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- The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. The correct title is Toruń.
Toruń ([:tɔruɲ]) (Kashubian: Torń, German: Thorn, see also other names) is a city in northern Poland, on the Vistula river, with 204,300 inhabitants (1995). One of the capitals of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship (since 1999), previously capital of Toruń Voivodship (1975-1998) and the Pomeranian Voivodship (1921-1939), the city is near the Geographic Center of Europe.
The medieval town of Toruń is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
The city of Toruń creates a bipolar aglomeration Bydgoszcz-Toruń with the city of Bydgoszcz, only 30 km away. Those 2 cities are integrating gradually. in 2003 Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz joined Toruń University.
Name of the city
Early documents record the city name as Thorn, Thorun (1226, 1466), Turon, Turun, Toron, Thoron, and after 15th century the Polish name: Toruń
Points of view diverge on the origin of Thorn/Toruń's name. There are several possible etymologies:
- 1) Founded by the Teutonic Knights nearby old Polish village named "old Toruń", Thorn may be derived after the city of Toron, that was located in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the Crusades.
- 2) It may come from a Polish word tor which means track (of Vistula river). if this is true Toruń means town on the track
- 4) It may come from Toron personal name and means Toron's town
- 3) It may have been originally Tarnów (there are many such cities in Poland, tarnina = kind of river plants), which was later Germanized into Thorn, and re-Polonized into Toruń.
- 5) It may come from a Gothic god Thor
However, others claim that neither name Toruń nor Thorn has any etymological meaning. (reference: Professor Jan Miodek)
The Teutonic Knights spelled the city usually Thorun, and later when the city was a royal city subject to Polish Kings, the Latin documents and coins usually spelled Thorun, Thorunium, civitas Thorunensis or civitas Torunensis. Later it was spelled Thorn, and after the second world war the official name was changed to Toruń when the city became part of Poland.
Famous people
Toruń was the birthplace of the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473).
Education
Economy
Major corporations
Politics
Toruń constituency
Members of Parliament (Sejm) elected from Toruń constituency
- Chodynicki Ryszard, SLD-UP
- Derwich Bogdan, SLD-UP
- Kuropatwiński Lech, Samoobrona
- Lewandowski Bogdan, SLD-UP
- Łuczak Krystian, SLD-UP
- Mężydło Antoni, PiS
- Olewiński Marek, SLD-UP
- Rybicki Sławomir, PO
- Sobecka Anna, LPR
- Sosnowski Zbigniew, PSL
- Sułek Leszek, Samoobrona
- Szparaga Elżbieta, SLD-UP
- Wenderlich Jerzy, SLD-UP
Municipal politics
to be written yet
Architecture
 Baroque facade of Dambski Palace (18th c.) |  Part of medieval city walls |
 Gothic building from 15th c. with Guard Keep (13 c.), both rebuild in 19th c. |  Partial view of Teutonic Knights' castle |
History
Toruń was a small settlement in Chelmno Land (Ziemia Chelminska), a western part of Mazovia. in 1266 it was awarded by the duke Conrad of Mazovia as a fief to the Teutonic Knights to be a safeguard against the heathen Prussians.
The Teutonic Knights built a castle there (1230-31), and the settlement acquired town rights in 1233, relocating from its original site to what is called today "Old Town" in 1236. The city soon became an important medieval trade center, and a member of the Hanseatic League. In 1263, Franciscan monks settled in Toruń, and they were followed in 1239 by Dominicans. In 1264 the neighboring Toruń New Town was founded. It was a separate town until 1454, when the old and new cities were amalgamated.
During the 14th century, Toruń joined the Hanseatic League.
External links
bg:Торун
de:Thorn
no:Thorn
pl:Toruñ
sv:Thorn
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