History of Gryfice

Additionally, settlement in these areas was confirmed in later periods (the Bronze Age), including in Kołomąć, Kępa, Mojszewko [pl], Rewal, Smolęcin, Wyszków, Cerkwica, Niedźwiedziska, Rogozina, Niedysz, Chomętowo, Skrobotowo, Rzęskowo, Wołczyn, Witno, and Trzebusz.

Ptolemy's treatise – Geography (Greek) Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις (2nd century AD) – lists among these peoples those who inhabited the areas of today's Western Pomerania and Gdańsk.

Archaeologist Marek Dworaczyk excavated and described the remains of a settlement (hearths and artifacts) with strong influences of the Hallstatt culture (Bronze Age period, i.e., 10th–8th centuries BC) in the area of the present-day Treasury Office in Gryfice on Niepodległości Street.

Marek Dworaczyk, after analyzing the existing archaeological research, summarized the knowledge about the beginnings of Nova civitas as follows:In the light of the data available today (...) Gryfice arose on the so-called "raw root," in a relatively sparsely populated area.

[15] These were circles of influence, according to newer research – the Wolinians, Prissani, and Brzeżans [pl][16] (deriving from Lechitic tribes, the same as the Veleti),[17][18] and later, until the mid-13th century, the Kashubians,[b] and not, as previously erroneously suggested, the Severians.

In 1121 (or 1119),[24] the Battle of Niekładz [pl] (Latin: Naclam) took place in the Gryfice land, in which Bolesław III Wrymouth defeated the forces of Western Pomerania led by the dukes Wartislaw I and Swietopelk I.

[27] In the mid-13th century, the rulers of Pomerania were the princes from the Pomeranian House of Griffin, Barnim I and Wartislaw III, who encouraged settlement in these areas to strengthen their power.

The locality received customs rights, forest clearance, navigation on the Redze river and coastal waters, temporary tax exemption (for 10 years), enabling it to become significantly wealthier.

Craftsmen were responsible for transporting supplies for the princely court, maintaining fortification equipment, cleaning moats, and providing armed protection for the city.

Besides merchants and craftsmen, the city was inhabited by a large number of commoners, engaged in the heaviest work related to construction, transportation, and navigation.

There were many reasons for this – disputes with the Norbertines of Białoboki, close contacts with the center of Protestant thought in Trzebiatów, resentment towards the papacy caused by a papal court ruling from 1450 (related to the conflict with the Norbertines of Białoboki over free navigation and trade on the Rega river), competition from monks in trade, crafts, and agriculture, as well as strong influences from supporters of the new church.

Due to the "hard law of war", the troops demanded increasingly new supplies of foodstuffs, which severely strained the productive capabilities of the population.

Gryfice then saw the arrival of Ferdinand von Schill's partisan units, who brutally suppressed popular uprisings against the Prussians and conducted terrorist actions.

Open conflict only arose when F. von Schill was defeated near Nowogard and when the French-Italian corps of General Pietro Teulié arrived in Gryfice, relieving the Poles.

In addition to the gymnasium established in Gryfice in 1852, named after Frederick William I,[p] two elementary schools operated within the city (the first mention of them dates back to 1811).

In 1882, Gryfice gained rail connection with the construction of the Dąbie–Kołobrzeg line, significantly facilitating the transport of agricultural products to larger cities and ports.

Sparse data from those years do not allow to determine the extent and areas of social life in which this growth occurred; however, historiography suggests that it was primarily in the agricultural sector.

On one hand, there were fears of "Slavs" seasonally employed in the city and its surroundings, but on the other, the necessity of economic development led to changes in attitude towards this issue.

In the eve of the war, units of the Wehrmacht were concentrated here, forming part of Army Group North, commanded by General Field Marshal Fedor von Bock.

Following them, larger numbers of inhabitants from the General Government began to arrive along the Rega river, seized in street roundups and forcibly recruited from the Kielce and Lublin regions.

On 1 March 1945, as part of the East Pomeranian offensive, Soviet troops from the 1st Belorussian Front began to attack the German Army Group Vistula, which defended Pomerania.

[114] Soviet military commandant Major Łukin,[114] a few days after the city was captured, began to organize Polish administration using local Poles who were brought back to Gryfice from forced labor or returning from Germany.

[115] Despite the lack of an international decision regarding the lands beyond the Oder river and the Baltic Sea, the Government Plenipotentiary Office for the Western Pomerania Region formed an administrative operational group for the Zagórze district.

[114] After W. Brustmen's dismissal (he was arrested by the military on June 10), the mayor became Płóciewniczak, who chaired the Gryfice Advisory Council, one of the few established in Western Pomerania.

After the resolution of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party on 16 May 1951, condemning the Gryfice events, the situation calmed down, although intimidation and beatings of peasants continued, but not on such a scale.

This regression was influenced by the reduction in population influx and the erroneous economic policy towards small towns (elimination of private trade and craftsmanship).

[138] Thanks to many years of efforts and cooperation with the Institute of History at the University of Szczecin, the society has published 4 historical publications titled Ziemia Gryficka (in 1971, 1973, 1987, and 1993).

[141] In the 1990s, a wide-scale development of services, private trade, and small-scale manufacturing began, contributing to the city's growth during the difficult period of state transformation.

Many retail and gastronomic outlets went bankrupt, unable to cope with the pace of currency devaluation and high interest rates on bank loans.

Thanks to European Union's funds, the city's monuments were restored (as part of the revitalization of cultural heritage sites), numerous road sections were rebuilt, and traffic flow was improved.