Comprehensive information and links about Poland Dobre Miasto

Dobre Miasto ) is a town and municipality in Poland (Olsztyn county in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodship). The municipality of Dobre Miasto is situated in the northern part of the Olsztyn Lakeland (in the Masurian Lakeland) in the very heart of the historical region Warmia. It consists of the town of Dobre Miasto and 21 village administrative divisions. The municipality population amounts to 17,000, while the town's population totals over 11,000.

History

Dobre Miasto was founded on the place of destroyed Prussian settlement. It got city rights on December 26, 1329. The name of the town was spelled in different ways: Guddestat, Godenstat, Gudinstat, Gutberg, Gutenstat, Guthenstadt, Guthinstadt. The Latin name of the area (Pogezania) was derived from the Old Prussian word ithicket). It is possible that the name of the town originated from this word. The Teutonic Order changed the Prussian pronunciation of the name into i. The present-day Polish name is a literal translation from German language and in English it means i.

The first mayor of the town was William of Orneta (Wilhelm von Wormditt). The badge of the town was a deer holding an oak-wig with two acorns. The town tinctures were white (argent) and green (vert). The patron of the town was Saint Catherine of Alexandria. In 1347 a Collegiate Chapter was transferred here from Glotowo, which event was of great importance for further development of the town. In the course of the following tens of years the canons erected a church, a parish school and a hospital.

The town, similarly as the whole region of Warmia, was the scene of different war campaigns. As the result of one of them the town was incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland in 1466.

The 16th century was the period of peace, which ended abrubtly with Swedish invasion in 1626. The Swedes overrode the town several times but the inhabitants suffered most severely in the years 1655-1660.

In 1772 the town was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia. The population of the town numbered 1831. In 1807 the town was seized in turns by the French, the Prussians and the Russians. The French Emperor - Napoleon Bonaparte - spent a night in the Collegiate between June 8 and June 9, 1807. The Collegiate chapter was dissolved and its properties were parcelled out on the strength of the edict issued by the King of Prussia on October 5, 1810. In the years 1830-1834 the evangelical church was erected, mainly thanks to the of King Friedrich Wilhelm III. As a result of the military operations (WWII) as well as the 'activity' of NKVD and the Soviet Red Army troops the town was ruined in 65%. On August 1, 1945 a Soviet garnison handed over the power to the first post-war mayor of Dobre Miasto - Jan Majdecki.

The Gothic collegiate complex built in the years 1357-1389, with a splendid church, on which Pope John Paul II conferred the title of Minor Basilica (1989)

Undoubtedly, one of the biggest tourist attractions beside the magnificent interior and furnishings of the church is the organ with 49 tones and 3522 pipes. The former capitulary library houses a parish museum, which is open to visitors. You can see there the remains of the old outfit of the collegiate. Unfortunately, the rich vault as well as the collection of books and manu

The tower owes its name to storks which have nested on its top. At present the tower is the residence of one of the sections of the Cultural Society. In the summer season tourists can visit a mini-museum created by the members of the society.