The town was subjected to Germanisation policies. In 1788, the city was renamed Briesen, by which is still referred to in German. The Prussian authorities initiated German colonization, by bringing German settlers to change the region's ethnic composition. Polish inhabitants took part in 19th-century Polish uprisings, including the November Uprising, Greater Poland uprising (1848) and the January Uprising. Anti-Polish policies intensified after the town became part of the German Empire in 1871. To resist Germanisation policies, Poles founded various organizations, including a branch of the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society.