Bydgoszcz   , Latin: Bydgostia) is a city located in northern Poland, on the Brda and Vistula rivers. With a city population of 363,926 , and an urban agglomeration with more than 470,000 inhabitants, Bydgoszcz is the 8th-largest city in Poland. It has been the seat of Bydgoszcz County and the co-capital, with Toruń, of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999. Prior to this, between 1947 and 1998, it was the capital of the Bydgoszcz Voivodeship, and before that, of the Pomeranian Voivodeship between 1945 and 1947. Bydgoszcz is part of the metroplex Bydgoszcz-Toruń, which totals over 850,000 inhabitants. Bydgoszcz is the seat of Kazimierz Wielki University, University of Technology and Life Sciences and a conservatory, as well as a Collegium Medicum of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Bydgoszcz hosts the Filharmonia Pomorska concert hall, the Opera Nova opera house, and the Bydgoszcz Ignacy Jan Paderewski Airport. Due to its location between the Vistula and Odra rivers, and the water course of the Bydgoszcz Canal, the city forms part of a water system connected via the Noteć, Warta, Odra, and Elbe with the Rhine and Rotterdam. Etymology Bydgoszcz, originally Bydgoszcza (feminine gender word), is created as a pronoun name, the second part of which -- goszcz comes from gost-jь possibly or gost-ja an old Slavic root which refers to an urban or suburban trading settlement. Other examples of this include the German 'Trebgast' in Bavaria, which until 1028 was known as Trěbigost-jь, Radogost-jь, in Austria, is also a prominent example; it is today known as Ratgoz. There are also a number of other Polish place names which make use of the goszcz suffix: Małogoszcz and Skorogoszcz. Bydgoszcz however has a long, rich history of etymological change: 1239, Bidgosciam 1242, castrum quod Budegosta vulgariter nuncupatur (castle, which is colloquially called Bydgoszcza) 1279, Bidgoscha 1558, Bydgoszcz, that is, until the 16th century, Bydgoszcza "fishing village or campsite belonging to Bydgosta" The name Byd-gost contains archaic elements of the Proto-Slavonic root 'byd' which existed as a variant of the verb 'to raise' ( Ancient Russian vъzbydati = stimulating, Proto-Slavonic bъděti / bъd 'ǫ = no sleep, to watch), and the common Slavic root Goszcz (fireplace). Some people identify the name of the town as Budorgis, a name from the 2nd century which is listed next to the village Calisia on the amber route. History During the early Slavic times a fishing settlement called Bydgozcya ("Bydgostia" in Latin), became a stronghold on the Vistula trade routes. In the 13th century it was the site of a castellany, mentioned in 1238. The city was occupied by the Teutonic Knights in 1331, and incorporated into the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. The city was relinquished by the Knights in 1343 with their signing of the Treaty of Kalisz along with Dobrzyń and the remainder of Kuyavia. King Casimir III of Poland, granted Bydgoszcz city rights (charter) on April 19, 1346. The city increasingly saw an influx of Jews after that date. In the 15th and 16th centuries Bydgoszcz was a significant site for wheat trading. During 1629, near to the end of the Polish-Swedish War of 1626--29, the town was conquered by Swedish troops led by king Gustav II Adolph of Sweden personally. During the events of war the town suffered demolations. The town was conquered a second and third time by Sweden in 1656 and 1657 during the Second Northern War. At the latter occasions the castle was destroyed completely and has since then remained a ruin. After the war solely 94 houses were inhabited, 103 stood empty and 35 were burned down. Also the suburbans had been damaged considerably. The Treaty of Bydgoszcz agreed in 1657 by King John II Casimir Vasa of Poland and Elector Frederick William II of Brandenburg-Prussia created a military alliance between Poland and Prussia while marking the withdrawal of Prussia from its alliance with Sweden. The city came under the Prussian rule in 1772 due to the Partitions of Poland. Attribution: Article text available under CC-BY-SA sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BydgoszczCreative Commons image sourced from http://wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Collage_of_views_of_Bydgoszcz,_Poland_3.jpg

• published: 18 Sep 2013
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