POLSKA	POLAND
województwo: Warmińsko-Mazurskie	voivodship: Warmia and Masuria
powiat: Piski	county: Pisz

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Orzysz (former German name: Arys) is situated at an altitude of 252 m at Lake Orzysz in Pisz County of the Warmia and Masuria voivodship in northeastern Poland. The municipality has a population of about 9,350 (2015).

The spelling of the place name Arÿs with ÿ (compare the labeling on the glasses shown here) had been used in former times especially in handwritten texts in place names when y historically was derived from ij, which in older German texts meant a long i ([i:]). The character ÿ was used only very rarely in printed texts.

The location of the town has been inhabited for a long time. In 1895 remains of a settlement dated to c. 300–1000 AD were discovered near the town on the shores of lake Orzysz. The present settlement was founded during the East Prussian time by the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Konrad von Erlichshausen in 1443. The town, located on a trading route, was granted city rights in 1725 by Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia. The town has been occupied frequently: during the Seven Years' War it was held by Russian troops for four years, and troops where quartered in the town also in 1806–7 and 1812–13. A fire destroyed almost the entire town in 1826. Again during World War I the town was held by Russian troops for twenty days and almost completely destroyed. During the East Prussian plebiscite 1920, not a single vote was cast for Poland in the town. The town's population increased by refugees from parts of West Prussia that had been annexed to Poland. The foundation of a military training area in 1933 caused a further increase in the population. Towards the end of World War II, the Red Army occupied the town. In 1945, the southern part of East Prussia became part of Poland and the German-speaking population was expelled. The former German name of the town, Arys (or Arÿs), was consequently changed to the Polish name, Orzysz.

Glass no. 3227 [left] shows a view of Hotel Königlicher Hof ('Hotel Royal Inn').

Glass no. 3506 shows a view of the Truppenübungsplatz Arys (military training area Arys), today Polygon Orzysz, actually located south of Orzysz. The training ground was built in 1890 near Orzysz (German: Arys) East Prussia on the areas purchased from the nearby villages of Wierzbiny (Wiersbinnen) and Szwejkówko (Mittel-Schweykowen) as well as the Grądówka (Grondowken) and Drygały (Drygallen) forests. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, 80 barracks for soldiers and 30 for officers stood in the garrison of Orzysz. The barracks formed a separate town with its own waterworks, lighting, a restaurant and a military casino. The development of the city, the barracks and the training ground contributed to the launch of railway connections with other cities of Prussia.

Glasses of this collection showing former training areas of the German Empire:
Altengrabow (D),
Arys (Orszysz, PL),
Döberitz (D),
Hagenau (Haguenau, F),
Hammelburg (D),
Hammerstein (Czarne, PL),
Heuberg (Stetten am kalten Markt, D),
Lockstedter Lager (Hohenlockstedt, D),
Münsingen (D),
Munsterlager (Munster, D),
Sennelager (Paderborn, D).
Thorn (Toruń, PL).
Warthelager (Biedrusko, PL).
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truppenübungsplätze_(Deutsches_Reich)]

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orzysz, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orzysz; https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poligon_Orzysz; http://fallingrain.com/world/PL/85/Orzysz.html; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y]