Kartuzy

Kartuzy, Kartuzë
Kartuzy from a bird's-eye view
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Pomeranian
County	Kartuzy County
Gmina	Gmina Kartuzy
Established	1391
Town rights	1923
Government
• Mayor	Mieczysław Gołuński
Area
• Total	6.23 km2 (2.41 sq mi)
Elevation	42 m (138 ft)
Population  (2006)
• Total	15,263
• Density	2,400/km2 (6,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	83-300
Area code	+48 58
Car plates	GKA
Website	http://www.kartuzy.pl

Kartuzy [karˈtuzɨ] (Kashubian/Pomeranian: Kartuzë; Template:Lang-de) is a town in the historic Eastern Pomerania (Pomerelia) region of northwestern Poland. Previously in Gdańsk Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998, Kartuzy since 1999 is the capital of Kartuzy County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999.

Geographical location

Kartuzy is located about 32 kilometres (20 miles) west of Gdańsk and 35 km (22 miles) south-east of the town of Lębork on a plateau at an altitude of approximately 200 metres (656 feet) above sea level in the average. The plateau, which is divided by the Radaune lake, comprises the highest parts of the Baltic Sea Plate. In the west of this lake are the highest points of the headwaters of rivers Leba, Slupia and Bukowina at an altitude of up to 271 metres (889 feet). A hill in the south of the lake is 331 metres (1,086 feet) high.

History

Carthusian Church

Kartuzy was established about 1380 as a monastery for Carthusian monks descending from Prague in the Kingdom of Bohemia, after whom it received its name. The charterhouse was vested with large estates by the State of the Teutonic Order. According to the Second Peace of Thorn the area passed to the Polish Crown and it became part of Royal Prussia in 1466.

The Carthusian monks had the nearby woodlands cleared out, and peasants from the neighbouring Duchy of Pomerania were encouraged to settle and farm in the newly cleared areas. During the course of the Protestant Reformation Kartuzy and its surrounding area were incorporated into the possessions of Cistercian Oliwa Abbey in 1565. The area was annexed by Prussia in the First Partition of Poland in 1772. The Prussian government finally dissolved the monastery in 1826. Around that time the settlement of Karthaus was fairly insignificant. It begun to play a greater economic role after 1841 when the lands of the monastery were parcelled out.

Until 1919 Karthaus belonged to Kreis Karthaus in the Province of West Prussia in the administrative district of Regierungsbezirk Danzig of the German Reich. At the turn from the 19th to the 20th century the town had a Protestantic church, a Catholic church and a synagogue. The town was appreciated as a climatic type of health resort. Many pensioners and other retired persons settled down here.

When after World War I the regulations of the Treaty of Versailles became effective in 1920, Kartuzy was integrated into the Second Polish Republic. During the time span 1939–1945 Karthaus belonged to the administrative unit of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, Regierungsbezirk Danzig, of Germany's Third Reich. At the end of World War II Karthaus was occupied by the Red Army. After the war the region was put under the administration of the People's Republic of Poland.

Kartuzy has long been a cultural center of the Kashubians. Since 1947 a Kashubian Museum has featured numerous exhibits connected to Kashubia and its inhabitants. The town has also set up a bust to honor Dr. Aleksander Majkowski, author of The Life and Adventures of Remus, who practiced medicine in Kartuzy for a time and is buried here. In 2010, the Kashubian Unity Day was held here. On March 28, 2010 after the Holy Mass in the fourteenth-century collegiate church, Kashubes in colorful regional costumes with black-and-yellow flags passed through the streets to the Team of Schools No. 2 for Wybicki's Estate where the main celebrations were held.

Coat of Arms

Main square and St Casimir's Church

Grave of Dr. Aleksander Majkowskiin Kartuzy

Kashubian Museum in Kartuzy

A coat of arms for Kartuzy was designed by Dr. Aleksander Majkowski and accepted by the city council on January 31, 1923. The coat of arms depicts a black Kashubian Griffin and seven silver stars on a blue background.

Population by year

Year	Number	Remarks
1831	more than 400
1869	1,765
1875	1,975
1880	2,179
1885	2,300
1890	2,351
1895	2,377
1900	2,642
1921	3,800
1943	6,024
1960	7,900
1970	10,600
1975	11,600
1980	12,000
1998	16,100
2004	15,472
2009	14,951

• Note that the above table is based on primary, possibly inaccurate or biased sources.

Sports

• Cartusia Kartuzy - football club. The club was founded in 1923. Kartuzy is also famous for great wrestlers. Andrzej Wroński, two-time Olympic Champion (Seoul 1988 and Atlanta 1996), was born in Kartuzy.

Local writers and artists

Kartuzy was the home town of the writer Aleksander Majkowski. Right before World War II it was also the home town of Kashubian writer and activist Jan Rompsczi.

Since 2012 a quarterly literary Światło i Cień has been published which brings together local writers and artists.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Twin towns — sister cities

Kartuzy is twinned with:

• Caissargues, France
• Duderstadt, Germany

External links

• Official website
• History
• Website about Kartuzy