page_title: Wałcz
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Wałcz / History
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Wałcz, kolegium jezuitów (gimnazjum), 1798-1805, 1908-1909 This is a photo of a monument in Poland identified by the ID 660931
context_page_description: Wałcz is a county town in Wałcz County of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. During the years 1975 to 1998, the city was administratively part of the Piła Voivodeship.
  Granted city rights in 1303, Wałcz has become the administrative, industrial and cultural center of the Wałcz Lake District with the city itself situated on the banks of the Raduń and Zamkowe lakes. Wałcz is located in the southwestern portion of West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The closest cities are Szczecin 130 km, Bydgoszcz 115 km, Piła 26 km, Poznań 120 km, Gorzów Wielkopolski 107 km and Koszalin 120 km.
  Historically, the town belonged to the province of Greater Poland and formed part of Poland until the Partitions of Poland. Afterwards, from 1772 to 1945 it was part of Prussia and, from 1871 to 1945, it was also part of Germany, before being reintegrated with Poland.
context_section_description: In the High Middle Ages the region of modern Wałcz lied in a boundary territory of Pomerania and Greater Poland. It was included within the emerging Polish state in the late 10th century, and was integrated with Poland again in the early 12th century, afterwards as a result of the fragmentation of Poland, it became part of the Duchy of Greater Poland. Except a brief period of Brandenburg rule (in the 14th century), it remained as part of Poland until the first partition in 1772. After the town was recovered by King Casimir III the Great in 1368, it formed part of the Poznań Voivodeship of the Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown. In 1618 Jan Gostomski, starost of Wałcz, brought the Jesuits to the town, who founded the Jesuit College, nicknamed the "Wałcz Athens", in the 1660s, which as today's I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Kazimierza Wielkiego, is one of the oldest high schools in northwestern Poland.
  During Prussian and German rule, Wałcz under the newly given name Deutsch Krone was part of the province of West Prussia created in 1773. In 1781, the Jesuit College was transformed into a Royal Gymnasium, whose director was Józef Dalski. Lessons in Polish were held until 1831, then the school, similar to the town, was subjected to Germanisation, however, its director from 1866 to 1890 was a Pole, Antoni Łowiński. At that time, Polish lessons were restored as an optional, additional course for students, and a secret Polish youth philomath organization Ul operated in the school. Łowiński's gravestone at the local cemetery is the only one facing away from the main cemetery alley, because the German administration opposed using Latin inscriptions, instead of German.
  After the First World War it was one of the few towns of historical Greater Poland that were not included in the borders of Poland after regaining independence in 1918. Deutsch Krone, having a predominantly German population, remained part of Weimar Germany and was part of the Posen-West Prussia province until 1938 when it was assigned to Pomerania. During World War II, the Germans operated a labor camp for French and American prisoners of war from the Stalag II-B prisoner-of-war camp in the town. The town was occupied by the Red Army on 12 February 1945. After the end of World War II, the town was put under Polish administration according to the Potsdam Conference and renamed to its historic name Wałcz. Also in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement, its German inhabitants were expropriated and expelled. The town was repopulated by Poles, most of whom were themselves expelled from the former eastern territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union.
  Numerous pre-war ruins of German fortifications and bunkers are found in woods surrounding Wałcz, especially in proximity to the lakes. Most of them however are inaccessible — blown up or filled with soil, to prevent accidents with careless tourists.
  The lack of heavy industry in Wałcz and the surrounding areas has helped the city to maintain relative ecological cleanliness and is an excellent location for rest and relaxation. It has a post office that was built during the reign of Napoleon.
caption: Former Jesuit College, today's I Liceum Ogólnokształcące
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