More About Pomerania

THE LAND BY THE SEA

 

The historical region of Pomerania (Polish: Pomorze, German: Pommern) comprised the areas at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea between the estuaries of the Oder and Vistula Rivers. Pomerania curves along the Baltic coast of the Baltic Sea, with Hinterpommern to the East and Vorpommern to the West of the Oder. A lowland with thin and sandy soil, it has been torn and battled over, passing back and forth between the Slavs and Germans for centuries. The Reugen Cliffs (pictured below) given some idea of the coastal landscape.

 

Reugen Cliffs

 

Christianized and settled by Germans in the 12th century, Pommern was ruled as a duchy under ever-changing lines of sovereigns, from the Polish Dukes to Brandenburg Electors of the Holy Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages it was mostly inhabited by Slavonic peoples akin to the Poles. The eastern portion of this region then became part of Royal Prussia and since that time the name Pomerania has been limited to the western and central parts of the region (except for Poland, where the old usage of the term "Pomerania" has been retained).

 

Until the 17th century, the Province of Pomerania was ruled by native princes but under the dependence on Poland (up to the 12th century), and later on Brandenburg and Sweden. Its inhabitants accepted Protestantism and were influenced by the German culture. More and more Germans settled there and the original Slavonic inhabitants gradually lost their original language. Reformation brought dissent and the ravages of the Thirty Years War. In the early 1600's Pomerania was annexed by Sweden. Swedish occupation and rule lasted over 150 years in some parts of Vorpommern. During the next century most of it was incorporated into Brandenburg, therefore becoming part of Prussia.

 

In nearby lands between 1772 and 1795 the entire territory of the Kingdom of Poland was divided between Prussia, Austria and Russia. During those so-called Partitions of Poland, Prussia acquired the western regions of Poland, esp. those, which were later renamed to West Prussia (formerly Royal Prussia) and Province of Posen (the area around Poznan, the Polish name being Wielkopolska, i.e. Greater Poland). The southern Polish territories around Kraków and Lwów were incorporated into the Austrian Empire and renamed "Galicia". The central and eastern provinces of Poland were taken over by the Russian Empire.

 

During a short period when Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Central Europe, he restored Poland as a Duchy of Warsaw, dependent on himself, consisting of the territories Prussia and Austria had annexed in 1793-95. After Napoleon's fall, the situation was finally resolved. From 1814 Pomerania became a province of the Kingdom of Prussia.

 

In 1815 northern portions of historical Brandenburg, so-called Neumark (marked green on the map below), were added to Pomerania together with former fiefs (shown in yellow) of the Kingdom of Poland, which were already taken by Brandenburg in the second half of the 17th century (see map below). The victorious Russia took control over most of the Duchy of Warsaw. The Tzars gave it relatively much autonomy and created the new Kingdom of Poland there (but dependent on Russia) whereas the former eastern parts of Poland were directly incorporated into the Empire (and the populace of the Byzantine Catholics living there was forced to "convert" to Eastern Orthodox).

 

While the boundaries fixed in 1815 were stable during the next century many other things changed. The 19th century was the time of industrial development and massive migrations. The Polish provinces under Prussian government were slowly Germanized as more and more Germans settled there. The Evangelical Lutheran faith was named the state religion. The Prussian province of Pomerania at this point was practically entirely German-speaking (the plattdeutsch, or low German, dialect) and Protestant (evangelisch), except for the easternmost districts (once Polish) where a Polish-speaking, partially Catholic minority remained. Several attempts to regain independence were made by Poles, but all the uprisings against Russia, Prussia and Austria were bloodily suppressed. This upheaval was one of the reasons why in the last three decades of the 19th century more than a million people emigrated from the region, mostly to North America.

 

Farming was the dominant lifestyle and principal occupation in Pomerania with many large estates raising rye, wheat, and potatoes. The largest city and capital of the Pomeranian Dukes was Stettin (Polish Sczeczin. With its shipyards on the Oder River, Stettin became Pomerania's main commercial and industrial center. Later, Stettin was the provincial capital and the seat of the county (Regierungsbezirk) of the same name. There were 2 further counties: Stralsund County to the west of Stettin County, and Köslin County with the seat at Köslin to the east of Stettin County. Bublitz was in Köslin County.

 

Germany was united under Prussian leadership in 1871 following military victories over France in 1870. The map below shows the provinces within the Reich from 1871-1918:

Source: http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ger1871-d.html

In 1895 the province of Pommern had the following districts and Kreise (counties):
- * marks areas totally or partially lost to Poland in 1945 -
 
Regierungsbezirk (district) of Stettin with 13 Kreise (counties):
 Anklam, Demmin, *Greifenberg, *Greifenhagen, *Kammin, *Naugard, *Pyritz, Randow, *Regenwalde, *Saatzig, *Stettin-Stadt, Ueckermuende, *Usedom-Wollin.
 
Regierungsbezirk (district) of *Koeslin with (*12) Kreise (counties):
 Belgard, Bublitz, Buetow, Dramburg, Kolberg-Koerlin, Koeslin, Lauenburg,
 Neustettin, Rummelsburg, Schivelbein, Schlawe, Stolp.

 

Regierungsbezirk (district) of Stralsund with (5) Kreise (counties):
 Franzburg, Greifswald, Grimmen, Ruegen, Stralsund-Stadt.
 (This area was the former Swedish-Pommern).
 
Each Kreis was headed by the Landrat who presided over the Landratsamt. The Landratsamt records are deposited in the state archives. The Landrat was in charge of passport and emigrations matters and reported to the Regierung who in turn gave data to the provincial Oberpraesidium.

 

 

This was the Pommern our ancestors left behind in the 19th century. The population explosion and the poor living conditions, plus the constant worries about war were some of the reasons which drove thousands of Pomeranians to emigrate. But also the challenge to see something new was a reason.

 

The map below shows the province of Pomerania at the beginning of the 20th century. Polish and German names of cities are provided. The colored regions are explained above. The pink line is the post-WWII border between Poland and Germany.

 

Source: http://www.polishroots.org/genpoland/pom.htm and http://www.mmhs.org/faq/faqpom.htm

 

 

Source: http://members.tripod.com/~radde/Osthinterpommern.gif

 

Pomerania remained in Germany after World War I. Minor adjustments were made on the Polish border in 1920. But Germany's defeat at the end of the World War I resulted in Pomerania being cut off from East Prussia by the "Polish Corridor" to the sea. The Oder River, which became the boundary between Germany and Poland after World War II, had long divided the province into Western Pomerania (German: Vorpommern) and Eastern Pomerania (Hinterpommern). After the Russian occupation at the end of World War II, the entirety of Hinterpommern (the greater part of Pomerania) was taken over by Poland and those eastern lands incorporated into that nation. Bublitz became Bobolice, Neustettin became Szczecinek, Storkow became Storkowo, Gramenz became Grzmiaca. The surviving German inhabitants of Pomerania escaped or were brutally expelled -- driven from the land at the cost of millions of lives. Poles from the formerly Polish regions in the East then settled in Pomerania. Only parts of the western districts (German: Vorpommern) remained in post-WWII Germany (in what became Communist East Germany). Since reunification those areas are part of the German Land of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.