POLSKA	POLAND
województwo: Zachodniopomorskie	voivodship: West Pomerania
powiat: Kołobrzeg	county: Kołobrzeg

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The harbour town of Kołobrzeg is situated at the mouth of the river Parsęta (Persante) into the Baltic Sea, about 200 km northeast of Szczecin (Stettin), the capital of the West Pomerania region.

The origins of Kołobrzeg go back to the 7th/8th century when a settlement originated here to exploit the saline springs. The earliest written mention of salsa Cholbergiensis ecclesia is found in a document of 1000 written by the bishop of Merseburg. At that time the place was already the seat of a bishopric. In 1255 Colberg was chartered as a town with municipal laws modeled on those of Lübeck. The famous cathedral church was begun in 1300. In 1361 Colberg became a member of the Hanse federation of trading towns. The flourishing period ended with the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). The fortress Colberg was besieged repeatedly, for instance during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) by Russian troops and, for the last time, in 1807 by Napoleonic troops. During the latter siege, the town was defended successfully by the generals August von Gneisenau, Ferdinand von Schill and Joachim Nettelbeck. This was later glorified in the patriotic play 'Kolberg' by Paul Heyse (1868) and the Nazi propaganda film, 'Kolberg' (1945). During the 19th century Colberg also became a popular sea-side resort and spa town. The fortress was finally abolished in 1872, one year after the foundation of the German empire. After World War I the spelling of the name Colberg was officially changed to Kolberg. During World War II Kolberg was destroyed by about 90%. After the war the town became part of Poland and most of the German-speaking inhabitants were expelled. Today Kołobrzeg is the seat of the administration of the county of the same name (powiat kołobrzeski) and has a population of about 47,000.

The old lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour was erected in the 1899 on structures of the old fortress. This structure was replaced in 1909 by a new lighthouse or pilots' tower which is shown on the picture on glass no. 1874 [left]. It soon became a beloved landmark of Colberg. The lighthouse was destroyed in 1945 and was replaced by a new lighthouse in 1948.

The hotel Strandschloss was built in 1899 and soon became a landmark of the seaside spa. In 1945 it was severely damaged. The ruins were torn down in 1962 to make way for a new hotel.