The Netze District or District of the Netze (german: link=no, Netzedistrikt or '; pl, Obwód Nadnotecki) was a territory in 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''. Re ...

from 1772 until 1807. It included the urban centers of

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

(''Bromberg''), Inowrocław (''Inowraclaw''), Piła (''Schneidemühl'') and Wałcz (''Deutsch Krone'') and was given its name for the Noteć River (german: link=no, Netze) that traversed it. Beside Royal Prussia, a land of the Polish Crown since 1466, King

Frederick II of Prussia 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 ...

also seized the adjacent lands of the ''

Prowincja Province was the largest territorial subdivision in medieval and Renaissance-era Poland, and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The term designated each of the two largest constituents of the state: depending on the period, includin ...

'' of

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...

to the south from 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 the First Partition of Poland of 1772. At first Royal Prussia, i.e. the former Pomeranian,

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 a ...

and Chełmno voivodeships, but with the exception of the former Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, was organized as the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

. On the other hand, the adjacent annexed areas of the Greater Polish

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

and

Gniezno Voivodeship Gniezno Voivodeship (Polish: ''Województwo Gnieźnieńskie'', Latin: ''Palatinatus Gnesnensis'') was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland for a short time from 1768, when it was cut from the Kalisz Voivodeship, to the ...

s, as well as of the Kuyavian lands of western

Inowrocław Voivodeship Inowrocław Voivodeship ( pl, województwo inowrocławskie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from the 14th century to the First Partition of Poland in 1772. Together with the neighbouring Brześć Kujawski Voiv ...

along the Noteć (''Netze'') formed the separate Netze District under governor Franz Balthasar Schönberg von Brenkenhoff. Von Brenkenhoff however soon was accused of the waste of public funds in the course of the construction of the

Bydgoszcz Canal , original_owner = , engineer = Franz von Brenkenhoff , date_began = 1773 , date_use = 14 June 1774 , date_completed = 1775 , date_extended = 1904 , date_closed = , date_restored = , len_ft = , len_in = , ...

, and from 1775 on the Netze District was administrated with West Prussia. With the 1793 Second Partition of Poland, the remainder of the Greater Polish province was annexed by Prussia and formed the new province of South Prussia. After the Prussian defeat in 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 ...

and the Greater Poland Uprising, large parts of the southern Netze District according to the 1807 Treaties of Tilsit fell to the

Bydgoszcz Department Bydgoszcz Department (Polish: Departament bydgoski) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Polish Duchy of Warsaw in years 1806–1815. Its capital city was Bydgoszcz. Following the Decree of 19 December 1807,See the Polis ...

of the Duchy of Warsaw. The remaining northwestern territory around Wałcz and Kamień was incorporated into the West Prussian province. At the

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 B ...

in 1815, the demarcation line was confirmed as the northern border of the newly established Grand Duchy of Posen. The southern territories of the former Netze District were administered within the Bromberg Region (Polish: ''Rejencja''), while the northwestern part belonged to the West Prussian of Marienwerder Region (''Kwidzyn'').

External links

Map of Poznań area in 1789
showing Netze District
Map of Central Europe in 1786
showing Netze District {{Authority control Subdivisions of Prussia Former administrative regions of Greater Poland Geographic history of Poland States and territories established in 1772 1772 establishments in Prussia

See also

External links