Human settlement in Koszalin dates back to prehistoric times. Various traces of human settlement of the
Funnelbeaker,
Globular Amphora and
Lusatian cultures and from
ancient Roman times and
Early Middle Ages were discovered during
archaeological excavations.
Middle Ages The territory became part of the emerging Polish state under
Mieszko I around 967. According to the Medieval
Chronicle of Greater Poland (
Kronika Wielkopolska) Koszalin was one of the
Pomeranian cities captured and subjugated by Duke
Bolesław III Wrymouth of Poland in 1107 (other towns included
Kołobrzeg,
Kamień and
Wolin). Afterwards, in the 12th century the area became part of the
Griffin-ruled
Duchy of Pomerania, a vassal state of
Poland, which separated from Poland after the fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies, and became a vassal of Denmark in 1185 and a part of the
Holy Roman Empire from 1227. In 1214,
Bogislaw II,
Duke of Pomerania, made a donation of a village known as Koszalice/Cossalitz by Chełmska Hill in Kołobrzeg Land to the
Norbertine monastery in Białoboki near
Trzebiatów. New, mostly German, settlers from outside of Pomerania were invited to settle the territory. In 1248, the eastern part of Kołobrzeg Land, including the village, was transferred by Duke
Barnim I to the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Kammin. On 23 May 1266, Kammin bishop
Hermann von Gleichen granted a charter to the village, granting it
Lübeck law, local government, autonomy and multiple privileges to attract German settlers from the west. When in 1276 the bishops became the sovereign in neighboring
Kołobrzeg, they moved their residence there, while the administration of the diocese was done from Koszalin. In 1475 a conflict between the city of Koszalin and the Pomeranian duke
Bogislaw X broke out, resulting in the kidnapping and temporary imprisonment of the duke in Koszalin. It was also forbidden to accept native Slavs to craft guilds, which indicates ethnic discrimination. imprisoned in the city by the Germans during World War II During the
Second World War Köslin was the site of the first school for the "rocket troops" created on orders of
Walter Dornberger, the
Wehrmacht's head of the
V-2 design and development program. The
Polish resistance conducted espionage of German activity and distributed
Polish underground press in the city. The Nazis brought many
prisoners of war and
forced labourers to the city, mainly Poles, but also
Italians and
French. including a subcamp of the
Stalag II-B POW camp. Polish forced labourers constituted up to 10% of the city's population during the war. After crushing the
Warsaw Uprising, the Germans brought several transports of Poles from
Warsaw to the city, mainly women and children.
After World War II On 4 March 1945, the city was captured by the
Red Army. Under the border changes forced by the
Soviet Union in the post-war
Potsdam Agreement, Koszalin became part of Poland as part of the so-called
Recovered Territories. The city's German population that had not yet fled was
expelled to the remainder of post-war Germany. The city was resettled by Poles and
Kashubians, many of whom had been expelled from
Polish territory annexed by the Soviets. As early as March 1945 a Polish police unit was established, consisting of former
forced labourers and
prisoners of war, however, the Soviets, still present in the city, plundered local industrial factories in April. From May 1945, life in the destroyed city was being organized, the first post-war schools, shops and service premises were established. In March 1946, the
anti-communist Home Army 5th Wilno Brigade was active in Koszalin. On the fifth anniversary of his visit, his monument was unveiled in the city center. ==Transport==