Czarne

Czarne (Czôrné; Hammerstein) is a town in Człuchów County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. As of December 2022, the town has a population of 5,368.

History
The area formed part of Poland until the Teutonic invasion in 1309. Konrad von Jungingen granted the settlement town privileges in 1395. It lay on the bank of the Czarna river, hence its name. It was an important trade and military point due to the nearby Teutonic Order and Pomeranian frontier. In 1454 the town and region were reincorporated to Poland by King Casimir IV Jagiellon. Afterwards the castle and town were defended against Teutonic attacks. Following the Thirteen Years' War, according to the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), it was confirmed as part of Poland. Since then the town was part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship in the Polish province of Royal Prussia, and later also in the Greater Poland Province. Czarne was the seat of the starosts (local royal administrators), they resided in the local castle. In 1627, it was site of the Battle of Czarne, in which Poles under the command of Stanisław Koniecpolski defeated the invading Swedes.

After the First Partition of Poland in 1772 the town was annexed by Prussia. It became part of the newly established Province of West Prussia in 1773. Prussian authorities ordered the demolition of the Czarne castle. In 1885 the Prussian Army built a large training ground (Übungsplatz) there.

In World War I the German Army used it for a large prisoner-of-war camp for Russian prisoners. In World War II it was the site of the notorious Stalag II-B POW camp in which initially Poles were held, and later also French, Belgian, Serbian, American, Soviet and Italian POWs, of which tens of thousands, mainly Soviets, died from disease, mistreatment and malnutrition. In 1945, with the defeat of Nazi Germany, the town became again part of Poland under the terms of the post-war Potsdam Agreement.

Transport
Czarne is located at the intersection of Voivodeship roads 201 and 202, and there is also a railway station.

Sports
The local football club is Czarni Czarne. It competes in the lower leagues.

Notable residents

 * Rudolf Hellgrewe (1860–1935), landscape painter and illustrator
 * Alexander Beer (1873–1944), architect
 * Henryk Moruś (1943–2013), convicted serial killer