East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=
Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...
of the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
's
Free State of Prussia
The Free State of Prussia (german: Freistaat Preußen, ) was one of the constituent states of Germany from 1918 to 1947. The successor to the Kingdom of Prussia after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, it continued to be the domina ...
, until 1945. Its capital city was
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
(present-day
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
). East Prussia was the main part of the
region of Prussia along the southeastern
Baltic Coast.
The bulk of the ancestral lands of the Baltic
Old Prussians
Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians ( Old Prussian: ''prūsai''; german: Pruzzen or ''Prußen''; la, Pruteni; lv, prūši; lt, prūsai; pl, Prusowie; csb, Prësowié) were an indigenous tribe among the Baltic peoples that ...
were enclosed within East Prussia. During the 13th century, the native Prussians were conquered by the crusading
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...
. After the
conquest
Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms.
Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, ...
the indigenous Balts were gradually converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
. Because of
Germanization
Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In ling ...
and colonisation over the following centuries,
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
became the dominant ethnic group, while
Masurians
The Masurians or Mazurs ( pl, Mazurzy; german: Masuren; Masurian: ''Mazurÿ''), historically also known as Prussian Masurians ( Polish: ''Mazurzy pruscy''), is an ethnographic group of Polish people, that originate from the region of Masuri ...
and
Lithuanians
Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Unite ...
formed minorities. From the 13th century, East Prussia was part of the
monastic state of the Teutonic Knights
The State of the Teutonic Order (german: Staat des Deutschen Ordens, ; la, Civitas Ordinis Theutonici; lt, Vokiečių ordino valstybė; pl, Państwo zakonu krzyżackiego), also called () or (), was a medieval Crusader state, located in Cen ...
. After the
Second Peace of Thorn
The Peace of Thorn or Toruń of 1466, also known as the Second Peace of Thorn or Toruń ( pl, drugi pokój toruński; german: Zweiter Friede von Thorn), was a peace treaty signed in the Hanseatic city of Thorn (Toruń) on 19 October 1466 betwe ...
in 1466 it became a fief of the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to:
Historical political entities
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...
. In 1525, with the
Prussian Homage, the province became the
Duchy of Prussia
The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...
. The
Old Prussian language
Old Prussian was a Western Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to avoid con ...
had become extinct by the 17th or early 18th century.
Because the duchy was outside of the core
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
, the prince-electors of Brandenburg were able to proclaim themselves
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...
beginning in 1701. After the annexation of most of western
Royal Prussia in the
First Partition of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
in 1772, eastern (ducal) Prussia was connected by land with the rest of the Prussian state and was reorganized as a province the following year (1773). Between 1829 and 1878, the Province of East Prussia was joined with
West Prussia
The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kin ...
to form the
Province of Prussia
The Province of Prussia (; ; pl, Prowincja Prusy; csb, Prowincjô Prësë) was a province of Prussia from 1829 to 1878. Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1829 from the provinces of East Prussia and West Prussia ...
.
The
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
became the leading state of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
after its creation in 1871. However, the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...
following
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
granted West Prussia to Poland and made East Prussia an exclave of
Weimar Germany (the new
Polish Corridor separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany), while the
Memel Territory
Memel, a name derived from the Couronian-Latvian ''memelis, mimelis, mēms'' for "mute, silent", may refer to:
*Memel, East Prussia, Germany, now Klaipėda, Lithuania
**Memelburg, ( Klaipėda Castle), the ''Ordensburg'' in Memel, a castle built in ...
was detached and annexed by
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
in 1923. Following
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's defeat in World War II in 1945, war-torn East Prussia was divided at
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
's insistence between the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
(the
Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and admin ...
became part of the
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
, and the constituent counties of the
Klaipėda Region
The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...
in the
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...
) and the
People's Republic of Poland
The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...
(the
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship or Warmia-Masuria Province or Warmia-Mazury Province (in pl, Województwo warmińsko-mazurskie, is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn. The voivodeship has an ar ...
). The capital city Königsberg was renamed
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
in 1946. The German population of the province was largely
evacuated during the war or expelled shortly afterwards in the
expulsion of Germans after World War II
Expulsion or expelled may refer to:
General
* Deportation
* Ejection (sports)
* Eviction
* Exile
* Expeller pressing
* Expulsion (education)
* Expulsion from the United States Congress
* Extradition
* Forced migration
* Ostracism
* Persona ...
. An estimated 300,000 died either in war time bombing raids, in the battles to defend the province, or through mistreatment by the Red Army or from hunger, cold and disease.
Background
![Image-Prussia ethnicity](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Image-Prussia_ethnicity.JPG)
At the instigation of Duke
Konrad I of Masovia
Konrad I of Masovia (ca. 1187/88 – 31 August 1247), from the Polish Piast dynasty, was the sixth Duke of Masovia and Kuyavia from 1194 until his death as well as High Duke of Poland from 1229 to 1232 and again from 1241 to 1243.
Life
Konrad wa ...
, the
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...
took possession of
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
in the 13th century and created a
monastic state to administer the conquered
Old Prussians
Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians ( Old Prussian: ''prūsai''; german: Pruzzen or ''Prußen''; la, Pruteni; lv, prūši; lt, prūsai; pl, Prusowie; csb, Prësowié) were an indigenous tribe among the Baltic peoples that ...
. Local Old-Prussian (north) and Polish (south) toponyms were gradually Germanised. The Knights' expansionist policies, including occupation of Polish Pomerania with Gdańsk/Danzig and western Lithuania, brought them into conflict with the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to:
Historical political entities
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...
and embroiled them in several wars, culminating in the
Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War, whereby the united armies of Poland and
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, defeated the Teutonic Order at the
Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) in 1410. Its defeat was formalised in the
Second Treaty of Thorn in 1466 ending the
Thirteen Years' War, and leaving the former Polish region Pomerania/
Pomerelia under Polish control. Together with
Warmia
Warmia ( pl, Warmia; Latin: ''Varmia'', ''Warmia''; ; Warmian: ''Warńija''; lt, Varmė; Old Prussian: ''Wārmi'') is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capital ...
it formed the province of
Royal Prussia. Eastern Prussia remained under the Knights but as a
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...
of Poland. 1466 and 1525 arrangements by kings of Poland were not verified by the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
, as well as the previous gains of the
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...
, were not verified.
The Teutonic Order lost eastern Prussia when Grand Master
Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach converted to
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
and secularized the Prussian branch of the Teutonic Order in 1525. Albert established himself as the first duke of the
Duchy of Prussia
The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...
and a
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...
of the Polish crown by the
Prussian Homage.
Walter von Cronberg, the next Grand Master, was
enfeoffed with the title to Prussia after the
Diet of Augsburg
The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such sessi ...
in 1530, but the Order never regained possession of the territory. In 1569 the
Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...
prince-elector
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
From the 13th century onwards, the princ ...
s of the
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe.
Brandenburg developed out ...
became co-regents with Albert's son, the feeble-minded
Albert Frederick.
The Administrator of Prussia, the grandmaster of the Teutonic Order
Maximilian III, son of emperor
Maximilian II died in 1618. When Maximilian died, Albert's line died out, and the Duchy of Prussia passed to the Electors of Brandenburg, forming
Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia (german: Brandenburg-Preußen; ) is the historiographic denomination for the early modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohe ...
. Taking advantage of the Swedish invasion of Poland in 1655, and instead of fulfilling his vassal's duties towards the Polish Kingdom, by joining forces with the Swedes and subsequent treaties of
Wehlau
Znamensk (; ; lt, Vėluva; pl, Welawa) is a rural locality (a settlement) in Gvardeysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Pregolya River at its confluence with the Lava River east of Kaliningrad. Popula ...
,
Labiau, and
Oliva
Oliva () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of La Safor in the Valencian Community, Spain. To its east lie of coastline and beaches fronting the Mediterranean Sea, and eight kilometres to the north is Gandia.
The ''Passeig'' (promenade) ...
, Elector and Duke
Frederick William succeeded in revoking the king of Poland's sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia in 1660. The
absolutist elector also subdued the noble estates of Prussia.
History as a province
Kingdom of Prussia
Although Brandenburg was a part of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
, the Prussian lands were not within the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
and were with the administration by the
Teutonic Order
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
grandmasters under jurisdiction of the Emperor. In return for supporting Emperor
Leopold I in the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
, Elector
Frederick III was allowed to crown himself "
King in Prussia" in 1701. The new kingdom ruled by the
Hohenzollern dynasty
The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...
became known as the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
. The designation "
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
" was gradually applied to the various lands of Brandenburg-Prussia. To differentiate it from the larger entity, the former Duchy of Prussia became known as ''Altpreußen'' ("Old Prussia"), the province of Prussia, or "East Prussia".
Approximately one-third of East Prussia's population died in the
Great Northern War plague outbreak and
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompan ...
of 1709–1711, including the last speakers of
Old Prussian. The plague, probably brought by foreign troops during the
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swe ...
, killed 250,000 East Prussians, especially in the province's eastern regions. Crown Prince
Frederick William I led the rebuilding of East Prussia, founding numerous towns. Thousands of Protestants expelled from the
Archbishopric of Salzburg
The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (german: Fürsterzbistum Salzburg; Erzstift Salzburg; Erzbistum Salzburg) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops o ...
were allowed to settle in depleted East Prussia. The province was overrun by
Imperial Russian
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. Th ...
troops during the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
.
![Monument of Immanuel Kant - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Monument_of_Immanuel_Kant_-_panoramio.jpg)
In the 1772
First Partition of Poland, the Prussian king
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
annexed neighboring
Royal Prussia, i.e., the Polish voivodeships of
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
(
Gdańsk Pomerania
Gdańsk Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze Gdańskie), csb, Gduńsczim Pòmòrzã, german: Danziger Pommern) is a geographical region within Pomerelia in northern and northwestern Poland, covering the bulk of Pomeranian Voivodeship.
It forms a part and ...
or
Pomerelia),
Malbork
Malbork; ;
* la, Mariaeburgum, ''Mariae castrum'', ''Marianopolis'', ''Civitas Beatae Virginis''
* Kashubian: ''Malbórg''
* Old Prussian: ''Algemin'' is a town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is the seat of Malbork County and has ...
,
Chełmno and the
Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, thereby connecting his Prussian and
Farther Pomeranian lands and cutting the rest of Poland from the
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
*Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
coast. The territory of
Warmia
Warmia ( pl, Warmia; Latin: ''Varmia'', ''Warmia''; ; Warmian: ''Warńija''; lt, Varmė; Old Prussian: ''Wārmi'') is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capital ...
was incorporated into the lands of former Ducal Prussia, which, by administrative deed of 31 January 1772 were named ''East Prussia''. The former Polish Pomerelian lands beyond the
Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
River together with Malbork and
Chełmno Land
Chełmno land ( pl, ziemia chełmińska, or Kulmerland, Old Prussian: ''Kulma'', lt, Kulmo žemė) is a part of the historical region of Pomerelia, located in central-northern Poland.
Chełmno land is named after the city of Chełmno (hist ...
formed the Province of
West Prussia
The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kin ...
with its capital at
Marienwerder
Kwidzyn (pronounced ; german: Marienwerder; Latin: ''Quedin''; Old Prussian: ''Kwēdina'') is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa River, with 38,553 inhabitants (2018). It is the capital of Kwidzyn County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Geog ...
(Kwidzyn) in 1773. The Polish
Partition Sejm
The Partition Sejm ( pl, Sejm Rozbiorowy) was a Sejm lasting from 1773 to 1775 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, convened by its three neighbours (the Russian Empire, Prussia and Austria) in order to legalize their First Partition of Pol ...
ratified the cession on 30 September 1772, whereafter Frederick officially went on to call himself a King "of" Prussia.
The former Ducal Prussian
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
of
Eylau (Iława), Marienwerder,
Riesenburg
Prabuty (german: Riesenburg) is a town in Kwidzyn County within the Pomeranian Voivodeship of northern Poland. Before World War I, the town belonged to the German province of West Prussia. It was ceded to Poland in 1945. Between 1975 and 1998, ...
(Prabuty) and
Schönberg (Szymbark) passed to West Prussia. Until the
Prussian reforms of 1808, the administration in East Prussia was transferred to the
General War and Finance Directorate in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, represented by two local chamber departments:
* German chamber department at Königsberg with the districts of:
**
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...
**
Neidenburg
Nidzica (former pl, Nibork; ) (Old Prussian: Nīdaspils) is a town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of Poland, lying between Olsztyn and Mława, in Masuria. The capital of Nidzica County, it had a population in 2017 of 13,872.
History
T ...
**
Rastenburg
**
Samland
**
Tapiau
**
Braunsberg (Ermland)
**
Heilsberg (Ermland)
**
Mohrungen (Ermland)
*
Lithuanian chamber department at
Gumbinnen (Gusev) with the districts of:
**
Gumbinnen
**
Insterburg
Chernyakhovsk (russian: Черняхо́вск) – known prior to 1946 by its German name of (Old Prussian: Instrāpils, lt, Įsrutis; pl, Wystruć) – is a town in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, where it is the administrative center of C ...
**
Memel
**
Olecko
**
Ragnit
Neman (russian: Не́ман; german: Ragnit; lt, Ragainė; pl, Ragneta), is a town and the administrative center of Nemansky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the historic region of Lithuania Minor, on the steep southern ba ...
**
Seehesten (
Sensburg)
**
Tilsit
Sovetsk (russian: Сове́тск; german: Tilsit; Old Prussian: ''Tilzi''; lt, Tilžė; pl, Tylża) is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River which forms the border with Lithuania.
Geography
S ...
On 31 January 1773, King
Frederick II announced that the newly annexed lands were to be known as the Province of
West Prussia
The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kin ...
, while the former
Duchy of Prussia
The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...
and the
Prince-Bishopric of Warmia became the
Province of East Prussia.
Napoleonic Wars
![Antoine-Jean Gros - Napoleon on the Battlefield of Eylau - Google Art Project](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Antoine-Jean_Gros_-_Napoleon_on_the_Battlefield_of_Eylau_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
After the disastrous defeat of the
Royal Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.
The Prussian Army had its roots in the cor ...
at the
Battle of Jena-Auerstedt in 1806,
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
occupied Berlin and had the officials of the Prussian General Directorate swear an
oath of allegiance
An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. Fo ...
to him, while King
Frederick William III
Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...
and his consort
Louise fled via Königsberg and the
Curonian Spit
The Curonian (Courish) Spit ( lt, Kuršių nerija; russian: Ку́ршская коса́ (Kurshskaya kosa); german: Kurische Nehrung, ; lv, Kuršu kāpas) is a long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Balti ...
to
Memel. The French
Grande Armée
''La Grande Armée'' (; ) was the main military component of the French Imperial Army commanded by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1804 to 1808, it won a series of military victories that allowed the French Em ...
troops immediately took up pursuit but were delayed in the
Battle of Eylau
The Battle of Eylau, or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, was a bloody and strategically inconclusive battle on 7 and 8 February 1807 between Napoléon's '' Grande Armée'' and the Imperial Russian Army under the command of Levin August von Benn ...
on 9 February 1807 by an East Prussian contingent under General
Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq. Napoleon had to stay at the
Finckenstein Palace
Finckenstein Palace (German: ''Schloss Finckenstein'') was a baroque palace, designed by the architect John von Collas between 1716 and 1720 in the former West Prussia, about 25 mi. (40 km) south of Elbląg in present-day Susz, Poland ...
, but in May, after a siege of 75 days, his troops led by Marshal
François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre ( , ; 25 October 1755 – 14 September 1820), Duc de Dantzig, was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon.
Ea ...
were able to capture the city of
Danzig, which had been tenaciously defended by General Count
Friedrich Adolf von Kalkreuth. On 14 June, Napoleon ended the
War of the Fourth Coalition
The Fourth Coalition fought against Napoleon's French Empire and were defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. The main coalition partners were Prussia and Russia with Saxony, Sweden, and Great Britain also contributing. Excluding Prussia, s ...
with his victory at the
Battle of Friedland
The Battle of Friedland (14 June 1807) was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars between the armies of the French Empire commanded by Napoleon I and the armies of the Russian Empire led by Count von Bennigsen. Napoleon and the French obtai ...
. Frederick William and Queen Louise met with Napoleon for peace negotiations, and on 9 July the Prussian king signed the
Treaty of Tilsit
The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by French Emperor Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on 7 July, between Napoleon and Russian Emperor Alexander, when ...
.
The succeeding Prussian reforms instigated by
Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein
Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein (25 October 1757 – 29 June 1831), commonly known as Baron vom Stein, was a Prussian statesman who introduced the Prussian reforms, which paved the way for the unification of German ...
and
Karl August von Hardenberg
Karl August Fürst von Hardenberg (31 May 1750, in Essenrode- Lehre – 26 November 1822, in Genoa) was a Prussian statesman and Prime Minister of Prussia. While during his late career he acquiesced to reactionary policies, earlier in his career ...
included the implementation of an ''
Oberlandesgericht
An ''Oberlandesgericht'' (plural – ''Oberlandesgerichte''; OLG, en, Higher Regional Court, or in Berlin ''Kammergericht'': KG) is a higher court in Germany.
There are 24 OLGs in Germany and they deal with civil and criminal matters. They a ...
'' appellation court at Königsberg, a
municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally ...
,
economic freedom
Economic freedom, or economic liberty, is the ability of people of a society to take economic actions. This is a term used in economic and policy debates as well as in the philosophy of economics. One approach to economic freedom comes from the l ...
as well as
emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...
of the
serfs
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
and
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. In the course of the Prussian restoration by the 1815
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...
, the East Prussian territories were re-arranged in the ''
Regierungsbezirk
A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts.
Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...
e'' of
Gumbinnen and
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
. From 1905, the southern districts of East Prussia formed the separate ''Regierungsbezirk'' of
Allenstein
Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini''
* Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...
. East and West Prussia were first united in
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interli ...
in 1824 and then merged in a
real union
Real union is a union of two or more states, which share some state institutions in contrast to personal unions; however, they are not as unified as states in a political union. It is a development from personal union and has historically be ...
in 1829 to form the
Province of Prussia
The Province of Prussia (; ; pl, Prowincja Prusy; csb, Prowincjô Prësë) was a province of Prussia from 1829 to 1878. Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1829 from the provinces of East Prussia and West Prussia ...
. The united province was again split into separate East and West Prussian provinces in 1878.
German Empire
From 1824 to 1878, East Prussia was combined with West Prussia to form the
Province of Prussia
The Province of Prussia (; ; pl, Prowincja Prusy; csb, Prowincjô Prësë) was a province of Prussia from 1829 to 1878. Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1829 from the provinces of East Prussia and West Prussia ...
, after which they were reestablished as separate provinces. Along with the rest of the Kingdom of Prussia, East Prussia became part of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
during the
unification of Germany
The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...
in 1871.
![Krönungszug Königsberg (1861)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Kr%C3%B6nungszug_K%C3%B6nigsberg_%281861%29.JPG)
From 1885 to 1890
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
's population grew by 20%,
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...
and the
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
gained 8.5%,
Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
10%, while East Prussia lost 0.07% and West Prussia 0.86%. This stagnancy in population despite a high birth surplus in eastern Germany was because many people from the East Prussian countryside moved westward to seek work in the expanding industrial centres of the
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
and Berlin (see ''
Ostflucht'').
The population of the province in 1900 was 1,996,626 people, with a religious makeup of 1,698,465
Protestants
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, 269,196
Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, and 13,877
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
s. The
Low Prussian dialect predominated in East Prussia, although
High Prussian was spoken in
Warmia
Warmia ( pl, Warmia; Latin: ''Varmia'', ''Warmia''; ; Warmian: ''Warńija''; lt, Varmė; Old Prussian: ''Wārmi'') is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capital ...
. The numbers of
Masurians
The Masurians or Mazurs ( pl, Mazurzy; german: Masuren; Masurian: ''Mazurÿ''), historically also known as Prussian Masurians ( Polish: ''Mazurzy pruscy''), is an ethnographic group of Polish people, that originate from the region of Masuri ...
,
Kursenieki
The Kursenieki ( lv, kursenieki, kāpenieki, german: Kuren – 'Curonians'; lt, kuršiai; pl, Kuronowie pruscy – 'Prussian Curonians') are a nearly extinct Baltic ethnic group living along the Curonian Spit. "Kuršiai" refers only to inhabi ...
and
Prussian Lithuanians decreased over time due to the process of
Germanization
Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In ling ...
. The Polish-speaking population concentrated in the south of the province (
Masuria and Warmia) and all German geographic atlases at the start of 20th century showed the southern part of East Prussia as Polish with the number of Polish-speakers estimated at the time to be 300,000.
Kursenieki
The Kursenieki ( lv, kursenieki, kāpenieki, german: Kuren – 'Curonians'; lt, kuršiai; pl, Kuronowie pruscy – 'Prussian Curonians') are a nearly extinct Baltic ethnic group living along the Curonian Spit. "Kuršiai" refers only to inhabi ...
inhabited the areas around the Curonian lagoon, while Lithuanian-speaking Prussians concentrated in the northeast in (
Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor ( lt, Mažoji Lietuva; german: Kleinlitauen; pl, Litwa Mniejsza; russian: Ма́лая Литва́), or Prussian Lithuania ( lt, Prūsų Lietuva; german: Preußisch-Litauen, pl, Litwa Pruska), is a historical ethnographic r ...
). The
Old Prussian ethnic group became completely Germanized over time and the
Old Prussian language
Old Prussian was a Western Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to avoid con ...
died out in the 18th century.
World War I
At the
German entry into World War I
Germany entered into World War I on August 1, 1914, when it declared war on Russia. In accordance with its war plan, it ignored Russia and moved first against France–declaring war on August 3 and sending its main armies through Belgium to capt ...
, East Prussia became a
theatre of war
In warfare, a theater or theatre is an area in which important military events occur or are in progress. A theater can include the entirety of the airspace, land and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations.
T ...
when the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
invaded the country. The
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
encountered at first little resistance because the bulk of the
Imperial German Army
The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...
had been directed towards the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
* Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
according to the
Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan (german: Schlieffen-Plan, ) is a name given after the First World War to German war plans, due to the influence of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and his thinking on an invasion of France and Belgium, which began on ...
. Despite early success and the capture of the towns of
Rastenburg and
Gumbinnen, in the
Battle of Tannenberg
The Battle of Tannenberg, also known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg, was fought between Russia and Germany between 26 and 30 August 1914, the first month of World War I. The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russ ...
in 1914 and the
Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes in 1915, the Russians were decisively defeated and forced to retreat. The Russians were followed by the German Army advancing into Russian territory.
After the Russian army's first invasion the majority of the civilian population fled westwards, while several thousand remaining civilians were deported to Russia. Treatment of civilians by both armies was mostly disciplined, although 74 civilians were killed by Russian troops in the
Abschwangen massacre. The region had to be rebuilt because of damage caused by the war.
Division after 1918
Weimar Republic
![East Prussia 1923-1939](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/East_Prussia_1923-1939.svg)
With the forced abdication of Emperor
Wilhelm II
, house = Hohenzollern
, father = Frederick III, German Emperor
, mother = Victoria, Princess Royal
, religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United)
, signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...
in the
German Revolution of 1918–1919
The German Revolution or November Revolution (german: Novemberrevolution) was a civil conflict in the German Empire at the end of the First World War that resulted in the replacement of the German federal constitutional monarchy with a d ...
, Germany became a
republic
A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...
. Most of the former Prussian provinces of West Prussia and
Posen, territories annexed by Prussia in the 18th century
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
, were ceded to the
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...
according to the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...
. East Prussia became an
exclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
, being separated from mainland Germany. The
Memelland was also separated from the province. Because most of West Prussia became part of the
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...
as the
Polish Corridor, the formerly West Prussian
Marienwerder region became part of East Prussia as the administrative district (''Regierungsbezirk'') of West Prussia. Also, the
Soldau district in the
Allenstein
Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini''
* Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...
region became part of the Second Polish Republic. The
Seedienst Ostpreußen
The Seedienst Ostpreussen or Sea Service East Prussia was a ferry connection between the German provinces of Pomerania and, later, Schleswig-Holstein and the German exclave of East Prussia from 1920 to 1939.
Political background
After the end ...
(Sea Service East Prussia) was established to provide an independent transport service to East Prussia.
On 11 July 1920, amidst the backdrop of the
Polish-Soviet War in which the
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...
appeared to be on the brink of defeat, the
East Prussian plebiscite
The East Prussian plebiscite (german: Abstimmung in Ostpreußen), also known as the Allenstein and Marienwerder plebiscite or Warmia, Masuria and Powiśle plebiscite ( pl, Plebiscyt na Warmii, Mazurach i Powiślu), was a plebiscite organised in a ...
in eastern West Prussia and southern East Prussia was held under Allied supervision to determine if the areas should join Poland or remain in the
Weimar Germany Province of East Prussia. 96.7% of the people voted to remain within Germany (97.89% in the East Prussian plebiscite district).
The
Klaipėda Territory (Memelland), a
League of Nations mandate
A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...
since 1920, was occupied by the
Lithuanian Armed Forces
The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Naval Force and the Lithuanian Air Force. In wartime, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service ...
in 1923 and annexed without giving the inhabitants a choice by ballot.
Nazi Germany
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2008-0513-501, Königsberg, Adolf Hitler](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-2008-0513-501%2C_K%C3%B6nigsberg%2C_Adolf_Hitler.jpg)
After
Adolf Hitler's rise to power
Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...
, opposition politicians were persecuted and newspapers banned.
Erich Koch, who headed the East Prussian Nazi party from 1928, led the district from 1932. The Otto-Braun-House was requisitioned to become the headquarters of the SA, which used the house to imprison and torture its opponents.
Walter Schütz, a communist member of the
Reichstag, was murdered here. This period was characterized by efforts to
collectivize the local agriculture and ruthlessness in dealing with his critics inside and outside the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
.
[Robert S. Wistrich, ''Who's who in Nazi Germany'', 2002, pp. 142-143.] He also had long-term plans for mass-scale industrialization of the largely agricultural province. These actions made him unpopular among the local peasants.
In 1932 the local paramilitary
SA had already started to terrorise their political opponents. On the night of 31 July 1932 there was a bomb attack on the headquarters of the
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
in Königsberg, the
Otto-Braun-House. The Communist politician
Gustav Sauf was killed; the executive editor of the Social Democratic newspaper ''"Königsberger Volkszeitung"'',
Otto Wyrgatsch; and the
German People's Party
The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...
politician
Max von Bahrfeldt
Max Ferdinand Bahrfeldt (), ennobled as von Bahrfeldt in 1913 (6 February 1856, Willmine, District of Templin, Uckermark – 11 April 1936, Halle an der Saale) was a royal Prussian General of the Infantry, a local historian, and a numismatist of ...
were all severely injured. Members of the
Reichsbanner were assaulted while the local Reichsbanner Chairman of
Lötzen,
Kurt Kotzan
Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor.
In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and i ...
, was murdered on 6 August 1932.
In the
March 1933 German federal election
Federal elections were held in Germany on 5 March 1933, after the Nazis lawfully acquired power pursuant to the terms of Weimar Constitution on 30 January 1933 and just six days after the Reichstag fire. Nazi stormtroopers had unleashed a widesp ...
, the last pre-war German elections, the local population of East Prussia voted overwhelmingly for the
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
.
Through publicly funded emergency relief programs concentrating on agricultural land-improvement projects and road construction, the "Erich Koch Plan" for East Prussia allegedly made the province free of
unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
: on 16 August 1933 Koch reported to
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
that unemployment had been banished entirely from the province, a feat that gained admiration throughout the
Reich
''Reich'' (; ) is a German language, German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emp ...
. In actuality, the Erich Koch Plan had been a staged propaganda event organized by
Walther Funk
Walther Funk (18 August 1890 – 31 May 1960) was a German economist and Nazi official who served as Reich Minister for Economic Affairs (1938–1945) and president of Reichsbank (1939–1945). During his incumbency, he oversaw the mobi ...
and the
Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
The Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (; RMVP), also known simply as the Ministry of Propaganda (), controlled the content of the press, literature, visual arts, film, theater, music and radio in Nazi Germany.
The ministry ...
to promote the Nazi Party's work creation policies, with East Prussia chosen because it already had relatively low unemployment due to its agrarian economy. Koch's industrialization plans provoked conflict with
Richard Walther Darré, who held the office of the Reich Peasant Leader (''Reichsbauernführer'') and Minister of Agriculture. Darré, a
neopaganist rural romantic, wanted to enforce his vision of an agricultural East Prussia. When his "Land" representatives challenged Koch's plans, Koch arrested them.
Richard Steigmann-Gall
Richard Steigmann-Gall (Born October 3, 1965) is an Associate Professor of History at Kent State University, and the former Director of the Jewish Studies Program from 2004 to 2010.
Education
He received his BA in history in 1989 and MA ...
, ''The Holy Reich - Nazi Conceptions of Christianity 1919-1945'', 2004, p. 102.
In 1938 the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
altered about one-third of the
toponyms
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
of the area, eliminating, Germanizing, or simplifying a number of
Old Prussian
Old Prussian was a Western Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to avoid con ...
, as well as those Polish or Lithuanian names originating from
colonists and
refugees
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. to Prussia during and after the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
. More than 1,500 places were ordered to be renamed by 16 July 1938 following a decree issued by
Gauleiter
A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...
and
Oberpräsident
The ''german: Oberpräsident, label=none'' (Supreme President) was the highest administrative official in the Prussian provinces.
History
The Oberpräsident of a Prussian province was the supreme representative of the Prussian crown, until its ...
Erich Koch and initiated by
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. Many who would not cooperate with the rulers of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
were sent to
concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
and held prisoner there until their death or liberation.
After the
1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania, the
Klaipėda region
The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...
was integrated again into East Prussia.
World War II
![Bundesarchiv Bild 137-065743, Ostpreußen, Ankunft von Umsiedlern aus Litauen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Bundesarchiv_Bild_137-065743%2C_Ostpreu%C3%9Fen%2C_Ankunft_von_Umsiedlern_aus_Litauen.jpg)
After the 1939
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
by Nazi Germany opening World War II, the borders of East Prussia were revised. Regierungsbezirk Westpreußen became part of
Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia
Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia (german: Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen) was an administrative division of Nazi Germany created on 8 October 1939 from annexed territory of the Free City of Danzig, the Greater Pomeranian Voivodship (Polish Corridor), ...
, while Regierungsbezirk Zichenau was added to East Prussia. Originally part of the Zichenau region, the Sudauen district in Sudovia was later transferred to the Gumbinnen region.
In 1939 East Prussia had 2.49 million inhabitants, 85% of them ethnic Germans, the others
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
in the south who, according to Polish estimates numbered in the interwar period around 300,000-350,000, the
Latvian speaking Kursenieki
The Kursenieki ( lv, kursenieki, kāpenieki, german: Kuren – 'Curonians'; lt, kuršiai; pl, Kuronowie pruscy – 'Prussian Curonians') are a nearly extinct Baltic ethnic group living along the Curonian Spit. "Kuršiai" refers only to inhabi ...
, and
Lietuvininkai
The Prussian Lithuanians, or Lietuvininkai (singular: ''Lietuvininkas'', plural: ''Lietuvininkai''), are Lithuanians, originally Lithuanian language speakers, who formerly inhabited a territory in northeastern East Prussia called Prussian Lithu ...
who spoke
Lithuanian in the northeast. Most German East Prussians, Masurians, Kursieniki, and Lietuvininkai were Lutheran, while the population of
Ermland was mainly Roman Catholic due to the history of its bishopric. The East Prussian Jewish Congregation declined from about 9,000 in 1933 to 3,000 in 1939, as most fled from Nazi rule.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Polish ethnic minorities of Catholic
Warmians
Warmians (also ''Warmi'') were a Prussian tribe that lived in Warmia ( pl, Warmia, la, Varmia, german: Ermland, lt, Varmė), a territory which now mostly forms part of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Poland, with a small northern portion l ...
and Lutheran
Masurians
The Masurians or Mazurs ( pl, Mazurzy; german: Masuren; Masurian: ''Mazurÿ''), historically also known as Prussian Masurians ( Polish: ''Mazurzy pruscy''), is an ethnographic group of Polish people, that originate from the region of Masuri ...
were persecuted by the
Nazi German
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
government, which wanted to erase all aspects of Polish culture and Polish language in
Warmia
Warmia ( pl, Warmia; Latin: ''Varmia'', ''Warmia''; ; Warmian: ''Warńija''; lt, Varmė; Old Prussian: ''Wārmi'') is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capital ...
and
Masuria[S. Achremczyk: ''Warmia'', Olsztyn 2000.][S. Achremczyk: ''Historia Warmii i Mazur'', Olsztyn 1997] The Jews who remained in East Prussia in 1942 were shipped to concentration camps, including
Theresienstadt
Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...
in occupied
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
,
Kaiserwald in occupied
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, and camps in
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
in occupied
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор ...
. Those who remained were later deported and killed in the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
.
In 1939 the
Regierungsbezirk Zichenau
''Regierungsbezirk Zichenau'' was a ''Regierungsbezirk'', or administrative region, of the Nazi German Province of East Prussia in 1939–45. The regional capital was Zichenau (Ciechanów). was
annexed by Germany and incorporated into East Prussia. Parts of it were transferred to other regions, e.g.
Suwałki Region
Suwałki Region ( pl, Suwalszczyzna ; lt, Suvalkų kraštas, Suvalkija, russian: cувалкщина, german: Sudauen) is a small region around the city of Suwałki (known in Lithuanian as ''Suvalkai'') in northeastern Poland near the border wit ...
to
Regierungsbezirk Gumbinnen and
Soldau to
Regierungsbezirk Allenstein. Despite
Nazi propaganda
The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...
presenting all of the regions annexed as possessing significant German populations that wanted reunification with Germany, the Reich's statistics of late 1939 show that only 31,000 out of 994,092 people in this territory were ethnic Germans.
Hitler's top-secret
Eastern front headquarters during the war, the ''
Wolf's Lair
The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II.
The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ostp ...
'', was located in East Prussia, near the town of
Rasternburg.
East Prussia was only slightly affected by the war until January 1945, when it was devastated during the
East Prussian Offensive. Most of its inhabitants became refugees in bitterly cold weather during the
Evacuation of East Prussia
The evacuation of East Prussia was the movement of German civilian population and military personnel from East Prussia between 20 January and March 1945, that was initially organized and carried out by state authorities but quickly turned into ...
.
Evacuation of East Prussia
![Probsteikirche](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Probsteikirche.jpg)
In 1944 the medieval city of
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
, which had never been severely damaged by warfare in its 700 years of existence,
was almost completely destroyed by two
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...
raids – the first on the night of 26/27 August 1944, with the second one three nights later, overnight on 29/30 August 1944.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
(''The Second World War'', Book XII) had erroneously believed it to be "a modernized heavily defended
fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
" and ordered its destruction.
Gauleiter
A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...
Erich Koch delayed the evacuation of the German civilian population until the
Eastern Front approached the East Prussian border in 1944. The population had been systematically misinformed by ''
Endsieg'' Nazi propaganda about the real state of military affairs. As a result, many civilians fleeing westward were overtaken by retreating
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
units and the rapidly advancing
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
.
Reports of Soviet atrocities in the
Nemmersdorf massacre
The Nemmersdorf massacre was a civilian massacre perpetrated by Red Army soldiers in the late stages of World War II. Nemmersdorf (present-day Mayakovskoye, Kaliningrad Oblast) was one of the first prewar ethnic German settlements to fall to ...
of October 1944 and organized
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
spread fear and desperation among the civilians. Thousands lost their lives during the sinkings (by Soviet submarine) of the evacuation ships ''
Wilhelm Gustloff
Wilhelm Gustloff (30 January 1895 – 4 February 1936) was the founder of the Swiss NSDAP/AO (the Nazi Party organisation for German citizens living outside Germany) at Davos. He remained its leader from 1932 until he was assassinated in 193 ...
'', the ''
Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...
'', and the ''
General von Steuben''. Königsberg surrendered on 9 April 1945, following the desperate four-day
Battle of Königsberg
The Battle of Königsberg, also known as the Königsberg offensive, was one of the last operations of the East Prussian offensive during World War II. In four days of urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussia ...
. An estimated 300,000 died either in war time bombing raids, in the battles to defend the province, or through mistreatment by the Red Army or from hunger, cold and disease.
However, most of the German inhabitants, which then consisted primarily of women, children and old men, did manage to escape the Red Army as part of the largest exodus of people in human history: "A population which had stood at 2.2 million in 1940 was reduced to 193,000 at the end of May 1945."
[Beevor, Antony, ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945'', chapters 1-8, Penguin Books (2002). ]
History after partition and annexation
Following
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's defeat in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in 1945, East Prussia was partitioned between Poland and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
according to the
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Pe ...
, pending a final peace conference with Germany. Since a peace conference never took place, the region was effectively ceded by Germany. Southern East Prussia was placed under Polish administration, while northern East Prussia was divided between the Soviet republics of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
(the
Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and admin ...
) and
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
(the constituent counties of the
Klaipėda Region
The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...
). The city of Königsberg was renamed
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
in 1946. Most of the German population of the province had left during the evacuation at the end of the war, but several hundreds of thousands died during the years 1944–46 and the remainder were subsequently
expelled.
Expulsion of Germans from East Prussia after World War II
Shortly after the end of the war in May 1945, Germans who had fled in early 1945 tried to return to their homes in East Prussia. An estimated number of 800,000 Germans were living in East Prussia during the summer of 1945. Many more were prevented from returning, and the German population of East Prussia was almost completely
expelled by the communist regimes. During the war and for some time thereafter 45 camps were established for about 200,000-250,000 forced labourers, the vast majority of whom were deported to the Soviet Union, including the
Gulag
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
camp system.
The largest camp with about 48,000 inmates was established at
Deutsch Eylau (Iława).
[ Orphaned children who were left behind in the zone occupied by the Soviet Union were referred to as ]Wolf children
is a 2012 Japanese anime drama film directed and co-written by Mamoru Hosoda. The second original feature film directed by Hosoda and the first work written by him, the film stars the voices of Aoi Miyazaki, Takao Osawa and Haru Kuroki. The st ...
.
File:Karte viertepolnischeteilung.png, An illustration of the changing borders in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
before, during, and after World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
(Map is written in German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
)
File:German territorial losses 1919 and 1945.svg, Changes in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
's borders as a result of both World Wars
A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...
, with the partition of East Prussia.
Southern East Prussia to Poland
Representatives of the Polish government officially took over the civilian administration of the southern part of East Prussia on 23 May 1945.[ Subsequently, Polish ]expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
s from Polish lands annexed by the Soviet Union as well as Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
and Lemkos
Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...
from southern Poland, expelled in Operation Vistula
Operation Vistula ( pl, Akcja Wisła; uk, Опера́ція «Ві́сла») was a codename for the 1947 forced resettlement of 150,000 Ukrainians (Boykos and Lemkos) from the south-eastern provinces of post-war Poland, to the Recovered Te ...
, were settled in the area, initially organised as the Masurian District, later replaced by the Olsztyn Voivodeship
Olsztyn Voivodeship () was an administrative division and unit of local government in Poland in the years 1945–75, and a new territorial division between 1975–1998, superseded by Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. Its capital city was Olsztyn.
...
in 1947, with a few counties incorporated into Białystok Voivodeship and to Gdańsk Voivodeship. The latter counted in 1950 689,000 inhabitants, 22.6% of them coming from areas annexed by the Soviet Union, 10% Ukrainians, and 18.5% of them pre-war inhabitants. It was dissolved in 1975 to form three smaller units: a much smaller homonymous Olsztyn Voivodeship, the bulk of Elbląg Voivodeship
Elbląg Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998, superseded by the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. Its capital city was Elbląg.
Major cities and towns ( ...
and a significant part of the Suwałki Voivodeship
Suwałki Voivodeship () was an administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998. In 1999 the Voidvodeship was divided in half and reassigned to two other Voivodeships – the eastern half to Podlaskie Voivodeship and the we ...
.
The remaining pre-war population was treated as Germanized Poles and a policy of re-Polonization
Polonization (or Polonisation; pl, polonizacja)In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэя ...
was pursued throughout the country Most of these " Autochthons" chose to emigrate to West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
from the 1950s through 1980s (between 1970 and 1988 55,227 persons from Warmia and Masuria moved to Western Germany). Local toponyms were Polonised by the Polish Commission for the Determination of Place Names
The Commission for the Determination of Place Names ( pl, Komisja Ustalania Nazw Miejscowości) was a commission of the Polish Department of Public Administration, founded in January 1946. Its mission was the establishment of toponyms for places, ...
.
Origin of the post-war population
During the Polish post-war census of December 1950, data about the pre-war places of residence of the inhabitants as of August 1939 was collected. In case of children born between September 1939 and December 1950, their origin was reported based on the pre-war places of residence of their mothers. Thanks to this data it is possible to reconstruct the pre-war geographical origin of the post-war population. The same area corresponding to pre-war southern parts of East Prussia (which became Polish in 1945) was inhabited in December 1950 by:
Over 80% of the 1950 inhabitants were new in the region, less than 20% had resided in the province already back in 1939 (so called autochthons, who had German citizenship before World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and were granted Polish citizenship after 1945). Over 20% of all inhabitants were Poles expelled from areas of Eastern Poland
Eastern Poland is a macroregion in Poland comprising the Lublin, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie, and Warmian-Masurian voivodeships.
The make-up of the distinct macroregion is based not only of geographical criteria, but also econo ...
annexed by the USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. The rest were mostly people from neighbouring areas located right next to East Prussia (almost 44% came from Masovia
Mazovia or Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...
, Sudovia, Podlachia
Podlachia, or Podlasie, ( pl, Podlasie, , be, Падляшша, translit=Padliašša, uk, Підляшшя, translit=Pidliashshia) is a historical region in the north-eastern part of Poland. Between 1513 and 1795 it was a voivodeship with the c ...
and pre-war Polish Pomerania) and southern Poland (≈16%).
Northern part to the Soviet Union
In April 1946, northern East Prussia became an official province of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
as the "''Kyonigsbergskaya Oblast''", with the Memel Territory
Memel, a name derived from the Couronian-Latvian ''memelis, mimelis, mēms'' for "mute, silent", may refer to:
*Memel, East Prussia, Germany, now Klaipėda, Lithuania
**Memelburg, ( Klaipėda Castle), the ''Ordensburg'' in Memel, a castle built in ...
becoming part of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...
. In June 1946 114,070 German and 41,029 Soviet citizens were registered in the Oblast, with an unknown number of disregarded unregistered persons. In July of that year, the historic city of Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
was renamed Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
to honour Mikhail Kalinin
Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (russian: link=no, Михаи́л Ива́нович Кали́нин ; 3 June 1946), known familiarly by Soviet citizens as "Kalinych", was a Soviet politician and Old Bolshevik revolutionary. He served as head of s ...
and the area named the Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and admin ...
. Between 24 August and 26 October 1948 21 transports with in total 42,094 Germans left the Oblast to the Soviet Occupation Zone
The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...
(which became East Germany). The last remaining Germans left in November 1949 (1,401 persons) and January 1950 (7 persons).
The Prussian Lithuanians also experienced the same fate.
A similar fate befell the Curonians
:''The Kursenieki are also sometimes known as Curonians.''
The Curonians or Kurs ( lv, kurši; lt, kuršiai; german: Kuren; non, Kúrir; orv, кърсь) were a Baltic tribe living on the shores of the Baltic Sea in what are now the western p ...
who lived in the area around the Curonian Lagoon
The Curonian Lagoon (or Bay, Gulf; russian: Куршский залив, lt, Kuršių marios, pl, Zalew Kuroński, german: Kurisches Haff, lv, Kuršu joma) is a freshwater lagoon separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit. Its surfac ...
. While many fled from the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
during the evacuation of East Prussia, Curonians that remained behind were subsequently expelled by the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. Only 219 lived along the Curonian Spit in 1955. Many had German names such as Fritz or Hans, a cause for anti-German discrimination. The Soviet authorities considered the Curonians fascists
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...
. Because of this discrimination, many immigrated to West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
in 1958, where the majority of Curonians now live.
After the expulsion of the German population ethnic Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
, Belarusians
, native_name_lang = be
, pop = 9.5–10 million
, image =
, caption =
, popplace = 7.99 million
, region1 =
, pop1 = 600,000–768,000
, region2 =
, pop2 ...
, and Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
were settled in the northern part. In the Soviet part of the region, a policy of eliminating all remnants of German history was pursued. All German place names were replaced by new Russian names. The exclave was a military zone, which was closed to foreigners; Soviet citizens could only enter with special permission. In 1967 the remnants of Königsberg Castle
The Königsberg Castle (german: Königsberger Schloss, russian: Кёнигсбергский замок, Konigsbergskiy zamok) was a castle in Königsberg, Germany (since 1946 Kaliningrad, Russia), and was one of the landmarks of the East Prussian ...
were demolished on the orders of Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...
to make way for a new " House of the Soviets".
Modern status
Although the 1945–1949 expulsion of Germans
Expulsion or expelled may refer to:
General
* Deportation
* Ejection (sports)
* Eviction
* Exile
* Expeller pressing
* Expulsion (education)
* Expulsion from the United States Congress
* Extradition
* Forced migration
* Ostracism
* Person ...
from the northern part of former East Prussia was often conducted in a violent and aggressive way by Soviet officials, the present Russian inhabitants of the Kaliningrad Oblast have much less animosity towards Germans. German names have been revived in commercial Russian trade and there is sometimes talk of reverting Kaliningrad's name to its historic name of Königsberg. The city centre of Kaliningrad was completely rebuilt, as Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
bombs in 1944 and the Soviet siege in 1945 had left it in nothing but ruins.
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in 1991, some German groups have tried to help settle the Volga Germans
The Volga Germans (german: Wolgadeutsche, ), russian: поволжские немцы, povolzhskiye nemtsy) are ethnic Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov ...
from eastern parts of European Russia
European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...
in the Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and admin ...
. This effort was only a small success, however, as most impoverished Volga Germans preferred to emigrate to the richer Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
, where they could become German citizens through the right of return.
The Polish part of the region region, divided in 1975 to form three units: the Olsztyn Voivodeship, the Elbląg Voivodeship
Elbląg Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998, superseded by the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. Its capital city was Elbląg.
Major cities and towns ( ...
and the Suwałki Voivodeship
Suwałki Voivodeship () was an administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998. In 1999 the Voidvodeship was divided in half and reassigned to two other Voivodeships – the eastern half to Podlaskie Voivodeship and the we ...
, has been reestablished as a single entity in 1999 under the name of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship or Warmia-Masuria Province or Warmia-Mazury Province (in pl, Województwo warmińsko-mazurskie, is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn. The voivodeship has an ar ...
, whose borders correspond closely to those of southern East Prussia. Since 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
, Poland and Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
have become European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
member states, and both the Polish part of the region as well as the Lithuanian Klaipeda Region, have thereafter become freely accessible and settlable for the Germans, in line with the free movement of people
Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights' ...
policy.
Demographics
Historical ethnic and religious structure
In year 1824, shortly before its merger
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
with West Prussia
The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kin ...
, the population of East Prussia was 1,080,000 people. Of that number, according to Karl Andree, ethnic Germans were slightly more than half, while 280,000 (≈26%) were ethnically Polish and 200,000 (≈19%) were ethnically Lithuanian. As of year 1819, there were also 20,000 strong ethnic Curonian and Latvian minorities as well as 2,400 Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, according to Georg Hassel. Similar numbers are given by August von Haxthausen
August Franz Ludwig Maria, Baron von Haxthausen-Abbenburg (February 3, 1792, in Bökendorf, Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn – December 31, 1866, in Hanover) was a German agricultural scientist, economist, lawyer, writer, and collector of folk song ...
in his 1839 book, with a breakdown by county. However, the majority of East Prussian Polish and Lithuanian inhabitants were Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
, not Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
like their ethnic kinsmen across the border in the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
. Only in Southern Warmia
Warmia ( pl, Warmia; Latin: ''Varmia'', ''Warmia''; ; Warmian: ''Warńija''; lt, Varmė; Old Prussian: ''Wārmi'') is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capital ...
(German: Ermland) Catholic Poles - so called Warmiak
Warmians are a Poles, Polish ethnic group from Warmia. Most of them are Roman Catholic and speak in Warmian subdialect of Polish language or German language.Łukasz Ruch: Moja i ich gwara', in: ''Variart'', March 2016. p. 4-5.
History
Betwee ...
s (not to be confused with predominantly Protestant Masurians) - comprised the majority of population, numbering 26,067 people (≈81%) in county Allenstein (Polish: Olsztyn
Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini''
* Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...
) in 1837. Another minority in 19th century East Prussia, were ethnically Russian Old Believers, also known as Philipponnen - their main town was Eckersdorf ( Wojnowo).
In year 1817, East Prussia had 796,204 Evangelical Christians
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...
, 120,123 Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, 864 Mennonites
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
and 2,389 Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
.
Ethnolinguistic composition by district
As of 1905, the province of East Prussia was divided into three government regions, known as ''Regierungsbezirke.'' These were the regions of Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
, Gumbinnen and Allenstein
Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini''
* Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...
.
Administration
The Prussian central government appointed for every province an ''Oberpräsident'' ("Upper President") carrying out central prerogatives on the provincial level and supervising the implementation of central policy on the lower levels of administration.
Since 1875, with the strengthening of self-rule, the urban and rural districts (''Kreise'') within each province (sometimes within each governorate
A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...
) formed a corporation with common tasks and assets (schools, traffic installations, hospitals, cultural institutions, jails etc.) called the Provinzialverband (provincial association). Initially the assemblies of the urban and rural districts elected representatives for the provincial diets (''Provinziallandtag
A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...
e''), which were thus indirectly elected. As of 1919 the provincial diets (or as to governorate diets, the so-called Kommunallandtage) were directly elected by the citizens of the provinces (or governorates, respectively). These parliaments legislated within the competences transferred to the provincial associations. The provincial diet of East Prussia elected a provincial executive body (government), the provincial committee (''Provinzialausschuss''), and a head of province, the ''Landeshauptmann
Landeshauptmann (if male) or Landeshauptfrau (if female) (, "state captain", plural ''Landeshauptleute'') is the chairman of a state government and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Tyrol an ...
'' ("Land Captain"; till the 1880s titled Landdirektor, land director).
Upper Presidents of East Prussia and Prussia
: 1765–1791: Johann Friedrich von Domhardt
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
, president of the '' Gumbinnen and Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
War and Demesnes Chambers''
: 1791–1808: Friedrich Leopold von Schrötter, president of the ''Gumbinnen and Königsberg War and Demesnes Chambers'', as of 1795 Minister for East and New East Prussia
New East Prussia (german: Neuostpreußen; pl, Prusy Nowowschodnie; lt, Naujieji Rytprūsiai) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1795 to 1807. It was created out of territory annexed in the Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian C ...
: 1808–1814: vacancy?
: 1814–1824: Hans Jakob von Auerswald, upper president of East Prussia
: 1824–1842: Heinrich Theodor von Schön, upper president of Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
, merged from East and West Prussia, since 1816 already upper president of West Prussia
: 1842–1848: Carl Wilhelm von Bötticher, upper president of Prussia
: 1848–1849: Rudolf von Auerswald
Rudolf Ludwig Cäsar von Auerswald (1 September 1795 – 15 January 1866) was a German official who served as Prime Minister of Prussia during the Revolution of 1848. Later, during the ministry of Charles Anthony, Prince of Hohenzollern, he le ...
, upper president of Prussia
: 1849–1850: Eduard Heinrich von Flottwell (1786–1865), upper president of Prussia
: 1850–1868: Franz August Eichmann, upper president of Prussia
: 1868–1869: vacancy
: 1869–1882: Carl Wilhelm Heinrich Georg von Horn, upper president of Prussia, after 1878 of East Prussia
: 1882–1891: Albrecht Heinrich von Schlieckmann, upper president of East Prussia
: 1891–1895: Count Udo zu Stolberg-Wernigerode
Udo is a masculine given name. It may refer to:
People Medieval era
*Udo of Neustria, 9th century nobleman
*Udo (Obotrite prince) (died 1028)
*Udo (archbishop of Trier) (c. 1030 – 1078)
* Lothair Udo II, Margrave of the Nordmark (c. 1025 – ...
, upper president of East Prussia
: 1895–1901: Count Wilhelm von Bismarck-Schönhausen
Wilhelm may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm"
* Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
Other uses
* Moun ...
, upper president of East Prussia
: 1901–1903: Hugo Samuel von Richthofen
Hugo or HUGO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese
* Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback
* Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...
, upper president of East Prussia
: 1903–1907: Count Friedrich von Moltke Friedrich may refer to:
Names
* Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich''
* Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich''
Other
* Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Year ...
, upper president of East Prussia
: 1907–1914: Ludwig von Windheim, upper president of East Prussia
: 1914–1916: Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe
Max Johann Otto Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe, usually known as Adolf von Batocki-Friebe (31 July 1868 – 22 May 1944), was a German noble, lawyer and politician, and belonged to a noble Lithuanian family.
Batocki-Friebe was born at G ...
, upper president of East Prussia
: 1916–1918: Friedrich von Berg, upper president of East Prussia
: 1918–1919: Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe, upper president of East Prussia
: 1919–1920: August Winnig (SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been t ...
), upper president of East Prussia
: 1920–1932: Ernst Siehr
Ernst Siehr (5 October 1869, Heinrichswalde, East Prussia – 14 November 1945, Bergen auf Rügen) was a German lawyer and politician. He served in the imperial Reichstag from 1912 to 1918 as a member of the Progressive People's Party. He rep ...
( DDP), upper president of East Prussia
: 1932–1933: Wilhelm Kutscher (DNVP
The German National People's Party (german: Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) was a national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Wei ...
), upper president of East Prussia
: 1933–1945: Erich Koch (NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
), upper president of East Prussia
Elections to the provincial diets
, -style="background:#E9E9E9;"
!colspan="2" align="left", Parties
!%
1921
!+/-
1921
!Seats
1921
!+/-
1921
!%
1925
!+/-
1925
!Seats
1925
!+/-
1925
!%
1929
!+/-
1929
!Seats
1929
!+/-
1929
!%
1933
!+/-
1933
!Seats
1933
!+/-
1933
, -
, bgcolor="red",
, align="left", SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been t ...
, 24.1
,
, 20
,
, rowspan="1", 24.8
, rowspan="2", +0.7 (-)
, rowspan="2", 22
, rowspan="2", +2 (-4)
, rowspan="2", 26
, rowspan="2", +1.2
, rowspan="2", 23
, rowspan="2", +1
, rowspan="2", 13.6
, rowspan="2", -12.4
, rowspan="2", 12
, rowspan="2", -11
, -
, bgcolor="#ff2222",
, align="left", USPD
The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. The organization was establish ...
,
,
, 6
, +6
, merged
in SPD
, -
, bgcolor="#63B8ff",
, align="left", DNVP
The German National People's Party (german: Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) was a national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Wei ...
[In 1933 the DNVP ran under the list KFSWR, also including '']Der Stahlhelm
' (German, 'The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers'), commonly known as ''Der Stahlhelm'' ('The Steel Helmet'), was a German First World War veteran's organisation existing from 1918 to 1935. It was part of the "Black Reichswehr" and ...
'' and the LB.
, 13.4
, +13.4
, 11
, +11
, rowspan="2", 45.6
, rowspan="2",
, rowspan="2", 40
, rowspan="2", (+4)
, 31.2
, (+17.8)
, 27
, (+16)
, 12.7
, -18.5
, 11
, -16
, -
, bgcolor="blue",
, align="left", DVP DVP may refer to:
* ''decessit vita patris'', "died in the lifetime of his father", term used by genealogists to denote a child who pre-deceased his or her father and did not live long enough to inherit the father's title or estate.
* Delivery versu ...
, 3.6
, +3.6
, 4
, +4
, 8.7
, (+5.1)
, 8
, (+4)
,
,
, 0
, -8
, -
, bgcolor="turquoise",
, align="left", BWA
,
,
, 16
, +16
,
,
, 0
, -16
,
,
, 0
, 0
,
,
, 0
, 0
, -
, bgcolor="#0000CD",
, align="left", Zentrum
, 9.3
,
, 8
, +8
, 6.9
, -2.4
, 6
, -2
, 8.1
, +1.2
, 7
, +1
, 7
, -1.1
, 7
, 0
, -
, bgcolor="#8B0000",
, align="left", KPD
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
, 7
, +7
, 6
, +6
, 6.9
, -0.1
, 6
, 0
, 8.6
, +1.7
, 8
, +2
, 6
, -2.6
, 6
, -2
, -
, bgcolor="black",
, align="left", BWW
,
,
, 6
, +6
,
,
, 0
, -6
,
,
, 0
, 0
,
,
, 0
, 0
, -
!colspan="2" align="left", Parties
!%
1921
!+/-
1921
!Seats
1921
!+/-
1921
!%
1925
!+/-
1925
!Seats
1925
!+/-
1925
!%
1929
!+/-
1929
!Seats
1929
!+/-
1929
!%
1933
!+/-
1933
!Seats
1933
!+/-
1933
, -
, bgcolor="yellow",
, align="left", DDP
, 5.7
, +5.7
, 6
, +6
, 3.6
, -2.1
, 3
, -3
, 2.8
, -0.8
, 3
, 0
,
,
, 0
, -3
, -
, bgcolor="brown",
, align="left", NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
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, align="left", LL/ WP[In 1921 the Landliste (LL, Rural List) gained two seats, in 1926 the LL formed a united list with the WP and the East Prussian Farmers' Federation (OBB), in 1929 they all ran as part of the WP.]
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, align="left", Poles' Party
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!colspan="2" align="left", Total
1921
!align="center" colspan="2",
!align="center" colspan="1", 85
!
!colspan="2" align="left", Total
1925
!align="center" colspan="1", 87
!
!colspan="2" align="left", Total
1929
!align="center" colspan="1", 87
!
!colspan="2" align="left", Total
1933
!align="center" colspan="1", 87
!
Land Directors and Land Captains of East Prussia
: 1876–1878: Heinrich Edwin Rickert ( NLP, later DFP), titled land director
: 1878–1884: Kurt von Saucken-Tarputschen
Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor.
In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and i ...
( Fortschritt, later DFP), titled land director
: 1884–1888: Alfred von Gramatzki ( DKP), titled land director
: 1888–1896: Klemens von Stockhausen
Klemens is a masculine given name derived from Clemens. It may refer to the following people:
* Klemens of Brzeźnica (died 1241), Polish nobleman, Voivode of Opole and Castellan of Kraków
* Klemens Janicki (1516–1543), Polish poet
* Klemens vo ...
, titled land director
: 1896–1909: Rudolf von Brandt, titled land captain
: 1909–1916: Friedrich von Berg, titled land captain
: 1916–1928: Manfred Graf von Brünneck-Bellschwitz, titled land captain
: 1928–1936: Paul Blunk
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
* Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
, titled land captain
: 1936–1941: Helmuth von Wedelstädt (NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
), titled land captain
: 1941–1945: vacancy
:: 1941–1945: Reinhard Bezzenberger Reinhard is a German, Austrian, Danish, and to a lesser extent Norwegian surname (from Germanic ''ragin'', counsel, and ''hart'', strong), and a spelling variant of Reinhardt (surname), Reinhardt.
Persons with the given name
*Reinhard of Blankenbur ...
, first land councillor, per pro
Cities and towns
See also
* Drang nach Osten
(; 'Drive to the East',Ulrich Best''Transgression as a Rule: German–Polish cross-border cooperation, border discourse and EU-enlargement'' 2008, p. 58, , Edmund Jan Osmańczyk, Anthony Mango, ''Encyclopedia of the United Nations and Interna ...
* Landsmannschaft Ostpreußen
The Landsmannschaft Ostpreußen ("Homeland Association of East Prussia") is a non-profit organization for Germans who were evacuated or expelled from East Prussia during World War II and its aftermath. It was formed on 3 October 1948 by East P ...
* East Prussian Regional Museum
The East Prussian Regional Museum () in Lüneburg, Lower Saxony in Germany, was established 1987 on the basis of the East Prussian Hunting Museum () created by forester Hans Loeffke. It documents and commemorates the history, art and culture, but ...
* Ostsiedlung
(, literally "East-settling") is the term for the Early Medieval and High Medieval migration-period when ethnic Germans moved into the territories in the eastern part of Francia, East Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire (that Germans had al ...
Explanatory notes
Citations
General bibliography
; Publications in English
* Baedeker
Verlag Karl Baedeker, founded by Karl Baedeker on July 1, 1827, is a German publisher and pioneer in the business of worldwide travel guides. The guides, often referred to simply as " Baedekers" (a term sometimes used to refer to similar works fro ...
, Karl, ''Northern Germany'', 14th revised edition, London, 1904.
* (on the years 1944/45)
* Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, " Nemesis at Potsdam". London, 1977. .
*Alfred-Maurice de Zayas
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas (born 31 May 1947) is a Cuban-born American lawyer and writer, active in the field of human rights and international law. From 1 May 2012 to 30 April 2018, he served as the first UN Independent Expert on the Promotion o ...
, ''A Terrible Revenge: The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans, 1944-1950'', 1994,
* Carsten, F. L. "East Prussia". ''History'' 33#119 (1948), pp. 241–246. . Historiography of medieval and early modern period.
* Dickie, Reverend J.F., with E.Compton, ''Germany'', A & C Black
A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels.
History
The firm was founded in 18 ...
, London, 1912.
* Douglas, R.M.: Orderly and Humane. The Expulsion of the Germans after the Second World War. Yale University Press, 2012. .
* von Treitschke, Heinrich, ''History of Germany'' - vol.1: ''The Wars of Emancipation'', (translated by E & C Paul), Allen & Unwin
George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...
, London, 1915.
* Powell, E. Alexander, ''Embattled Borders'', London, 1928.
* Prausser, Steffen and Rees, Arfon: The Expulsion of the "German" Communities from Eastern Europe at the End of the Second World War. Florence, Italy, European University Institute, 2004.
* Naimark, Norman: Fires of Hatred. Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2001.
* Steed, Henry Wickham, ''Vital Peace - A Study of Risks'', Constable & Co., London, 1936.
* Newman, Bernard, ''Danger Spots of Europe'', London, 1938.
* Wieck, Michael: ''A Childhood Under Hitler and Stalin: Memoirs of a "Certified Jew"'', University of Wisconsin Press, 2003, .
* Woodward, E.L., Butler, Rohan; Medlicott, W.N., Dakin, Douglas, & Lambert, M.E., et al. (editors), ''Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939'', Three Series, Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO
The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...
), London, numerous volumes published over 25 years. Cover the Versailles Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
including all secret meetings; plebiscites and all other problems in Europe; includes all diplomatic correspondence from all states.
* Previté-Orton, C.W., Professor, ''The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History'', Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
, 1952 (2 volumes).
* Balfour, Michael, and John Mair, ''Four-Power Control in Germany and Austria 1945-1946'', Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1956.
* Kopelev, Lev, ''To Be Preserved Forever'', ("Хранить вечно"), 1976.
* Koch, H.W., Professor, ''A History of Prussia'', Longman
Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC.
Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...
, London, 1978/1984, (P/B),
* Koch, H.W., Professor, ''A Constitutional History of Germany in the 19th and 20th Centuries'', Longman
Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC.
Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...
, London, 1984, (P/B),
* MacDonogh, Giles, ''Prussia'', Sinclair-Stevenson
Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd is a British publisher founded in 1989 by Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson.
Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson became an editor at Hamish Hamilton in 1961. Thirteen years later in 1974 he became managing director, establishing ...
, London, 1994,
* Nitsch, Gunter, ''Weeds Like Us'', AuthorHouse, 2006,
Danny, Isabel (2009). ''The Fall of Hitler's Fortress City: The Battle for Königsberg, 1945''. Casemate Publisher. ISBN
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.
An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and ...
978-1935149200
; Publications in German
* B. Schumacher: ''Geschichte Ost- und Westpreussens'', Würzburg 1959
* Boockmann, Hartmut: ''Ostpreußen und Westpreußen'' (= Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas). Siedler, Berlin 1992,
* Buxa, Werner and Hans-Ulrich Stamm: ''Bilder aus Ostpreußen''
* Dönhoff, Marion Gräfin v. :''Namen die keiner mehr nennt - Ostpreußen, Menschen und Geschichte''
* Dönhoff, Marion Gräfin v.: ''Kindheit in Ostpreussen''
* Falk, Lucy: ''Ich Blieb in Königsberg. Tagebuchblätter aus dunklen Nachkriegsjahren''
* Kibelka, Ruth: ''Ostpreußens Schicksaljahre, 1945-1948''
*
* Nitsch, Gunter: "Eine lange Flucht aus Ostpreußen", Ellert & Richter Verlag, 2011,
* Wieck, Michael: ''Zeugnis vom Untergang Königsbergs: Ein "Geltungsjude" berichtet,'' Heidelberger Verlaganstalt, 1990, 1993, .
; Publications in French
* Pierre Benoît, ''Axelle''
* Georges Blond
Georges Blond (''Jean-Marie Hoedick'', 11 July 1906 in Marseille – 16 March 1989 in Paris), was a French writer. A prolific writer of mostly history but also other topics including fiction, Blond was also involved in far right political activity. ...
, ''L'Agonie de l'Allemagne''
* Michel Tournier
Michel Tournier (; 19 December 1924 − 18 January 2016) was a French writer. He won awards such as the ''Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française'' in 1967 for '' Friday, or, The Other Island'' and the Prix Goncourt for '' The Erl-King'' i ...
, ''Le Roi des aulnes''
; Publications in Polish
*
*
*
*
External links
Pictures Of East Prussia
Large archive
Brandenburg Prince-Electors co-inheritors 1568, co-regent 1577
Extensive East & West Prussian Historical Materials
Ostpreußen.net
Ostpreußen Info - East Prussia Information
East- and West Prussia in Photos
''Spuren der Vergangenheit / Следы Пρошлого'' (Traces of the past)
This site by W.A. Milowskij, a Kaliningrad resident, contains hundreds of interesting photos, often with text explanations, of architectural and infrastructural artifacts of the territory's long German past.
*
Britannica 2007 article
An oral history project, documenting the German history of East Prussia with memories and reports by contemporary witnesses
East & West Prussia Map Collection
Historical borders of East Prussia
{{Authority control
Provinces of Prussia
1773 establishments in Prussia
Former exclaves
Kingdom of Prussia
Regions of Europe
Historical regions
Partition (politics)
1945 disestablishments in Germany
Former eastern territories of Germany