Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Graudenz
GRAUDENZ (Polish Grudziadz}, a town of Prussia, chief town of a circle in the province of West Prussia, government district of Marienwerder, is situated on the right bank of the Vistula, which is here crossed by a railway bridge, 18 miles S.S.W. of Marienwerder and 40 miles N.N.E. of Thorn. It has a Protestant and a Catholic church, a garrison church, two synagogues, a royal gymnasium, a Catholic normal school, an Evangelical normal school, a city school of the middle grade, a higher female school, three hospitals, three orphanages, and a reformatory. The industries include ironfounding, brewing, dyeing, wool-spinning, and the manufacture of tapestry, cigars, shoes, and brushes. The population of the town in 1875 was 14,522, and including the fortress, 16,615.
Graudenz was founded about 1250, and received town rights in 1291. At the peace of Thorn in 1466 it came under the lordship of Poland. From 1665 to 1759 it was held by Sweden, and in 1772 it came into the possession of Prussia. The fortress of Graudenz, which since 1873 has been used merely as a barracks and a military depot and prison, is situated on a steep eminence about 112 miles north of the town and outside its limits. It was completed by Frederick the Great in 1776, and has been rendered famous through its defence by Courbière against the French in 1807.