Editing Malbork (section)

==History of the town==
{{Quote box
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| title = Timeline of Malbork <br><small>Historical affiliations</small>
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| quote = {{flagicon image|Flag of the State of the Teutonic Order.svg}} [[State of the Teutonic Order|Teutonic State]], 1274–1457<br>
{{flagicon image|Banner of the Kingdom of Poland.svg}} [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Kingdom of Poland]], 1457–1772<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1750-1801).svg}} [[Kingdom of Prussia]], 1772–1918<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of Germany (3-2 aspect ratio).svg}} [[Weimar Republic|German Reich]], 1871–1945<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of Poland.svg}} [[Poland]], 1945–present
}}

===Middle Ages===
The town of Marienburg grew in the vicinity of the castle. The river [[Nogat]] and flat terrain allowed easy access for barges a hundred kilometers from the sea. During [[Prussia (region)|Prussia]]'s government by the Teutonic Knights, the Order collected tolls on river traffic and imposed a monopoly on the [[amber]] trade. The town later became a member of the [[Hanseatic League]], and many Hanseatic meetings were held there.
[[File:Polish artillery during siege of Malbork in 1410.PNG|thumb|left|Polish artillery during siege of the castle in 1410 (modern era drawing)]]
The Teutonic Order weakened greatly after the [[Battle of Grunwald]] against advancing Poles and Lithuanians.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Tannenberg 1410: Disaster for the Teutonic Knights|last = Turnbull|first = Steven|publisher = Osprey Publishing|year = 2013|isbn = 978-1472800091|location = Oxford, UK|pages = 21}}</ref> The town was burned by the Teutonic Knights in 1410 before the [[Siege of Marienburg (1410)|siege of the castle]] by Poles,<ref name=VM>{{cite web|url=http://visitmalbork.pl/415,HISTORIA.html|title=Historia|website=Visit Malbork|access-date=13 November 2019|language=pl}}</ref> however it remained under Teutonic control after the siege. In 1457, during the [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)|Thirteen Years' War]], the castle was sold to Poland by [[Czechs|Czech]] mercenaries of the Teutonic Knights,<ref name=VM/> and the Teutonic Order transferred its seat to [[Königsberg]] (now [[Kaliningrad|Kaliningrad, Russia]]). The town, under Mayor Bartholomäus Blume and others, resisted the Poles for three further years. But when the Poles finally took control, Blume was hanged and quartered, and fourteen officers and three remaining Teutonic knights were thrown into dungeons, where they met a miserable end.<ref name="segfozhek184"/> A monument to Blume was erected in 1864,<ref name=mw/> after the town's annexation by [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] in the [[Partitions of Poland]].

The town became capital of the [[Malbork Voivodeship]] in the Polish province of [[Royal Prussia]] (and later also in the [[Greater Poland Province, Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Greater Poland Province]]) after the [[Second Peace of Thorn (1466)]].<ref>Stephen R. Turnbull, Peter Dennis, ''Crusader Castles of the Teutonic Knights'', Osprey Publishing, 2003, p. 58, {{ISBN|1-84176-557-0}}, 9781841765570 [https://books.google.com/books?id=sTr2hHTtK9wC&dq=%22Royal+prussia%22+Poland+1466&pg=PA58 Google Books]</ref>

===Modern period===
Within Poland, Malbork flourished thanks to the Polish grain and wood trade and craft development.<ref name=VM/> New suburbs were created due to lack of space within the defensive walls.<ref name=VM/> In the 17th century, [[Swedish Empire|Swedish]] invasions took place.<ref name=VM/> During the [[Great Northern War]] in 1710, half of the population died of a cholera epidemic.<ref name=VM/> After the wars, new inhabitants, including immigrants from [[Scotland]], settled in the town, mainly in the suburbs.<ref name=VM/> In 1740 Malbork ceased to be a fortress.<ref name=VM/>

[[File:Das Rathaus zu Marienburg Teichgräber.jpg|thumb|right|Town hall, circa 1839]]
It was annexed by the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] in the [[First Partition of Poland]] in 1772 and became part of the newly established province of [[West Prussia]] the following year. Prussians liquidated the municipal government and replaced it with new Prussian-appointed administration.<ref name=VM/> In the early 19th century, Prussian authorities acknowledged the town's Polish-speaking community, ensuring that priests could deliver the sermon in Polish.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Pommerellen - Preußen - Pomorze Gdahskie. Formen kollektiver Identität in einer deutsch-polnischen Region|author=Janusz Małłek|journal=Nordost-Archiv. Zeitschrift für Regionalgeschichte|year=1997|volume= 2}}</ref>
In 1807, during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the French entered the town, and in 1812 the [[Grande Armée]] marched through the town [[French invasion of Russia|heading for Russia]].<ref name=VM/> [[Napoleon]] has visited the town in those years. In October–December 1831, various Polish cavalry and infantry units of the [[November Uprising]] stopped in the town and its environs on the way to their internment places,<ref>{{cite book|last=Kasparek|first=Norbert|editor-last=Katafiasz|editor-first=Tomasz|year=2014|title=Na tułaczym szlaku... Powstańcy Listopadowi na Pomorzu|language=pl|location=Koszalin|publisher=Muzeum w Koszalinie, Archiwum Państwowe w Koszalinie|pages=138, 140, 145|chapter=Żołnierze polscy w Prusach po upadku powstania listopadowego. Powroty do kraju i wyjazdy na emigrację}}</ref> and later on, one of the insurgents' main escape routes from partitioned Poland to the [[Great Emigration]] led through the town.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Umiński|first=Janusz|year=1998|title=Losy internowanych na Pomorzu żołnierzy powstania listopadowego|magazine=Jantarowe Szlaki|volume=4 |language=pl|issue=250|page=16}}</ref>

There were no [[World War I]] fights, however, the town felt the war's negative effects: the influx of refugees, inflation, unemployment, and food supply shortages.<ref name=VM/>

Under the terms of the [[Treaty of Versailles]] after [[World War I]], the inhabitants were asked in a [[East Prussian plebiscite|plebiscite on 11 July 1920]] whether they wanted to remain in Germany or join the newly re-established Poland. In the town of Marienburg, 9,641 votes were cast for Germany, 165 votes for Poland.<ref>[http://www.heimatkreis-marienburg.de/chronik.html marienburg.de] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225183321/http://www.heimatkreis-marienburg.de/chronik.html |date=2008-12-25 }}</ref> As a result, Marienburg was included in the [[Regierungsbezirk Marienwerder]] within the [[Weimar Germany|German]] Province of [[East Prussia]]. During the [[Weimar Germany|Weimar era]], Marienburg was located at the tripoint between Poland, Germany and the [[Free City of Danzig]].

The town was hit by an economic crisis following the end of World War I. After a brief recovery in the mid-1920s, the [[Great Depression]] was particularly severe in East Prussia. In January 1933, [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] and the [[Nazi Party]] came to power and immediately began eliminating political opponents, so that in the last semi-free elections of March 1933, 54% of Marienburg's votes went to the Nazis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/marienburg_op.html |title=Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichte Westpreußen, Kreis Marienburg |publisher=Verwaltungsgeschichte.de |access-date=2009-05-05}}</ref> After the [[German invasion of Poland]] in September 1939, leaders of the Polish minority were arrested and sent to [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]].

===World War II===
[[File:Marienburg bombed.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[94th Operations Group#World War II|94th Bomb Group]] B-17 Flying Fortress targeting the Focke-Wulf factory as described.]]
During [[World War II]] a [[Focke-Wulf]] aircraft factory was set up at the airfield to the east of Marienburg. It was bombed twice by the [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]] in 1943 and 1944. Today the airfield belongs to the [[22nd Air Base]] of the [[Polish Air Force]].

During the war, the Germans established the [[Stalag XX-B]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|prisoner of war camp]] in the present-day district of Wielbark, among the prisoners of which were Polish, British, French, Belgian, Serbian, Italian, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian POWs. Also a [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] camp was established,<ref name=PWN>{{cite web|url=https://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo/Malbork;3936678.html|title=Malbork|website=Encyklopedia PWN|access-date=26 November 2019|language=pl}}</ref> and several forced labour subcamps of the Stalag XX-B POW camp.<ref>{{cite book|last=Daniluk|first=Jan|editor-last=Grudziecka|editor-first=Beata|title=Stalag XX B: historia nieopowiedziana|language=pl|location=Malbork|publisher=Muzeum Miasta Malborka|page=12|chapter=Stalag XX B Marienburg: geneza i znaczenie obozu jenieckiego w Malborku-Wielbarku w latach II wojny światowej|date=2021 |isbn=978-83-950992-2-9}}</ref> Some [[Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany|expelled Poles]] from Pomerania were enslaved by the Germans as forced labour in the town's vicinity.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wardzyńska|first=Maria|year=2017|title=Wysiedlenia ludności polskiej z okupowanych ziem polskich włączonych do III Rzeszy w latach 1939-1945|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|pages=119, 130|isbn=978-83-8098-174-4}}</ref>

The [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance]] was present in the town and would smuggle underground Polish press<ref>{{cite book|last=Chrzanowski|first=Bogdan|year=2022|title=Polskie Państwo Podziemne na Pomorzu w latach 1939–1945|language=pl|location=Gdańsk|publisher=IPN|page=57|isbn=978-83-8229-411-8}}</ref> and data on German concentration camps and prisons, and organize transports of POWs who escaped the Stalag XX-B to the port city of [[Gdynia]], from where they were further evacuated by sea to neutral [[Sweden]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Chrzanowski|first=Bogdan|title=Organizacja sieci przerzutów drogą morską z Polski do Szwecji w latach okupacji hitlerowskiej (1939–1945)|journal=Stutthof. Zeszyty Muzeum|language=pl|volume=5|pages=29, 31|issn=0137-5377}}</ref>

Near the end of World War II, the city was declared a [[German World War II strongholds|fortress]] and most of the civilian population [[Evacuation of East Prussia|fled or were evacuated]], with some 4,000 people opting to remain. In early 1945, Marienburg was the scene of fierce battles by the Nazis against the [[Red Army]] and was almost completely destroyed. The battle lasted until 9 March 1945.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2009/0117/horizonte/0007/index.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719035904/http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2009/0117/horizonte/0007/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 July 2012|title=Aktuell|website=www.berlinonline.de|access-date=3 March 2018}}</ref> Following the town's military capture by the Red Army, the remaining civilian population disappeared; 1,840 people remain missing. In June 1945, the town was turned over to Polish authorities who had arrived in the town in April and renamed it to its historic Polish name, Malbork. The German population that had not fled was expelled in accordance with the [[Potsdam Agreement]].

Half a century later, in 1996, 178 corpses were found in a mass grave in Malbork; another 123 were found in 2005.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,603131,00.html|title=Death in Marienburg: Mystery Surrounds Mass Graves in Polish City|first1=Georg|last1=Bönisch|first2=Jan|last2=Puhl|first3=Klaus|last3=Wiegrefe|newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=23 January 2009|access-date=3 March 2018|via=Spiegel Online}}</ref> In October 2008, during excavations for the foundation of a new hotel in Malbork, a mass grave was found containing the remains of 2,116 people. All the dead were said to have been German residents of pre-1945 Marienburg, but they could not be individually identified, nor could the cause of their deaths be definitely established. A Polish investigation concluded that the bodies, along with the remains of some dead animals, may have been buried to prevent the spread of typhus, which was extant in the turmoil at the end of World War II. The investigation was thus closed on 1 October 2010 as no justifiable suspicions of any crime were found. Majority of the dead were women and children most likely dead from hunger, diseases, cold and as collateral casualties of war operations, only a few of the bones had markings showing possible gunshot wounds.<ref>[https://ipn.gov.pl/pl/dla-mediow/komunikaty/10710,Komunikat-o-umorzeniu-sledztwa-w-sprawie-zabojstwa-w-1945-r-ok-2110-osob-ktorych.html] Komunikat o umorzeniu śledztwa w sprawie zabójstwa w 1945 r. ok. 2110 osób, których szczątki ujawniono w 2008 r. w Malborku</ref> On 14 August 2009, all the dead people's remains were buried in a German military cemetery at [[Stare Czarnowo]] in Polish Pomerania, not far from the German border.<ref name="suffering1">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/world/europe/27poland.html|title=Facing German Suffering, and Not Looking Away|first=Nicholas|last=Kulish|newspaper=The New York Times |date=26 February 2009|access-date=3 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,600216,00.html|title=Malbork Massacre: World War II Mass Grave Unearthed in Poland|newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=8 January 2009|access-date=3 March 2018|via=Spiegel Online}}</ref>

===Post-war period===
[[File:Fotothek df ps 0004156 Burgen ^ Deutschordensburgen.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Malbork Castle]] in the 1960s]]
After World War II, the town was gradually repopulated by [[Polish people|Poles]], [[Polish population transfers (1944–1946)|many expelled]] from [[Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union]]. In February 1946, the population of the town reached 10,017 people, then by 1965 grew further to 28,292 and by 1994 to 40,347.<ref name="mportal"/>

In April 1945 the [[malt house]] resumed work, in May a Polish post office was established and the first post-war Polish services were held in the St. John church, in September Polish schools were opened.<ref name=VM/> In the following years, most of the war damage was removed, and in 1947 the railway bridge on the Nogat was rebuilt, after it was destroyed by the Germans in March 1945.<ref name=VM/> A new road bridge was built in 1949.<ref name=VM/> In 1946 a sugar factory was established.<ref name=VM/>

Also following the war, the Old Town in Malbork was not rebuilt; instead the bricks from its ruins were used to rebuild the oldest sections of [[Warsaw]] and [[Gdańsk]].<ref name="mportal">{{cite web|url=http://www.visitmalbork.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=292&Itemid=10|title=Visit Malbork - Visit Malbork|website=www.visitmalbork.pl|access-date=3 March 2018}}</ref> As a result, with the exception of the Old Town Hall, two city gates and St. John's church, no pre-World War II buildings remain in the Old Town area.<ref name="mportal" /> In place of the old town, a housing estate was built in the 1960s.<ref name="mportal" />

In 1962, a [[pasta]] factory was established in Malbork, which soon became one of the largest pasta factories in Poland.<ref name=VM/>