Zinnowitz

Geschichte

Zinnowitz is a spa town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the northern German island of Usedom on the Baltic Sea. The town has rail connections to Wolgast and Ahlbeck.HistoryZinnowitz is first mentioned, named as Tzys, in 1309 in a deed of donation by the duke Bogusław IV to the Crumminer monastery. When the monastery was dissolved in 1563, Tzys reverted to the possession of the duke. At the end of the Thirty Years' War, in 1648, Usedom, with Pomerania, fell to Sweden, which changed its name to the old Slavic form of Tzys, spelt as Zitz. In the middle of the 18th century, Zitz fell into Prussian hands. In 1751, in the course of the reorganization of the royal domain, Zinnowitz was renamed. When the Prussian state fell into financial need because of the Napoleonic Wars, it sold Zinnowitz to a businessman, the Kommerzienrat F. W. Krause, who in turn sold it in 32 parcels it to a group of colonists. The next big step for Zinnowitz was on 16 June 1851: Zinnowitz was allowed an official spa enterprise.Josef Alois Kessler, the last Volga German Bishop, retired and died here.