Giżycko ( (), Polish: Lec, both until 1946) is a town in northeastern Poland with 30,600 inhabitants (1995). Situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Suwalki Voivodeship (1975-1998).

History

*Teutonic Knights erected a castle named Lötzen (in Polish – Lec) in 1340, located at the isthmus between two lakes

*Civic rights, with a coat of arms and a seal, were granted to the settlement in 1612

*Between 1772-1945, Lötzen was part of East Prussia

*In the 19th cebntury, a Lutherian church designed by the famous architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, was erected in the centre of the town

*While part of Germany, Lötzen was organized by the Wehrmacht as a Subarea Headquarters of the Allenstein Area headquarters, of Wehrkreis I, which was headquartered at Königsberg. The German 228th Infanterie Division called Lötzen home until 1945. (Source: German Order of Battle, 1944)

*In 1946 the town, formerly called Lec in Polish, was renamed to Giżycko

Education

* Prywatna Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa
* Szkoła Podstawowa nr 4

Famous people

* Wojciech Kętrzyński

See also

* Masuria

Image:Gizycko dalba.jpg
Image:Gizycko kanal wylot.jpg
Image:Gizycko statek.jpg


Category:Castles of the Teutonic Knights
Category:Towns in Poland
Category:Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship