Barczewo [barˈt͡ʂɛvɔ] (until 1946 Wartembork; German: Wartenburg in Ostpreußen) is a town in Olsztyn County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland.

[5] In Polish the town was known historically as Wartembork, Wartenberg, Wartenbergk, Wathberg, Bartenburg, Warperc, Wasperc, Wartbór or Wartbórz.

In December that year the Commission settled on another name, Barczewo, honouring Polish national activist who fought against Prussian oppression of Poles in Warmia, Walenty Barczewski (1865–1928).

[6] In 1440 the town joined the Prussian Confederation, at the request of which Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of incorporation of the region to the Kingdom of Poland in 1454.

[14] During the January Uprising in 1860s in the Russian Partition of Poland, the town was the local centre of supplying medicine, food and even firearms to Polish rebels, with the Polish society in the town becoming active in war effort and led by August Sokołowski [pl].

[6][18] In the interwar era the town was the residence of the fictional Kuba spod Wartemborka, a pseudonym of a figure in Polish press in Warmia created by Seweryn Pieniężny (1890-1940) [pl] which ridiculed Germanisation efforts against Poles in the region.

The Russians then plundered the town and carried out mass deportations of remaining people into the USSR, especially to Siberia.

As part of territorial changes demanded by the Soviet Union, Polish rule was accepted at the Potsdam Conference, however, on preliminary terms.

After introduction on Martial law in Poland Barczewo prison also seen opposition activists detained including Władysław Frasyniuk, Adam Michnik, Stefan Niesiołowski, Leszek Moczulski, Romuald Szeremietiew and Józef Szaniawski.