Hajnówka

Hajnówka

Hajnówka is a town and a seat of powiat in eastern Poland. The town is also known for its closeness to the Białowieża Forest, Europe's largest primeval forest. It was founded as a village sometime in the 16th century as the only house of a forest warden by a certain Hajno, who was one of the royal officers responsible for the protection of the Białowieża Forest. By 1589, the whole forest was privately owned by the royal court and the number of forest workers settled in the area began to increase. But the protection of the forest prevented the economic growth of the area, so the village was limited to a few wooden huts at the forest's western end. Following the partitions in Poland at the end of the 18th century, the area was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire in 1795. In 1807 the Duchy of Warsaw was established, but all of Hajnówka was ceded to Russia. The tsarist authorities ended the protection of the forest, but the area was not developed, and the village effectively ceased to exist. Then, when protection was restored in 1860 and the village was populated again by Russian officials, it became the property of the Tsarist family in 1888. Between 1894 and 1906, the village was connected to the world by a railway line, making Hajnówka a minor transport hub. During the First World War, in 1915, the area was occupied by the German Empire and the forest was no longer protected. The new authorities began to exploit the area's natural resources on a large scale for industrial purposes. In 1919, the area was returned to Poland, the overexploitation of the forest was ended, economic growth began, and the village began to grow, slowly becoming a town.