Stettin
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Stettin. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the capital of Pomerania and one of the chief seaports of Germany; on the Oder, 17 miles from its entrance into the Stettiner Haff, 30 miles from the Baltic Sea, and about 83 miles from Berlin. The principal part is built on the left bank of the river, while on the right bank are the suburbs of the Lastadie and Silberwiese, connection being maintained by several bridges, one of which is a large railway swing bridge. The town has greatly expanded since the removal of the extensive fortifications by which it was surrounded. Among its more notable features are the old royal palace, now occupied as government buildings, the new town hall, two monumental gateways, several Gothic churches, exchange, theater, etc. Its industries, which are numerous and important, include iron founding, ship building, machine making (one ship building and engineering work employs 4,000 or 5,000 hands), the manufacture dles, chocolate, etc. It has been a port of some importance since the 12th century. Pop. about 250,000.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a city of northern Germany. It is the capital of the province of Pomerania. Stettin is situated on the Oder at the head of deep-water navigation. It is one of the chief seaports of Germany. Over 5,000 ships tie up at its wharves yearly. There is a large trade in wood, herrings, coal, petroleum, grain, potatoes, cement, spirits, and wine. There are manufactures of sugar, chemicals, and machinery. There are important shipyards. The city had a population in 1905 of 224,119. Stettin when first known was a settlement of the Wends. It was a Hanseatic town in the Middle Ages . Sweden claimed the city, 648-720, since which time Stettin has been a city of Prussia. There are several buildings of importance including a castle and churches notable for their architectural features.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both accounts describe a German provincial capital, and Collier's in 1921 counted about 250,000 Prussian subjects; the city is now Szczecin, in Poland, with roughly 390,000 inhabitants. The change came in 1945, when the Allies placed the territory east of the Oder-Neisse line under Polish administration and the German population was expelled and replaced by Polish settlers, many of them from territories lost to the Soviet Union. Szczecin sits mostly on the west bank of the Oder, so the border was drawn to the west of it to keep the port with the city. The shipbuilding that Collier's singled out remained the city's signature industry into the postwar decades, and the Szczecin yard was a centre of the strikes of 1970 and 1980, but the shipyard went into liquidation in 2009.
Written for this edition, 2026.