Chełmno

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For the concentration camp located near a village with a similar name, Chełmno nad Nerem, see Chełmno extermination camp.

Chełmno (older English: Culm; German: Kulm (help·info)) is a town in northern Poland with 22,000 inhabitants (1995) and the historical capital of Chełmno Land (Culmerland). Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, Chełmno was previously in Toruń Voivodeship (1975–1998), near the Vistula river.

1 History
- 1.1 Historical names
2 Monuments
3 Famous people

[edit] History

Tower of Mestwin (Wieża Mestwina), a former Teutonic Order watchtower, considered the oldest surviving building in Chełmno

The first written mention of Chełmno is known from a document allegedly issued in 1065 by Duke Boleslaus II of Poland for the Benedictine monastery in Mogilno. In 1226 Duke Konrad I of Masovia invited the Teutonic Knights to Chełmno Land (Kulmerland). In 1233 Chełmno was granted city rights known as "Chełmno rights" (renewed in 1251), the model system for over 200 Polish towns. The town grew prosperous as a member of the mercantile Hanseatic League. Chełmno and Chełmno Land were part of the Teutonic Knights' state until 1466, when after the Thirteen Years' War Chełmno was incorporated back into Poland and made the capital of Chełmno Voivodeship.

In 1772, following the First Partition of Poland, Chełmno was taken over by the Kingdom of Prussia. Between 1807 and 1815 Chełmno was part of the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1874 as part of the Kulturkampf policy that endorsed the Germanisation of Polish territories, Chełmno was officially renamed to Kulm.

Chełmno returned to Poland in 1920 following World War I. During the interwar period the town experienced renewed economic growth. The city had a mixed German/Polish population during most of his history. At the turn of the century (from 19th to 20th century) the city was about one-third German and two-thirds Polish.

When World War II broke out in 1939, Nazi German authorities murdered 5,000 Polish civilians upon taking control of the territory.^{[citation needed]} The atrocities took place in Klamry, Małe Czyste, Podwiesk, Plutowo, Dąbrowa Chełmińska, and Wielkie Łunawy, while many other Poles were executed in forests.^{[citation needed]} The rest of the Polish population was expelled to the General Government in line with the German policy of Lebensraum.^{[citation needed]} Polish resistance groups such as Polska Żyje ("Poland Lives"), Rota, Grunwald, and Szare Szeregi were also active in the area. On 25 January 1945 German forces set fire to several buildings in the city, including a hospital, a railway terminal, and a brewery, while retreating (see scorched earth).

[edit] Historical names

Kulm was officially used under Prussian and German control after 1874. The town also has been known as Culm in English, but Chełmno is now more commonly used.

[edit] Monuments

Town Hall in Chełmno

Chełmno has a well-preserved medieval center, with five Gothic churches and a beautiful Renaissance town hall in the middle of the market square.

Gothic churches:
- church of St Mary, former main parochial church of town, built 1280-1320
- church of SS Jacob and Nicholas, former Franciscan church, from 14th c., rebuild in 19 c.
- church of SS Peter and Paul, former Dominican church, from 13-14th c. rebuild in 18 and 19th c.
- church of SS John the Baptist and Johns the Evangelist, former Benedictine and Cictercian nuns' church, with monastery, built 1290-1330
- church of Holy Ghost, from 1280-90
town hall, whose oldest part comes from the end of the 13th century, rebuilt in manneristic style (under Italian influence) in 1567-1572
city walls which surround whole city, preserved almost as a whole, with watch towers and Grudziądzka Gate