The site of today's Pisz was originally inhabited by the
indigenous ethnic group of
Old Prussians. In 1345 the
Teutonic Order began constructing a castle nearby at the southernmost point of the
Piska Forest, in the
Masurian Lake District. The castle was named
Johannisburg, after
St. John the Baptist. The settlement nearby held a market as early as 1367, but it was not until 1645 that it received its
town charter. The town's first mayor was Fryderyk Adam Czerniewski. The population of the settlement and its environs was almost entirely
Polish since its establishment. The official German name of the town was Johannisburg, while the Polish-speaking residents referred to it as
Jańsbork. In 1454 it was incorporated to
Poland by King
Casimir IV Jagiellon and after 1466 it was a part of Poland as a
fief. Its early growth owed much to the residents' skill in
beekeeping, and it was located on trade routes leading to
Gdańsk and to the
Vistula and
Narew Rivers. The town became part of
Ducal Prussia in 1525 and remained under Polish suzerainty until 1657. In 1639 Polish King
Władysław IV Vasa visited the town. Later on, the town was part of
Brandenburg-Prussia, and, after that it became part of the
Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and Germany in 1871. In 1698, King of Poland
Augustus II the Strong and Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick I held a meeting in the local castle. Polish King
Stanisław Leszczyński stopped in the town in 1709 and 1734 and in 1813 Tsar
Alexander I of Russia stayed here. In 1709/10 only 14 inhabitants survived the
plague. The town began to develop extensively in the 19th century. In 1818 it became the seat of the
Landkreis Johannisburg in the province of
East Prussia. During the
January Uprising, weapons were smuggled through the town and area to the
Russian Partition of Poland, and Polish insurgents fleeing the Russian Partition took refuge in the town. The Prussians imprisoned and tried Polish insurgents and
resistance members in the town. Residents protested against the deportation of insurgents to the Russian Partition. The town's population in 1876 was approximately 3,000. A railway built connecting
Allenstein (Olsztyn) and
Lyck (Ełk) ran through Johannisburg. Its water supply system and gas works were built in 1907 and its municipal
slaughterhouse in 1913. The town's industrial development focused on
wood processing and
metallurgy. According to the 1900
Imperial German census, Johannisburg's population consisted of 70.2% Poles. (Municipal Cemetery in Pisz) As a result of the
treaty of Versailles, the
1920 East Prussian plebiscite was organized under the control of the
League of Nations. It was preceded by a campaign of violence and terror by the Germans against the Poles. The Germans attacked the Polish community center, there were beatings of Poles and the Polish press reported preparations being made for a pogrom against Poles, thus it resulted in 2,940 votes to remain in East Prussia, and therefore Germany, and none for Poland. During
World War II, Johannisburg was 70% destroyed by fighting and occupation by the
Soviet Red Army. At war's end in 1945, it was transferred from Soviet to Polish control according to the
Potsdam Agreement and officially renamed
Pisz in 1946. The name Pisz comes from the
Old Prussian word
pisa ("swamp"), owing to the muddy water from nearby
Lake Roś. After assumption of Polish rule, Germans returned to their home after flight from the Red Army. Those who did not pledge allegiance to Poland were expelled in accordance with the
Potsdam Agreement. ==Tourism and sights==