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83-644: Their name derives from the hydronym of the river Vistula , meaning "inhabitants of Vistula"; the region is mentioned as Uuislane by the Bavarian Geographer , v Vislè and v Vislèh in the Vita Methodii , and Visleland by Alfred the Great in the 9th century. Even though some historians, such as Przemysław Urbańczyk , claim that the Vistulans did not exist, there are three documents from

166-463: A different prey and eventually they all traveled in different directions. Rus went to the east, Čech headed to the west to settle on the Říp Mountain rising up from the Bohemian hilly countryside, while Lech traveled north. There, while hunting, he followed his arrow and suddenly found himself face-to-face with a fierce, white eagle guarding its nest from intruders. Seeing the eagle against the red of

249-756: A good and well-measured proxy for the economic growth of the Commonwealth. The owner of a folwark usually signed a contract with the merchants of Gdańsk, who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain to Gdańsk. Many rivers in the Commonwealth were used for shipping, including the Vistula, which had a relatively well-developed infrastructure, with river ports and granaries . Most river shipping travelled north, with southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts often being sold off in Gdańsk for lumber. In order to arrest recurrent flooding on

332-533: A prisoner in foreign land. Furthermore, little is known about their religious rituals and the date of baptism of the tribe. It was possibly around the same period, c. 874, when they were subjugated by king Svatopluk I of Moravia , and the Vistulan duke was forced to accept baptism . The area inhabited by the Vistulans probably ranged from the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the south, to

415-572: A project was undertaken to increase the traffic-carrying capacity of the river upstream of Warsaw by building a number of locks in and around Kraków , this project was not extended further, so that navigability of the Vistula remains limited. The potential of the river would increase considerably if a restoration of the east–west connection via the Narew – Bug – Mukhovets – Pripyat – Dnieper waterways were considered. The shifting economic importance of parts of Europe may make this option more likely. Vistula

498-594: Is Wisle lond, ⁊ be eastan þæm sint Datia, þa þe iu wæron Gotan ('To the east of the Moravians' land is the Vistula land, and to the east of them are the Dacians, that formerly were Goths'.) A verse in Old English poem Widsith (10th century): It is considered that parts of the epic poem could be dated to the 6th century. The syntagma ymb Wistlawudu has seen different translations by the scholars depending on

581-609: Is a city in central-western Poland , about 50 kilometres (31 miles ) east of Poznań . Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship . One of the Piast dynasty 's chief cities, it was the first historical capital of Poland in the 10th century and early 11th century, and it was mentioned in 10th-century sources, possibly including the Dagome Iudex , as

664-574: Is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at 1,047 kilometres (651 miles) in length. Its drainage basin , extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers 193,960 km (74,890 sq mi), of which 168,868 km (65,200 sq mi) is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in the south of Poland, 1,220 meters (4,000 ft) above sea level in

747-726: Is the northern part of the proposed E40 waterway , continuing eastward into the Bug River , linking the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea . Large parts of the Vistula Basin were occupied by the Iron Age Lusatian and Przeworsk cultures in the first millennium BC. Genetic analysis indicates that there has been an unbroken genetic continuity of the inhabitants over the last 3,500 years. The Vistula Basin along with

830-664: Is usually related with the Goths from the same poem ( Hred-Gotum , Hreth-Gotan , Hreidhgotar ), this verse is similar to the one in Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks (13th century), where prior the battle between Goths and Huns, Heidrek died in Harvaða fjöllum (Carpathian Mountains) which is sometimes translated as "beneath the mountains of Harvathi", considered somewhere beneath Carpathian Mountains near river Dnieper . Tadeusz Lewicki  [ pl ] argued that Anglo-Saxons , as in

913-531: The Gdańsk Bay of the Baltic Sea with a delta of six main branches ( Leniwka , Przekop , Śmiała Wisła , Martwa Wisła , Nogat and Szkarpawa ). The river has many associations with Polish culture , history and national identity. It is Poland's most important waterway and natural symbol , flowing notably through Kraków and the capital Warsaw , and the phrase "Country upon Vistula" ( Polish : kraj nad Wisłą ) can be synonymous with Poland. Historically,

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996-810: The Kalisz Voivodeship (since the early 14th century till 1768). It was destroyed again by the Teutonic Knights ' invasion in 1331 . The city was soon rebuilt during the reign of King Casimir III the Great , while during the reign of King Władysław II Jagiełło , in 1419, the status of "the capital of Christianity in Poland" was confirmed after the archbishops of Gniezno were given the title of Primate of Poland. Trade flourished in Gniezno, four large annual fairs took place, in which merchants from various Polish cities and European countries took part. Crafts also developed, and Gniezno remained one of

1079-660: The Lange Commando, a sub-unit of Einsatzkommando 2 . Despite this, Gniezno remained a center of Polish resistance , including the Tajna Organizacja Narodowa (Secret National Organization), which was founded in the city itself. Its commander Maksymilian Sikorski was eventually imprisoned in concentration camps. After the city was seized by the Red Army on January 21, 1945, the Soviets fought

1162-904: The Lombard king Alboin , when the Pannonian Avars led by Bayan I ( Attila's people ) expanded between 568 and 595 into the Pannonian Basin and extended their influence northward on the Slavs (Vistulans, Croats) in the Upper Vistula valley, seen in Avarian archaeological remains up to Gniezno in central-western Poland. Little is known about early history of the Vistulans. Their territory might have been conquered by Greater Moravia , though no conclusive evidence exists to prove this theory. According to archaeological findings, in

1245-602: The North Sea somewhere at the latitude of contemporary Scotland. The climate of the Vistula valley, its plants, animals, and its very character changed considerably during the process of glacial retreat. Vistula is navigable from the Baltic Sea to Bydgoszcz (where the Bydgoszcz Canal joins the river). It can accommodate modest river vessels of CEMT class II. Farther upstream the river depth lessens. Although

1328-788: The Oder river in Germany. After the war in late 1946, the former Austrian SS member Amon Göth was sentenced to death and hung on 13 September at the Montelupich Prison in Kraków, not far from the site of the Płaszów camp , the camp of which he was commandant throughout The Holocaust . His remains were cremated and the ashes thrown in the Vistula River. Gniezno Gniezno ( [ˈɡɲɛznɔ] ; Latin : Gnesna )

1411-699: The Silesian Beskids (western part of Carpathian Mountains ), where it begins with the White Little Vistula ( Biała Wisełka ) and the Black Little Vistula ( Czarna Wisełka ). It flows through Poland's largest cities, including Kraków , Sandomierz , Warsaw , Płock , Włocławek , Toruń , Bydgoszcz , Świecie , Grudziądz , Tczew and Gdańsk . It empties into the Vistula Lagoon ( Zalew Wiślany ) or directly into

1494-709: The partitions of Poland the see was often combined with others, first with Poznań and then with Warsaw . In 1992 Pope John Paul II reorganized the Polish hierarchy and the city once again had a separate bishop. Cardinal Józef Glemp , who had been archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw and retained Warsaw, was designated to remain Primate until his retirement, but afterward the Archbishop of Gniezno, at present Wojciech Polak , would again be Primate of Poland. The landmarks of Gniezno include: The city's most popular sports club

1577-438: The 16th century most of the grain exported was leaving Poland through Gdańsk, which because of its location at the end of the Vistula and its tributary waterway and of its Baltic seaport trade role became the wealthiest, most highly developed, and by far the largest centre of crafts and manufacturing, and the most autonomous of the Polish cities. Other towns were negatively affected by Gdańsk's near-monopoly in foreign trade. During

1660-462: The 1980s. In August 1980, employees of local factories joined the nationwide anti-communist strikes, which led to the foundation of the Solidarity organization, which played a central role in the end of communist rule in Poland. In 1979 and 1997, Pope John Paul II visited Gniezno. During the second visit, celebrations took place on the millennial anniversary of the death of St. Adalbert with

1743-445: The 9th century which can be tied to this tribe. First is the so-called Vita Methodii or Pannonian Legend (The Life of St. Methodius ), second is the Bavarian Geographer , and third is Alfred the Great 's Germania . Scholars consider that the Vistulans could also have been mentioned in the Old English and Nordic epic poems. King Alfred 's translation of Orosius contains a description of Europe which states be eastan Maroara londe

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1826-691: The 9th century, they created a tribal state, with probable major centers in Kraków , Wiślica , Sandomierz , and Stradów . Probably around 874 they were subjugated by king Svatopluk I of Moravia, who was a contemporary of the emperor Arnulf . After a later period of Czech domination, the Vistulan lands became controlled by the Polans in the late tenth century, and were incorporated into Poland . Vistula The Vistula ( / ˈ v ɪ s tj ʊ l ə / ; Polish : Wisła [ˈviswa] ; German : Weichsel [ˈvaɪksl] )

1909-718: The Alpine zone to which the Alps and the Carpathians belong. The Vistula begins in the Carpathian mountains. The run and character of the river were shaped by ice sheets flowing down from the Scandinavian peninsula. The last ice sheet entered the area of Poland about 20,000 years ago. During periods of warmer weather, the ancient Vistula, "Pra-Wisła", searched for the shortest way to the sea—thousands of years ago it flowed into

1992-531: The Baltic area as a centre of merchants and trade and as a port city. At this time the surrounding lands were inhabited by Pomeranians , but Gdańsk soon became a starting point for German settlement of the largely fallow Vistulan country. Before its peak in 1618, trade increased by a factor of 20 from 1491. This factor is evident when looking at the tonnage of grain traded on the river in the key years of: 1491: 14,000; 1537: 23,000; 1563: 150,000; 1618: 310,000. In

2075-553: The German ). According to the most popular variant, popularized by the 15th-century historian Jan Długosz , Wanda, daughter of King Krak , became queen of the Poles upon her father's death. She refused to marry a German prince Rytigier (Rüdiger), who took offence and invaded Poland, but was repelled. Wanda however committed suicide , drowning in the Vistula River, to ensure he would not invade her country again. For hundreds of years

2158-634: The Polish state. Like Rome , Gniezno was founded on seven hills, including the Lech Hill  [ pl ] , which is the location of the Gniezno Cathedral , and the Panieńskie Hill, which is the location of the Rynek (Market Square). Five lakes are located within the city limits: Winiary, Jelonek, Świętokrzyskie, Koszyk, Zacisze. There are archaeological traces of human settlement since

2241-626: The Polish underground and deported its members deep into the Soviet Union . The city itself was not seriously damaged during the war, however, in 1940, the Germans demolished the monument of King Bolesław I the Brave , which was rebuilt after the war. The city was subsequently restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in

2324-577: The River Vistula and its valley spans over 2 million years. The river is connected to the geological period called the Quaternary , in which distinct cooling of the climate took place. In the last million years, an ice sheet entered the area of Poland eight times, bringing along with it changes of reaches of the river. In warmer periods, when the ice sheet retreated, the Vistula deepened and widened its valley. The river took its present shape within

2407-635: The Vistula Lagoon, now for flood control closed to the east with a lock) and a west-flowing branch (the Danzig (Gdańsk) Vistula, Przegalinie branch, reached the sea in Danzig). Until the 14th century, the Elbing Vistula was the bigger. List of right and left tributaries with a nearby city, from source to mouth: According to flood studies carried out by Zbigniew Pruszak, who is the co-author of

2490-608: The Vistula and the Neman . It provided a link with the Black Sea to the south through the Oginski Canal , Dnieper River , Berezina Canal, and Dvina River . The Baltic Sea– Vistula– Dnieper– Black Sea route with its rivers was one of the most ancient trade routes, the Amber Road , on which amber and other items were traded from Northern Europe to Greece, Asia, Egypt , and elsewhere. The Vistula estuary

2573-458: The Vistula below this point is sometimes called the Leniwka . Various causes (rain, snow melt, ice jams ) have caused many severe floods of the Vistula over the centuries. Land in the area was sometimes depopulated by severe flooding, and later had to be resettled. See (Figure 7, on page 812 at History of floods on the River Vistula ) for a reconstruction map of the delta area as it was around

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2656-596: The Vistulans were the main tribe among those Silesian and Lechitic tribes who invaded this territory, dividing the Croatian lands into Eastern and Western parts. Based on Lubor Niederle 's thesis that the Vistulans are remnants of the once strong alliance of Croatian tribes which fell apart after the migration of the Croats to the Western Balkans in the 7th century, Tadeusz Lehr-Spławiński additionally noted that

2739-559: The bishopric in Poznań for western Greater Poland , which was established in 968. The 10th-century Gniezno Cathedral witnessed the royal coronations of Bolesław I in 1024 and his son Mieszko II Lambert in 1025. The cities of Gniezno and nearby Poznań were captured, plundered and destroyed in 1038 by the Bohemian duke Bretislav I , which pushed the next Polish rulers to move the Polish capital to Kraków . The archepiscopal cathedral

2822-503: The border of his lands. In 1308 the Teutonic Knights captured the Gdańsk castle and murdered the population. Since then the event is known as the Gdańsk slaughter . The Order had inherited Gniew from Sambor II , thus gaining a foothold on the left bank of the Vistula. Many granaries and storehouses, built in the 14th century, line the banks of the Vistula. In the 15th century the city of Gdańsk gained great importance in

2905-547: The capital of Piast Poland. Gniezno is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno , the country's oldest archdiocese, founded in 1000, and its archbishop is the primate of Poland, making the city the country's ecclesiastical capital. The city is the administrative seat of Gniezno County ( powiat ). Gniezno is one of the historic centers of the Greater Poland region, the cradle of

2988-525: The case of Alfred the Great who called Croats Horithi , often distorted foreign Slavic names and it was not uncommon for the same Slavic tribe to be known by different names, in this case, Vistulans being another name for the White Croats . Henryk Łowmiański also argued that both the Vistulans and the Lendians were tribes of White Croats, but other scholars disagree. Leontii Voitovych believed that

3071-764: The city and county were expelled to the General Government in the more-eastern part of German-occupied Poland or imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps . A transit camp for Poles expelled from the region was operated in the city. Kidnapped Polish 12-year-old children were enslaved as forced labour in the city's vicinity. In late 1940 at the Dziekanka ( Tiegenhof in German) psychiatric institute near Gniezno, 1172 patients were evacuated and then killed. Again in late 1940 hundreds of patients were gassed in gas van by

3154-434: The confluences with the Narew river and the Bug river; and bottom, from the confluence with Narew to the sea. The Vistula river basin covers 194,424 square kilometres (75,068 square miles) (in Poland 168,700 square kilometres (65,135 square miles)); its average altitude is 270 metres (886 feet) above sea level . In addition, the majority of its river basin (55%) is 100 to 200 m above sea level; over 3 ⁄ 4 of

3237-405: The consideration whether Wistla is a borrowing from a German, Latin, or Slavic language. As such *Wīstle could be identified with the people, while Wistlawudu interpreted as "by the Vistulan woods" or "by the Vistulan wooden hills" ( Beskids and Western Carpathians ). However, the Hræda which is genitive plural of *Hraede , gives further insight to the meaning and age of the poem. Although it

3320-410: The course of their offensive and were waiting on the other side of the Vistula River in full force, would help in the battle for Warsaw. However, the Soviets let down the Poles, stopping their advance at the Vistula and branding the insurgents as criminals in radio broadcasts. In early 1945, in the Vistula–Oder Offensive , the Red Army crossed the Vistula and drove the German Wehrmacht back past

3403-462: The death of his father Mieszko I of Poland (992), Chrobry united Kraków with Poland, with the consent of the Vistulan ruling class. So far historians have not been able to name any Vistulan dukes, but Vita Methodii does mention a "very powerful pagan prince settled on the Vistula" who "began mocking the Christians and doing evil" because of which was contacted by Saint Methodius who said it would be better to be baptized of one's own free will than as

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3486-413: The decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War Battle of Warsaw (sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula ), was fought as Red Army forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky approached the Polish capital of Warsaw and nearby Modlin Fortress by the river's mouth. The Polish September campaign included battles over control of the mouth of the Vistula, and of the city of Gdańsk, close to

3569-636: The eagle, and a red stripe on the bottom for the sunset. According to Wielkopolska Chronicle (13th century), Slavs are descendants of Pan , a Pannonian prince. He had three sons – Lech (the youngest), Rus, and Čech (the oldest), who decided to settle west, north, and east. Around 940 Gniezno, being an important pagan cult center, became one of the main fortresses of the early Piast rulers, along with aforementioned fortresses at Giecz , Kruszwica , Poznań , Kalisz , Łęczyca , Ostrów Lednicki , Płock , Włocławek , and others. Archeological excavations on Lech Hill in 2010 discovered an 11th-century tomb by

3652-443: The eighth century, some of which coalesced later into larger ones. Among the tribes listed in the Bavarian Geographer 's ninth-century document was the Vistulans ( Wiślanie ) in southern Poland. Kraków and Wiślica were their main centres. Many Polish legends are connected with the Vistula river and the beginnings of Polish statehood . One of the most enduring is that about Princess Wanda co nie chciała Niemca ( who rejected

3735-439: The foundations of St. George's church, near the remains of a pagan burial mound discovered earlier on the hill. Discoveries indicate that Lech Hill could have been the burial place of rulers even before the baptism of Mieszko I of Poland . After the adoption of Christianity by Mieszko I, his son Bolesław I the Brave deposited the remains of Saint Adalbert in a church, newly built on the Hill, to underline Gniezno's importance as

3818-483: The gords at Kraków, Stradów, Demblin , Naszczowice , Podegrodzie , Stawy , Trzcinica , Wiślica and on Bocheniec hill in Jadowniki . Most probably, the capital of the Vistulans was located in Kraków, which is confirmed by the size of the local gord, together with a fortified stronghold, located on the Wawel hill. Furthermore, the Vistulans probably built several mounds , such as the Krakus Mound , but historians argue whether these are of earlier, Celtic origin. In

3901-492: The lands of the Rhine , Danube , Elbe , and Oder came to be called Magna Germania by Roman authors of the first century AD. This does not imply that the inhabitants were " Germanic peoples " in the modern sense of the term; Tacitus , when describing the Venethi , Peucini and Fenni , wrote that he was not sure if he should call them Germans, since they had settlements and they fought on foot, or rather Sarmatians since they have some similar customs to them. Ptolemy , in

3984-442: The last 14,000 years, after the complete recession of the Scandinavian ice sheet from the area. At present, along with the Vistula valley, erosion of the banks and collecting of new deposits are still occurring. As the principal river of Poland, the Vistula is also in the centre of Europe. Three principal geographical and geological land masses of the continent meet in its river basin: the Eastern European Plain , Western Europe, and

4067-452: The late Paleolithic . Early Slavonic settlements on Lech Hill and Maiden Hill are dated to the 8th century. At the beginning of the 10th century this was the site of several places sacred to the Slavic religion . The ducal stronghold was founded just before 940 on Lech Hill, and surrounded by some fortified suburbs and open settlements. According to the Polish version of a legend, three brothers went hunting together but each of them followed

4150-407: The late 9th century several gords in southern Lesser Poland were destroyed. This might have been during the conquest of the Vistulans by Great Moravia, but it might have been the result of a conflict between the Vistulans and other tribes, like the Golensizi . In the 950s, the land of the Vistulans was probably conquered by Czech Duke Boleslaus I , which is confirmed by Abraham ben Jacob , whose work

4233-414: The lower Vistula, the Prussian government in 1889–95 constructed an artificial channel about 12 kilometres (7 miles) east of Gdańsk (German name: Danzig )—known as the Vistula Cut (German: Weichseldurchstich ; Polish: Przekop Wisły )—that acted as a huge sluice, diverting much of the Vistula flow directly into the Baltic . As a result, the historic Vistula channel through Gdańsk lost much of its flow and

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4316-437: The main cultural centres of the Polish Kingdom. The 11th Polish Infantry Regiment and 1st Polish National Cavalry Brigade were stationed there in 1790 and 1792, respectively. Gniezno was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the 1793 Second Partition of Poland and renamed Gnesen , becoming part of the province of South Prussia . During the Kościuszko Uprising , the Polish army under General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski liberated

4399-436: The major cities of Poland until the mid-17th century, even despite fires of 1515 and 1613. It was devastated during the Swedish invasion wars of the 17th–18th centuries and by a plague in 1708–1710. All this caused depopulation and economic decline, but the city was soon revived during the 18th century to become the capital of the Gniezno Voivodeship within the larger Greater Poland Province in 1768. Gniezno remained one of

4482-467: The mouth, where the river Nogat splits off. The Nogat also starts separately as a river named (on this map ) Alte Nogat (Old Nogat) south of Kwidzyn , but further north it picks up water from a crosslink with the Vistula, and becomes a distributary of the Vistula, flowing away northeast into the Vistula Lagoon (Polish: Zalew Wiślany) with a small delta. The Nogat formed part of the border between East Prussia and interwar Poland. The other channel of

4565-499: The name Istula . Ammianus Marcellinus referred to the Bisula (Book   22) in the 380s. In the sixth century Jordanes ( Getica   5 & 17) used Viscla . The Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith refers to the Wistla . The 12th-century Polish chronicler Wincenty Kadłubek Latinised the river's name as Vandalus , a form presumably influenced by Lithuanian vanduõ 'water'. Jan Długosz (1415–1480) in his Annales seu cronicae incliti regni Poloniae contextually points to

4648-423: The name Vistulans was only known among Western Slavs and Germans, while in the East, in Byzantine and Arabian sources, the older name of Croats was retained for the same territory. Such an interpretation of the reference to ymb Wistlawudu ("in the Vistula woods") in the Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith argues that instead of 5th century events, the poem instead intended to refer to 6th century events contemporaneous with

4731-424: The organizing Polish forces, Gnesen initially provided 60 recruits who participated in the battles of 1806–07. The 9th Polish Infantry Regiment was formed in Gniezno in 1806. Consequently, the town, once again as Gniezno , was included within the Duchy of Warsaw , but upon the defeat of Napoleon in Russia in 1812 it was occupied by the Russian army and was returned to Prussia in the 1815 Congress of Vienna . Gnesen

4814-416: The participation of presidents of seven Central European countries and 280,000 pilgrims from Poland and the world. In 2000, the millennial anniversary of the Congress of Gniezno was celebrated and on this occasion the Sejm was held in Gniezno, the only one held outside of Warsaw in recent decades. Gniezno's Roman Catholic archbishop is traditionally the Primate of Poland ( Prymas Polski ). After

4897-400: The reign of Stephen Báthory Poland ruled two main Baltic Sea ports: Gdańsk controlling the Vistula river trade and Riga controlling the Western Dvina trade. Both cities were among the largest in the country. Around 70% the exports from Gdańsk were of grain. Grain was also the largest export commodity of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . The volume of traded grain can be considered

4980-483: The religious centre and capital of his kingdom. It is here that the Congress of Gniezno took place in the year 1000, during which Bolesław I the Brave , Duke of Poland, received Holy Roman Emperor Otto III . The emperor and the Polish duke celebrated the foundation of the Polish ecclesiastical province (archbishopric) in Gniezno, along with newly established bishoprics in Kołobrzeg for Pomerania ; Wrocław for Silesia ; Kraków for Lesser Poland in addition to

5063-491: The river Vistla (4.81, 4.97, 4.100). The root of the name Vistula is often thought to come from Proto-Indo-European * weys- : 'to ooze, flow slowly' (cf. Sanskrit अवेषन् avēṣan "they flowed", Old Norse veisa "slime"), and similar elements appear in many European river-names (e.g. Svislach (Berezina) , Svislach (Neman) , Weser , Viešinta ). In writing about the river and its peoples, Ptolemy uses Greek spelling: Ouistoula . Other ancient sources spell

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5146-431: The river basin (right-hand to left-hand side) is 73–27%. The most recent glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch , which ended around 10,000 BC, is called the Vistulian glaciation or Weichselian glaciation in regard to north-central Europe. The river forms a wide delta called Żuławy Wiślane , or the "Vistula Fens" in English. The delta currently starts around Biała Góra near Sztum , about 50 km (31 mi) from

5229-478: The river basin ranges from 100 to 300 metres (328 to 984 feet) in altitude. The highest point of the river basin is at 2,655 metres (8,711 feet) (Gerlach Peak in the Tatra mountains ). One of the features of the river basin of the Vistula is its asymmetry—in great measure resulting from the tilting direction of the Central European Lowland toward the northwest, the direction of the flow of glacial waters, and considerable predisposition of its older base. The asymmetry of

5312-418: The river delta. During the Invasion of Poland (1939) , after the initial battles in Pomerelia , the remains of the Polish Army of Pomerania withdrew to the southern bank of the Vistula. After defending Toruń for several days, the army withdrew further south under pressure of the overall strained strategic situation, and took part in the main battle of Bzura . The Auschwitz complex of concentration camps

5395-405: The river was also important for the Baltic and German ( Prussian ) peoples. The Vistula has given its name to the last glacial period that occurred in northern Europe, approximately between 100,000 and 10,000 BC, the Weichselian glaciation . The name Vistula first appears in the written record of Pomponius Mela (3.33) in AD   40. Pliny in AD   77 in his Natural History names

5478-419: The river was one of the main trading arteries of Poland, and the castles that line its banks were highly prized possessions. Salt , timber , grain , and building stone were among goods shipped via that route between the 10th and 13th centuries. In the 14th century the lower Vistula was controlled by the Teutonic Knights Order, invited in 1226 by Konrad I of Masovia to help him fight the pagan Prussians on

5561-534: The river, stating "of the eastern nations, of the Polish east, from the brightness of the water the White Water...so named" ( Alba aqua ), perhaps referring to the White Little Vistula ( Biała Wisełka ). In the course of history the river has borne similar names in different languages: German: Weichsel ; Low German : Wießel ; Dutch : Wijsel [ˈʋɛisəl] ; Yiddish : ווייסל Yiddish pronunciation: [ˈvajsl̩] ; and Russian : Висла , romanized :  Visla . Vistula rises in

5644-419: The scientific paper Implications of SLR and further studies carried out by scientists attending Poland's Final International ASTRA Conference, and predictions stated by climate scientists at the climate change pre-summit in Copenhagen , it is highly likely most of the Vistula Delta region (which is below sea level ) will be flooded due to the sea level rise caused by climate change by 2100. The history of

5727-401: The second century AD, would describe the Vistula as the border between Germania and Sarmatia . Vistula River used to be connected to the Dnieper River , and thence to the Black Sea via the Augustów Canal , a technological marvel with numerous sluices contributing to its aesthetic appeal. It was the first waterway in Central Europe to provide a direct link between the two major rivers,

5810-409: The setting sun, Lech took this as a good omen and decided to settle there. He named his settlement Gniezno (from Polish gniazdo – 'nest') in commemoration and adopted the White Eagle as his coat-of-arms . The white eagle remains a symbol of Poland to this day, and the colors of the eagle and the setting sun are depicted in Poland's coat of arms, as well as its flag, with a white stripe on top for

5893-477: The sources of the Pilica and Warta in the north. In the east, it reached the Dunajec , and in the west, the Skawa . The first Slavic gords were not built here until the mid 8th century, which means that the Vistulans probably frequently migrated, changing locations. Since the 8th century, the Vistulans began construction of spacious gords, whose areas frequently reached over 10 hectares . Most gords were ring-shaped, and located on hills. Among major ones were

5976-519: The southern Silesian Voivodeship close to the tripoint involving the Czech Republic and Slovakia from two sources: Czarna ("Black") Wisełka at altitude 1,107 m (3,632 ft) and Biała ("White") Wisełka at altitude 1,080 m (3,540 ft). Both are on the western slope of Barania Góra in the Silesian Beskids in Poland. Vistula can be divided into three parts: upper, from its sources to Sandomierz ; central, from Sandomierz to

6059-612: The territory of interbellum Poland was drained northward into the Baltic Sea by the Vistula (total area of drainage basin of the Vistula within boundaries of the Second Polish Republic was 180,300 km (69,600 sq mi), the Niemen (51,600 km  [19,900 sq mi]), the Oder (46,700 km  [18,000 sq mi]) and the Daugava (10,400 km  [4,000 sq mi]). In 1920

6142-958: The town on 22 August 1794 and defeated a Prussian Army north of Gnesen near Labischin ( Łabiszyn ) on 29 September 1794. But because of Kościuszko's defeat at the Battle of Maciejowice he gave up his plan to winter in Bromberg ( Bydgoszcz ) and moved through Thorn ( Toruń ) and retreated to central Poland. Thus, the Prussians retook it on 7 December 1794. During the Napoleonic Wars there was an uprising against Prussian rule. The French appeared in Gnesen in November 1806, and following General Jan Henryk Dabrowski's order issued to all towns and cities and country property owners to provide recruits for

6225-891: The well-being of the Prussian State". Following the Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919) and the Treaty of Versailles the town became part of the Second Polish Republic and reverted to its original name of Gniezno. 31 Polish insurgents from the city died in the Greater Poland Uprising. Its citizen-soldiers joined the Polish army fighting the Bolsheviks during the Polish–Soviet War . The first Polish folk high school

6308-572: The year 1300: note much more water in the area, and the west end of the Vistula Lagoon (Frisches Haff) was bigger and nearly continuous with the Drausen See . As with some aggrading rivers, the lower Vistula has been subject to channel changing. Near the sea, the Vistula was diverted sideways by coastal sand as a result of longshore drift and split into an east-flowing branch (the Elbing (Elbląg) Vistula, Elbinger Weichsel, Szkarpawa, flows into

6391-596: Was at the confluence of the Vistula and the Soła rivers. Ashes of murdered Auschwitz victims were dumped into the river. During World War II prisoners of war from the Nazi Stalag XX-B camp were assigned to cut ice blocks from the River Vistula. The ice would then be transported by truck to the local beer houses. The 1944 Warsaw Uprising was planned with the expectation that the Soviet forces, who had arrived in

6474-522: Was established in the present-day district of Dalki in 1921. During the invasion of Poland , which started World War II , Gniezno was captured by Germans troops on 11 September 1939. On 26 October 1939 it was annexed into Nazi Germany as part of Reichsgau Wartheland . During the German occupation , local Poles were subjected to arrests, expulsions and mass executions. The Germans murdered several hundred inhabitants, and more than 10,000 inhabitants of

6557-788: Was known thereafter as the Dead Vistula (German: Tote Weichsel ; Polish: Martwa Wisła ). German states acquired complete control of the region in 1795–1812 (see: Partitions of Poland ), as well as during the World Wars, in 1914–1918 and 1939–1945. From 1867 to 1917, after the collapse of the January Uprising (1863–1865), the Russian tsarist administration called the Kingdom of Poland the Vistula Land . Almost 75% of

6640-473: Was reconstructed by the next ruler, Bolesław II the Generous , who was crowned king here in 1076. In the next centuries Gniezno evolved as a regional seat of the eastern part of Greater Poland, and in 1238 municipal autonomy was granted by the duke Władysław Odonic . Gniezno was again the coronation site in 1295 and 1300. After an administrative reform Gniezno, as a royal city , became a county seat within

6723-457: Was settled by Slavs in the seventh and eighth century. Based on archeological and linguistic findings, it has been postulated that these settlers moved northward along the Vistula River. This however contradicts another hypothesis supported by some researchers saying the Veleti moved westward from the Vistula delta. A number of West Slavic Polish tribes formed small dominions beginning in

6806-843: Was subsequently governed within Kreis Gnesen of the Grand Duchy of Posen and the later Province of Posen . It was an important centre of Polish resistance against Germanisation policies, various Polish organizations and publishing houses were located there. In 1857, Jews accounted for 27 percent of the population, which number decreased by emigration to more developed towns of Germany to 14.5 percent in 1871. In 1903, amid school strikes elsewhere in Prussian Poland, Prussian authorities arrested 50 Polish children and teachers in Gnesen on charges of high treason. They were accused of studying Polish culture and of "conspiring against

6889-463: Was used by Muslim geographer al-Bakri in his Book of Roads and Kingdoms . It is not known when and how the land of the Vistulans joined into the state of the Polans. Archaeological research has not found any evidence of armed conflicts between the Polans and the Vistulans. Most likely, Bolesław I the Brave , future king of Poland, was named the ruler of Kraków by his grandfather, Boleslaus I. After

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