Ryn

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title: "Ryn" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cities-and-towns-in-warmian-masurian-voivodeship", "giżycko-county", "masuria-(region)", "suwałki-voivodeship", "cittaslow"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryn" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Ryn
image_shield	POL Ryn COA.svg
image_skyline	Zamek w Rynie wraz z Jeziorem Ryńskim.jpg
image_caption	Ryn Castle and Lake Ryn
pushpin_map	Poland
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name
subdivision_type1	Voivodeship
subdivision_name1	Warmian-Masurian
subdivision_type2	County
subdivision_name2	Giżycko
subdivision_type3	Gmina
subdivision_name3	Ryn
area_total_km2	4.09
population_as_of	2006
population_total	3006
population_density_km2	auto
coordinates
timezone	CET
utc_offset	+1
timezone_DST	CEST
utc_offset_DST	+2
registration_plate	NGI
postal_code_type	Postal code
postal_code	11-520
website	http://www.miastoryn.pl/
::

Ryn is located between and . Among the notable landmarks of the town are a former Ordensburg castle of the Teutonic Knights (erected ca. 1337) and a 19th-century Dutch windmill. Below the castle in the center of the town, a subterranean channel connects the Matussek pond, a shoaled bay of Lake Ołów, with Lake Ryn and the pond of a mill built by the Teutonic Knights.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Zamek_w_Rynie_z_lotu_ptaka.jpg" caption="castle in Ryn"] ::

Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode of the Teutonic Knights built a fortress on the site of a former Old Prussian fortification in 1337. A settlement near the castle was first mentioned in documents in 1405. It was known as Ryne after the Rhine River, and was included within the komturship of Balga. Ryne later became known in Standard German as Rhein and in Polish as Ryn. Since the 15th century the population was mostly Polish.

After the outbreak of the Thirteen Years’ War the castle was captured by the Prussian Confederation, at the request of which in 1454 King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of incorporation of the region to the Kingdom of Poland. Later on, it was captured by the Teutonic Knights and was repeatedly besieged by the Confederation troops.

The Komtur Haus zur Ryne was established in 1393, after which Rhein was the seat of a Komtur first until 1422; the Komturship was re-established in 1468, following the Second Peace of Toruń. From 1466 The first Komtur of Rhein was , brother of Teutonic Grand Master Konrad von Wallenrode, while the best-known one was Rudolf von Tippelskirch, who was also involved in the colonisation of Prussia. After the secularisation of the State of the Teutonic Order Rhein was part of the Duchy of Prussia, a vassal state of Poland, in 1525, an "Amtshauptmann" office was established in Rhein, which remained in use until 1775. In the 16th century the town's and district's population was almost entirely Polish.

During Tatar attacks in Masuria, the village was burned down on 7 February 1657, and many inhabitants were kidnapped. In 1657, Brandenburg gained full suzerainty over the Duchy of Prussia from Poland. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Zamek_w_Rynie_-panoramio(2).jpg" caption="Town center"] ::

In 1701 Rhein became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. Between 1709–1711, it suffered from plague. Despite these setbacks, King Frederick William I of Prussia granted the town its town charter in 1723. The decisive reason for this was the role of Rhein as an administration center for a larger rural area. At that time church services were held only in Polish.

During the Napoleonic Wars, soldiers took up quarters in Rhein. The development of the town largely stagnated during the 19th and 20th centuries. It was not until 1902 that Rhein received a railroad connection, though it was only a one-track link of a light railway with a narrow gauge. Additionally, the castle was bought and converted into a prison in 1853, and suffered a fire in 1881, after which it was not fully rebuilt until thirty years later.

Rhein was administered by Landkreis Lötzen within East Prussia from 1818–1945. The town became part of the German Empire after the unification of Germany by Prussia in 1871. As a result of the Treaty of Versailles the 1920 East Prussian plebiscite was organized on 11 July 1920 under the control of the League of Nations, which resulted in 1,460 votes to remain in Germany and none for Poland. A Nazi German prison was located in the town. After Germany's defeat in World War II, the town once again became part of Poland due to the borders changes dictated by the Potsdam Agreement.

Population

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Zabudowa_centrum_Rynu_od_strony_ekomariny.jpg" caption="Ryn at night"] ::

1782: 1000
1885: 2285
1925: 2084
2005: 3037

Sports

The local football club is Pogoń Ryn. It competes in the lower leagues.

Notable residents

Nicholas von Renys (1360–1411), secular member of the Teutonic Knights
Bruno Hofer (1861–1916), fishery scientist

References

. (1889). "Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom X".
Górski, Karol. (1949). "Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych". Instytut Zachodni.
(1970). "Selbstbestimmung für Ostdeutschland – Eine Dokumentation zum 50 Jahrestag der ost- und westpreussischen Volksabstimmung am 11. Juli 1920".
"NS-Gefängnis Rhein".
"Pogoń Ryn".

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