Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-P017317, Ostpreußen, Masurisches Bauernhaus

The Masurians or Mazurs ( pl, Mazurzy; german: Masuren; Masurian: ''Mazurÿ''), historically also known as Prussian Masurians (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

: ''Mazurzy pruscy''), is an

ethnographic group An ethnographic group is a group that has cultural traits that make it stand out from the larger ethnic group it is a part of. In other words, members of an ethnographic group will also consider themselves to be members of a larger ethnic group, bo ...

Polish people 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 Cen ...

, that originate from the region of

Masuria Masuria (, german: Masuren, Masurian: ''Mazurÿ'') is a ethnographic and geographic region in northern and northeastern Poland, known for its 2,000 lakes. Masuria occupies much of the Masurian Lake District. Administratively, it is part of the ...

, within 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 are ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. They number around 5,000–15,000 people. In the 2011 Polish census, 1,376 individuals declared themselves to be Masurian as either a first or a secondary identification. 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 its post-war expulsions, Masurians used to be a more numerous ethnic group found in the southern parts of

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

for centuries following the 16th century

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 ...

. Today, most Masurians live in what is now

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 ...

and elsewhere. They are descended from

Masovians Masovians, also spelled as Mazovians, and historically known as Masurians, is an ethnographic group of Polish people that originate from the region of Masovia, located mostly within borders of the Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. They speak the Masov ...

( pl, Mazowszanie; german: Masowier), who were

settlers from

Mazovia 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 ...

. These settlers moved to 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 Prussia (region), region of P ...

during and after the

. They spoke the

Masurian dialect The Masurian ethnolect (Masurian: ''mazurská gádkä''; pl, mazurski; german: Masurisch), according to some linguists, is a dialect group of the Polish language; others consider Masurian to be a separate language, spoken by the Masurian people ...

. Since the middle 19th century,

High German The High German dialects (german: hochdeutsche Mundarten), or simply High German (); not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called ''High German'', comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Benrath and ...

was increasingly used among Masurians as opposed to

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

used by most of East Prussia's German population. Many Masurians were often

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

in German and Polish languages. In the 19th century, the

region of

was named after the Masurians. Like most of the East Prussian population, they favored

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and adopted

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 ...

in 1525 when

Albert, Duke of Prussia Albert of Prussia (german: Albrecht von Preussen; 17 May 149020 March 1568) was a German prince who was the 37th Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, who after converting to Lutheranism, became the first r ...

secularized the duchy and converted.

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Warmiaks Warmians are a 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 Between the ...

and

were not affected, as they inhabited parts that formally belonged to 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 exist ...

. After

, many Masurians were classified as

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

and therefore mostly expelled along with them or emigrated after 1956 from what was now Poland to

post-war Germany In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

. Although most of them left for the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

, some also ended up in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. Conclusion of the war and ensuing resettlements saw an ethnic conflict between leaving Masurians and incoming

Kurpie Kurpie () is one of a number of ethnic regions in Poland, noted for its unique traditional customs, such as its own types of traditional costume, traditional dance and distinctive type of architecture and livelihoods. Kurpie is also the name of t ...

mainly on religious (Protestant–Catholic) grounds.

History

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the inhabitants of the

Duchy of Masovia Duchy of Masovia was a district principality and a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Poland, existing during the Middle Ages. The state was centered in Mazovia in the northeastern Kingdom of Poland, and during its existence, its capital was located in ...

were called ''Mazur(z)y'' in Polish. Between the 14th and 17th centuries, Polish settlers from northern Masovia moved to the southern territories 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 Centr ...

(these lands had previously belonged to 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 originati ...

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 in ...

, whom 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 on ...

had conquered in the 13th and 14th centuries). The northern part of this state was soon settled by settlers from Germany and thus became Germanised. On the other hand, Protestants coming from the

, which was independent until 1526, partially Polonised a southern part of the

, later

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 ...

. Only in Allenstein, now

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. ...

, Catholics remained, because it belonged to the Prince-Bishopric of Ermland or

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 capitals ...

Because of the influx of Masovians into the southern lakeland, the area started to be known as "

" from the 18th century. During the

the Masurians, like most inhabitants of Ducal Prussia, became

Lutheran 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 th ...

Protestant 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 ...

, while the neighboring Masovians remained

. In 1525, the

, a Polish fief until 1657, was founded from the secularized order's territory and became the first ever officially Protestant state. The small minority of Protestant Masovians in southern Catholic Masovia inside Poland emigrated later to Prussian Masuria. Masuria became part of the

at the Kingdom's founding in 1701, and part of the Prussian-led

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 ...

at the Empire's founding in 1871. Masurians referred to themselves in the 19th century as "Polish Prussians" or as "Staroprusaki" (Old Prussians). Masurians showed considerable support for the Polish uprising in 1831, and maintained many contacts with Russian-held areas of Poland beyond the border of Prussia, the areas being connected by common culture and language; before the uprising people visited each other's country fairs and much trade took place, with smuggling also widespread. Some early writers about Masurians – like Max Toeppen – postulated them as mediators between German and Slav cultures. During the 1840s, the folklorist

Gustaw Gizewiusz Gustaw Herman Marcin Gizewiusz, or Gustav Gisevius (May 21, 1810 – May 7, 1848) was a Polish political figure, folklorist, and translator. He was married to a Mazur Polish woman, who encouraged him to become a political figure. He was born i ...

(Gustav Gisevius) collected Masurian folk songs which were later included in

Oskar Kolberg Henryk Oskar Kolberg (22 February 1814 – 3 June 1890) was a Polish ethnographer, folklorist, and composer active during the foreign Partitions of Poland. According to Andrzej Chwalba or Henryk Samsonowicz, Polish national activists and Masurians already were engaged in cooperation in 1848 when Poles from Pomerania supported Masurian attempts to elect their representative Gustaw Gizewiusz who defended the use of Polish language and traditions. For Piotr Wandycz the events of 1848 led to Polish national awakening in Masuria. By contrast, Andreas Kossert writes that Polish interest in Masuria was inspired by a single poem published in 1872, "O Mazurach" by

Wojciech Kętrzyński Wojciech Kętrzyński (born Adalbert von Winkler; 11 July 1838 – 15 January 1918), was a Polish historian and the director of the Ossolineum Library in Lemberg, then the capital of Galicia, Austrian Empire. He focused on Polish history at a ...

and that the unsuccessful attempts to create a Polish national spirit in Masuria were financed by Polish Nationalists from Posen (Poznan), Lemberg (Lviv) and Warsaw. Beginning in the 1870s,

Imperial German ', literally translated "Germans of the ", is an archaic term for those ethnic Germans who resided within the German state that was founded in 1871. In contemporary usage, it referred to German citizens, the word signifying people from the Germ ...

officials restricted the usage of languages other than German in Prussia's eastern provinces. The German authorities undertook several measures to Germanise the Masurians or to separate them culturally from neighboring Poles by creating a separate identity. After 1871 Masurians who expressed sympathy for Poland were deemed "national traitors" by German nationalists (this increased especially after 1918). According to Wojciech Wrzesinki, Masurians did not receive any assistance or help from Polish movements at the time. According to Stefan Berger, after 1871 the Masurians in the German Empire were seen in a view that while acknowledging their "objective" Polishness (in terms of culture and language) they felt "subjectively" German and thus should be tightly integrated into the German nation-state; to Berger this argument went directly against the German nationalist demands in Alsace where Alsacians were declared German despite their "subjective" choice. Berger concludes that such the arguments of German nationalists were simply aimed at gathering as much territory as possible into the German Reich.

Population size

Mother tongue of the inhabitants of

, by county, during the first half of the 19th century:

Masurians in the twentieth century

Before World War I many Masurians emigrated to 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 ...

, especially to

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...

. Here, Masurians were not distinguished apart from the Poles and both groups were seen as inferior to Germans, culturally or even racially. Despite those official efforts, German scholars usually considered Masurians as a group of Poles. In all German geographical atlases published at the beginning of the 20th century, the southern part of East Prussia was marked as an ethnically Polish area, with the number of Poles estimated at 300,000.Piotr Eberhardt, Jan Owsinski, ''Ethnic groups and population changes in 20th-century Central-Eastern Europe: history, data, analysis'', M.E. Sharpe, 2003, p. 166,
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There was resistance among the Masurians towards Germanization efforts, the so-called Gromadki movement was formed which supported use of Polish language and came into conflict with German authorities; while most of its members viewed themselves as loyal to the Prussian state, some of them joined the Pro-Polish faction of Masurians. In general, popular resistance against linguistic Germanisation cannot be easily equated with anti-German sentiment or a strong attachment to the Polish national movement. Most of Masuria's small Polish-speaking intelligentsia remained decisively pro-Prussian, often adhering to an older, multi-ethnic model of Prussian identity, centred on loyalty to their king, not so much on the German language. This ethnically, but not nationally Polish identity was a repeated source of consternation for Polish national activists, and decidedly pro-Polish political parties and press never gained widespread influence among the general populace. Richard Blanke summarised this long-standing attachment, going back to the late Middle Ages, as "Masurians became Prussian, in other words, before the Bretons (not to mention the Alsatians) became French." The Masurians evinced strong support for Germany during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1920, the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

supervised 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 ...

– with British, French and Italian troops stationed in Masuria – to determine the new border between the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

and German

. The plebiscite was organized by the local German authorities. Polish ethnographer Adam Chętnik stated that the German authorities performed abuses and falsifications during the plebiscite, and Stefan Berger writes that the Masurians were subjected to huge psychological pressure and physical violence by German side to vote for Germany. Kossert admits irregularities during the referendum, but asserts that in general, its results truthfully reflected the overwhelmingly pro-German sentiment in southern East Prussia. In Masuria proper the vast majority (99.32%) opted to remain in

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 ...

. Attempts to create schools teaching Polish in interwar Germany were met with terror and violence. The time of the liberal Weimar republic saw a strong trend of conversion from the Polish language to the German language among the Masurians. Support for the

Nazi Party 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 ...

was high in Masuria, especially in elections in 1932 and 1933.Clark, p. 640. Nazis used the

for their political rallies during the campaigning. The government 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 ...

changed the names of several Masurian towns and villages from their original Slavic or Baltic Prussian names to new German names in 1938. During World War II the Nazis persecuted and killed Polish speakers in Masuria and imprisoned Polish teachers as well as children who learned Polish. The Nazis believed that in future, the Masurians as a separate non-German entity would disappear, while those who would cling to their "foreignness", as one Nazi report mentioned, would be deported. Poles and Jews were considered by Nazis to be "untermenschen", subject to slavery and extermination, and Nazi authorities murdered Polish activists in Masuria. Those who were not killed were arrested and sent to concentration camps. In 1943, "Związek Mazurski" was reactivated secretly by Masurian activists of the

Polish Underground State The Polish Underground State ( pl, Polskie Państwo Podziemne, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Gover ...

in Warsaw and led by Karol Małłek. Związek Mazurski opposed Nazi Germany and asked Polish authorities during the war to liquidate German property after victory over Nazi Germany to help in agricultural reform and settlement of Masurian population, Masurians opposed to Nazi Germany requested to remove German heritage sites "regardless of their cultural value". Additionally a Masurian Institute was founded by Masurian activists in Radość near Warsaw in 1943.O nas
Ośrodek Badań Naukowych imienia Wojciecha Kętrzyńskiego w Olsztynie Andreas Kossert regards these claims as a presumption completely disregarding the actual conditions of the Masurian people. Along with the majority of ethnic German East Prussians, many Masurians

fled ''Fled'' is a 1996 American buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Hooks. It stars Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin as two prisoners chained together who flee during an escape attempt gone bad. Plot An interrogator prepares a man to ...

to western Germany as the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 ...

approached East Prussia in 1945 in the final European campaigns of

. The post-war

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 ...

placed Masuria – and the rest of southern

– under Polish administration. Many Masurians who were classified as Germans were expelled with military force. After 1956, many who had remained in Poland emigrated 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 ...

. As of 2003, approximately 5,000 Masurians still lived in the area, many of them as members of the German minority. Speculations about the reasons of this emigration vary, from the economic situation and the undemocratic – communist – system in Poland to the shrinking prospect of a return of Masuria to Germany. ''Mazur'' remains the 14th most common

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

, with almost 67,000 people bearing the name. According to ethnographer

Adam Chętnik Adam Chętnik (; born December 20, 1885, in Nowogród, died May 29, 1967, in Warsaw) was a Polish ethnographer who studied the Kurpie. He is the author of several books on the Kurpie residing in Puszcza Zielona. In 1927 he founded Skansen Kurpiowsk ...

, the Masurians were most closely related to the

branch of the Poles. A group of Masurians migrated south and became one of the main components of the

Lasowiacy Lasovians are a subethnic group of the Polish nation, who reside in Lesser Poland, at the confluence of the Vistula and the San rivers, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, southeastern Poland. They are descended from various ethnic groups, which settled ...

, who live in the northern part of the

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province (in pl, Województwo podkarpackie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshall, it is ...

. ;Notes

Notable Masurians

(1810–1848), pastor *

Lothar Gall Lothar Gall (born 3 December 1936 in Lötzen, East Prussia, present day Poland) is a German historian known as "one of German liberalism's primary historians". He was professor of history at Goethe University Frankfurt from 1975 until his reti ...

(born 1936), historian *

Ferdinand Gregorovius Ferdinand Gregorovius (19 January 1821, Neidenburg, East Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia – 1 May 1891, Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria) was a German historian who specialized in the medieval history of Rome. Biography Gregorovius was the son of Neide ...

(1821–1891), historian *

Georg Andreas Helwing Georg Andreas Helwing ( pl, Jerzy Andrzej Helwing) (14 December 1666 – 3 January 1748) was a botanist and Lutheran pastor. Helwing was born in Angerburg (Węgorzewo) in Brandenburg-Prussia's Duchy of Prussia. He became a "remote member" of t ...

(1666–1748), botanist *

Paul Hensel Paul Hugo Wilhelm Hensel (17 May 1860, Groß-Barthen near Königsberg – 11 November 1930, Erlangen) was a German philosopher. Biography Hensel was born in Groß-Barten near Königsberg, Prussia. He was the son of the landowner and entreprene ...

(1867–1944), Lutheran theologian and politician *

(1838–1918), historian *

Walter Kollo Walter Kollo (28 January 1878 – 30 September 1940) was a German composer of operettas, Possen mit Gesang, and Singspiele as well as popular songs. He was also a conductor and a music publisher. Kollo was born in Neidenburg, East Prussia. ...

(1878–1940), composer *

Krystyn Lach-Szyrma Krystyn Lach Szyrma (17 December 1790, Wojnasy; 21 April 1866, Devonport, Devon) was a professor of philosophy at Warsaw University. He was also a writer, journalist, translator and political activist. Life Szyrma was professor of philosophy at ...

(1790–1866), professor of philosophy *

Udo Lattek Udo Lattek (16 January 1935 – 31 January 2015) was a German professional football player and coach. Lattek is one of the most successful coaches in the history of the game, having won 15 major titles, most famously with Bayern Munich. He also ...

(1935–2015), football player *

Siegfried Lenz Siegfried Lenz (; 17 March 19267 October 2014) was a German writer of novels, short stories and essays, as well as dramas for radio and the theatre. In 2000 he received the Goethe Prize on the 250th Anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's bi ...

(1926–2014), author *

Hieronim Malecki Hieronim Malecki (also ''Hieronymus Maeletius'' or ''Meletius'') (1527, most likely in Kraków – 1583 or 1584 in Lyck, Ducal Prussia (now Ełk) was a Polish, Prussian Lutheran pastor and theologian, as well as a translator, publisher, writer and ...

(1527–1584), theologian, writer *

Krzysztof Celestyn Mrongovius Krzysztof Celestyn Mrongovius (german: Christoph Cölestin Mrongovius; pl, Krzysztof Celestyn Mrongowiusz) (July 19, 1764 – June 3, 1855) was a Protestant pastor, writer, philosopher, distinguished linguist, and translator. Mrongovius wa ...

(1764–1855), writer *

Celestyn Myślenta Celestyn Myślenta (also ''Mislenski''; 27 March 1588 in Kuty (Kutten), Ducal Prussia – 20 April 1653 in Königsberg (Królewiec)) was a Polish Lutheran theologian and rector of the University of Königsberg. Celestyn was the son of Mateusz Myś ...

(1588–1653), theologian *

Rodolphe Radau Jean Charles Rodolphe Radau (22 January 1835 – 21 December 1911) was an astronomer and mathematician who worked in Paris at the ''Revue des deux Mondes'' for most of his life. He was the co-founder of the Bulletin Astronomique. Radau was bo ...

(1835–1911), astronomer and mathematician *

Bethel Henry Strousberg Bethel Henry Strousberg (20 November 1823 – 31 May 1884) was a German Jewish industrialist and railway entrepreneur during Germany's rapid industrial expansion in the 19th century. He cemented his social standing with the construction of the P ...

(1823–1884), industrialist and railway entrepreneur *

Ernst Wiechert Ernst Wiechert (18 May 1887 – 24 August 1950) was a German teacher, poet and writer. Biography Wiechert was born in the village of Kleinort, East Prussia, (now Piersławek, Poland). He was one of the most widely read novelists in Germany ...

(1887–1950), poet * Carl Gustav Sanio (1832–1891), botanist and professor

Notes

References