Ostrowite, Golub-Dobrzyń County
| Ostrowite | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
 Ostrowite
|
|
| Coordinates: 53°8′35″N 18°59′1″E / 53.14306°N 18.98361°E | |
| Country |
 Poland
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| Voivodeship | Kuyavian-Pomeranian |
| County | Golub-Dobrzyń |
| Gmina | Gmina Golub-Dobrzyń |
Ostrowite [ɔstrɔˈvitɛ] (German: Osterbitz) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Golub-Dobrzyń, within Golub-Dobrzyń County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It lies 7 kilometres (4 mi) north-west of Golub-Dobrzyń and 28 km (17 mi) north-east of Toruń.
In 1875 Ostrowite had a fifty buildings, including six of brick and wood - the rest of the clay, all with thatched roofs. The larch church was one of its most important buildings, having been restored 1739 and 1870. In the early 1900s, however, it was demolished. Only the temple stands today.
The rapid development of the construction industry in Ostrowite occurred in the years 1918 to 1939, then there already being brick houses and stoves. A more radical change took place 45 years later, and the last 30 years have undergone an explosion of construction. It is now nice, neat, and architecturally quite contemporary. However, there is much left of the almost two hundred years old monuments. One such monument is Ostrowitego. Ostrowitego is small, parish cemetery. The occupations of the parishioners there are still unknown, since 30– 50 years ago, many graves did not have subtitles. In this cemetery are three other monuments that are worth mentioning: two tombs of landowners, one of which was built in the mid-nineteenth century, the second at the end of it. It has been reported that there were four of these tombs, but only these two have survived. There is also a lovely family tomb of Tylmanowa. The most modern is that of Father Anthony Albina. Father Anthony Albina was an especially important priest; he oversaw the building of the church and the Parish House. Thanks to the efforts of the municipalities, money for the maintenance of these tombs has been found. At the moment, the Ostrowickiego cemetery is likely to remain for quite a while. With these tombs is often associated the World War two occupation. In 1940, the German occupiers threw many of the coffins on a pile and burned them. The cemetery was then transformed into a makeshift prison. Many Ostrowite inhabitants were kept there for several days and were often ill-treated before being exported to a prison camp in Inowrocław.
Perhaps the oldest - and certainly the longest inhabited - Ostrowitego building is an old tavern. At the beginning of the 1900s it was only an inn. Later on, however, it housed the Lewandowskich family’s butchery, and now is the home of the Smuszkiewiczów family. At the time when Poland was under German occupation, Ostrowite was part of the border between Germany and Russia. During this time the old inn was used for smuggling. Those who were involved in the smuggling of alcohol and spirits used this inn. These were such lucrative jobs that it was the root of many a fortune in the community. However, smuggling was not considered reprehensible. Smugglers filled wooden barrels with one side flat, forming a sort of cake. A strong man took could carry forty liters, weaker men would carry up to twenty. Smugglers had to walk quite a few miles, and even cross the lake Powidzkie. Some made their way up to Mielżyna, because there they would transfer it across the border at the greatest profit.
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Wikipedia