The settlement is first mentioned in a 1065 document by
Bolesław II the Bold handing the land over to the church. The medieval
gord in Ciechanów numbered approximately 3,000 armed men, and together with the region of
Mazovia, it became part of the emerging Polish state in the late 10th century. In 1254, Ciechanów is mentioned as the seat of a
castellany (Rethiborius Castellanus de Techanow (Racibor, Kasztelan Ciechanowa)). In 1400 Janusz I of
Czersk granted Ciechanów
town privileges. The area eventually become a separate duchy with Casimir I of Warsaw using the title "dominus et heres lub dominus et princeps Ciechanoviensis". In the
Middle Ages, the defensive gord of Ciechanów protected northern Mazovia from raids of Lithuanians,
Yotvingians,
Old Prussians and later, the
Teutonic Knights. It is not known when it was granted a town charter. This must have happened before 1475, as a document from that year, issued by Duke Janusz II of Warsaw, states that Ciechanów has a
Chełmno town charter. In the period between the 14th and 16th centuries, Ciechanów prospered with the population reaching 5,000. In the late 14th century,
Siemowit III, Duke of Masovia, began construction of a castle, while his son
Janusz I of Warsaw invited the
Augustinians, who in the mid-15th century began construction of a church and an abbey. The Augustinian Friars were brought to Ciechanów in 1358 by Duke Siemowit III. They experienced the most turbulent times during the Reformation. From the 17th century, the Augustinians’ pastoral presence was growing in the towns. The monastery – characterised by mild observance – was usually inhabited by four to seven monks. In 1526, together with all Mazovia, Ciechanów was incorporated directly to the
Kingdom of Poland. It was a
royal city of Poland, the seat of the
Land of Ciechanów, a separate administrative unit within the
Masovian Voivodeship in the
Greater Poland Province. The town was handed over to
Bona Sforza, as her dowry. Ciechanów prospered until the
Swedish invasion of Poland (1655–1660), when the town was burned and ransacked.
Late modern period After the
Second Partition of Poland (1793), Ciechanów briefly became seat of a newly created
voivodeship. In 1795, it was annexed by the
Kingdom of Prussia, and reduced to the status of a provincial town in
Przasnysz county. In 1806, during the
Napoleonic Wars, Ciechanów was ransacked and destroyed. In 1807 it became part of the short-lived Polish
Duchy of Warsaw. Since 1815, the town belonged to
Russian-controlled Congress Poland. Its residents actively supported Polish rebellions. As part of
anti-Polish repressions, the Augustinian monastery was dissolved in 1864. The one remaining Catholic priest was harassed by the occupiers, however, thanks to the intercession of the local population, he avoided deportation or death. 150 Polish soldiers were hid from the Russians by the local Jews in the synagogue. Some local socialists and
intelligentsia joined the occupation structures for diversionary purposes, and when the Polish army reached the city again on August 15, 1920, they immediately disarmed several hundred Soviets. In the
Second Polish Republic, Ciechanów remained seat of a county in
Warsaw Voivodeship. In 1938, its population was 15,000, and the town was a military garrison, home to the 11th Uhlan Regiment of Marshall
Edward Smigly-Rydz.
World War II soldiers murdered by the Germans in the castle in 1942 Ciechanów was captured by the
Wehrmacht on the night of September 3/4, 1939. The town was annexed by
Nazi Germany and was known as
Zichenau in
German. It was the capital of
Regierungsbezirk Zichenau, a new subdivision of the
Province of East Prussia. The vast majority of the Polish and Jewish population was seen as racially inferior and Germany planned its eventual annihilation. The
Einsatzgruppe V entered the city on September 10, 1939, and carried out first mass arrests among local Polish
intelligentsia. Residents were imprisoned in
Gestapo jails established in municipal buildings and the Town Hall. Poles were also subjected to
expulsions. Around 600 people were expelled in December 1939, further expulsions were carried out in subsequent years. In Ciechanów, the Germans also organized a transit camp for Poles deported for
forced labor to the areas of
Klaipėda,
Tilsit (Sovetsk) and
Königsberg (Kaliningrad), and a forced labor "education" camp. Before
World War II, Ciechanów was home to a large
Jewish community of 1,800, but during the
Nazi German occupation, in November 1942, the majority of the Jewish community were transported to the Red Forest (
Czerwony Bór) northeast of town and murdered in a mass shooting. During the war many Polish Jews and resistance fighters were executed by the Germans in the castle. Prisoners of one of the forced labour camps were massacred by the Germans before their retreat. The Poles either returned to Poland later on, or died in Soviet captivity. The town was restored to Poland after the war. == Demographics ==