Comprehensive information and links about Poland Olecko

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Olecko since 1928) is a town in Masuria, in the Warminsko-Mazurskie voivodship of Poland, near Elk and Suwalki. It is situated at the mouth of the Lega river into the Great Olecko Lake (i was founded as a town by Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Duke of Duke of Prussia, on January 1, 1560. The town's name comes from the German word Markgraf, the duke's title as the margraviate of Brandenburg's prince. At the same place there has been since 1544 a hunting lodge called i (Schloss Oletzko) was established as a regional administrative seat.

Between 1818 and 1945, Marggrabowa was the head of the Prussian i

Sights

The town's beautiful market square. In its northern part, a Catholic (formerly Lutheran) church is situated on a tree-covered hill.

Transportation

The Train Station in the western part of town is a regional railway junction: there are main lines to Goldap, Elk and Suwalki. The local railway connections to Mieruniszki, Kruklanki and Sulejki are out of service or dismantled.

History

The area to a large extent was populated by Masurians, an ethnic group with a language of Slavic origin. Since the 18th Century, cultural orientation strongly changed towards German and the number of Masurian-speaking people decreased:

In 1888, German language was fully established in the schools of all levels. From the polish point of view, this was held to be part of a process of germanization (Kulturkampf).

In 1920, a plebiscite was held in the area by the League of Nations on remaining in East Prussia or affiliation with the recreated state of Poland. After a result of 28,625 pro-German votes against 2 pro-Polish, the county remained with Germany. In respect to this, in 1928 the name of the town of i). Beside the town of Treuburg, it covered further 100 municipalities (Gemeinden).

In January 1945, the area was overrun by the Soviet Army. Most of the inhabitants were violently expelled, killed, or deported to Russia by the communist regimes. Afterwards the area was given to Polish administration by the Soviets to become a part of Communist Poland. Treuburg was renamed to Olecko and resettled with Polish expatriates expelled from the eastern parts of Poland (currently in Ukraine) taken by the Soviet Union after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

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