Bisztynek Municipality

An urban-rural municipality in the southern part of Bartoszyce County. It covers 203.55 km² and has about 5,500 residents. Its seat is the town of Bisztynek, which lies in Warmia. The town is known for the Devil’s Stone, a glacial erratic about 28 m in circumference.

Overview

• Area: 203.55 km²
• Population: 5,481 (Statistics Poland, 31 December 2025)
• Village councils (sołectwa): 20
• The municipality does not lie on the state border. Its neighbours are the municipalities of Bartoszyce, Jeziorany, Kiwity, Kolno, Korsze and Reszel
• Farmland covers 80% of the municipality’s area, forests 10% (2002 data)
• National road 57 (Bartoszyce–Bisztynek–Pułtusk) and voivodeship road 594 to Reszel and Kętrzyn cross in Bisztynek
• The nearest railway stop is at Sątopy-Samulewo

The stone, the gate and the church

• The Devil’s Stone (Diabelski Kamień) — a granite glacial erratic about 28 m in circumference and about 3 m high. The town’s German name, Bischofstein (“bishop’s stone”), is linked to it
• The Lidzbark Gate — built at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. It is the only surviving element of Bisztynek’s fortifications. Around 1780 it was lowered and rebuilt in the Baroque style
• The Church of St Matthias the Apostle and the Most Precious Blood of Jesus — rebuilt as a three-aisled hall after the fire of 1770. It was consecrated on 5 August 1781 in the presence of Bishop Ignacy Krasicki

Nature

The Polder Sątopy-Samulewo nature reserve lies in the municipality. It protects a floodplain that is a breeding ground for wetland birds.

Authorities

Mayor (Burmistrz): Zbigniew Filipczyk (term 2024–2029)

Cooperation within the WMSP

The General Assembly admitted Bisztynek Municipality to the Association on 25 May 2026. This local government takes part in the shared territorial strategy of the borderland through 2030 and in the CuRI 2026–2027 programme (Eastern Border Regions Catching-up Regions Initiative, European Commission + World Bank).