Frombork
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Frombork (German: Frauenburg) is a town in northern Poland, situated on the Vistula Lagoon in the Warmia-Masuria voivodship with a population of 2,700 inhabitants (as of 2000). Frombork was meticulously re-created after its destruction during World War II and is now a well-known tourist attraction.
History
Frombork was founded as Frauenburg around 1278, and was first described by Gerko Fleming (Henry Fleminga), the bishop who moved his see there after the destruction of his cathedral in Braunsberg (Braniewo) in Prussia.
In 1310, the town was granted rights under the Lübeck Law by Bishop Eberhard of Neisse (Nysa). Between 1329 and 1388 its magnificent Gothic cathedral was built and dedicated to Our Lady ("Domina Nostra", "Unsere Frau"; hence "Frauenburg"; "Fromborg"; Frombork).
Through the centuries the cathedral has been expanded and rebuilt several times. There are several other historic churches, including those dedicated to St. Nicolas, St. George, and St. Anne, all built in the 13th century.
In the Middle Ages, the inhabitants of Frombork were mainly merchants, farmers and fishers.
Between 1466 and 1772 Frombork was an important city of the Prince Bishopric of Warmia, in Prussia. In 1772 the area came under the rule of the Kingdom of Prussia, and remained a part of Prussia (later Germany) until 1945.
The Prussian historian Christoph Hartknoch of Thorn (Toruń) features Frombork in his Altes und Neues Preussen; see external link below.
Perhaps the most famous resident of the town was Nicolaus Copernicus, who lived in Frombork from 1512 to 1516 and again from 1522 to 1543. He also died there and was buried in the cathedral, where his burial place may still be seen. His astronomical observatory, work room, equipment, and planetarium are on display at Frombork's Nikolaus Copernicus Museum.
A Copernicus monument built by the German Emperor Wilhelm II was destroyed and replaced in the mid-1950s.
A memorial rock was put in place in 2001 and blessed by Archbishop Dr. Edmund Piszcz. The text of the plaque attached to it honors, in both German and Polish, the many World War II refugees who died in this area, or were driven from it, in the first months of 1945.
External links
- Museums in Frombork (http://www.frombork.art.pl/Ang01.htm)
- Frawenburg 1684, Christoph Hartknoch, Thorn,Altes und Neues Preussen (http://www.ostpreussen.net/bilder/18/18020101g.jpg)de:Frombork
nl:Frombork nds:Frauenburg no:Frombork pl:Frombork ru:Фромборк