Świnoujście (; ; ; all three meaning "Świna [river] mouth"; ) is Świnoujśa city in Western Pomerania and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, located in the extreme north-west of Poland. Situated mainly on the islands of Usedom and Wolin, it also occupies smaller islands. The largest is Karsibór island, once part of Usedom, now separated by the Piast Canal dug in the late 19th century to facilitate ship access to Szczecin.
Świnoujście directly borders the German seaside resort of Ahlbeck on Usedom, connected by a street and of beach promenade.
Since 1999, Świnoujście has been a city with powiat rights (), within West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The city lies in the geographic region of Pomerania and had a population of 41,516 in 2012. Świnoujście is one of the most important areas of the Szczecin metropolitan area. The Świnoujście LNG terminal, opened in 2015, is located in the city. In 2023, the underwater Świnoujście Tunnel connecting the islands of Wolin and Usedom was opened.
Despite its relatively small population, Świnoujście is Poland's ninth-largest city by area.
History
The first human settlements in areas that are now Świnoujście appeared five thousand years ago, as confirmed by archaeological findings. For a thousand years, the estuary of the river was part of the state of the Świnoujście, included in the emerging Polish state in the 10th century by first Polish ruler Mieszko I.
In the early 12th century, the island became part of the Duchy of Pomerania, founded as a vassal duchy of Poland. In later centuries, local Pomeranian princes ruled the area, and on both sides of the river, they built fortified castles, which were destroyed by the Danish invasions in 1170 and 1173. Between 1185 and 1227, the settlement was part of a Danish fief.
In 1297, Duke Bogusław IV granted merchants who entered through Świna protection and exemption from customs duties on the return journey, and most of the larger cities of Pomerania were eventually granted full exemption from customs duties on the Świna, yet the local castle was still destroyed by the city of Szczecin in 1457. The village of Świna was mentioned in 1418.
During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) the city became part of the Swedish Empire.
The strait Świna was formerly flanked by the fishing villages of Westswine and Ostswine. Towards the beginning of the 17th century, it was made navigable for large ships. The Kingdom of Prussia gained the area in 1720 from Sweden, and included it in her Pomeranian province. Świnoujście (Swinemünde) was founded on the site of Westswine in 1748, fortified, and received town privileges from King Frederick II of Prussia in 1765. It served as the outer port of Stettin (Szczecin) and was administered within the Province of Pomerania. During the Seven Years' War, the Swedes attempted to block the port. Swinemünde became part of the German Empire after the Kingdom of Prussia completed the unification of Germany in 1871.
The town had broad, unpaved streets and one-story houses built in the Dutch style, which gave it an almost rustic appearance. Its industries, beyond some fishing, were entirely connected with its shipping. The river mouth, which was the entrance to the harbor and regarded as the best on the Prussian Baltic coast, was then protected by two curving long breakwaters, and was strongly fortified. On the island of Wolin, on the other side of the narrow Świna, a great lighthouse was erected. In 1897 the canal of the Kaiserfahrt was opened to navigation, and this waterway between the Stettin harbour and the Baltic Sea was deepened between 1900 and 1901. From then on Stettin could be reached directly by ships, and Swinemünde's importance diminished somewhat.