Starogard Gdański

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Starogard Gdański (meaning approximately "Old Town of Gdańsk"; Kashubian/Pomeranian: Starogarda; Preußisch Stargard) is a town in Eastern Pomerania in northwestern Poland with 48,328 inhabitants (2004). It is 50 km from the Tricity (Trójmiasto) agglomeration on the coast of Gdańsk Bay.

Starogard has been the capital of Starogard County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, but was previously a town in Gdańsk Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998. Car registration numbers start with GST.

Starogard is the biggest city of the region called Kociewie and is populated by Kocievians.

Etymology

The name Starogard means "old city" in the Pomeranian language. Gdański is appended to the name to differentiate it from other places named Starogard. The German name Preußisch Stargard means "Prussian Starogard" and is similarly used to disambiguate from other places named Stargard. (See also Stargard).

History

Starogard Gdański was first mentioned in 1198 when Duke Grzymisław II of Pomerania granted the settlement to the Knights Hospitaller. Archeological evidence indicates remnants of a neolithic settlement from four to five thousand years ago.

Since September of 1939 in nearby forest called Szpęgawski Forest (north-east of the town) Germans had killed in mass executions about 7 000 Poles, among them 1680 Kocborowo (Konradstein) and Świecie psychiatric hospitals patients. About 500 handicapped children were killed in the hospital, see Action T4. 2842 patients died 1940-1944.

Major corporations

Education

Pomorska Wyższa Szkoła Polityki Społecznej i Gospodarczej

Sports

SKS Starogard Gdański, men's basketball team promoted to play in Era Basket Liga in the 2004/2005 season.

Population

Year	1950	1960	1970	1975	1980	1990	1995	1998	2001
Population	?	25,800	33,700	39,500	44,200	49,500	50,600	50,700	49,884

Famous residents

Partnership towns

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Last updated on Saturday June 28, 2008 at 18:10:26 PDT (GMT -0700)
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