Darłowo (Polish pronunciation: [darˈwɔvɔ]; Kashubian: Dërłowò; German: Rügenwalde), is a seaside town in the West Pomeranian Region, at the south coast of the Baltic Sea, north-western Poland, with 13,324 inhabitants as of December 2021.

Over the years Dukes of Pomerania constructed a Ducal Castle called Dirlow on a nearby island and chose it as their seat.

Darłowo is also an important historical centre as it is the birthplace and burial site of Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

By the eleventh century a fortress named Dirlow, (or Dirlovo) existed where the River Wieprza entered the Baltic.

The town was probably founded in 1270 by Vitslav II of the Danish Principality of Rügen, at that time also ruler of the Lands of Sławno and Słupsk.

The town was rebuilt and on 21 May 1312, it was granted Lübeck law under the administration of the noble brothers John, Peter, and Lawrence[10] of the Swienca family,[11] vassals of the Brandenburg margraves since 1308.

Bogislaw, son-in-law of king Casimir III of Poland, would become ruler of the area after the partition of Pomerania-Wolgast in 1368.

[15] In 1352 the construction of the castle began, and co-operation with the Hanseatic League was initiated, with the town becoming a full member of the organization in 1412.

After the death of the last Pomeranian Duke Bogislaw XIV in 1637, the end of the contemporary Thirty Years' War in 1648 and the subsequent partition of the Duchy of Pomerania between the Swedish Empire and Brandenburg-Prussia in the Peace of Westphalia and the Treaty of Stettin (1653), Brandenburg included Farther Pomerania with Rügenwalde in her Pomeranian province.

[2] The harbour of Rügenwaldermünde was destroyed during the Thirty Years' War by imperial troops, and was reconstructed by order of King Frederick II of Prussia not before 1772.

During the Napoleonic Wars some of Rügenwalde's inhabitants, in particular ship owners and businessmen, profited from smuggling British goods to the continent.

The test site was visited by high-ranking officers of the German Army, Air Force and Navy, including Admiral of the Fleet Erich Raeder and field marshals von Rundstedt, Wilhelm Keitel and Hermann Göring.

During World War II, the Germans operated a forced labour subcamp of the Stalag II-B prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs in the town.

[18] During World War II Rügenwalde was used to house families made homeless after the Allied bombing of Hagen and Bochum in the Ruhr district.

In early 1945, about 5,600 people escaped by ships of Operation Hannibal before Soviet Troops reached the town on 7 March 1945.

[19] Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference assigned the town once again to Poland, and its German population was expelled.

Darłowo has maintained the unique medieval urban planning with the main square in the middle of the town.

The prince purchased the island with a mill in 1352 from a rich burgher of Darłowo – Elizabeth von Behr – in order to build a fortress on it.

Shrouded in mystery, the history of the great love of King Eric and Cecilia became an inspiration for artists.

The poem "The Return of the Prince Eric" was created by a poet and writer of Koszalin – Czeslaw Zea, and an American journalist and writer Lucie Lehmann – Barclay has been penetrating the archives of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany and the UK for several years in search of traces of Cecilia and Eric.

The initial appearance of a medieval fortress of Darłowo was an inspiration to build a similar but larger Kronborg Castle by King Erik in Denmark, where after years, William Shakespeare placed the action of "Hamlet".

Legend attributes to her, apparently contrary to the historical facts, cruelty, for which she lingers as the White Lady after her death, circling the castle.

[22] The castle is built in gothic style on a base plan resembling a square; its tower is 24 metres (79 feet) high.

Another interesting feature of the castle is a cat mummy and a golden sculpture of a dove – a talisman of luck for King Eric and Cecilia.

To this day, the Town Hall is home to the municipal government and the city – untouched – survived the march of the Red Army that won the Western Pomerania in winter of 1945.

The founder of the fountain was the richest Darłowo shipowner – the one from the family of Hemptenmacher, whose house is located at the intersection of ul.

On the final relief, facing the south, it is shown how a shepherd is guarding a flock of sheep and a woman herding geese.

It is placed on a square, four-pointed arch crossing, covered with a hipped roof, decorated with pointed-arch blinds.

The first mention of Darłowo lighthouse comes from 1715, when the city authorities ordered to set lights on both sides of the mouth of Wieprza.

Today, the height of the tower is 22 metres (72 feet), and the range of light pointing the way to the port is nearly 30 kilometres (19 miles).