The location of the town has been inhabited for a long time. In 1895 remains of a settlement dated to 300-1000 AD were discovered near the town on the shores of Lake Arys. The present settlement was founded during by the Grand Master of the Teutonic OrderKonrad von Erlichshausen in 1443. After the Peace of Toruń in 1466 it came under Polishsuzerainty as a fief. After Reformation until 1702 church services in the only church were conducted in the Masurian dialect of Polish, spoken by the culturally Germanized but ethnically Polish majority population of the town. A year earlier, in 1701, the town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. The population of Arys in 1740 was 640, and in 1782 about 900. The population of Arys slowly increased. There were 85 craftsmen recorded in 1775, a majority of them shoemakers. The town, located on a trading route, was granted city rights in 1725 by Frederick William I of Prussia. The town has been militarily occupied frequently. During the Seven Years' War it was held by Russian troops for four years. The troops were quartered in the town also in the years 1806-1807, and 1812-1813. A fire destroyed almost the entire town in 1826. In 1834 Masurians constituted a slight majority of residents – 600 compared to 502 Germans.
20th century
During World War I, several battles were fought between the German and Russian armies in 1914 and 1915 in the area of Arys. The town was held by Russian troops for 20 days and heavily damaged. On July 11, 1920, the East Prussian plebiscite, mandated by the Versailles Treaty, was held in the District of Allenstein, which included Arys. District-wide results were 1,480 votes for Germany and only 1 vote for Poland. Towards the end of World War II Arys was nearly destroyed in the Soviet January offensive. There were only 300 people remaining in the town in January 1945, mostly Masurians. Arys was acquired by Poland under the border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference in July-August 1945, the remaining German residents of the town, now officially Orzysz, were expelled, and were replaced by Polish settlers.
