First mentioned in a 1345 deed, the settlement became the seat of a commandry of the
Knights Hospitaller, expelled from nearby
Rörchen (Rurka) in 1377, on the invitation of the
Pomeranian dukes. After the
protestant Reformation, the Wildenbruch estates were held by the noble
House of Putbus. Upon the
Thirty Years' War and the 1648
Peace of Westphalia, the area became part of
Swedish Pomerania. The
secularised commandry was ceded to the
Hohenzollern electorate of
Brandenburg by the 1679
Peace of Saint-Germain. Wildenbruch was purchased by Princess
Sophia Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1636–1689), the second wife of the "Great Elector"
Frederick William, who united it with her Brandenburg estates of
Schwedt and
Vierraden to provide for her descendants of the
Brandenburg-Schwedt secundogeniture. She had the Wildenbruch fortress rebuilt in a
Baroque style. Wildenbruch was bequested to Dorothea's first-born son Margrave
Philip William (1669–1711) and her grandson
Frederick William (1700–1771), who died at the castle. The last of the Brandenburg-Schwedt owners was his younger brother
Frederick Henry (1709–1788), Wildenbruch fell back to the royal Hohenzollern main line. The last Schwedt heiress
Elisabeth Louise (1739–1820) had married her uncle
Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia in 1755; their son
Prince Louis Ferdinand gave the title of
von Wildenbruch to his illegitimate son
Ludwig. Confirmed by King
Frederick William III in 1810, the title was bequested to Ludwig's son, the author
Ernst von Wildenbruch and his descendants. Wildenbruch was incorporated into the Prussian
Province of Pomerania. After
World War II, the area passed to the
Republic of Poland and the remaining German population was
expelled (see
History of Pomerania). Though declared a national monument, the former Hohenzollern castle decayed. Recently, some efforts were made towards its preservation. == Notable people ==