Miasto i Gmina Gniew

Jeleń

The village founded near the lake at the end of the XIII century. The first mention in the written sources appeared in approx. 1400 as Yelin, from 1642 Jeleń. Currently, it consists of a few settlements and hamlets (Jeleń Królewski, Milanowo, Jelenica, Gaj). After the Thirteen Years’ War ended, the village belonged to the county of Gniew.

In the XVI century, Jeleń was a royal property, which four stands were managed by the mayor, two innkeepers conducted their activity as well as four crofters worked on the local farm. In 1830 the paved road was built, which connected Gdansk and Bydgoszcz. At the beginning of the XX century, Klemens Piłat founded the unit of the volunteer fire brigade, which had its headquarters in a small building on the banks of the lake. At that time, also a school was built, where a strike was conducted in 1906–1907 against Germianisation in school.