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Important Places

Lyck

Restaurant at Lake Lyck

Lyck is the centre of East Masuria and lies midst of the ground moraine area of Lyck Plain (Polish: Rownina Elcka). It is situated by Lake Lyck and on the River Lyck at a height of 132 m, embedded in the forest of Lyck (Polish: Lasy Baranskie).

Lyck received the village privilege in 1425. It was granted the town charter in 1669 and became the district capital in 1818. In 1939 Lyck had 16,500 inhabitants. Due to influx and incorporations it has over 50,000 residents today and is growing further. Mainly in the part of town of Sybba, big plate construction developments have been built. One third of the population is under the age of 35. The unemployment rate amounts to 9.9 per cent. It is particularly high in the 25 to 34 age group and among unskilled people.

One finds numerous Art Nouveau houses in the cityscape, partially not yet restored, and other buildings from German times. Lyck was considerably destroyed, however, by air raids in 1944.

The best-known building is the former Protestant Church of the Sacred Heart, meanwhile raised in the position of a Catholic Adalbert Cathedral by Pope John Paul II. The first church was built around 1550 and burned down in 1651. A new church was erected on its ruins in 1688, which had to give way to a second new building because of dilapidation. After its destruction in World War I a third new building was necessary and erected from 1920 to 1925. This last construction was thoroughly renovated in 1956.

Lötzen

In 1939 Lötzen had 13,000 inhabitants. This number has increased to 32,000 inhabitants by today. It is situated on an isthmus between Lake Löwentin and Lake Kissain, both of which are connected through a canal here.

As far back as the times of the Old Prussians, a small wooden stronghold was erected in this place. In the middle of the 15th century the settlement, named Neuendorf, received privileges. Later on it became the town of Lötzen which was granted the town charter in 1612. In 1820 Lötzen was raised in the position of a district capital.

Parts of a castle of the German Order from the 15th century continue to exist. After the Reformation the castle was domicile to regional rulers.

Based on designs by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the Protestant church was built in 1827 (restored in 1881). A small statue of Martin Luther used to be on the cover of the baptismal font. Now a flower bouquet decorates the cover, the statue has been placed in the sacristy.

A special construction of the 19th century is the swing bridge over the Canal of Lötzen.

In World War I Lötzen had been heavily destroyed already and later, in World War II, even half of the town was destroyed. Nevertheless, residences from the late 19th and the early 20th century have survived in good condition in some streets of the town centre.

An interesting military construction is Fort Boyen, built from 1844 to 1848 and named after the Prussian war minister Field Marshal Hermann von Boyen (1771 - 1848). Von Boyen reformed the Prussian military. The fort is erected in the ground plan of an irregular polygon and has 6 bastions, miles long bulwarks and metres thick walls. In World War I it was besieged by the Russians, but not conquered. In World War II it was handed over to the Russian troops without fight actions. Today Fort Boyen is used peacefully: clubs, coffee-houses, an open-air stage, a youth hostel and a museum of local history and culture are located there. A non-profit company is involved in the complex.

From Lötzen the "White Fleet" provides scheduled boat trips to Angerburg as well as to Nikolaiken, Lake Nieden and Johannisburg, using the connecting canals. Furthermore, excursions are organized to Lake Kissain and Lake Doben (so-called "Trip to Swans" to the hatcheries of many wild swans and around the "Cormorant Island").

Ortelsburg