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The attempt to colonize Kępa Kosku (at the time called Kacza, later Saska) in 1628 is considered the first settlement of Olęders in Mazowsze The foundation act was recorded in the town register with the date April 4, 1628 [1] and in 1650 the act was ratified by the king Jan Kazimierz. According to A. Wejnert, the town authorities allowed the Dutch to settle for a period of 40 years. They were required to pay rent, which equaled 24 groszy per morga (~1,4 acre) of land. The rent-free period was set to 5 years.[2] It is commonly believed that their stay was quite short. They left Saska Kępa as a result of the limitations of their rights, which were imposed by Warsaw's city council. However, there is quite substantial evidence that their stay was longer than is believed.[3]

The next known contract is an agreement concluded between the settlers and Hieronim Radziejowski and ratified by king Władysław IV in the Royal Register on June 9, 1645. The agreement is an example of Dutch settlement in the forested areas or on their borders. The Dutch were allowed to settle in the following villages: Baranów, Jaktorów, Kaski, Szczawinek. The contract provided for a 6-year rent-free period with 100 włók of wastelands and forests to put under cultivation; they were required to pay 30 florin per włóka. The contract provisions remained in force after its extension, which can be concluded from the inventory protocol of the Kaski lease from May 7, 1773: "The Dutch are settled in the forests that belong to lease no 15. They do not serve in the manor, but six days a year provide transport for the manor; they deliver wood, like others. They pay 15 złotych per powłóczka (according to the units from 1645)".[4]

The subsequent village was founded in the vicinity of Płock. The settlement lease was signed in Troszyn on the Vistula river on May 12, 1759 between the royal land possessor Ignacy Cichocki and a Dutch representative. The settlers, by virtue of this contract, were granted general privileges, for example free forest clearing for homesteads, but also were required to look after oaks that were undergoing impregnation in the waters of the Vistula.[5]
The Dutch also settled in Kazuń in the vicinity of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki. The Mińsk voivode Jan August Hilzen signed an agreement with the settlers' representatives, and they, pursuant to the contract, were to found a settlement in the cleared area on the riverbank.[6] This contract was complemented with other provisions in 1773. The colonists were exempt from rent for 7 years (on the land allocated for clearing); they received firewood and timber free of charge for the erection of their homestead and for fencing. For a proper fee, which was agreed upon each time with the landowner, they were also allowed to sell charcoal and wood from the cleared land in Warsaw. Subsequent groups of colonists were settled in Kazuń in 1773 and 1787. In 1795, the village was inhabited by 15 families (67 individuals), and in 1827 - by 41 (314 persons).

On February 5, 1778, Stanisław August, the king of Poland, confirmed the provisions of the "emphyteutic contract under which the honest Dutchmen represented by Gutakowski, the Kampinos starost, are to settle the village Wilków".[7] The settlers are also mentioned in the terrier from 1789.[8]
Nowe Wymyśle, which was founded by Kajetan Dębowski in 1781, was the next village settled by the Mennonites. After the land had been cleared, its acreage was measured in order to determine the settlers' duties. "After the clearing, the land should be measured by a certified surveyor. The surveyor will be summoned and will carry out the measurements at the settlers' cost. The land will be measured from the borders, that is, fences, with a measure that is used by the neighboring Dutchmen. The settlers will pay two złoty for each morga of better soil and four-sixths per a morga of sandy soil in two installments [...]. These people will pay eight days per year per włóka in corvée labor. Half will be paid as carriage for the manor and half with a scythe. The payment will begin immediately when still in the rent-free period at the rate one day per half a włóka".[9]

In 1781, the Dutch founded another settlement in the vicinity of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki - Kępa Nowodworska. In the same period, two villages, Śladów and Secymin, were settled near the Vistula river.

In 1787, the Dutch village Sady Niemieckie (near Płock) was granted the wilkierz (a system of administrative laws), which defines regulations for the sale of Dutch farms, among other things. "A villager cannot sell or lease his house to an outsider before he notifies the Sołtys (village leader) Office that he so desires; and if during two weeks he finds no buyer, then he may sell the house to an outsider who has no debts or other obligations. After the sale, the seller must properly transfer the ownership rights to the buyer and notify the neighbors about their agreement. If a neighbor desires to buy the house, he has precedence before an outsider. And the precedence is such: the closest neighbor has the pre-emptive right , then the neighbor on the other side, and then a relative. If no such person desires to buy the house then the first buyer has the right to, providing he is a righteous man and has proper certificates and documents.[...]".[10]

Łęg Suchodół, which belonged to the owner of the dominion Świniary Stanisław Zabłocki, was settled in 1789. The villages Łęg Januszew, Kępa Antonińska, Kępa Pieczyska and others were settled in the same period in the vicinity of Iłów.[11]

The last villages in Mazowsze were founded in the first half of the 19th century; one of them - Kępa Zawadowska - is currently located within Warsaw's city limits. The settlement contract, which was concluded between the owner and colonists, was ratified on June 22 1832, and by virtue of the contract the settlers were obliged to: "erect buildings necessary to work the adjoining land; the buildings are to be erected in suitable sites at their own cost within four years. For each włóka, settlers are to build a home that is 24 ells long, and 14 ells wide from timber, and a barn for straw that is 20 ells long and 11 ells wide from planks".[12]

The contract for foundation of the village Kępa Gruszczyńska, near Magnuszewo, was concluded even later - in 1824. The contract was signed by: "Wzny Ludwik Behrends, in person on behalf of Count Entailer Stanisław Zamoyski (...), and Jan Górski, Marcin Holendorf, Kazimierz Bogucki, Gotlieb Zygiel, Marcin Zygiel, Dawid Dasse and Jan Rotman; and colonists inhabiting Kępa Gruszczyńska on the other side". The colonists, according to item 4 of the contract, were obliged to pay a proper rent: "The colonists and leaseholders are obliged to pay rent to the treasury of Count Entiler Stanisław Zamoyski every year in silver coin in the amount of fifteen Polish złoty per one morga. The colonist should not act separately, but jointly - all for one, and one for all - and properly pay in two installments; the first installment on Saint Martin's day, November 11, and the second on Pentecost day, June 6".[13]



[1] Z. Kaczmarczyk, Kolonizacja niemiecka na wschód od Odry, Poznań 1945.
[2] A. Wejnert, Opis historyczny trzech kęp na Wiśle pod Warszawą, w: "Starożytności Warszawy", vol. 3, Warszawa 1854.
[3] J. Szałygin, Olędrzy w Warszawie, "Mazowsze", 2001, nr 14.
[4] AGAD, Archiwum Skarbu Koronnego (Royal Treasury Archive), no LVI, p. 4, II. f. 28.
[5] Księgi Referendarii Koronnej z 1759 r., Warszawa 1957, vol. II, p. 662.
[6] AGAD, Księgi Grodzkie Zakroczymskie, no 120, f. 80r.
[7] AGAD, Sigillata 34, f. 88r.
[8] Lustracja woj. rawskiego 1789, ed. Z. Kędzierska, Wrocław 1971.
[9] W. Marchlewski, Mennonici w Polsce (o powstaniu społeczności mennonitów Wymyśla Nowego), "Etnografia Polska", t. XXX, 1986, z. 2.
[10] Państwowe Archiwum Wojewódzkie (National Provinece Archive; hereafter AWP) in Płock, Notarial deed from the notary's office in Gostynin F. Czajkowski, nr 270, 1.
[11] AGAD, Księgi Grodzkie (Town Register) Gąbińskie i Gostynińskie from 1788-1791.
[12] J. Kazimierczak, Kępa Zawadowska - wieś w granicach Warszawy (1819- -1944), Rocznik Warszawski, vol.. V, 1964, p. 241.
[13] Archiwum Radomskie (City of Radom Archive; hereafter AR), Notary: Wroczyński, asyg. 1824.

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