Küstrin

Before 1945 Küstrin (also spelled Cüstrin, Polish: Kostrzyn) was a town in the former Prussian province of Brandenburg in Germany, situated on both sides of the Oder river. After World War II the Allies established a new border along the Oder-Neisse line according to the Potsdam Agreement, and the city with the Brandenburg Neumark region was divided between post-war Germany and the Republic of Poland.

Historically, Küstrin is significant as the site of the imprisonment of Frederick the Great by his father, Frederick William I, in September of 1730. After his plans for fleeing Prussia were discovered, Frederick was locked in Küstrin Tower, and ordered to watch the execution of his friend Hans Hermann von Katte from his cell window. After his release from the prison, Frederick's father ordered him to stay on in Küstrin to learn the details of rural and city administration from the officials of the town.^[1]

Information related to the divided town can be found in the following articles:

• Kostrzyn nad Odrą - town in Poland, with 19,952 inhabitants (2007). It contains within its boundaries most of the area of pre-1945 Küstrin,
• Küstriner Vorland - a municipality on the German side of the river Oder, with 2,953 inhabitants (2005). It contains within its borders the settlement Küstrin-Kietz, which was a western suburb of Küstrin before 1945,
• Küstrin Fortress - built in and around the town to take advantage of its strategic location, the fortress saw very heavy fighting in 1945. As a result, the Old Town section of Küstrin enclosed by its walls was completely destroyed and has not been rebuilt.

References

1. ^ Aspray, Robert (1986). Frederick the Great: The Mangificent Enigma. New York: Ticknor and Fields. pp. 67–84. ISBN 0-89919-352-8.