'Brodnica' (
IPA: ; ) is a town in northern
Poland with 27,400 inhabitants as of 1995. Previously in
Toruń Voivodeship from 1975-1998, Brodnica has been situated in the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999.
History
The town's settlement began in 1262, and it received
German town law in 1298. It was incorporated into the
Kingdom of Prussia in 1772 during the
First Partition of Poland, but was incorporated into the
Duchy of Warsaw in 1807 during the
Napoleonic Wars. From 1815-1920 it was again under Prussian administration, becoming part of the Prussian-led
German Empire in 1871. The town become in 1920 part of Poland after the
Treaty of Versailles.
Approximately 1,000
Polish inhabitants were murdered during
World War II by the
SS and the
Selbstschutz; after the war, an unknown number of
German inhabitants were expelled or killed by the
Red Army during the
expulsion of the Germans.