Nowe

Nowe is a small town beautifully situated on the high bank of the Vistula Riveron, midway between Bydgoszcz and Gdańsk. On the steep bank slope, at the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth century stood a mighty fortress, which, along with castles in Stargard and Świecie used to  monitor ship traffic on the Vistula. The importance of the castle in Nowe emphasized the fact that it was a residence of  Castellan duke Świętopełek II.  At the end of the thirteenth century Aleksy of Lekinstein became the owner of Nowe, an advisor of the Polish King Władysław Łokietek. Soon after in the years of 1301, the settlement with the castle came into the hands of Piotr Święca.
Nowe was granted the first privilege to location in 1302. According to the chronicles, during the conquest of Gdańsk Pomerania,  Teutonic Knights destroyed the city of Gdańsk, Tczew and Nowe. At this time the castle of Nowe was officiated by the Castellan Duke, while the town itself was the private property of Piotr Święca. Then, the Teutonic Knights offered to repurchase the rights to Nowe  and the whole district, For the price of 1,200 grzywien (medieval coins weighing less than 200 grams of silver)  Piotr Święca sold the town, where he had ruled for 12 years. After the year 1308, Nowe was destroyed and depopulated. Not until 1350 that the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Heindrich Düssemer von Arffenberg, gave the town a new location privilege. The construction of the castle in Nowe started probably about mid-14th century by the Teutonic Knights at the place of castellan fortress. It was one of the smallest Teutonic castles in Pomerania. As it consisted of a three storey residential building, perimeter wall combined to the town’s fortified walls. Probably the castle’s separate walls fenced off the city, more likely preceded by a moat. The lowest tier was allocated to utility rooms. The rooms on the first floor were occupied by the religious brother holding the custody of the castle,placed next to the dining hall, chapel and a guests room. The highest tier was allocated to the granaries and warehouses. Nowe returned to Poland in 1466. The 16th century was a time of prosperity for the town, which profited from its location on a commercial trail along the Vistula river. Settled here were Dutch Mennonites, who fled to Poland from religious persecution. During the seventeenth-century Swedish wars the town was badly destroyed and deserted. In 1760 was founded in Nowe characteristics of carpentry, which contributed to the development of wood crafts, carpentry and later production of furniture in the town. In 1772 the town was under  Prussian occupation, but it returned to the Second Polish Republic in 1920. Nowe owes its development to wood processing and production of wicker. During the interwar period there were about 100 carpentry workshops. The large volume of furniture production was confirmed by the National Furniture Fairs held in 1938 and 1939. In 1945 in the Nowe was established a furniture factory called: “Nowieńska”, which gave rise to large-scale production of furniture. In 1992 the factory found a foreign business partner and began a new stage of development, under the name Klose – Pomeranian Furniture Factory.