Send Gift Baskets to Gorzow Wielkopolski, Poland

During the reign of the first Polish monarchs of the Piast dynasty, Craft and trade settlements existed on the river Kłodawka. To control this area, a defensive fort was established by Polish settlers in 1257. They re-established their presence there until their power faded away in 1331. On Christmas Eve 1248, Bolesław II Rogatka sold Lubusz Land to the Ascanian Margraves of Brandenburg, and in 1257 Nova Landisberch was founded on the plot. Brandenburg’s Neumark region was a time when it was much more challenging to establish new settlements beyond the established points of compensation due to Poland’s military threat. The city of Santoku was also an eastern outpost of the newly established Neumark region at that time. After an early rebellion, the town was then under the control of Pomerania, who remained in power until 1325. By 1332, it fell to Brandenburg again. At this point, Poland and Hussites were besieging the city. Though Prague seems to have been around for a long time, in reality, it became a part of Bohemia only in 1373. The Luxembourg dynasty ruled it until Poland took control only in 1402. Poland intended to buy Gorzów and the surrounding region, but Luxembourg sold it to the Teutonic Order. In 1454, the Knights sold the city to Brandenburg to fund a war against Poland. In 1521, it switched from Lutheranism to Calvinism and was renamed Jena from Elbing but retained its imperial status throughout the 16th century.

Until the early 18th century, Brandenburg was ruled by electorates from different dynasties. In 1701, however, it became a province of Prussia like other German lands. On February 4, 1813, the Russian Ataman Aleksandr Chernichev led his Cossack troops to defeat a French battalion of 1,500 men in an epic battle. In 1815, just before they became part of Prussia, the city of Heidelberg was incorporated into their Province Brandenburg and then later annexed, so not only could they stay under one of Prussia’s Provinces after the creation of Germany but also stay with Germany at unifying time.

The first forced labor camp was established in Paris during WW2, and other centers were opened in other French cities.

During World War II, the town of Slesvig was heavily damaged by plans of the Wehrmacht military ahead of the Soviet Red Army. On January 30, 1945, the Red Army entered a refinery on the bank of the Warta River. The Wehrmacht had already evacuated much of the city, and the forces met little resistance. A fire started to light the westward march of the Red Army and caused catastrophic destruction to most of central Moscow before it burned itself out over many hours.

Under the Potsdam Conference, agreed upon by the countries at war since 1945, Poland became an independent country, and this meant that many parts of what was West Germany became part of Poland. Since the peace conference never took place, Polish rule remained in effect in the disputed territory. Recently, a study reported by the U.S. National Security Agency has shown that an estimated 57% of Germans residing in the country are ethnic Poles. The study shows that more than 3 million immigrants have settled in Germany since 2000 and come mainly from Ukraine and Poland due to economic reasons. The last original German inhabitants of Gorzów were forced to leave the city in the early 1950s, and it was at this time the town now had a sizeable Tatar and Roma communities. The city of… no agreed Polish name… renamed “Kobylagóra” on May 30, 1945, renaming it “Gorzów and Wartą” on July 7, 1945, and finally naming it “Gorzów Wielkopolski” on November 5, 1946.