Wałcz
Wałcz (pronounced waUcz; Deutsch Krone) is a county town in Wałcz County of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Granted city rights in 1303, Wałcz has become the administrative, industrial and cultural center of the Wałcz Lake District with the city itself situated on the banks of the Raduń and Zamkowe lakes. Wałcz is located in the southwestern portion of West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The closest cities are Szczecin , Bydgoszcz , Piła , Poznań , Gorzów Wielkopolski and Koszalin . Historically, the town belonged to the province of Greater Poland and formed part of Poland until the Partitions of Poland. Afterwards, from 1772 to 1945 it was part of Prussia and, from 1871 to 1945, it was also part of Germany, before being reintegrated with Poland. According to a report from 2002, Wałcz has an area of of which 41% is used for agriculture and 17% is forest. There are two large lakes within the town limits: Raduń (area - , length - , shoreline - over , maximum depth - , average depth - ) and Zamkowe (area - , length - , shoreline - over , maximum depth - , average depth - ). There are also four smaller lakes within the town limits: Cegielnia, Chmiel Duży, Chmiel Mały, Raduń Mały, and several more within a short distance of Wałcz, including Ostrowiec Wielki, Łubianka, Łabędzie. Lake Raduń is spanned by the Kłosowski suspension bridge. The town occupies 2.17% of the total area of Wałcz county. In the High Middle Ages the region of modern Wałcz was a boundary territory between Pomerania and Greater Poland. It was included within the emerging Polish state in the late 10th century, and was integrated into the Kingdom of Poland again in the early 12th century. Later, as a result of the fragmentation of Poland, it became part of the Duchy of Greater Poland. Except for a brief period of Brandenburg rule (in the 14th century), it remained part of Poland until the first partition in 1772. After the town was recovered by King Casimir III the Great in 1368, it was a royal town and county seat, administratively located in the Poznań Voivodeship of the Greater Poland Province.