Kostrzyn nad Odrą

Poland, Poland

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Kostrzyn nad Odrą is a town in western Poland's Lubusz Voivodeship, strategically located at the confluence of the Oder and Warta rivers near the German border, serving as the county seat with around 18,000 residents.

Settled since the Bronze Age and part of early Piast Poland from about 960, it became a fortified gord used for military campaigns like the 972 Battle of Cedynia, received Magdeburg rights around 1300 under Brandenburg rule, and later passed through Bohemian, Teutonic, and Hohenzollern hands, evolving into a major fortress town with a castle expanded in the 16th century by John of Brandenburg-Küstrin.

Nearly 95% destroyed in 1945 by Soviet artillery during the final push to Berlin—earning nicknames like "Polish Pompeii"—its old town ruins, including the castle and fortifications, were left unreconstructed post-war as a war memorial, while a new town arose eastward.