POLSKA	POLAND
województwo: Kujawsko-Pomorskie	voivodship: Kuyavia-Pomerania
miasto na prawach powiatu: Grudziądz	city: Grudziądz

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Grudziądz (German: Graudenz) is situated at an elevation of 50 m on the eastern bank of the Vistula (Wisła; German: Weichsel) river about 30 km northeast of Chełmno in the northeast of the Kuyavia-Pomerania voivodeship of Poland. Grudziądz is a city county and is also the seat of the administration of Grudziadz County (powiat grudziądzki). The municipality has a population of about 96,000 (2016).

A document issued in 1220 by the duke of Masovia and Kuyavia mentions castle Grudenz as part of the lands that with this document were given to the bishop of Prussia. In 1230, the Culm (Chełmno) Land was ceded to the Teutonic Order. In 1291 Graudenz obtained the status of a city. Between 1466 (Second Peace of Toruń) and 1772 the city belonged to the province of Royal Prussia under the crown of the Kingdom of Poland. During the Second Nordic War, the city was occupied by Swedish troops between 1655 and 1659 and during this period was destroyed almost completely. After the war, however, the city was rebuilt in splendid Baroque style. Following the First Partition of Poland in 1772 (see map), Graudenz became part of the Kingdom of Prussia (province West Prussia), upon which a strong Prussian fortress was built here. Following the completion of the railroads from Thorn (Toruń) to Marienburg (Malbork) and from Konitz (Chojnice) to Soldau (Działdowo), and the construction of a bridge across the Vistula river, Graudenz became a centre of industry in the 19th century. After World War I, Grudziądz in 1920 became part of Poland as part of the Polish Corridor. Occupied by Nazi Germany since 1939, the city was liberated in 1945, but during these acts of war about 60% of the town were destroyed.

The castle of the Teutonic order [left] goes back to 1260 when the Teutonic Order built its first castle here on the site of a previous stronghold of 1222. The castle was the seat of a Commander of the Order and certainly was one of the strongest in the Order's country. In 1454 it came in possession of the Polish Crown and after the Second Peace of Toruń in 1466 became the seat of the Grudziądz Starosta (seniors, elders) who resided there until the lands became part of Prussia in 1772. In 1801, Prussia ordered the castle to be demolished and the materials to be used for the construction of the new fortress. Only the castle keep (shown on glass no. 3329) and remains of the walls and of the chapel remained. These were finaally destroyed by German troops in 1945.

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grudziądz, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grudziądz; http://www.burgen-im-ordensland.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80]