The Germany–Poland border (, ) is the state

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

between

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, mostly along the

Oder–Neisse line The Oder–Neisse line (, ) is an unofficial term for the Germany–Poland border, modern border between Germany and Poland. The line generally follows the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, meeting the Baltic Sea in the north. A small portion ...

, with a total length of . (Downloadable pdf file) It stretches from the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

in the north to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in the south.

History

The Germany–Poland border traces its origins to the beginnings of the Polish state, with the

Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...

(Odra) and

Lusatian Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (; ; ; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.

(Nysa) rivers (the

) being one of the earliest natural boundaries of the early Polish state under the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...

, although not necessarily yet a border with Germany, as present-day north-eastern Germany was still inhabited by Slavic Lechitic tribes, and German conquests and sovereignty over the tribes were periodic and intermittent. Under the first Polish rulers

Mieszko I Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...

and

Bolesław I the Brave Bolesław I the Brave (17 June 1025), less often List of people known as the Great, known as Bolesław the Great, was Duke of Poland from 992 to 1025 and the first King of Poland in 1025. He was also Duke of Bohemia between 1003 and 1004 as Boles ...

, the Polish western border reached further west than the present one, and Poland bordered the German-ruled marches of

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

and

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

in the southern section of the western border, while the northern section marked the border with the Slavic Lechitic

Lutician federation The Lutici or Liutizi Lutici#Names and spelling variants, (known by various spelling variants) were a federation of West Slavs, West Slavic Polabian Slavs, Polabian tribes, who between the 10th and 12th centuries lived in what is now northeaste ...

. Polish victories against invading German forces at Cedynia (972) and Niemcza (1017) secured the early western border of Poland. Between the 11th and 14th centuries, the German-Polish border moved west or east in various sections at various times. In the early 14th century there were significant shifts of the borders to the east and west in various sections, as a result of which Wałcz and Czaplinek fell to the German-ruled

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...

, and

Senftenberg Senftenberg ( German, ) or (Lower Sorbian, ) is a town in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, in eastern Germany, capital of the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district. Geography Senftenberg is located in the southwest of the historic Lower Lusatia region at t ...

and

Zittau Zittau (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, Upper Lusatian dialect: ''Sitte''; ) is the southeasternmost city in the Germany, German state of Saxony, and belongs to the Görlitz (district), district of Görlitz, Germany's easternmost Districts of Germ ...

passed to the Polish-ruled Duchy of Jawor, however, several decades later both territories were lost by the aforementioned principalities and the border stabilized, in a more eastern course than at present, although the southern section formed not a German-Polish border, but a Bohemian-Polish border until the 1740s. The border disappeared in the late 18th century with the

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

, in which Poland's neighbors, including the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

, annexed all of its territories. In 1871 Prussia became part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. After Poland regained independence following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the 123 years of partitions, a long German-Polish border was settled on, long (including a border with

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

). The border was partially shaped by the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

and partially by plebiscites ( East Prussian plebiscite and the Silesian plebiscite; the former also affected by the Silesian Uprisings). The shape of that border roughly resembled that of pre-partition Poland. Germany repeatedly contested the interwar border and even Poland's existence itself, as stated by Chief of the German Army Hans von Seeckt already in 1922, and it was the German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in 1939 that started

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After

, the border was drawn from Świnoujście in the north at the

southward to the

(then part of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

) border with Poland and Germany near

. It follows the

of the

(Odra) and

Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (; ; ; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.

(Nysa) rivers through most of their course. This was agreed upon by the main

Allies of World War II The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international Coalition#Military, military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers. Its principal members were the "Four Policeme ...

– the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the United States, and the United Kingdom, at the Soviets' insistence, and, without any significant consultations with Poland (or Germany), at the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (), held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. The three sta ...

and Potsdam Conference. Soviet foreign minister

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...

, replied to Mikołajczyk's question about the western border of Poland that "it should be based on the Oder River". At the

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...

, the leaders of the powers decided to hand over to Poland part of

with

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ) is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights, city with county rights. The population of the city was estimated at 169,793 residents Olsz ...

and

Elbląg Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the ol ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

with

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

and

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

, Lower and

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

with

Opole Opole (; ; ; ) is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River and the historical capital of Upper Silesia. With a population of approximately 127,387 as of the 2021 census, it is the capital of Opole Voivodeship (province) and the seat of ...

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

and

Gliwice Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

, and eastern

Lubusz Land Lubusz Land (; ) is a historical region and cultural landscape in Poland and Germany on both sides of the Oder river. Originally the settlement area of the Lechites, the swampy area was located east of Margraviate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and ...

. On July 24, for the only time in history, the communist Bierut and the oppositionist Stanisław Mikołajczyk spoke with one voice, fighting for the

and Western Neisse line. Churchill insisted on Eastern Neisse, which meant that

Wałbrzych Wałbrzych (; ; or ''Walmbrich''; or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland, seat of Wałbrzych County. Wałbrzych lies approximately southwest of the voivodeship capital Wrocław and about from the Czec ...

with its region and

Jelenia Góra Jelenia Góra (; ; ) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, close to the Karkonosze mountain range running along the Polish-Czech bo ...

would remain German. Just before the final protocol was signed, Soviet diplomats made one more amendment according to which the border was to run "west of Świnoujście". Like a trifle, but thanks to this

got free access to the

This border was a compensation to Poland for territories lost to the Soviet Union as a consequence of the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

, and resulted in significant westward transfers of German population from the "

Recovered Territories The Recovered Territories or Regained Lands () are the lands east of the Oder–Neisse line, Oder-Neisse line that over the centuries were gradually lost by Poland and colonized by the Germans, and that returned to Poland after World War II. T ...

". It roughly matched the centuries-old, historical border between the medieval Polish and German states. It divided several river cities into two parts:

Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...

Zgorzelec Zgorzelec (, , , , Lower Sorbian: ''Zgórjelc'') is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland, with 30,374 inhabitants (2019). It is the seat of Zgorzelec County and of Gmina Zgorzelec (although it is not part of the territory ...

Guben Guben (Polish language, Polish and Sorbian languages, Sorbian: ''Gubin'') is a town on the Lusatian Neisse river in Lower Lusatia, in the States of Germany, state of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Located in the Spree-Neiße Districts of German ...

/ Gubin,

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With around 58,000 inh ...

/ Słubice, Bad Muskau/ Łęknica. It also divided the island of Usedom/Uznam, the Ueckermünde Heath and the Muskau Park/Park Mużakowski, now a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. An urgent issue in the west was the delineation of a border section from Świnoujście to Gryfino in the terrain. Until autumn 1945, these areas, except Szczecin, were not yet included in the Polish administration. This section of the border was delineated in September and October 1945 by the Polish-Soviet mixed commission. By the signed agreement, the Polish administration took them over on 4 October 1945. Although the western border was delineated in detail, some details turned out to be absurd. The statement of the Potsdam conference that the border should run "directly" west of Świnoujście was put into action so literally that even the water intake for the city of Świnoujście was left on the other side of the border. This situation meant that over the years corrections were made to the previously set border route. It was already established in September 1945 that Poland would depart from the German side of and Altwarp in exchange for Stolec, Buk, Bobolin, Barnisław, Rosówek, Pargowo and the Stobno- Kołbaskowo road. In 1949, however, the border was adjusted at the height of the intersection and the Links-Neu Lienken-Buk road. It was agreed that the entire intersection in Nowe Linky would go to the side of the German Democratic Republic, in exchange for a narrow strip of land lying directly on the west side of the road from Nowe Linki to Buk. In January 1951, an act was drawn up to delineate the border between the Polish People's Republic and the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

(East Germany), confirming the Polish administration of the islands between the Western Oder and Regalica ( Międzyodrze) south of

Gryfino Gryfino () is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 21,393 inhabitants (2017). It is the capital of Gryfino County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The town is located on the Odra Wschodnia, the eastern branch of the Oder river, about ...

. In November 1950, the government of East Germany agreed to the transfer of a water intake to Poland, located at Lake Wolgastsee. In June 1951, an area of 76.5 ha (together with a water treatment plant) was incorporated into Poland, creating a characteristic salient extending into the German area. In return, a similarly sized area north of Mescherin, including the village of Staffelde (Polish: Staw), was transferred from Poland to the German Democratic Republic. Oder-Neisse line between Germany and Poland

Oder-Neisse line between Germany and Poland

On 6 June 1950 a declaration was signed between the government of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

and the German Democratic Republic on the demarcation of the existing Polish-German border on the

. After the initial agreement, both countries concluded the

Treaty of Zgorzelec The Treaty of Zgorzelec (Full title ''The Agreement Concerning the Demarcation of the Established and the Existing Polish-German State Frontier'', also known as the ''Treaty of Görlitz'' and ''Treaty of Zgorzelic'') between the People's Repub ...

. The border was recognized by

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in 1970 in the Treaty of Warsaw, and by reunified Germany, in 1990 in the German–Polish Border Treaty of 1990. It was subject to minor corrections ( land swaps) in 1951. The borders were partially open from 1971 to 1980 when Poles and East Germans could cross it without a passport or a visa; it was however closed again after a few years, due to economic pressure on the East German economy from Polish shoppers and the desire of the East German government to diminish the influence of the Polish Solidarity movement on East Germany. Following the

fall of communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

in Poland and Germany, and the

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, the border became part of the eastern border of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

, then that of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. For a period, it was "the most heavily policed border in Europe". After Poland joined the European Union in 2004, the border controls were relaxed in agreement with the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

to eliminate

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

controls by 2007. The modern borderlands of Poland and Germany are inhabited by about one million of those countries' citizens within the counties on each side.

Border cities and towns

From north to south: * Świnoujście * Nowe Warpno * Gartz *

Bad Freienwalde Bad Freienwalde is a spa town in the Märkisch-Oderland district in Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany. Geography The town is situated on the Alte Oder, an old branch of the Oder River at the northwestern rim of the Oderbruch basin and the st ...

Kostrzyn nad Odrą Kostrzyn nad Odrą (translated literally as Kostrzyn upon the Oder; ; ) is a town in Gorzów County, Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland, on the border with Germany. Geography The town is situated within the historic Lubusz Land (''Ziemia Lubus ...

Lebus Lebus () is a historic town in the Märkisch-Oderland District of Brandenburg, Germany. It is the administrative seat of ''Amt'' ("collective municipality") Amt Lebus, Lebus. The town, located on the west bank of the Oder river at the border with ...

and Słubice * Eisenhüttenstadt * Gubin and

Forst (Lausitz) Forst (Lausitz) ( German, ) or Baršć (Łužyca) (Lower Sorbian, ; Polish: Barść) is a town in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. It lies east of Cottbus, on the Lusatian Neisse river which is also the German- Polish border. It i ...

* Bad Muskau and Łęknica * Rothenburg, Oberlausitz * Pieńsk *

and

* Ostritz * Bogatynia *

References

External links

* List of former border crossings on Polish-German border on Polish Wikipedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Germany-Poland border European Union internal borders 1945 establishments in Germany 1945 establishments in Poland 1945 in international relations West Pomeranian Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Saxony Brandenburg Borders of Germany Borders of Poland International borders

History

Border cities and towns

See also

References

Further reading

External links