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Olsztyn ) is a city in northeast Poland, historically capital of Warmia, on the Lyna River, with a population of 173,850 (2005). Olsztyn is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodship, previously Olsztyn Voivodship.

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The town is beautifully situated in a lake region of forests and plains, barely touched by man. There are 13 lakes inside the administrative bounds of the town and many more surrounding it: (Krzywe, Długie, Żbik, Redykajny and others).

1454 Uprising against Teutonic Knights. Olsztyn and Union of Prussia ask Polish King for incorporation of the city into the Polish Crown.1935 The German Wehrmact made Allenstein the home of the 11th Infanterie Division; the 217th Infanterie Division; and the 11th Artillery Regiment.The 11th Infanterie Division was commanded by Lieutenant General Karl Burdach. The unit was involved in the German invasion of Poland in 1939, and moved eastward in the Invasion of Russia. It was made up of the 2nd, 23rd, and 44th Grenadier Regiments; the 11th Artillery Regiment; the 11th Pioneer Battalion, the 11th Panzer Jäger Abteilung; the 11th Aufkl. Abteilung; and the 11th Nachrichten Abteilung.The 217th Infanterie Division was commanded by Lieutenant General Poppe. The unit was organized in 1939 at Allenstein, of East Prussians of the Landwehr age group. It took part in the invasions of Poland, France, and Russia, where it remained at least until the Normandy Invasion. The division consisted of the 311st, 346th, and 389th Grenadier Regiments; the 217th Artillery Regiment; and Pioneer, Panzer Jäger, Aufkl., and Nachrichten units of the same number.1939 October 12 German Wehrmacht established an Area Headquarters of Wehrkreis I that controlled the subareas of Allenstein, Lötzen, and Zichenau1945 (May 23)with the return of Polish administration Olsztyn becomes Polish again after 173 years of Prussian and German rule resulting from forced dismemberment of Poland.

For industry, it features a tire company, Stomil, a subsidiary of Michelin. There are also food processing plants and furniture manufacturers.

PZU AZS Olsztyn - men's volleyball team playing in Polish Volleyball League (Polska Liga Siatkówki, PLS)Nicolaus Copernicus for some time lived at the Olsztyn castle, where he was administrator and was in charge of defence of the city against the Teutonic Order.Lucas David, a historian of Olsztyn wrote a number of volumes on Prussian history; some are in the collection (i

Members of the Seym (Sejm) elected from Olsztyn constituency in 2005

Originally the town was in a district of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights. Then, as of 1466, it was a capital city of the Polish province of Warmia. In 1920 a plebiscite was held to determine whether the people wished to become part of East Prussia or Poland. In order to avoid bias, and to advertise the plebiscite, special postage stamps were produced by overprinting German stamps and sold from 3 April. One kind of overprint read inside an oval whose border gave the full name of the plebiscite commission. Each overprint was applied to 14 denominations ranging from 5pf to 3m.

The plebiscite was held on 11 July, and produced 362,209 votes (97.8 percent) for Germany and 7,980 votes (2.2 percent) for Poland. The stamps became invalid 20 August. Despite the short period of use, almost all the types of these stamps are cheaply available both used and unused. The relatively large portion of southern East Prussia contained in the plebescite area thus remained part of Germany until after World War II, when it was returned to Poland by the victors and the German inhabitants were largely expelled.