Historically mentioned as early as 1299 as Sancta Barbara in Bormol due to the shrine in honor of St. Barbara located here. St. Barbara is said to have appeared at oneFrom local springs. Until the early 19th century, the spring was called Holy Spring. In 1340 a water mill is mentioned for the first time, which in 1400 was named Forest Mill (Waldmuehle). The miraculous spring and the healings associated with it attracted crowds of pilgrims who made Barbarka famous. It is worth noting that, according to local beliefs, the water from the miraculous spring was said to cure quiver, which allegedly fell off after immersing the head. The cult of St. Barbara was spreading, so the Bishop of Chełmno, Wincenty Kiełbasa, at his own expense, erected a new chapel in 1475. Pilgrims received considerable indulgences, the most important of which was associated with the third day of Pentecost, during which a large annual fair was held. From 1517, the settlement and the mill belonged to the city of Toruń. At the end of the 19th century the mill ceased to exist. In 1841-1842 another half-timbered chapel was built. Inside was a statue of St. Barbara from the first half of the 15th century, a Gothic statue that was later donated to the Diocesan Museum in Pelplin. From this time we learn that the miraculous spring was covered with a millstone. Pilgrims fetched water from the spring through an opening in the stone. Until the mid-19th century, the settlement was the seat of the Barbarka Forestry District and temporarily in 1880 the seat of the Barbarka Forestry District. In 1921 Barbarka was again the seat of the Forestry District, which included 1,049 hectares of woodland and meadows. In 1932, pheasant, fallow deer, hare, deer and roe deer breeding was carried out in Barbarka. In 1951, the Barbarka area was annexed to the city. Now an administrative part of the Wrzosy estate. In the woods near the village from October to the end of December 1939, the Gestapo and Selbstschutz carried out mass executions, shooting more than 600 Poles from Toruń and the surrounding area,[1] mainly representatives of the intelligentsia (teachers, clergy), social and political activists - including members of the Western Union, entrepreneurs, scouts, imprisoned in Fort VII in Toruń or Poznan. In 1944, the Germans organized the exhumation and burning of corpses from mass graves, in order to cover up traces of the executions. The exhumation was carried out by Jewish women housed in a makeshift camp in the Barbarka area. These events are commemorated by a cemetery-monument to the murdered, located in Barbarka.
Michal - 12.08.2008
