History of Ustronie Morskie
Ustronie Morskie was founded in the 13th century as a result of German colonisation supported by the bishops of the Duchy of Kamieńsk. Originally, the village was known as Henkenhagen.
The village was founded near the sea in a clearing in the original primeval forest that belonged to Kołobrzeg and was known as the Kołobrzeg Forest from its name. Due to the development of the settlement, the forest was quickly cleared. In the Middle Ages, settlements of native Slavic peoples and colonists existed in the area side by side, so Germanisation continued.
Ustronie Morskie was an agricultural and fishing town until the 19th century. It often changed owners and at times there were even several at the same time. This coastal village, largely dependent on the whims of the natural elements, was for many years perceived as poor and somewhat backward and located in a wilderness area. The current Kołobrzeg-Koszalin road was not built until 1864. Horse-drawn carriages to Kołobrzeg and other seaside towns used to travel along the beach, right by the water, because on land the obstacle was the marshy sections of forest. Until the 19th century, people here spoke their own dialect, which differed in meaning from the general German language. There was no church here and some young people emigrated to Kołobrzeg where they found work on merchant ships.
For centuries, the inhabitants of Ustronie lived in its shadow of the Kołobrzeg fortress. During the wars, when the fortress was besieged, soldiers were quartered in the surrounding villages and the inhabitants were subjected to nuisances. When a malaria epidemic broke out in the Polish camp during the siege of the fortress by Napoleon's troops, a well was built in Ustronie, from which water was transported to the camp by barrel-carriage. This well, together with a crane, was located in the middle of the village and served the inhabitants for more than a century. It was filled in at the beginning of the 20th century for safety reasons. Until the end of the German era this place was called ‘At the new well’ (in the local dialect ‘Biem niege Sod’).
When the fortress was decommissioned in 1872, Kołobrzeg became a well-known seaside health resort. The fashion for going to the seaside in summer was already very popular. Some visitors from the big cities, above all from Berlin, also started to visit the small fishing villages, discovering the idyllic atmosphere there. Among the so-called holiday villages in the Kołobrzeg district, Ustronie Morskie played a leading role.
The 19th century opened up opportunities for great changes in German towns and cities. These were brought by new discoveries, also in medicine and balneology. At that time, it was generally recognised that sea, brine and peat baths, as well as exercise and relaxation on sunny beaches were a guarantee of improved health and well-being.
In the Baltic belt of the West Coast, the later famous big resorts were built. The former farming and fishing villages now became holiday settlements. The already well-known bathing resorts quickly adapted to the new demands of the resorts. The first bathing establishments, guest houses and hotels were established, and rooms were prepared for rent in the houses of former farmers and fishermen.
All this was happening at the end of the 19th century, when advances were beginning to be made in road, rail, postal and telephone communications.
Ustronie Morskie was slowly turning into a summer resort. Conditions for the first guests were still primitive, access was cumbersome and the beaches had no guarded bathing facilities. Faster development came only after the opening of the railway line connecting Koszalin and Kołobrzeg (1899), which ran through Ustronie Morskie. It was now possible to travel from Berlin and the hinterland of Germany to the seaside via Szczecin. From then on, more and more guests visited the emerging resort. In 1899 there were 360 visitors, and by 1905 nearly 1,200. The Bathing Board was established to oversee its development.
The year 1905 also went down in history as the year in which the municipality was established and three neighbouring settlements were merged into a single administrative unit, thanks to an imperial decree and the will of the inhabitants. Thus, not long ago, a small village expanded its territory and became the seat of a municipality.
During this time, villa guesthouses, a treatment house with bathrooms and production of filtered seawater, a Coastal Palace, a seaside park, a pier with a tour boat landing and a dune promenade were built. A guarded bathing area has also been laid out, roads and streets have been paved, and the coast has been strengthened by surrounding the dunes and beaches with protection.
In March 1945, the seaside resort was occupied by Soviet troops. Polish life in Ustronie Morskie began on 6 June 1945. The Soviet commander handed over power to the Polish mayor Jerzy Klimaszewski. The German population was displaced and Polish settlers began to arrive. Henkenhagen was named Ustronie Nadmorskie, later renamed Ustronie Morskie. At the beginning of 1946, the State Board of Spas began to operate here. On 15 June, the first season was opened. In addition to the beach and walks, attractive warm sea baths were still offered. The first guide to the seven active health resorts from Darłowo to Międzyzdroje was published. Apart from individual patients, this season also included two stays of children from Warsaw.
The range of services expanded steadily. In 1947, the spa facility in Ustronie Morskie began producing a facial cosmetic from natural raw materials known under the name Vitoderma. From 1954, seashell powder was sold here for the treatment of gastric diseases. In the course of time, company holiday resorts or sanatoriums began to be established. Since November 1976 Ustronie has been covered by the provisions of the Spa Act.
Today Ustronie Morskie is a well-known holiday resort, with the number of visitors at the peak of the summer season reaching eighty thousand. The town, which stretches for several kilometres between Kołobrzeg and Koszalin, could not fail to evolve from an agricultural and fishing settlement into a holiday resort. This evolution was a natural result of the geographical location and the progress in the development of tourism. Ustronie Morskie has an extensive gastronomic, accommodation and recreational offer. Ustronie Morskie is so eagerly visited because, unlike e.g. Mielno or Kołobrzeg, it has still retained its special atmosphere and, despite its great popularity, you can experience peace, quiet and relaxation during the summer holiday season.
