View source for Słupsk

== History ==

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Słupsk stele stone slab slavic art.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.65|Medieval Slavic stele from Słupsk, [[National Museum in Szczecin]]]]
Słupsk developed from a few [[Middle Ages|medieval]] settlements located on the banks of the [[Słupia River]], at the unique [[ford (crossing)|ford]] along the [[trade route]] connecting the territories of modern [[Pomeranian Voivodeship|Pomeranian]] and [[West Pomeranian Voivodeship|West Pomeranian]] Voivodeships. This factor led to the construction of a [[grad (Slavic settlement)|grod]], a [[Slavic peoples|West Slavic]] or [[Lechites|Lechitic]] fortified settlement, on an islet in the middle of the river. Surrounded by swamps and mires, the fortress had perfect defence conditions. Archaeological research has shown that the grod was situated on an artificial hill and had a natural [[moat]] formed by the branches of the Słupia, and was protected by a [[palisade]]. Records confirm that the area of Słupsk was part of the Polish realm during the reign of [[Mieszko I]] and in the 11th century.<ref name="Historia Słupska do roku 1945">[http://www.slupsk.pl/miasto/dokumenty/114.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826014354/http://www.slupsk.pl/miasto/dokumenty/114.html|date=2010-08-26}} Historia Słupska do roku 1945. Official webpage of the city. (in Polish)</ref>
[[File:Slupsk mlyn zamkowy.jpg|thumb|right|Castle mill, the oldest industrial structure in Poland]]

According to several sources, the first historic reference to Słupsk comes from the year 1015 when the king of Poland [[Boleslaus I the Brave]] took over the town, incorporating it into the Polish state. In the 12th century, the town became one of the most important castellanies in Pomerania alongside [[Gdańsk]] and [[Świecie]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slupsk.pl/miasto/dokumenty/113.html |title=Nasze miasto - Słupsk |access-date=2009-08-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220200848/http://www.slupsk.pl/miasto/dokumenty/113.html |archive-date=2014-12-20 }} Historia. Official webpage of the city</ref> However, several historians stated that the first mention was in two documents dating to 1227, signed by the [[Duchy of Pomerania|Pomeranian dukes]] [[Wartislaw III, Duke of Pomerania|Wartislaw III]] and [[Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania|Barnim I]] and their mothers, confirming the establishment of an abbey in 1224 and donating estates, among them a village "in Stolp minore" or "in parvo Ztolp", respectively, to that abbey.<ref name=Schmidt140>{{cite book|last=Schmidt|first=Roderich|title=Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse|volume=41|series=Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Pommern|edition=2|publisher=Böhlau|location=Köln-Weimar|year=2009|isbn=978-3-412-20436-5|language=de|page=140}}</ref> Another document dated to 1180, which mentions a "castellania Slupensis" and would thus be the oldest surviving record, has been identified as a late 13th-century or 14th-century duplicate.<ref name=Schmidt140/>

The [[House of Pomerania|Griffin dukes]] lost the area to the [[Samborides]] during the following years, and the next surviving documents mentioning the area concern donations made by Samboride [[Świętopełk II, Duke of Pomerania|Świętopełk II]], dating to 1236 (two documents) and 1240.<ref name=Schmidt142>{{cite book|last=Schmidt|first=Roderich|title=Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse|volume=41|series=Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Pommern|edition=2|publisher=Böhlau|location=Köln-Weimar|year=2009|isbn=978-3-412-20436-5|language=de|page=142}}</ref> In the earlier of the two 1236 documents, a Johann "castellanus de Slupcz" is mentioned as a witness,<ref name=Schmidt142147>{{cite book|last=Schmidt|first=Roderich|title=Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse|volume=41|series=Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Pommern|edition=2|publisher=Böhlau|location=Köln-Weimar|year=2009|isbn=978-3-412-20436-5|language=de|pages=142, 147}}</ref> Schmidt considers this to be the earliest mention of the gard, since a castellany required the existence of a gard.<ref name=Schmidt147>{{cite book|last=Schmidt|first=Roderich|title=Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse|volume=41|series=Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Pommern|edition=2|publisher=Böhlau|location=Köln-Weimar|year=2009|isbn=978-3-412-20436-5|language=de|page=147}}</ref> The first surviving record explicitly mentioning the gard is from 1269: it notes a "Christianus, castellanus in castro Stolpis, et Hermannus, capellanus in civitate ante castrum predictum", thus confirming the existence of a fortress ("castrum") with a suburbium ("civitas").<ref name=Schmidt147/> Schmidt further says that the office of a capellanus required a church, which he identifies as Saint Peter's.<ref name=Schmidt147/> This church is mentioned by name for the first time in a 1281 document of Samboride [[Mestwin II]], which also mentions Saint Nicolai church and a Saint Mary's chapel in the fortress.<ref name=Schmidt148>{{cite book|last=Schmidt|first=Roderich|title=Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse|volume=41|series=Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Pommern|edition=2|publisher=Böhlau|location=Köln-Weimar|year=2009|isbn=978-3-412-20436-5|language=de|page=148}}</ref> The oldest mention of Saint Nicolai church dates to 1276.<ref name=Schmidt148/>

Słupsk possibly received its [[city rights]] in 1265.<ref name="prawa">{{Cite web|url=http://www.slupsk.pl/info.php?id=63|title=Słupsk.pl: ''Historia Słupska do roku 1945''|access-date=April 12, 2008|language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718121132/http://www.slupsk.pl/info.php?id=63|archive-date=July 18, 2011|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Historians argue that city rights were granted for the first time<ref name=Schmidt148/> in a document dated 9 September 1310 when [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|Brandenburgian margraves]] [[Waldemar, Margrave of Brandenburg|Waldemar]] and Johann V granted those privileges under [[Lübeck law]], which was confirmed and extended in a second document, dated 2 February 1313.<ref name="Schmidt148"/> The margraves had acquired the area in 1307. [[Mestwin II, Duke of Pomerania|Mestwin II]] accepted them as his superiors in 1269, confirmed in 1273,<ref name=Schmidt143144>{{cite book|last=Schmidt|first=Roderich|title=Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse|volume=41|series=Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Pommern|edition=2|publisher=Böhlau|location=Köln-Weimar|year=2009|isbn=978-3-412-20436-5|language=de|pages=143–144}}</ref> but later on, in 1282, Mestwin II and Polish Duke [[Przemysł II]] signed the [[Treaty of Kępno]], which transferred the suzerainty over [[Gdańsk Pomerania]] including Słupsk to Przemysł II. After Mestwin II's death the city was reintegrated with Poland and remained Polish until 1307, when the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]] took over, while leaving local rule in the hands of the [[Swienca family]], whose members were castellans in Słupsk.<ref name=Schmidt144145>{{cite book|last=Schmidt|first=Roderich|title=Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse|volume=41|series=Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Pommern|edition=2|publisher=Böhlau|location=Köln-Weimar|year=2009|isbn=978-3-412-20436-5|language=de|pages=144–145}}</ref> In 1337, the governors of Słupsk (''Stolp'') had purchased the village of [[Ustka|Stolpmünde]] (modern Ustka)<ref name="Historia Słupska do roku 1945"/> and then constructed a port there, enabling a maritime economy to develop. After the [[Treaty of Templin]] in 1317 the city passed to the [[Duchy of Pomerania|Duchy of Pomerania-Wolgast]].<ref>Friedrich Wilhelm Barthold, ''Geschichte von Rügen und Pommern'', 1842, p. 156</ref>

[[File:Zamek ksiazat Pomorskich w Slupsku IMG 4148.jpg|thumb|right|[[Słupsk Castle|Castle of Pomeranian Dukes]], 1507]]
In the 14th–16th centuries, the city reached the height of its political and economic importance.<ref name=shp>{{cite book|title=Słownik historii Polski|year=1973|publisher=Wiedza Powszechna|location=Warszawa|language=pl|page=441}}</ref> It maintained trade links with various countries via the port of Ustka.<ref name=shp/> In 1368 [[Pomerania-Stolp]] (''Duchy of Słupsk'') was split off from Pomerania-Wolgast due to the [[Partitions of the Duchy of Pomerania]]. The grandson of Polish King [[Casimir III the Great]] and his would-be successor [[Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania|Casimir IV]] became duke of Słupsk as a Polish [[vassal]] in 1374, after he failed to take the Polish throne. The succeeding dukes were also vassals of the Kings of Poland: [[Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania|Wartislaw VII]] paid homage in 1390 (to King [[Władysław II Jagiełło]]),<ref>Juliusz Bardach, ''Historia państwa i prawa Polski, Volume 1'', Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe, 1964, p. 589</ref> [[Bogislaw VIII, Duke of Pomerania|Bogislaw VIII]] paid homage in 1410 (also to King Władysław II).<ref name="Historia Słupska do roku 1945"/> Słupsk remained within Polish sphere of political influence until 1474. It became part of the [[Duchy of Pomerania]] in 1478.

===Modern ages===
The [[Protestant Reformation]] reached the town in 1521, when Christian Ketelhut preached in the town. Ketelhut was forced to leave Stolp in 1522 due to an intervention by [[Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania]]. Peter Suawe, a Protestant from Stolp, however, continued his practices. In 1524, Johannes Amandus from [[Königsberg]] and others arrived and preached in a more radical way. As a consequence, Saint Mary's Church was profaned, the monastery's church was burned, and the clergy were treated poorly.<ref>Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.211, {{ISBN|3-88680-272-8}}</ref> The inhabitants of the town began the process of conversion to [[Lutheranism]]. In 1560 Polish pastor Paweł Buntowski preached in the town, and in 1586 Polish religious literature spread locally.<ref name="Historia Słupska do roku 1945"/>

[[File:Lubinus Stolpe.png|thumb|left|View of "Stolpe" from 1618, by [[Eilhard Lubinus]]]]
The [[House of Griffins]], which ruled Pomerania for centuries, died out in 1637. King [[Władysław IV Vasa]] of Poland made unsuccessful attempts to regain the city,<ref name=shp/> and after the [[Peace of Westphalia]] (1648) and the [[Treaty of Stettin (1653)]], it came under [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|Brandenburgian]] control. In 1660, the [[Kashubian language|Kashubian dialect]] was allowed to be taught, but only in religious studies.<ref name="Historia Słupska do roku 1945"/> The Polish language in general, however, was experiencing very unfavourable conditions due to depopulation of the area in numerous wars and implied [[Germanization]].<ref>Język polski, Tomy 19-20 Towarzystwo Miłośników Języka Polskiego, page 194, W Drukarni Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 1999</ref>
[[File:Fragmenty zapisów dot. polskiej szkoły w Słupsku w latach 1648-1649.jpg|thumb|Notes on the Polish school from {{circa|1648}}]]

After the [[Thirty Years' War]], Stolp lost much of its former importance&mdash;despite the fact that [[Szczecin]] was then [[Swedish Pomerania|ruled by Sweden]], the province's capital was situated not in the second-largest city of the region, but in the one closest to the former ducal residence&mdash;[[Stargard]]. However, the local economy stabilized. The constant dynamic development of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] and good economic conditions saw the city develop. After the major state border changes (modern [[Western Pomerania|Vorpommern]] and Stettin joined the Prussian state after a conflict with [[Sweden]]) Stolp was only an administrative centre of the ''[[Districts of Prussia|Kreis]]'' (district) within the ''[[Regierungsbezirk]]'' of [[Koszalin|Köslin]] (Koszalin). However, its geographical location led to rapid development, and in the 19th century, it was the second city of the province in terms of both population and industrialization.

In 1769, [[Frederick II of Prussia]] established a military school in the city, according to [[Stanisław Salmonowicz]] its purpose was the [[Germanisation of Poles during the Partitions|Germanization]] of local Polish nobility.<ref>''Polacy i Niemcy wobec siebie'' [[Stanisław Salmonowicz]], Ośrodek Badań Naukowych im. W. Kętrzyńskiego 1993, page 43</ref>

During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the city was taken by 1,500 Polish soldiers under the leadership of general [[Michał Sokolnicki]] in 1807.<ref name="Historia Słupska do roku 1945"/> In 1815 Słupsk became one of the cities of the [[Province of Pomerania (1815–1945)|Province of Pomerania]], in which it remained until 1945. In 1869 a railway from [[Gdańsk|Danzig]] (Gdańsk) reached Stolp.

[[File:Brama Nowa Słupsk, New Gate.jpg|thumb|Old Town view towards the New Gate in the early 20th-century]]
During the 19th century, the city's boundaries were significantly extended towards the west and south. The new railway station was built about 1,000 metres from the old city. In 1901, the construction of a new city hall was completed, followed by a local administration building in 1903. In 1910 a tram line was opened. The football club [[Viktoria Stolp]] was formed in 1901. In 1914, before the [[First World War]], Stolp had approximately 34,340 inhabitants.

===Interwar period===
Stolp was not directly affected by the fighting in the [[First World War]]. The trams did not operate during the war, returning to the streets in 1919. Demographic growth remained high, although development slowed, because the city became peripheral, the ''Kreis'' (district) being situated on post-war Germany's border with the so-called [[Polish Corridor]]. Polish claims to Stolp and its neighbouring area were refused during the [[Treaty of Versailles]] negotiations. The city, having become the regional center of the eastern part of Eastern Pomerania, thrived, becoming known as ''Little Paris''. A cultural highlight was an annual art exhibition.<ref>{{cite book|author=Edda Gutsche |title=Mit Ausblick auf Park und See. Zu Gast in Schlössern und Herrenhäusern in Pommern und der Kaschubei |place=Elmenhorst/Vorpommern |publisher=edition Pommern |isbn=978-3-939680-41-3|year=2018|pages=63|language=de}}</ref>

From 1926 the city became an active point of [[Nazi]] supporters, and the influence of [[NSDAP]] grew rapidly.<ref name="Historia Słupska do roku 1945"/> The party with Hitler received 49.1% of the city's vote in the [[German federal election, March 1933|German federal election of March 1933]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/stolp.html |title=Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichtevon der Reichseinigung 1871 bis zur Wiedervereinigung 1990 von Dr. Michael Rademacher M.A. |access-date=2011-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723075122/http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/stolp.html |archive-date=2011-07-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> when however, the election campaign was marked by Nazi terror.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Richard J. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781594200045 |title=The coming of the Third Reich |date=2004 |publisher=New York : The Penguin Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-59420-004-5}}</ref> During the [[Kristallnacht]], the night of 9/10 November 1938, the local [[Stolp Synagogue|synagogue]] was burned down.<ref name=mp/>

===Second World War===
{{multiple image|align=left|caption_align=center|perrow=2|total_width=260
|image1 = Słupsk Nowobramska Pomnik Polskiego Państwa Podziemnego DSC 1824.jpg
|image2 = Słupsk Kołłątaja pomnik DSC 1680.jpg
|footer = Memorials to the [[Polish Underground State]] and victims of the local subcamp of [[Stutthof]]}}
The beginning of the [[Second World War]] halted the development of the city. In 1941, the Nazis created a [[labour camp]] for people brought from various German-occupied territories, who were maltreated physically and psychologically and forced to undertake exhausting work while being subject to starvation.<ref name=mp>{{cite web|url=http://www.slupsk.pl/miasto/dokumenty/1505.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826014414/http://www.slupsk.pl/miasto/dokumenty/1505.html|title=Słupsk po wybuchu II wojny światowej|author=Marta Patyna|archive-date=2010-08-26|language=pl}}</ref> In 1944, the Germans established a subcamp of the [[Stutthof concentration camp]] at the local railway repair works, and a forced labour camp for women and children at a local school.<ref name=ushm>{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|year=2009|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=1481–1482|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}}</ref><ref name=ktk/> Prisoners of the former were over 600 Jews from various German-occupied countries, mostly [[Estonia]] and [[Lithuania]], both men and women, and from October 1944 also 20 Jewish boys aged 10 and 11 brought from the [[Łódź Ghetto]], with the prisoners, especially women, being subjected to exhausting work, starvation and arbitrary beatings.<ref name=ushm/> Prisoners of the latter were women with children (around 2,000 people), mainly Polish, but also Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian, who were exposed to poor sanitary and nutritional conditions, lack of warming even in winter and no medical care, resulting in epidemics, and also regular violence.<ref name=ktk>{{cite web|url=https://www.przystanekhistoria.pl/pa2/teksty/105151,Zbrodnie-popelnione-na-dzieciach-polskich-robotnic-przymusowych-osadzonych-w-obo.html|title=Zbrodnie popełnione na dzieciach polskich robotnic przymusowych osadzonych w obozie w Słupsku i w Gogolewku|website=Przystanek Historia|author=Karolina Trzeskowska-Kubasik|language=pl|date=18 January 2024|access-date=23 March 2025}}</ref> Over 200 children, mostly Polish, died in the other camp.<ref name=ktk/> In February 1945, the Germans marched some 400 women and children from the latter camp to a newly established camp in nearby [[Gogolewko, Pomeranian Voivodeship|Gogolewko]],<ref name=ktk/> and sent the prisoners of the subcamp of Stutthof on a [[Death marches during the Holocaust|death march]] to an emptied camp in [[Kokoszki]].<ref name=ushm/> The Germans also operated nine [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] subcamps of the [[Stalag II-B]] [[German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II|prisoner-of-war camp]] in the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stalag2b.free.fr/leskommandos.htm|title=Les Kommandos|website=Stalag IIB Hammerstein, Czarne en Pologne|access-date=18 October 2024|language=fr}}</ref>

[[File:Słupsk, Kościół Mariacki (1945).jpg|thumb|right|Ruins of the Old Town in 1945]]
The [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance movement]] conducted espionage of German activity and distributed [[Polish underground press]] in the city.<ref>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Encyklopedia konspiracji Wielkopolskiej 1939–1945|year=1998|location=Poznań|language=pl|publisher=Instytut Zachodni|page=625|isbn=83-85003-97-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Chrzanowski|first=Bogdan|year=2022|title=Polskie Państwo Podziemne na Pomorzu w latach 1939–1945|language=pl|location=Gdańsk|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|page=57|isbn=978-83-8229-411-8}}</ref>

The [[Schutzstaffel]] (SS) committed a massacre of 24 Polish [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labourers]] (23 men and one woman) on 7 March 1945, just before the [[Red Army]] took over the city without any serious resistance on 8 March 1945.<ref name=mp/> In fear of Soviet repression, up to 1,000 inhabitants committed suicide.<ref name=lakotta>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/spiegelspecial/d-39863564.html|title=Tief vergraben, nicht dran rühren|last=Lakotta|first=Beate|magazine=[[Der Spiegel|SPON]]|date=2005-03-05|access-date=2010-08-16|language=de|archive-date=2020-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417021755/https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/spiegelspecial/d-39863564.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
Thousands remained in the city; the others had fled and the German soldiers abandoned it. However, the Soviet soldiers were ordered to set fire to the historical central Old Town, which was almost completely destroyed.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} The war resulted in the destruction of approximately 28% of residential buildings and 16% of industrial facilities.<ref name=shp/>

===Post-war period===
After the war, the city became again part of Poland and most of the German population either fled or [[Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II|was expelled]] in accordance with the [[Potsdam Agreement]]. The city was settled by Poles, most of whom were expelled from the [[Kresy|former Polish eastern territories annexed by the Soviet Union]] (around 80% at the end of 1945) and the rest were mainly repatriates from the [[Soviet Union]] and Poles returning from Germany.<ref name="SLU"/> Also [[Ukrainians]] and [[Lemkos]] settled into the town during [[Operation Vistula]].

[[File:Slupsk, rynek 1945 (66046638).jpg|thumb|''Rynek'' (Market Square) after WWII in 1945]]
The town's name was changed into the historic Polish version of ''Słupsk'' by the [[Commission for the Determination of Place Names]] on 23 April 1945. It was initially part of ''[[Okręg]] III'', comprising the whole territory of the former [[Province of Pomerania (1815–1945)|Province of Pomerania]] east of the [[Oder River]]. Słupsk later became part of [[Szczecin Voivodeship (1946–1975)|Szczecin Voivodeship]] and then [[Koszalin Voivodeship (1950–1975)|Koszalin Voivodeship]], and in 1975 became the capital of the new province of [[Słupsk Voivodeship]].

Life in the devastated city was organized anew. In 1945, the first post-war craft workshops and public schools were opened, trams and a regional railway started to operate, and the amateur Polish Theater was established.<ref name="SLU">{{Cite web |url=http://www.slupsk.pl/miasto/dokumenty/115.html |title=Nasze miasto - Słupsk |access-date=2019-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506002216/http://www.slupsk.pl/miasto/dokumenty/115.html |archive-date=2014-05-06 |url-status=bot: unknown }} Historia Słupska po roku 1945. Official webpage of the city (in Polish)</ref> In September 1946, the first [[Warsaw Uprising]] Monument in Poland was unveiled.<ref name="SLU"/> From April 1947, the local Polish newspaper ''Kurier Słupski'' was published.<ref name="SLU"/> The city became a cultural centre. In the 1950s, the Puppet Theater ''Tęcza'', the Teachers' College and the Baltic Dramatic Theater were established.<ref name="SLU"/> The puppet theatre ''Tęcza'' used to collaborate with the similar institution called ''Arcadia'' in [[Oradea]], [[Romania]], but the partnership ceased after 1989. The Millennium Cinema was one of the first in Poland to have a [[cinerama]]. The first Polish [[pizzeria]] was established in Słupsk in 1975.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pizzaslupsk.info/#pierwsza-pizzeria|title=Pizza Słupsk Info|access-date=June 9, 2019|archive-date=August 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806032155/http://pizzaslupsk.info/#pierwsza-pizzeria|url-status=dead}}</ref>

During the [[Polish 1970 protests|1970 protests]] there were minor strikes and demonstrations. None were killed during the [[Milicja Obywatelska|militia]]'s interventions.

===After 1989===
[[File:Słupsk Wojska Polskiego DSC 1537.jpg|thumb|right|Wojska Polskiego Avenue with heritage architecture]]
Major street name changes were made in Słupsk after the [[Revolutions of 1989]]. Also, a process of major renovations and refurbishments began, beginning in the principal neighbourhoods. According to the [[Voivodeships of Poland|administrative reform of Poland]] in 1999, [[Słupsk Voivodeship]] was dissolved and divided between two larger regions: [[Pomeranian Voivodeship]] and [[West Pomeranian Voivodeship]]. Słupsk itself became part of the former. The reform was criticized by locals, who wanted to create a separate Middle Pomeranian Voivodeship.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://orka.sejm.gov.pl/proc5.nsf/projekty/312_p.htm|title=Legislative proposal of July 24, 1998, regarding the introduction of the three-level administrative division of Poland|language=pl|access-date= April 22, 2008}}</ref> In 1998 a major [[Słupsk street riots 1998|riot]] took place after a basketball game.

In 2014, Słupsk elected Poland's first openly gay mayor, [[Robert Biedroń]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gera |first1=Vanessa |title=Poland elects first openly gay mayor in elections |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/33beca4f07c648d6911fd1397553a664/first |access-date=1 December 2014 |work=The Big Story |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |date=1 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141203204336/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/33beca4f07c648d6911fd1397553a664/first |archive-date=3 December 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the same year, the city was awarded the [[Europe Prize]] by the [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe|Parliamentary Assembly]] of the [[Council of Europe]] for having made exceptional efforts to spread the ideal of European unity.<ref>[https://website-pace.net/web/apce/the-europe-prize The Europe Prize]</ref>