Griffin: Capital Status

One part went to the Swedes and the other, including Stargard, to the Elector of Brandenburg. The town became the seat of the Pomeranian government. Capital status led, among other things, to growth in the town’s buildings and population; a mint was established, Stargard merchants dominated the markets of Pomerania and the Neumark, a French colony was founded in the town (the largest Huguenot community in Brandenburg Pomerania), and the Collegium Groeningianum was granted academic status. After Prussia took over the Swedish part of Pomerania, the capital’s offices were moved from Stargard to Szczecin from 1720 onwards. The Griffin, dressed in court robes, reminds us that during this period many eminent and highly educated figures came to Stargard. Among them was the first governor of the Elector of Brandenburg, Ernst Bogislaw von Croÿ, who had his residence here on Pyritzerstrasse (today Mieszka I Street).