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Toruń (German: Thorn) was founded in 1233 by the Teutonic Order. It soon beacme an important trading place and joined the Hanse Federation of trading towns. The First Peace of Toruń was signed here in 1411 after the Teutonic Order had been defeated in 1410 by the Polish-Lithuanian army of Jagiello I (Prince of Lithuania and since 1385 King of Poland as Wladislaw II). Until the mid 15th century, Toruń belonged to the territory of the Teutonic Order. After the Second Peace of Toruń (1466) the town joined Poland to which it belonged until 1793. After the 3rd Partition of Poland in 1793 Toruń became part of Prussia. During 1807 and 1813 it belonged to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (personal union with the Kingdom of Saxony) established by Napoleon. After 1813 it belonged to Prussia again (see map), and from 1871 to the newly-founded German Empire. After the Treaty of Versailles after World War I it became part of Poland (see map). Only between 1939 and 1945 it was occupied again by Nazi Germany. Today Toruń is one of the two capitals of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodship: Toruń is the seat of the voivodship assembly, while Bydgoszcz (the former Bromberg) is the seat of the voivode.

Toruń's greatest son is Nikolaus COPERNICUS (Nikolaus Koppernigk; 1473–1543). He studied at the universities of Kraków, Bologna, Padova and Ferrara. From 1530 on, he was capitular at the cathedral in Frombork (Frauenburg). His astronomical observations convinced him that the sun was the center of the universe. His famous book 'De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium' was published in 1543.