Custrin - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

CUSTRIN, or KiSTRIN, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Prussia, a fortress of the first rank, at the confluence of the Oder and Warthe, 18 m. N.E. from Frankfort-on-Oder and 51 m. N.E. of Berlin by rail. Pop. (190o) 16,473 (including the garrison). It consists of the town proper within the strong fortifications,. a suburb on the left bank of the Oder, and one on the right bank of the Warthe. There are three Evangelical churches and one Roman Catholic, and a handsome town hall. There are bridges. over both rivers. Ciistrin has some manufactories of potatomeal, machinery, pianos, furniture, cigars, &c., and there is a considerable river trade.

About 1250 a town was erected on the site of Ciistrin, where a. fishing village originally stood. From 1535 till 1571 it was the residence of John, margrave of Brandenburg-Ciistrin, who died. without male heirs in 1571. Ciistrin was the prison of Frederick the Great when crown-prince, and the scene of the execution of his friend Hans Hermann von Katte on the 6th of November 1730.