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POLSKA POLAND
województwo: Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodship: Warmia and Masuria
powiat: Braniewski county: Braniewo

map

Pieniężno

alt: Melzak
de: Mehlsack lv: Peņenžno
ru: Пененжно uk: Пенєнжно

Pieniężno is situated at an elevation of 111 m on the river Wałsza (German Walscha) in the east of Braniewo county of the Warmian-Masurian voivodeship in northern Poland. has a population of about 2,900 (2005).

2280 Pieniężno Pieniężno was originally an Old Prussian fort called Malcekuke, loosely translated as "woods of the subterraneous" or "devil's ground". This was corrupted by Polish settlers to Melzak and by German settlers to Mehlsack (literally "flour sack"). In the 14th century it was founded as a town west of Lidzbark Warmiński (Heilsberg) in Warmia. Construction of the town's castle began in 1302, when it was used by the monastic state of the Teutonic Order. Already before 1312 the settlement had obtained the privileges of a town. Both the castle and the town were destroyed during warfare between the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Poland in 1414. Nicolaus Copernicus was an administrator for the districts Allenstein (Olsztyn) and Mehlsack for a few years in the early 16th century. From October 1518 until March 1519 Copernicus was based out of the castle while he settled nearby villages. In 1550 the Prussian army laid siege to the city and partially burned it down. During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) Mehlsack surrendered to the Order, and the castle burned down during Poland's recapture of the town. In 1945 Mehlsack, including its castle, was 90% destroyed by fighting during World War II and was taken by the Soviet Army, who returned it to Poland in the Potsdam Conference. Similar to other East Prussian towns, Mehlsack received an entirely new name after the war. It was renamed Pieniężno after Seweryn Pieniężny, an editor for Gazeta Olsztyńska, a newspaper for the Polish-speaking population of Warmia that had been banned during the period of Nazi Germany. After the war, Pieniężno lost its status of a city, but regained this status in 1973.

The picture on glass no. 2280 shows the Catholic church St. Peter and Paul, which was rebuilt in Gothic revival style in 1893–1895 in place of an older church of the 14th century of which the lower parts of the church tower have remained. The church was one of the very few structures that were not destroyed in World War II.

[Text adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieniężno]


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