Mieszkowice (; Kashubian: Berwôłd) is a town in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship in western Poland, about east of the Oder river and the border with Germany. It is the administrative seat of the urban-rural gmina (municipality) of Mieszkowice. With origins as a medieval settlement within the borders of the Kingdom of Poland, it was founded as a town in the late 13th century during the Ostsiedlung, after the annexation of the area by Brandenburg, the town was the site of death of the last Ascanian margrave in 1319, a center of the Waldensians movement in the 14th century, and the site of the conclusion of a Franco-Swedish alliance during the Thirty Years' War, which else virtually depopulated the town. After the war, the town slowly recovered, retaining a rural character. In the late 19th century, it was connected to the railroad. During World War II the town largely escaped destruction, and in 1945 became again part of Poland. It was renamed Barwice, then Mieszkowice after Mieszko I of Poland, the first historic ruler of Poland, who first included the area within the emerging Polish state. Name The town now called Mieszkowice was known from the late 13th century until 1945 under the German name of Berenwalde and later of Bärwalde. To distinguish it from the town of Bärwalde in Pomerania (present-day Barwice), it carried the abbreviation Nm. for Neumark (New March) . In 1945 it was renamed Mieszkowice, after the first historical Polish duke Mieszko I, a scion of the Piast dynasty. Mieszko I included the area within the early Polish state in the 10th century and fought the victorious Battle of Cedynia against the Saxon margrave Odo I nearby in 972. History Middle Ages In the High Middle Ages, a Slavic settlement existed there, located on a trade route connecting Lubusz Land with Pomerania. Also there are remains of a Slavic fortress nearby. The area became part of the emerging Polish state under its first ruler Mieszko I of Poland in 963. Later it was part of Pomerania, and then Greater Poland within fragmented Poland, until its annexation by the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg in the 1284, who then founded the town at the site. The first record of Bärwalde is a 1295 deed under the name of Berenwalde. Most likely, the settlement was owned by a knight of the von Behr family. The settlement was developed following