kulm

Kulm is a German exonym used for several places in Central Europe, most notably for the town of Chełmno in present-day Poland. The name appears in historical German and Prussian documents and maps referring to the locality and its surrounding district.

Chełmno, known in German as Kulm, lies in the northern part of Poland in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. In the era of Royal Prussia and later the German Empire, it served as the seat of the district Kreis Culm in the province of West Prussia. After World War II, borders shifted and Chełmno became part of Poland; the German population largely left or was expelled in the subsequent years.

In addition to Chełmno, Kulm has appeared as the German name for other settlements and topographic features in areas formerly under German influence. The closely related spelling Culm is found in historical references to the same places or districts. The term also functions as a general toponym in German-speaking regions, often associated with elevated terrain, such as hills or ridges, which contributed to its use for various localities.

Kulm has also been used in historical contexts outside everyday geography, most notably in the Battle of Kulm in 1813, a Napoleonic War engagement named after the locality known to German speakers as Kulm. The battle is cited in European military histories as a coalition victory during the War of the Sixth Coalition.

See also: Culm (disambiguation).