Chociwel (; ) is a town in northwestern Poland, in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in Stargard County. It is the seat of Gmina Chociwel. As of December 2021, it has 3,105 inhabitants.
History
In the Middle Ages it was a Slavic gród. In 967 it became part of Poland under first historic ruler Mieszko I of Poland. The first church was built around 1124. The settlement was mentioned in 1190 and 1321.Czesław Piskorski, Pomorze Zachodnie, mały przewodnik, Wyd. Sport i Turystyka, Warszawa, 1980, p. 116 (in Polish) In 1338 it was granted Magdeburg town rights and was known as Freienwalde. In the 15th century the town's main landmark was built – the Gothic Our Lady of Sorrows church.
After the dissolution of the Duchy of Pomerania, in the mid-17th century it fell to the Margraviate of Brandenburg, then from 1701 it was part of Prussia, and from 1871 to 1945 it was part of Germany. It had a population of 3,406 in 1939. In 1945 it was awarded to Poland, along with most of Western Pomerania, at the insistence of Josef Stalin, and its entire population was expelled. Because of this, the population in 1946 was only 402, all of them Polish newcomers.Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1952) p. 403 After the war, the town was given the name Chociwel, which is a modern version of the Old Polish name of the nearby lake Kotzavil, as it appeared in medieval documents. Among the settlers were Poles displaced from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, Poles returning from forced labour both from the USSR and Germany and soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces in the West.
Demographics
Detailed data as of 31 December 2021: DescriptionAll Women MenUnit person percentage person percentage person percentagePopulation 3105 100 1579 50.9% 1526 41.1%Population density 846.0 430.2 415.8
Number of inhabitants by year
YearPopulationSource19953254 20003311 20053303 20103300 20153196 20203123 20213105
Sports The local football club is Piast Chociwel. It competes in the lower leagues.
Gallery
Notable residents Hugo von Kathen (1855–1932), general Herbert Hoffmann (1919–2010), artist
References
External links Official town webpage Jewish Community in Chociwel on Virtual Shtetl