirm that the area of Słupsk was part of the Polish realm during the reign of Mieszko I and in the 11th century.
According to several sources, the first historic reference to Słupsk comes from the year 1015, when the king of Poland Boleslaus I the Brave took over the town, incorporating it into the Polish state. In the 12th century, the town became one of the most important castellanies in Pomerania alongside Gdańsk and Świecie. However, several historians stated that the first mention was in two documents dating to 1227, signed by the Pomeranian dukes Wartislaw III and Barnim I and their mothers, confirming the establishment of an abbey in 1224 and donating estates, among them a village "in Stolp minore" or "in parvo Ztolp", respectively, to that abbey. Another document dated to 1180, which mentions a "castellania Slupensis" and would thus be the oldest surviving record, has been identified as a late 13th-century or 14th-century duplicate.
The Griffin dukes lost the area to the Samborides during the following years, and the next surviving documents mentioning the area concern donations made by Samboride Świętopełk II, dating to 1236 (two documents) and 1240. In the earlier of the two 1236 documents, a Johann "castellanus de Slupcz" is mentioned as a witness, Schmidt considers this to be the earliest mention of the gard, since a castellany required the existence of a gard. The first surviving record explicitly mentioning the gard is from 1269: it notes a "Christianus, castellanus in castro Stolpis, et Hermannus, capellanus in civitate ante castrum predictum", thus confirming the existence of a fortress ("castrum") with a suburbium ("civitas"). Schmidt further says that the office of a capellanus required a church, which he identifies as Saint Peter's. This church is mentioned by name for the first time in a 1281 document of Samboride Mestwin II, which also mentions Saint Nicolai church and a Saint Mary's chapel in the fortress. The oldest mention of Saint Nicolai church dates to 1276.
Słupsk possibly received its city rights in 1265. Historians argue that city rights were granted for the first time in a document dated 9 September 1310 when Brandenburgian margraves Waldemar and Johann V granted those privileges under Lübeck law, which was confirmed and extended in a second document, dated 2 February 1313. The margraves had acquired the area in 1307. Mestwin II accepted them as his superiors in 1269, confirmed in 1273, but later on, in 1282, Mestwin II and Polish Duke Przemysł II signed the Treaty of Kępno, which transferred the suzerainty over Gdańsk Pomerania including Słupsk to Przemysł II. After Mestwin II's death the city was reintegrated with Poland and remained Polish until 1307, when the Margraviate of Brandenburg took over, while leaving local rule in the hands of the Swienca family, whose members were castellans in Słupsk. In 1337, the governors of Słupsk (Stolp) had purchased the village of Stolpmünde (modern Ustka) and then constructed a port there, enabling a maritime economy to develop. After the Treaty of Templin in 1317 the city passed to the Duchy of Pomerania-Wolgast.
In the 14th–16th centuries, the city reached the height of its political and economic importance. It maintained trade links with various countries via the port of Ustka. In 1368 Pomerania-Stolp (Duchy of Słupsk) was split off from Pomerania-Wolgast due to the Partitions of the Duchy of Pomerania. The grandson of Polish King Casimir III the Great and his would-be successor Casimir IV became duke of Słupsk as a Polish vassal in 1374, after he failed to take the Polish throne. The succeeding dukes were also vassals of the Kings of Poland: Wartislaw VII paid homage in 1390 (to King Władysław II Jagiełło), Bogislaw VIII paid homage in 1410 (also to King Władysław II). Słupsk remained within Polish sphere of political influence until 1474. It became part of the Duchy of Pomerania in 1478.
Modern ages
The Protestant Reformation reached the town in 1521, when Christian Ketelhut preached in the town. Ketelhut was forced to leave Stolp in 1522 due to an intervention by Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania. Peter Suawe, a Protestant from Stolp, however, continued his practices. In 1524, Johannes Amandus from Königsberg and others arrived and preached in a more radical way. As a consequence, Saint Mary's Church was profaned, the monastery's church was burned, and the clergy were treated poorly. The inhabitants of the town began the process of conversion to Lutheranism. In 1560 Polish pastor Paweł Buntowski preached in the town, and in 1586 Polish religious literature spread locally.
The House of Griffins, which ruled Pomerania for centuries, died out in 1637. King Władysław IV Vasa of Poland made unsuccessful attempts to regain the city, and after the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and the Treaty of Stettin (1653), it came under Brandenburgian control. In 1660, the Kashubian dialect was allowed to be taught, but only in religious studies. The Polish language in general, however, was experiencing very unfavourable conditions due to depopulation of the area in numerous wars and implied Germanization.
After the Thirty Years' War, Stolp lost much of its former importance—despite the fact that Szczecin was then ruled by Sweden, the province's capital was situated not in the second-largest city of the region, but in the one closest to the former ducal residence—Stargard. However, the local economy stabilized. The constant dynamic development of the Kingdom of Prussia and good economic conditions saw the city develop. After the major state border changes (modern Vorpommern and Stettin joined the Prussian state after a conflict with Sweden) Stolp was only an administrative centre of the Kreis (district) within the Regierungsbezirk of Köslin (Koszalin). However, its geographical location led to rapid development, and in the 19th century, it was the second city of the province in terms of both population and industrialization.
In 1769, Frederick II of Prussia established a military school in the city, according to Stanisław Salmonowicz its purpose was the Germanization of local Polish nobility.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the city was taken by 1,500 Polish soldiers under the leadership of general Michał Sokolnicki in 1807. In 1815 Słupsk became one of the cities of the Province of Pomerania, in which it remained until 1945. In 1869 a railway from Danzig (Gdańsk) reached Stolp.
During the 19th century, the city's boundaries were significantly extended towards the west and south. The new railway station was built about 1,000 metres from the old city. In 1901, the construction of a new city hall was completed, followed by a local administration building in 1903. In 1910 a tram line was opened. The football club Viktoria Stolp was formed in 1901. In 1914, before the First World War, Stolp had approximately 34,340 inhabitants.
Interwar period
Stolp was not directly affected by the fighting in the First World War. The trams did not operate during the war, returning to the streets in 1919. Demographic growth remained high, although development slowed, because the city became peripheral, the landkreis being situated on the Weimar Republic's border with the so-called Polish Corridor. Polish claims to Stolp and its neighbouring area were refused during the Treaty of Versailles negotiations. The city, having become the regional center of the eastern part of Eastern Pomerania, thrived, becoming known as Little Paris. A cultural highlight was an annual art exhibition.
From 1926 the city became an active point of Nazi supporters, and the influence of NSDAP grew rapidly. The party with Hitler received 49.1% of the city's vote in the German federal election of March 1933, when however, the election campaign was marked by Nazi terror. During the Kristallnacht, the night of 9/10 November 1938, the local synagogue was burned down.
Second World War
The beginning of the Second World War halted the development of the city. In 1941, the Nazis created a labour camp for people brought from various German-occupied territories, who were maltreated physically and psychologically and forced to undertake exhausting work while being subject to starvation. In 1944, the Germans established a subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp at the local railway repair works, and a forced labour camp for women and children at a local school. Prisoners of the former were over 600 Jews from various German-occupied countries, mostly Estonia and Lithuania, both men and women, and from October 1944 also 20 Jewish boys aged 10 and 11 brought from the Łódź Ghetto, with the prisoners, especially women, being subjected to exhausting work, starvation and arbitrary beatings. Prisoners of the latter were women with children (around 2,000 people), mainly Polish, but also Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian, who were exposed to poor sanitary and nutritional conditions, lack of warming even in winter and no medical care, resulting in epidemics, and also regular violence. Over 200 children, mostly Polish, died in the other camp. In February 1945, the Germans marched some 400 women and children from the latter camp to a newly established camp in nearby Gogolewko, and sent the prisoners of the subcamp of Stutthof on a death march to an emptied camp in Kokoszki. The Germans also operated nine forced labour subcamps of the Stalag II-B prisoner-of-war camp in the city.
The Polish resistance movement conducted espionage of German activity and distributed Polish underground press in the city.
The Schutzstaffel (SS) committed a massacre of 24 Polish forced labourers (23 men and one woman) on 7 March 1945, just before the Red Army took over the city without any serious resistance on 8 March 1945. In fear of Soviet repression, up to 1,000 inhabitants committed suicide.
Thousands remained in the city; the others had fled and the German soldiers abandoned it. However, the Soviet soldiers were ordered to set fire to the historical central Old Town, which was almost completely destroyed. The war resulted in the destruction of approximately 28% of residential buildings and 16% of industrial facilities.