The bad days of Dobre Miasto. Its old town is now a sprawl of tower blocks

·22 May 2026

Throughout its centuries-long history, Dobre Miasto (German: Guttstadt) was an intimate and charming religious centre of Warmia. Even before the Second World War, its centre was lined with elegant rows of townhouses; trade flourished in the market square around the historic town hall; and the Gothic collegiate church towered above it all. In 1945, however, the Soviets arrived and razed most of the buildings to the ground. Today, only small fragments of that old town remain.

The town of the Warmian Chapter

Dobre Miasto was granted town privileges in 1329. It was founded by the Warmian Chapter on the site of a former Prussian settlement. The town was situated on an island surrounded by the waters of the Łyna River and a defensive canal. Shortly afterwards, city walls with three gates and towers were erected. Over the following centuries, the then Guttstadt was an important religious centre. The seat of the collegiate chapter was second in importance only to the chapter in Frombork. Between 1466 and 1772, the town belonged to the Kingdom of Poland as part of autonomous Warmia, and after the First Partition it came under Prussian rule. Over the course of its centuries-long history, it was rebuilt following numerous fires and wars.

Panorama of Dobre Miasto from 1874. Source: “Spotkania z Zabytkami”, No. 2/1986.

What did Dobre Miasto look like before the war?

Before 1945, Dobre Miasto resembled other historic towns of Warmia, such as Orneta, Reszel and Lidzbark Warmiński. The focal point was, of course, the market square, surrounded by townhouses from various eras and in different styles, from which a regular grid of streets, preserved since the Middle Ages, radiated outwards. The most important monument is the Gothic collegiate church of the Holy Saviour and All Saints – one of the largest churches in Warmia. In the 19th century, despite the development of urban industry and the railway, the historic and compact built environment underwent no significant changes. Alongside historic churches and townhouses, industrial plants, a railway station and a gasworks operated here.

The inhabitants and the drama of the Second World War

In 1939, Guttstadt had a population of almost 6,000. Although the German-speaking population predominated, many people retained their Catholic identity, as some families had Polish roots. The Second World War did not reach the Łyna River until February 1945. At that time, the Red Army occupied the town, which had remained untouched by bullets and bombs, only to soon inflict the greatest devastation in its more than 600-year history. Within two weeks, Russian soldiers destroyed 65% of the buildings (some sources put the figure as high as 80%), burning down around 485 buildings. The city centre, with its market square, town hall and tenement houses, suffered the most. In addition, the Red Army ruined the power station, gasworks, waterworks, mills, bakeries and shops. Given the sheer scale of the destruction, it is worth noting that the Gothic collegiate church remained almost untouched. Unfortunately, some of its priceless furnishings were looted from inside.

The Old Town never returned

After the war, the almost deserted Dobre Miasto once again found itself within Poland’s borders. In 1946, only 966 people lived here. The German inhabitants had fled westwards or been displaced, whilst settlers from other regions of our country and the former Eastern Borderlands arrived to take their place. The Polish authorities did not decide to rebuild the market square and its surroundings following the example of Warsaw, Poznań or Gdańsk. There was a lack of money, materials and economic justification for such a decision. The ruins were therefore demolished, and from the 1960s onwards, prefabricated housing estates began to be built in their place. They were much cheaper than brick houses with decorative features and allowed for the rapid provision of shelter for the newly arrived residents.

Dobre Miasto – what remains today?

Despite the catastrophic scale of the destruction of Dobre Miasto, its most valuable monuments have survived. You can still see the collegiate church, the Stork Tower, sections of the defensive walls and the old granaries here. Thanks to them, it is possible to trace the town’s medieval origins, even with the loss of most of its historic buildings.

The fate of the former Guttstadt was not an isolated case. Elbląg, Braniewo, Kołobrzeg, Koszalin and Kostrzyn nad Odrą, which were German until 1945, were also reduced to a sea of ruins. Today, Dobre Miasto belongs to the Cittaslow network and has a population of just under 10,000. There is no official programme to reconstruct the demolished market square, but renovation work is underway on what remains.

Source: dobremiasto.org, perlypolski.pl, dobremiasto.com.pl