The territory belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary since the 10th century and
was probably originally inhabited by Slavic settlers. It was colonized in the
13th century by German settlers and became the largely German town Deutschendorf
meaning 'Germans' village'. From 1412 to 1770, as one of the Szepes towns,
Poprad was pawned by the Kingdom of Hungary to the Kingdom of Poland, resulting
in a strong Polish influence on the city's further development.
