Thorn

Thorn (Pol. Torun), a strongly-fortified town in the province of West Prussia, on the right bank of the Vistula (here spanned by a viaduct 1100 yards long), 31 miles by rail ESE. of Bromberg. Founded by the Teutonic order in 1231, and a member of the Hanseatic League, Thorn contains a town-hall and a number of other buildings remarkable for their beautiful gables and interiors; became a Polish town in 1454; and was annexed to Prussia in 1793, and again finally in 1815. It became an important fortified stronghold in the 17th century; was five times besieged between 1629 and 1813; and since 1878 has been made a fortress of the first rank by Prussia, the old fortifications being removed, and a series of detached forts built. Copernicus was a native; and a colossal bronze statue of him was erected in 1853. An active trade in corn and timber is carried on. Pop. (1890) 26,712, of whom two-fifths are German Protestants, the remainder mainly Polish Catholics, with 1200 Jews.—THE CONFERENCE OF THORN, an effort to explain away the differences between Catholics and Protestants, with a view to reunion, was originated by Ladislaus IV. of Poland. It met in August 1645, lapsed into disputation, and broke up in November.