Elblag

History of Elblag

The city of Elblag was founded in 1237 by German tradesmen near the ruins of the Prussian fortress and trading settlement of Truso, on the ancient Amber Road in Pomesania.

Elblag as well as all of Prussia were by Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich II assigned to the government of the German Order of Teutonic Knights, a religious order formally under the pope. The Teutonic Knights built a castle.

In 1241 Elblag received city rights modelled on those of Lübeck[?], unlike many other cities in east-central Europe, which received Magdeburg Rights. A vocabulary was written in Elblag around 1350 in the Baltic Old Prussian language.

The trade cities Elblag, Gdansk and Torun were cities , who under the leadership of Imperial Cologne unified into the Hanseatic League.

In 1440 the eastern Prussian cities formed the Prussian Confederation which led the successful rising (1454) of Prussia against the rule of the Teutonic Order which led to the Thirteen Years War. As a result of it the city of Elblag came under the suzerainty of Poland and became a part of Poland called Royal Prussia. Elblag in Pomesania came under the archdiocese of Warmia.

In 1535 the first Protestant Gymnasium was established in Elblag. Famous inhabitants of the city included Hans von Bodeck.

From 1579 Elblag had close trade relations with England, to which the city accorded free trade. English and Scots merchants settled in Elblag and formed the Scots Reformed Church of Elblag[?]. They remaining after occupation by Sweden and rivalry from nearby Gdansk interrupted trading links. By 1618 Elblagg left the Hanseatic League due to its close business dealings with England.

Cartographer Johann Friedrich Endersch of Elblag completed a map of Ermeland in 1755 and also made a copper etching of the galiot, named Die Stadt Elbing (The City of Elblag[?]).

In 1772 Elblag, after the First Partition of Poland was forcibly annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia, from 1871 a part of the German Empire. After the WW I, Elblag became a part of German province of East Prussia in 1920.

A large number of German-speaking inhabitants of Elblag fled when the Soviet army approached the city. Almost all who had returned or remained, were expelled after the end of World War II, when the city returned to Poland.

External links :

• The home page of Elblag (http://www.elblag.pl)
• The interactive map of Elblag (http://www.elblag.pl/mapa.php3)
• The Elblag Municipal Authorities (http://www.umelblag.pl/ang/um.htm)
• Endersch map of 1755 [[1] (http://members.tripod.de/wm727/ke/Ermland1755.htm)]: for Elblag click on second down from top left section of map