Mieszkowice

Mieszkowice
Town square with monument of Mieszko I
Flag Coat of arms
Mieszkowice
Coordinates: 52°47′N 14°29′E / 52.783°N 14.483°E / 52.783; 14.483
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	West Pomeranian
County	Gryfino
Gmina	Mieszkowice
Area
• Total	4.73 km2 (1.83 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Total	3,553
• Density	750/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Postal code	74-505
Website	http://www.mieszkowice.pl

Mieszkowice [mʲɛʂkɔˈvʲit͡sɛ] (German: Bärwalde in der Neumark; Kashubian: Berwôłd) is a town in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland, about 15 km (9.3 mi) east of the Oder river and the border with Germany. It is the administrative seat of the urban-rural gmina (municipality) of Mieszkowice.

Founded in 1298 during the Ostsiedlung in Brandenburg, the town was the site of death of the last Ascanian margrave in 1319, a center of the Waldensians movement in the 14th century, and the site of the conclusion of a Franco-Swedish alliance during the Thirty Years' War, which else virtually depopulated the town. After the war, the town slowly recovered, retaining a rural character. In the late 19th century, it was connected to the railroad, and Gottfried Benn was raised in an adjacent village. In 1945, the town largely escaped destruction, and became part of Poland. It was renamed Barwice, then Mieskowice after Mieszko I of Poland. Until 1998, Mieszkowice was part of Szczecin Voivodeship.

The town now called Mieszkowice was known from its foundation until 1945 under the German name of Berenwalde and later of Bärwalde. To distinguish it from the town of Bärwalde in Pomerania (present-day Barwice), it carried the abbreviation Nm. for Neumark (New March) . In 1945 it was renamed Mieszkowice, after the first historical Polish duke Mieszko I, a scion of the Piast dynasty.