Editing Chojnice (section)

==History==

===Piast Poland===
[[File:Brama Człuchowska - panoramio - geo573.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Człuchów]] Gate, one of the landmarks of Chojnice, houses the local historical museum]]
Chojnice was founded around 1205<ref>Stanisław Gierszewski, ''Chojnice: dzieje miasta i powiatu'', Zakład Narodowy im Ossolińskich, 1971, p. 54</ref> in [[Gdańsk Pomerania]] (Pomeralia), a duchy ruled at the time by the [[Samborides]], who had originally been appointed governors of the province by [[Bolesław III Wrymouth]] of Poland. Gdańsk Pomerania had been part of Poland since the 10th century, with few episodes of autonomy, yet under [[Swietopelk II]], who came into power in 1217, it gained independence in 1227,<ref>James Minahan, ''One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, p. 375, {{ISBN|0-313-30984-1}}.</ref> and by 1282 it had returned to Poland.

The town's name is Polish in origin and comes from the name of the river Chojnica (today named Jarcewska Struga) that was located near the town.<ref>Nazwy miast Pomorza Gdańskiego - page 46
Hubert Górnowicz, Zygmunt Brocki, Edward Breza - 1999
Tak więc Chojnica (późniejsze Chojnice) jest polską nazwą topograficzną, ponowioną od nazwy rzeki Chojnica</ref> The name first appears in written documents in 1275.<ref>[http://www.miastochojnice.pl/?a=19 Chojnice - Urząd Miejski - Historia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

===State of the Teutonic Order (1309–1466)===
In 1309, the [[Teutonic Knights]] took over the town, and Chojnice became part of the [[State of the Teutonic Order]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://extraswiecie.pl/historia/kiedy-nie-pomogly-machiny-miotajace-krzyzacy-postawili-szubienice |title=Kiedy nie pomogły machiny miotające, Krzyżacy postawili szubienice |access-date=1 June 2020}}</ref> Under [[Winrich von Kniprode]] the defensive capabilities and inner structures of the town were improved considerably. Around the middle of the 14th century the stone church of St. John was built. At the same time the [[Augustinians]] from the town of [[Stargard Szczeciński|Stargard]] in [[Duchy of Pomerania|Pomerania]] settled in the town; they opened their monastery in 1365. Textile production flourished, and between 1417 and 1436 Konitz became an important centre for textile production.

During the [[Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War]], in 1410, the town was briefly occupied by Polish troops. In 1440 the town joined the [[Prussian Confederation]], which opposed Teutonic rule,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Górski|first=Karol|title=Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych|year=1949|publisher=Instytut Zachodni|location=[[Poznań]]|language=pl|page=XXXVII}}</ref> however, it later left the organisation. In 1454 King [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]] re-incorporated the territory to the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Kingdom of Poland]], and the townspeople overthrew the pro-Teutonic town council in attempt to join Poland, however the council with the Teutonic Knights recaptured the town shortly after.<ref name=mb>{{cite magazine|last=Biskup|first=Marian|year=2014|title=Oblężenie i odzyskanie Chojnic przez Polskę w r. 1466|magazine=Zeszyty Chojnickie|language=pl|location=Chojnice|publisher=Chojnickie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk|issue=29|page=15}}</ref> On 18 September 1454 the Polish army led by King Casimir IV Jagiellon lost the [[Battle of Chojnice (1454)|Battle of Chojnice]]. During the subsequent [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)|Thirteen Years' War]] there were attempts of the townspeople to resist the Teutonic Knights.<ref name=mb/> Shortly before the end of the war the troops of the Teutonic Order, led by [[Bethe|Captain Kaspar Nostitz von Bethe]], surrendered the town in 1466 to the Polish army led by [[Piotr Dunin]], after a three-month siege,<ref name=cm/> as the last Teutonic-held town in [[Gdańsk Pomerania]].<ref name=mb19>Biskup, p. 19</ref>

===Kingdom of Poland (1466–1772)===
[[File:LO Filomatow Chojnickich.JPG|thumb|''Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Filomatów Chojnickich'', one of the oldest [[high school]]s in Poland]]
After the [[Second Peace of Thorn]] of 1466 the Teutonic Knights renounced any claims to Chojnice, and the town became again part of Poland.<ref>Górski, p. 89-90, 207</ref><ref name=mb19/><ref name=cm>{{cite news|url=https://chojnicemuzeum.pl/index.php?z-dziejow-miasta,64 |title=Z dziejów miasta |access-date=1 June 2020}}</ref> In this time the Barons of [[Betha]] who traditionally ruled the city left the town and took up residence in the Prussian and Austrian courts. The town was then located in the Człuchów County in the [[Pomeranian Voivodeship (1466–1772)|Pomeranian Voivodeship]]. Chojnice was an important center of cloth production in Poland.<ref name=wl>{{cite magazine|last=Look|first=Witold|year=2014|title=Sukiennictwo chojnickie|magazine=Zeszyty Chojnickie|language=pl|location=Chojnice|publisher=Chojnickie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk|issue=29|page=20}}</ref> Cloth production was the main branch of the local economy, and in 1570, clothiers constituted 36% of all craftsmen in the town.<ref name=wl/> To this day, one of the main streets in the town center is called ''Ulica Sukienników'' ("Clothiers' Street").<ref name=wl/>

In the 16th century the city council accepted the Protestant [[Reformation]] officially, and Protestants took over the parish church. The Roman Catholic priest Jan Siński died in the following turmoil. In 1555 King [[Sigismund II Augustus]] confirmed religious freedom for the city.<ref name=cm/> In 1616 the St. John's church was restored to the Catholics thanks to local parish priest Jan Doręgowski.<ref name=cm/> In 1620 the first [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]] came into the town and began the [[Counter Reformation]]. In 1622 the Jesuits founded a school, which under the name ''Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Filomatów Chojnickich w Chojnicach'' is today one of the oldest [[high school]]s in Poland.

In the year 1627 a fire destroyed parts of the town. During the [[Second Northern War]] (against Sweden, 1655–1660) the [[Battle of Chojnice (1656)]] was fought. The town suffered heavily from the siege, plundering and fire, especially in 1657. Cloth production declined as a result of the [[Deluge (history)|Swedish invasion]], however, it soon revived.<ref name=wl21>Look, p. 21</ref> In 1733–1744 the [[Baroque in Poland|Baroque]] Jesuit Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built.<ref name=znmp>{{cite web|url=https://www.miastochojnice.pl/kosciol_pojezuicki_p-w-__zwiastowania_najswietszej_marii_panny-5447/|title=Kościół pojezuicki p.w. Zwiastowania Najświętszej Marii Panny|website=Urząd Miejski w Chojnicach|date=18 May 2014|access-date=28 June 2020|language=pl, en, de}}</ref> A large fire destroyed the town again in 1742.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://historiachojnic.com/16-z-kart-historii/xvi-xviii-wiek/36-z-burmistrzowskiego-pamietnika.html |title=Z PAMIĘTNIKA BURMISTRZA |access-date=1 June 2020}}</ref>

===Prussia (1772–1871) and German Empire (1871–1920)===
After the [[first partition of Poland]] the town became part of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] in 1772. The Prussians abolished the local government, which was restored in 1809.<ref name=cm/> The cloth industry collapsed.<ref name=wl21/> The town was subject to [[Anti-Polish sentiment|anti-Polish]] policies, including [[Germanisation of Poles during the Partitions|Germanisation]]. At the local gymnasium, Polish was taught only two hours a week, in 1815-1820 and 1846–1912, and in 1889 the history of Polish literature was removed from the curriculum, while Polish history was not taught at all.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Szews|first=Jerzy|year=2014|title=Filomaci chojniccy|magazine=Zeszyty Chojnickie|language=pl|location=Chojnice|publisher=Chojnickie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk|issue=29|page=41}}</ref> Probably in 1830 a secret organization of Polish students was established in the local school.<ref name=js42>Szews, p. 42</ref> Some Polish students joined the Polish uprisings of [[November Uprising|1830]] and [[January Uprising|1863]] in the [[Russian Partition]] of Poland.<ref name=js42/> The organisation probably ceased to exist in the 1860s, because in 1870, a new youth [[philomath]] organization ''Mickiewicz'' was founded, named after the Polish national poet [[Adam Mickiewicz]].<ref name=js43>Szews, p. 43</ref> In 1901, due to the threat of repressions by the German authorities, the organization was dissolved to be reactivated after a few months.<ref name=js43/> Among local philomaths were prominent Polish-Kashubian activists and writers [[Aleksander Majkowski]], [[Florian Ceynowa]] and [[Jan Karnowski]], future minister and senator in independent Poland {{interlanguage link|Leon Janta-Połczyński|pl}}, priest, historian and co-founder of the Toruń Scientific Society {{interlanguage link|Stanisław Kujot|pl}}, co-founder and president of the first Polish scientific society in the [[United States]] Dominik Szopiński, as well as priests and activists {{interlanguage link|Bernard Łosiński|pl}} and {{interlanguage link|Konstantyn Krefft|pl}}, who were later murdered by the Germans in [[Nazi concentration camps]] in 1940.<ref>Szews, p. 45-47</ref> One of the main escape routes for insurgents of the unsuccessful Polish [[November Uprising]] from partitioned Poland to the [[Great Emigration]] led through the town.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Umiński|first=Janusz|year=1998|title=Losy internowanych na Pomorzu żołnierzy powstania listopadowego|magazine=Jantarowe Szlaki|volume=4 |language=pl|issue=250|page=16}}</ref> In 1911 the first Polish secret [[scout troop]] in the [[Prussian Partition]] of Poland was established in the town by {{interlanguage link|Szczepan Łukowicz|pl}}, who as a military officer later fought in defense of Poland during the [[Polish–Soviet War]] (1920) and the German [[Siege of Warsaw (1939)]], and was murdered by the Germans during [[World War II]].<ref>Szews, p. 44. 46</ref>

In 1864 a telegraph connection to [[Szczecin]] (then ''Stettin'') began operation. In 1868 the town was connected to the railway network. This improved industrial development quite considerably. In 1870 a gas power plant was installed. The town was connected in 1873 by the railway to Dirschau ([[Tczew]]) and in 1877 by railway to [[Stettin]]. In 1886 a new hospital was built in the town. A new railway line to Nakel ([[Nakło]]) was opened in 1894. In the year of 1900 the town obtained both a water supply system and an electricity power plant. In 1902 a railway line to Berent ([[Kościerzyna]]) was opened. During the time span 1900–1902 the [[Konitz Affair|Konitz ritual murder case & antisemitic pogrom]] was committed by the Germans. In 1909 a sewage system was installed in the town. In 1912 the ''Gazeta Chojnicka'', the first Polish language newspaper, appeared in the town.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://historiachojnic.com/lata-miedzywojenne/14-z-kart-historii/lata-miedzywojenne/94-rola-i-znaczenie-prasy-lokalnej.html |title=ROLA I ZNACZENIE PRASY LOKALNEJ |access-date=1 June 2020}}</ref> Chojnice experienced the heaviest [[Germanisation of Poles during the Partitions|Germanisation]] in Gdańsk Pomerania.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Mynarczyk|first=Paweł Piotr|year=2010|title=Sytuacja polityczna i społeczna w Chojnicach od roku 1920 do przewrotu majowego|magazine=Zeszyty Chojnickie|language=pl|location=Chojnice|publisher=Chojnickie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk|issue=25}}</ref><ref name="muzeum" />

===Poland (1920–1939)===

[[File:Henryk Poddębski - Chojnice (131-16504).jpg|thumb|Chojnice in 1938]]
After the regulations of the [[Treaty of Versailles]] had become effective in 1920, Chojnice together with 62% of the former province of [[West Prussia]] was re-integrated into the [[Second Polish Republic]], which regained independence in 1918, and Polish troops entered the town. A local citizen, Barbara Stammowa, symbolically broke shackles on the balcony of the town hall - in revenge Nazis murdered her in 1939 when the town was [[German invasion of Poland|re-occupied by Germany]].<ref name=mh>{{cite magazine|last=Hamerska|first=Małgorzata|year=2012|title=Miejsca pamięci narodowej w powiecie chojnickim|magazine=Zeszyty Chojnickie|language=pl|location=Chojnice|publisher=Chojnickie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk|issue=27|page=59}}</ref> In the [[interwar period]] two official visits of Presidents of Poland to Chojnice took place, as [[Stanisław Wojciechowski]] visited the town in 1924 and [[Ignacy Mościcki]] in 1927.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historiachojnic.pl/artykuly/materialy/Lata-miedzywojenne/101/panie-i-panowie---prezydent-rp|title=Panie i Panowie - Prezydent RP|website=Historia Chojnic|access-date=28 June 2020|language=pl}}</ref> In 1932 a regional museum was opened in Chojnice.

===World War II and Nazi German occupation (1939–1945)===
[[File:Pomnik przy ulicy 31 Stycznia - panoramio.jpg|thumb|left|Monument to Polish teachers murdered by the Germans]]
During the Nazi German [[invasion of Poland]] [[Wehrmacht]] troops occupied Chojnice on September 1, 1939, in the morning at 4:45 o'clock. This invasion gave rise to the [[Battle of Chojnice (1939)|Battle of Chojnice]].

From the beginning of the [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|German occupation]], German militiamen attacked their Jewish and Polish neighbors. On 26 September 1939 forty people were shot, followed by a priest and 208 psychiatric patients.<ref name="Stargardt1">[https://books.google.com/books?id=7drvCAAAQBAJ&dq=Konitz+wave+of+violence+1939&pg=PT46 The German War: A Nation Under Arms, 1939–45], Nicholas Stargardt</ref> From late October 1939 through early 1940, mass executions were conducted by [[SS]] and the German police as part of the ''[[Intelligenzaktion]]'', an action against the Polish [[intelligentsia]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=12PauR6bjrIC&dq=Konitz+intelligentsia+1939+1940&pg=PT118 Witnesses of War: Children's Lives Under the Nazis], [[Nicholas Stargardt]]</ref> In total, by January 1940 900 Poles and Jews from Chojnice and its surrounding villages were killed,<ref name="Stargardt1"/> including parliamentarians, teachers, merchants, postal workers, border guards, priests, farmers.<ref name=mh/> The site of the massacres was the Igły Valley near Chojnice, later also known as the Valley of Death.<ref>Hamerska, p. 58</ref>

[[Hans Kruger]] - a Nazi activist - became a judge in Chojnice, and during his rule executions of the local population followed.<ref>
Funktionäre Mit Vergangenheit: Das Gründungspräsidium Des Bundesverbandes Der Vertriebenen Und Das "dritte Reich" 2013
 Michael Schwartz page 437 Walter de Gruyter 2013</ref> On January 18, 1945, the Germans carried out a single large massacre in the Igły Valley, in which they murdered some 800 Poles.<ref name=mh/>

During the occupation, the Annunciation of Mary church was taken over by Protestants and its interior was devastated.<ref name=znmp/>

The [[Pomeranian Griffin]], [[Kashubian Griffin]] and [[Home Army]] [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish underground resistance organisations]] were active in the area. In 1943, local Poles managed to save some [[Kidnapping of children by Nazi Germany|kidnapped Polish children]] from the [[Zamość]] region, by buying them from the Germans at the local train station.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kozaczyńska|first=Beata|editor-last=Kostkiewicz|editor-first=Janina|year=2020|title=Zbrodnia bez kary... Eksterminacja i cierpienie polskich dzieci pod okupacją niemiecką (1939–1945)|language=pl|location=[[Kraków]]|publisher=[[Jagiellonian University|Uniwersytet Jagielloński]], [[Biblioteka Jagiellońska]]|page=123|chapter=Gdy zabrakło łez... Tragizm losu polskich dzieci wysiedlonych z Zamojszczyzny (1942-1943)}}</ref>

===Chojnice since 1945===
In February 1945 the [[Red Army]] captured the town. During the fighting about 800 soldiers died, and the town centre was heavily damaged. After the end of World War II Polish authorities began the reconstruction of the city. In 1945–1975, it was part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, and during the time span 1975–1998 the town belonged to the [[Bydgoszcz Voivodeship]].

In 2002 a new, modern hospital was opened on the north-west outskirts of the town.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chojnice.com/wiadomosci/teksty/Chojnicki-Szpital-ma-juz-10-lat/7821 |title=Chojnicki Szpital ma już 10 lat! |access-date=1 June 2020}}</ref>