Kociewie

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Kociewie
Ethnocultural region
Rynek (Market Square) with Town Hall in Starogard Gdański, traditional capital of Kociewie
Rynek (Market Square) with Town Hall in Świecie
Gniew Castle
Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Pelplin
Road bridge over the Vistula in Tczew
Flag of Kociewie
Flag
Coat of arms of Kociewie
Coat of arms
CountryPoland
Traditional capitalStarogard Gdański
Largest citiesTczew, Starogard Gdański, Świecie
DemonymKociewians
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Highway

Kociewie is an ethnocultural region in the eastern part of Tuchola Forest, in northern Poland, Pomerania, that is inhabited by the Kociewians. Its cultural capital is Starogard Gdański, the biggest town is Tczew, while other major towns include Świecie, and Pelplin. The region has about 250,000 inhabitants. It has well-developed industry and agriculture. Administratively, it is divided between the Pomeranian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeships.

Kociewie is bordered by the Chełmno Land in the south, Powiśle in the east, Kashubia and Żuławy Wiślane in the north, and other parts of historic Pomerania in the west.

History[edit]

Prehistory[edit]

The earliest inhabitants of what is now Kociewie are believed to have been from the Upper Paleolithic period. Evidence of the Linear Pottery culture has been unearthed in the region, and a neolithic settlement discovered at Barłożno.[1] Archeological evidence from Tczew County indicates that the Kociewian lands were inhabited by people from the prehistoric Funnelbeaker culture. Later Iron Age settlements and cemeteries have also been uncovered in the same area.[2]

Early history[edit]

Medieval town walls with the Narożna Tower in Starogard Gdański

The territory became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century during the rule of Mieszko I. Within the Kingdom of Poland and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth it formed part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship with the capital located in Skarszewy in Kociewie, and county seats located in Nowe, Skarszewy, Starogard, Świecie and Tczew. In the 16th and 17th centuries, there were instances of Scottish immigrants living in Gniew, Starogard Gdański and Tczew.[3] In 1762–1765, Józef Wybicki, the author of the lyrics of the Polish national anthem, studied law at the court in Skarszewy.[4] Following the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the region was annexed by Prussia.

19th century[edit]

The first known mention of the region in the historical record dates to 10 February 1807 when the name Gociewie was used in correspondence between Jan Henryk Dąbrowski and one of his Lieutenant colonels’ during the Greater Poland Uprising.[5] Although, it is likely that the name Kociewie had been in use since the late Middle Ages.[6]

In the mid-19 century the linguist Florian Ceynowa described the inhabitants of Kociewie; he named the people around Gniew and Pelplin as the Fetrów and Kociewiem respectively, distinguished by their melodic accents, who farmed pigs and horses. To their north were the Pola of the fields around Starogard Gdański.[7]

In 1906–1907, Polish children in Kociewie joined the children school strikes against Germanisation that spread throughout the Prussian Partition of Poland.[8] Following World War I, Poland regained independence and control of Kociewie.

World War II[edit]

Former Nazi German transit camp for Poles expelled from the region, now Vistula River Museum in Tczew

Following the Nazi German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Kociewie was declared part of the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia on 8 October 1939, with its judicial institutions being incorporated into the German system of regional, national, and Higher National courts the following year.[9] Under German occupation, the Polish population was subjected to various crimes, such as mass arrests, imprisonment, slave labor, expulsions, kidnapping of children, deportations to concentration camps and genocide, including the Intelligenzaktion. Major sites of massacres of Poles in the region included Szpęgawsk, Mniszek, Skarszewy and Grupa.[10] The occupiers also murdered the patients of the psychiatric hospitals in Kocborowo (district of Starogard) and Świecie.

Geography[edit]

Cities and towns[edit]

City Population Voivodeship Additional information
1. Tczew 59,111 Pomeranian Former royal town of Poland.
2. Starogard Gdański 47,272 Pomeranian Traditional capital of Kociewie. Former royal town of Poland.
3. Świecie 25,614 Kuyavian–Pomeranian Former stewardship of Duke Grzymisław. Former royal town of Poland.
4. Pelplin 8320 Pomeranian Site of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption. Seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pelplin.
5. Skarszewy 6468 Pomeranian Known as the Pearl of Pomerania, it was the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship from 1613. Former royal town of Poland.
6. Gniew 6870 Pomeranian Former royal town of Poland. Capital of the independent Republic of Gniew in 1919-1920.[11]
7. Nowe 6252 Kuyavian–Pomeranian Founded by Sobieslaw I. Former royal town of Poland.
8. Skórcz 3512 Pomeranian Located in Starogard County.
9. Czarna Woda 2735 Pomeranian Located in Starogard County.
Tczew

Genetics[edit]

In a 2013 study, Y-DNA haplogroups among the Polish population indigenous to Kociewie (n=158) were reported as follows:

56.3% R1a, 17.7% R1b, 8.2% I1, 7.6% I2, 3.8% E1b1b, 1.9% N1, 1.9% J and 2% of other haplogroups.[12]

See also: Greater Poland and Kashubians § Genetics

Culture[edit]

The region is rich in historic architecture of various styles, including Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau. Most notable Gothic landmarks are the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Pelplin and Gniew Castle. John III Sobieski often resided in Gniew as a local starost before he became King of Poland.

Main museums of the region include:

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jellonek, Szymon. "Prehistoria Tczewa". dawnytczew.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Zanim powstalo miasto (do 1260)". dawnytczew.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  3. ^ Wijaczka, Jacek (2010). "Szkoci". In Kopczyński, Michał; Tygielski, Wojciech (eds.). Pod wspólnym niebem. Narody dawnej Rzeczypospolitej (in Polish). Warszawa: Muzeum Historii Polski, Bellona. p. 202. ISBN 978-83-11-11724-2.
  4. ^ "90 lat Mazurka Dąbrowskiego. Autor Hymnu Narodowego mieszkał w Skarszewach". Kociewiak.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  5. ^ Kowalkowski, Krzysztof; Piotrowska, Agnieszka. "Historia regionu". dialektologia.uw.edu.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  6. ^ Gierczyk, Zbysław; Ocieczek, Bolesław (2010). "Kociewie na Turystycznym Szlaku" [Kociewie on the Tourist Route]. Studia Periegetica (in Polish) (5): 46. ISSN 1897-9262.
  7. ^ Kurowski, Mariusz (3 August 2015). "„Kociewie w gazecie" – tytuł prześmiewczy, ale sprawa poważna". kociewiacy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  8. ^ Korda, Krzysztof (2019). "Strajk szkolny na Kociewiu 1906–1907". Kociewski Magazyn Regionalny (in Polish). Vol. 2, no. 105. p. 5.
  9. ^ Helmin, Maciej (2021). "The Organisation and Functioning of the Polish Justice System in the Districts of Tczew and Starogard Gdański in the Years 1945-1950: A Contribution to the History of the Justice System in Pomerania (Kociewie)". Biuletyn Stowarzyszenia Absolwentów i Przyjaciół Wydziału Prawa Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego. XVI (18 (2)): 107. doi:10.32084/sawp.2021.16.2-6. ISSN 2719-3128.
  10. ^ Wardzyńska, Maria (2009). Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. pp. 145–153, 167, 182.
  11. ^ Korda, Krzysztof. "Republika Gniewska 1919-1920". historia.interia.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  12. ^ Rebala, K.; et al. (April 2013). "Contemporary paternal genetic landscape of Polish and German populations: from early medieval Slavic expansion to post-World War II resettlements". European Journal of Human Genetics. 21 (4). Figure 1. doi:10.1038/ejhg.2012.190. PMC 3598329. PMID 22968131.
  13. ^ "History of the building - Vistula River Museum". National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Muzeum Ziemi Kociewskiej w Starogardzie Gdańskim" (in Polish). Retrieved 19 May 2024.
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