Usedom - History

History

Settled since the Stone Age, the area was inhabited by Germanic Rugians, before the Polabian Slavs moved in during the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries. Around the island, Wendish/Scandinavian trade centres such as Vineta/Jomsborg and Menzlin were established. In 1128 the Pomeranian Duke Wartislaw I was converted to Christianity through the efforts of Otto of Bamberg. In 1155 the Premonstratensians established a monastery in Grobe, generally known as Usedom Abbey, which in 1309 was moved to the village of Pudagla. In the meantime, a Cistercian nunnery was founded in Krummin and soon almost the whole island was in the possession of one or the other of the ecclesiastical orders. During the Reformation, ownership passed to the Slavic dukes of Pomerania, who took over the island.

During the Thirty Years' War, on June 26, 1630, the Swedish Army under King Gustav Adolf II landed in the village of Peenemünde, located on the Peene river (Polish: Piana). Usedom was annexed by Sweden after the war for almost a century, until in 1720 it was sold for 2 million thalers to the Prussian king Frederick William I. In 1740 Frederick the Great developed a seaport in Swinemünde.

The small village of Peenemünde came to prominence again during World War II. The Luftwaffe tested their missiles and rockets, including the V-1 and V-2 in the locality. Germany used thousands of slave laborers on Usedom during World War II.

In 1945 the eastern part of the island, together with the city and port of Świnoujście, was assigned to Poland by the Potsdam Conference, the German inhabitants being expelled to the west. The territory was populated with Poles who had in turn been expelled by the Soviet Union from the Kresy in the east.