Łeba is the name of the river in Middle Pomerania, Poland, that goes to Łebsko lake and later on to Baltic sea.

Łeba is also the name of the town in Middle Pomerania, Poland, located near Łebsko lake and mouth of Łeba river at the coast of Baltic sea.

History

The settlement Lebamünde (the German name of Łeba) was first mentioned in 1282. At that time the village was located about two kilometers west from the present mouth of the river Łeba. Łeba received municipal rights in the year 1357. Łeba developed to a fishing port and a wood marketplace.

Łeba was threatened for many centuries by floods and expanding sand dunes. After 1558 Łeba was rebuilt in a safer location. In the 18th century a large port was built on instruction of the Prussian king. In the course of the harbor construction a 34 meter broad channel between the Łebsko lake and the Baltic Sea was dug.

In the proximity of Łeba there is a large testing area for long-range rocket weapons. On this area the German long-range rocket Rheinbote was tested between 1941 and 1945. Also the V-1 flying bomb was tested here from 1943 to 1945. Between 1963 and 1973 33 Polish sounding rockets of the type Meteor were launched in Łeba (http://www.astronautix.com/sites/leba.htm). Allegedly, the German general Erwin Rommel practiced the desert war in the vast dunes of Łeba.

Famous people

After the First World War Łeba became a popular resort for the German Boheme. Max Pechstein and other expressionists frequented the place.

Sights

Łeba possesses a few objects of interest:

• ruins of the Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas church) west the city on the way to the beach
• fishermen's church of 1863
• fishermen's dwellings from the 19th Century in ulica Koszciulski
• the castle in ulica Sosnowa, today the hotel Neptun
• former rocket test site near Pletka (http://manfredlawrenz.bei.t-online.de/hp_s10.htm)
• there is an abundance of architectural and natural attractions near Łeba, for instance the Slowinzi national park with the sand dunes, 8 kilometers west of the city.