East Prussia

Coordinates: 54°44′N 20°29′E / 54.733°N 20.483°E / 54.733; 20.483
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Ostpreussen" redirects here. For the World War II vorpostenboot, see German trawler V 305 Ostpreussen.

East Prussia
Ostpreußen
Province of Prussia
1773–1829
1878–1945
Flag of East Prussia
Flag
Coat of arms of East Prussia
Coat of arms
East Prussian
Area 
• 1905
36,993 km2 (14,283 sq mi)
Population 
• 1905
2,030,174
History 
31 January 1773
• Province of Prussia
3 December 1829
• Province restored
1 April 1878
1 August 1945
Political subdivisionsGumbinnen
Königsberg
Allenstein (from 1905)
West Prussia (1922–1939)
Zichenau (from 1939)
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Duchy of Prussia
Province of Prussia
Klaipėda Region
Marienwerder (region)
Second Polish Republic
Provisional Government of National Unity
Soviet Union
Today part ofPoland
Lithuania
Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast)

East Prussia[Note 1] 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 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's Free State of Prussia, until 1945. Its capital city was Königsberg (present-day Kaliningrad). East Prussia was the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast.[1]

The bulk of the ancestral lands of the Baltic

Second Peace of Thorn in 1466 it became a part of the Kingdom of Poland, either directly (Warmia) or as a fief (remainder). In 1525, with the Prussian Homage, the province became the Duchy of Prussia.[2] The Old Prussian language had become extinct by the 17th or early 18th century.[3]

Because the duchy was outside of the core Holy Roman Empire, the prince-electors of Brandenburg were able to proclaim themselves King beginning in 1701. After the annexation of most of western Royal Prussia in the First Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 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. Between 1829 and 1878, the Province of East Prussia was joined with West Prussia to form the Province of Prussia.

The

expulsion of Germans after World War II. An estimated 300,000 died either in wartime bombing raids, in the battles to defend the province, through mistreatment by the Red Army, or from hunger, cold and disease.[5]

Background

Ethnic settlement in East Prussia by the 14th century

At the instigation of Duke

Teutonic Knights
, were not verified.

The Teutonic Order lost eastern Prussia when Grand Master

enfeoffed with the title to Prussia after the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, but the Order never regained possession of the territory. In 1569 the Hohenzollern prince-electors of the Margraviate of Brandenburg became co-regents with Albert's son, the feeble-minded Albert Frederick
.

The Administrator of Prussia, the grandmaster of the Teutonic Order

Wehlau, Labiau, and Oliva, 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

Sambia and Warmia (pink), the western Oberland territories with Marienwerder (blue), West Prussian Marienburg (yellow) and Danzig
(green)

Kingdom of Prussia

Although Brandenburg was a part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Prussian lands were not within the Holy Roman Empire and were with the administration by the Teutonic Order grandmasters under jurisdiction of the Emperor. In return for supporting Emperor Leopold I in the War of the Spanish Succession, Elector Frederick III was allowed to crown himself "King in Prussia" in 1701. The new kingdom ruled by the Hohenzollern dynasty became known as the Kingdom of Prussia. The designation "Kingdom of Prussia" 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

Archbishopric of Salzburg were allowed to settle in depleted East Prussia. The province was overrun by Imperial Russian troops during the Seven Years' War
.

Monument to Immanuel Kant in Königsberg

In the 1772 First Partition of Poland, the Prussian king Frederick the Great annexed neighboring Royal Prussia, i.e., the Polish voivodeships of Pomerania (Gdańsk Pomerania or Pomerelia), Malbork, Chełmno and the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, thereby connecting his Prussian and Farther Pomeranian lands and cutting the rest of Poland from the Baltic coast. The territory of Warmia 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 River together with Malbork and Chełmno Land formed the Province of West Prussia with its capital at Marienwerder (Kwidzyn) in 1773. The Polish Partition Sejm ratified the cession on 30 September 1772, whereafter Frederick officially went on to call himself a King "of" Prussia.

The former Ducal Prussian

Prussian reforms of 1808, the administration in East Prussia was transferred to the General War and Finance Directorate in Berlin
, represented by two local chamber departments:

On 31 January 1773, King

Province of East Prussia
.

Napoleonic Wars

Napoleon on the Battlefield of Eylau in February 1807

After the disastrous defeat of the

Battle of Jena-Auerstedt in 1806, Napoleon occupied Berlin and had the officials of the Prussian General Directorate swear an oath of allegiance to him, while King Frederick William III and his consort Louise fled via Königsberg and the Curonian Spit to Memel. The French Grande Armée troops immediately took up pursuit but were delayed in the Battle of Eylau on 9 February 1807 by an East Prussian contingent under General Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq. Napoleon had to stay at the Finckenstein Palace, but in May, after a siege of 75 days, his troops led by Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre 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 with his victory at the Battle of Friedland. Frederick William and Queen Louise met with Napoleon for peace negotiations, and on 9 July the Prussian king signed the Treaty of Tilsit
.

The succeeding Prussian reforms instigated by Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein and Karl August von Hardenberg included the implementation of an Oberlandesgericht appellation court at Königsberg, a municipal corporation, economic freedom as well as emancipation of the serfs and Jews. In the course of the Prussian restoration by the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the East Prussian territories were re-arranged in the Regierungsbezirke of Gumbinnen and Königsberg. From 1905, the southern districts of East Prussia formed the separate Regierungsbezirk of Allenstein. East and West Prussia were first united in personal union in 1824 and then merged in a real union in 1829 to form the Province of Prussia. The united province was again split into separate East and West Prussian provinces in 1878.

Map of the province of East Prussia in 1890

German Empire

From 1824 to 1878, East Prussia was combined with West Prussia to form the Province of 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 during the unification of Germany in 1871.

King of Prussia at Königsberg Castle
in 1861

From 1885 to 1890

Ruhr Area and Berlin (see Ostflucht
).

The population of the province in 1900 was 1,996,626 people, with a religious makeup of 1,698,465

Germanization. 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.[12] Kursenieki inhabited the areas around the Curonian lagoon, while Lithuanian-speaking Prussians concentrated in the northeast in (Lithuania Minor). The Old Prussian ethnic group became completely Germanized over time and the Old Prussian language
died out in the 18th century.

World War I

At the

Battle of Tannenberg 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

Division between Germany (area which remained in East Prussia), Lithuania and Poland after World War I
East Prussia Area in 1910 in km2 Share of territory Population in 1910 After WW1 part of: Notes
Given to: 37,002 km2 [13] 100% 2,064,175 Divided between:
Poland 565 km2 [14][15] 2% 2% Pomeranian Voivodeship
(Działdowo area)[citation needed] 		[Note 2]
Lithuania 2,828 km2 8% 7% Klaipėda Region
East Prussia 33,609 km2 90% 91% East Prussia

Weimar Republic

Inter-war East Prussia (from 1923 to 1939)

With the forced abdication of Emperor

Wilhelm II in the German Revolution of 1918–1919, Germany became a republic. Most of the former Prussian provinces of West Prussia and Posen, territories annexed by Prussia in the 18th century Partitions of Poland, were ceded to the Second Polish Republic according to the Treaty of Versailles. East Prussia became an exclave, being separated from mainland Germany. The Klaipėda Region was also separated from the province. Because most of West Prussia became part of the Second Polish Republic 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 Działdowo district in the Allenstein region became part of the Second Polish Republic. The Seedienst Ostpreußen
(Sea Service East Prussia) was established to provide an independent transport service to East Prussia.

On 11 July 1920, amidst the backdrop of 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 since 1920, was occupied by the Lithuanian Armed Forces in 1923 and annexed without giving the inhabitants a choice by ballot.

Nazi Germany

Adolf Hitler and Erich Koch in Königsberg, 1936

After

Lötzen, Kurt Kotzan, was murdered on 6 August 1932.[19][20]

In the March 1933 German federal election, the last contested pre-war German election, the local population of East Prussia voted overwhelmingly for the Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party.

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

Hitler that unemployment had been banished entirely from the province, a feat that gained admiration throughout the Reich.[21] In actuality, the Erich Koch Plan had been a staged propaganda event organized by Walther Funk and the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda 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.[22] 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.[23]

In 1938 the

Protestant Reformation. More than 1,500 places were ordered to be renamed by 16 July 1938 following a decree issued by Gauleiter and Oberpräsident Erich Koch and initiated by Adolf Hitler.[24] Many who would not cooperate with the rulers of Nazi Germany were sent to concentration camps
and held prisoner there until their death or liberation.

After the

Klaipėda region
was integrated again into East Prussia.

World War II

Map of East Prussian Districts in 1945
Eydtkau (now Chernyshevskoye) in 1941

After the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany opening World War II, the borders of East Prussia were revised. Regierungsbezirk Westpreußen became part of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, while Regierungsbezirk Zichenau (Ciechanów) was added to East Prussia. Originally part of the Zichenau region, the Sudauen (Suwałki) 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

Lietuvininkai who spoke Lithuanian in the northeast. Most German East Prussians, Masurians, Kursieniki, and Lietuvininkai were Lutheran, while the population of Warmia
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

Holocaust
.

In 1939 the

Nazi propaganda 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.[citation needed
]

Germany operated the Soldau and Hohenbruch [de] concentration camps, mostly for Poles, multiple subcamps of the Stutthof concentration camp and several prisoner-of-war camps, including Stalag I-A, Stalag I-B, Stalag I-C, Stalag I-D, Stalag I-E, Stalag I-F, Stalag Luft VI, Oflag 52, Oflag 53, Oflag 60, Oflag 63 and Oflag 68 with multiple subcamps, for Polish, Belgian, French, British, Serbian, Soviet, Italian, American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, South African, Czech and other Allied POWs in the province.[30]

Hitler's top-secret Eastern front headquarters during the war, the Wolf's Lair, was located in the village of Gierłoż.

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
.

Evacuation of East Prussia

Main article: Evacuation of East Prussia
Königsberg after the RAF bombing in 1944

In 1944 the medieval city of

fortress
" and ordered its destruction.

Gauleiter 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 units and the rapidly advancing Red Army.

Reports of Soviet atrocities in the

General von Steuben. Königsberg surrendered on 9 April 1945, following the desperate four-day Battle of Königsberg. An estimated 300,000 died either in wartime bombing raids, in the battles to defend the province, or through mistreatment by the Red Army or from hunger, cold and disease.[5]

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."[31][32]

History after partition and annexation

Following

expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement
.

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.

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 camp system.[35] The largest camp with about 48,000 inmates was established at Deutsch Eylau (Iława).[35] Orphaned children who were left behind in the zone occupied by the Soviet Union were referred to as Wolf children
.

  • An illustration of the changing borders in Eastern Europe before, during, and after World War II (Map is written in German.)
    An illustration of the changing borders in
    German
    .)
  • Changes in Germany's borders as a result of both World Wars, with the partition of East Prussia
    Changes in
    World Wars
    , with the partition of East Prussia

Southern East Prussia to Poland

Main articles:
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship

Representatives of the Polish government officially took over the civilian administration of the southern part of East Prussia on 23 May 1945.

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 and a significant part of the Suwałki Voivodeship
.

The remaining pre-war population was treated as Germanized Poles and a policy of re-

Autochthons" chose to emigrate to West Germany from the 1950s through 1980s (between 1970 and 1988 55,227 persons from Warmia and Masuria moved to Western Germany).[37] Local toponyms were Polonised by the Polish Commission for the Determination of Place Names.[38]

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:

1950 population by place of residence back in 1939:[39]
Region (within 1939 borders): Number Percent
Autochthons (1939 DE/FCD citizens) 134,702 15.90%
Polish expellees from Kresy (USSR) 172,480 20.36%
Poles from abroad except the USSR 5,734 0.68%
Resettlers from the
City of Warsaw
 22,418 2.65%
From Warsaw region (Masovia) 158,953 18.76%
From Białystok region and Sudovia 102,634 12.11%
From pre-war Polish Pomerania 83,921 9.90%
Resettlers from
Poznań region
 7,371 0.87%
Katowice region (
East Upper Silesia
) 		2,536 0.30%
Resettlers from the City of Łódź 1,666 0.20%
Resettlers from Łódź region 6,919 0.82%
Resettlers from Kielce region 20,878 2.46%
Resettlers from Lublin region 60,313 7.12%
Resettlers from Kraków region 5,515 0.65%
Resettlers from
Rzeszów region
 47,626 5.62%
place of residence in 1939 unknown 13,629 1.61%
Total pop. in December 1950 847,295 100.00%

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 and were granted Polish citizenship after 1945). Over 20% of all inhabitants were Poles expelled from areas of Eastern Poland annexed by the USSR. The rest were mostly people from neighbouring areas located right next to East Prussia (almost 44% came from Masovia, Sudovia, Podlachia and pre-war Polish Pomerania) and southern Poland (≈16%).

Northern part to the Soviet Union

Main article: Kaliningrad Oblast
Königsberg Castle, 1895
"Königsberg" license plate holder, 2009

In April 1946, northern East Prussia became an official province of the

Soviet Occupation Zone (which became East Germany). The last remaining Germans left in November 1949 (1,401 persons) and January 1950 (7 persons).[40]

The Prussian Lithuanians also experienced the same fate.

A similar fate befell the

fascists. Because of this discrimination, many immigrated to West Germany
in 1958, where the majority of Curonians now live.

After the expulsion of the German population ethnic Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians 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 were demolished on the orders of Leonid Brezhnev to make way for a new "House of the Soviets".

Modern status

Although the 1945–1949 expulsion of Germans 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 historical name of Königsberg. The city centre of Kaliningrad was completely rebuilt, as Royal Air Force bombs in 1944 and the Soviet siege in 1945 had left it in ruins.

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, some German groups have tried to help settle the Volga Germans from eastern parts of European Russia in the Kaliningrad Oblast. This effort was only a minor success, however, as most impoverished Volga Germans preferred to emigrate to the richer Federal Republic of Germany, where they could become German citizens through the right of return.

The Polish part of the region, divided in 1975 to form three units: the Olsztyn Voivodeship, the

free movement of people
policy.

Demographics

Historical ethnic and religious structure

Ethnolinguistic distribution in East Prussia (1905)

In year 1824, shortly before its

Philipponnen - their main town was Eckersdorf (Wojnowo).[45][46][47]

In year 1817, East Prussia had 796,204

Evangelical Christians, 120,123 Roman Catholics, 864 Mennonites and 2,389 Jews.[48]

Ethnolinguistic composition by district

Districts of East Prussia (1910)

As of 1905, the province of East Prussia was divided into three government regions, known as Regierungsbezirke. These were the regions of Königsberg, Gumbinnen and Allenstein.

Ethnolinguistic structure of East Prussia by district (1905) [49]
District (Kreis) Regierungsbezirk Population German % Polish % Lithuanian %
Braunsberg Königsberg 54,751 54,548 99.6% 140 0.3% 12 0.0%
Fischhausen Königsberg 52,430 52,235 99.6% 90 0.2% 43 0.1%
Friedland Königsberg 40,822 40,784 99.9% 14 0.0% 5 0.0%
Gerdauen Königsberg 33,983 33,778 99.4% 146 0.4% 1 0.0%
Heiligenbeil Königsberg 43,951 43,909 99.9% 21 0.0% 2 0.0%
Heilsberg Königsberg 51,690 51,473 99.6% 124 0.2% 8 0.0%
Landkreis Königsberg Königsberg 45,486 45,342 99.7% 72 0.2% 12 0.0%
Stadtkreis Königsberg Königsberg 223,770 221,167 98.8% 594 0.3% 159 0.1%
Labiau Königsberg 51,295 45,659 89.0% 27 0.1% 5,293 10.3%
Memel Königsberg 61,018 33,508 54.9% 40 0.1% 26,328 43.1%
Mohrungen Königsberg 52,408 52,215 99.6% 113 0.2% 2 0.0%
Preußisch Eylau Königsberg 49,465 49,325 99.7% 91 0.2% 3 0.0%
Preußisch Holland Königsberg 38,599 38,505 99.8% 61 0.2% 4 0.0%
Rastenburg Königsberg 46,985 45,998 97.9% 723 1.5% 19 0.0%
Wehlau Königsberg 46,774 46,401 99.2% 178 0.4% 81 0.2%
Total (Königsberg) Königsberg 893,427 854,847 95.7% 2,434 0.3% 31,972 3.6%
Angerburg Gumbinnen 35,945 34,273 95.3% 1,499 4.2% 39 0.1%
Darkehmen Gumbinnen 32,285 32,137 99.5% 74 0.2% 17 0.1%
Goldap Gumbinnen 43,829 42,891 97.9% 436 1.0% 185 0.4%
Gumbinnen Gumbinnen 50,918 50,703 99.6% 21 0.0% 21 0.0%
Heydekrug Gumbinnen 43,268 19,124 44.2% 35 0.1% 23,279 53.8%
Landkreis Insterburg Gumbinnen 46,237 45,693 98.8% 68 0.1% 311 0.7%
Stadtkreis Insterburg Gumbinnen 28,902 28,412 98.3% 166 0.6% 62 0.2%
Niederung Gumbinnen 55,129 47,792 86.7% 47 0.1% 6,497 11.8%
Oletzko Gumbinnen 38,536 24,575 63.8% 12,451 32.3% 8 0.0%
Pilkallen Gumbinnen 46,230 41,982 90.8% 65 0.1% 3,668 7.9%
Ragnit Gumbinnen 54,741 45,525 83.2% 80 0.1% 8,394 15.3%
Stallupönen Gumbinnen 43,875 43,099 98.2% 90 0.2% 383 0.9%
Landkreis Tilsit Gumbinnen 46,441 25,322 54.5% 38 0.1% 20,674 44.5%
Stadtkreis Tilsit Gumbinnen 37,148 35,598 95.8% 37 0.1% 1,442 3.9%
Total (Gumbinnen) Gumbinnen 603,484 517,126 85.7% 15,107 2.5% 64,980 10.8%
Allenstein Allenstein 85,625 45,723 53.4% 38,701 45.2% 21 0.0%
Johannisburg Allenstein 50,452 13,651 27.1% 35,433 70.2% 5 0.0%
Lötzen Allenstein 41,609 21,997 52.9% 16,877 40.6% 27 0.1%
Lyck Allenstein 55,790 23,562 42.2% 30,555 54.8% 2 0.0%
Neidenburg Allenstein 57,325 16,304 28.4% 38,690 67.5% 5 0.0%
Ortelsburg Allenstein 69,464 17,221 24.8% 50,665 72.9% 58 0.1%
Osterode Allenstein 73,421 39,778 54.2% 33,129 45.1% 13 0.0%
Rößel Allenstein 50,390 42,555 84.5% 7,383 14.7% 15 0.0%
Sensburg Allenstein 49,187 21,960 44.6% 25,381 51.6% 13 0.0%
Total (Allenstein) Allenstein 533,263 242,751 45.5% 276,814 51.9% 159 0.0%
Total (East Prussia) - 2,030,174 1,614,724 79.5% 294,355 14.5% 97,111 4.8%

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

provincial diets (Provinziallandtage), 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 ("Land Captain"; till the 1880s titled Landdirektor, land director).[50]

Upper Presidents of East Prussia and Prussia

1765–1791:
Gumbinnen and Königsberg
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
1808–1814: vacancy?
1814–1824: Hans Jakob von Auerswald, upper president of East Prussia
1824–1842: Heinrich Theodor von Schön, upper president of Prussia, 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, 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, upper president of East Prussia
1895–1901: Count Wilhelm von Bismarck-Schönhausen, upper president of East Prussia
1901–1903: Hugo Samuel von Richthofen, upper president of East Prussia
1903–1907: Count Friedrich von Moltke, upper president of East Prussia
1907–1914: Ludwig von Windheim, upper president of East Prussia
1914–1916: Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe, 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), upper president of East Prussia
1920–1932: Ernst Siehr (DDP), upper president of East Prussia
1932–1933: Wilhelm Kutscher (DNVP), upper president of East Prussia
1933–1945: Erich Koch (NSDAP), upper president of East Prussia

Elections to the provincial diets

Summary of the East Prussian Provincial Diet direct election results
Parties %
1921 		+/-
1921 		Seats
1921 		+/-
1921 		%
1925 		+/-
1925 		Seats
1925 		+/-
1925 		%
1929 		+/-
1929 		Seats
1929 		+/-
1929 		%
1933 		+/-
1933 		Seats
1933 		+/-
1933
SPD 24.1 20 24.8 +0.7 (-) 22 +2 (-4) 26 +1.2 23 +1 13.6 -12.4 12 -11
USPD 6 +6 merged
in SPD
DNVP[51] 13.4 +13.4 11 +11 45.6[52] 40 (+4) 31.2 (+17.8) 27 (+16) 12.7[51] -18.5 11 -16
DVP 3.6 +3.6 4 +4 8.7 (+5.1) 8 (+4) 0 -8
BWA 16 +16 0 -16 0 0 0 0
Zentrum 9.3 8 +8 6.9 -2.4 6 -2 8.1 +1.2 7 +1 7 -1.1 7 0
KPD[53] 7 +7 6 +6 6.9 -0.1 6 0 8.6 +1.7 8 +2 6 -2.6 6 -2
BWW 6 +6 0 -6 0 0 0 0
Parties %
1921 		+/-
1921 		Seats
1921 		+/-
1921 		%
1925 		+/-
1925 		Seats
1925 		+/-
1925 		%
1929 		+/-
1929 		Seats
1929 		+/-
1929 		%
1933 		+/-
1933 		Seats
1933 		+/-
1933
DDP 5.7 +5.7 6 +6 3.6 -2.1 3 -3 2.8 -0.8 3 0 0 -3
NSDAP not run not run not run not run 4.3 4 +4 58.2 +53,9 51 +47
LL/WP[54] 2 +2 4.2 +4.2 4 +2 4 -1.2 4 0 0 -4
DFP not run not run not run not run 4.2 +4.2 4 +4 0 -4 0 0
CSVD not run not run not run not run not run not run not run not run 3 +3 3 +3 0 -3
AuA not run not run not run not run 2 +2 0 -2 0 0
FOW 2 +2 0 -2 0 0 0 0
Poles' Party 1 +1 0 -1 0 0 0 0
Others 2 +? 0 -2 0 0 0 0
Total
1921 		85 Total
1925 		87 Total
1929 		87 Total
1933 		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 (Fortschritt, later DFP), titled land director
1884–1888: Alfred von Gramatzki (DKP), titled land director
1888–1896: Klemens von Stockhausen, 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, titled land captain
1936–1941:
NSDAP
), titled land captain
1941–1945: vacancy
1941–1945: Reinhard Bezzenberger, first land councillor, per pro

Cities and towns

Main article: List of cities and towns in East Prussia
City/Town District (Kreis) Pop. in 1939 Current Name Current Administrative Unit
Allenburg
 Landkreis Wehlau 2 694
Druzhba
 Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia)
Allenstein
 Landkreis Allenstein 50 396 Olsztyn
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (Poland
)
Angerburg
 Landkreis Angerburg 10 922
Węgobork
)		 Warmia-Masuria
Arys Landkreis Johannisburg 3 553 Orzysz Warmia-Masuria
Barten Rastenburg 1 541 Barciany Warmia-Masuria
Bartenstein
 Landkreis Bartenstein 12 912 Bartoszyce Warmia-Masuria
Bischofsburg
 Landkreis Rößel Biskupiec Warmia-Masuria
Bischofstein (Ostpreußen) Rößel 3 200 Bisztynek Warmia-Masuria
Braunsberg
 Landkreis Braunsberg 21 142 Braniewo Warmia-Masuria
Darkehmen/Angerapp
 Darkehmen Ozyorsk Kaliningrad
Domnau
 Bartenstein Domnovo Kaliningrad
Elbing
 Stadtkreis 85 952 Elbląg Warmia-Masuria
Eydtkuhnen
 Landkreis Stallupönen 4 922 Chernyshevskoye Kaliningrad
Fischhausen
 Landkreis Samland 3 879 Primorsk Kaliningrad
Frauenburg (Ostpreußen)
 Braunsberg 2 951 Frombork Warmia-Masuria
Friedland (Ostpreußen)
 Bartenstein Pravdinsk Kaliningrad
Gehlenburg
 Johannisburg Biała Piska Warmia-Masuria
Gerdauen
 Landkreis Gerdauen 5 118 Zheleznodorozhny Kaliningrad
Gilgenburg
 Landkreis Osterode 1 700 Dąbrówno Warmia-Masuria
Goldap
 Landkreis Goldap 12 786 Gołdap Warmia-Masuria
Gumbinnen
 Landkreis Gumbinnen 24 534 Gusev Kaliningrad
Guttstadt
 Landkreis Heilsberg Dobre Miasto Warmia-Masuria
Heiligenbeil Landkreis Heiligenbeil 12 100 Mamonovo Kaliningrad
Heilsberg Kreis Heilsberg Lidzbark Warmiński Warmia-Masuria
Heydekrug Landkreis Heydekrug 4 836 Šilutė Klaipėda County (Lithuania)
Hohenstein
 Osterode Olsztynek Warmia-Masuria
Insterburg
 Landkreis Insterburg 48 711 Chernyakhovsk Kaliningrad
Johannisburg
 Johannisburg Pisz (Jańsbork) Warmia-Masuria
Königsberg (Preußen)
 Stadtkreis 372 000 Kaliningrad Kaliningrad
Kreuzburg (Ostpreußen) Landkreis Preußisch Eylau Slavskoye Kaliningrad
Labiau
 Landkreis Labiau 6 527 Polessk Kaliningrad
Landsberg in Ostpreußen
 Preußisch Eylau Górowo Iławeckie Warmia-Masuria
Liebemühl
 Osterode Miłomłyn Warmia-Masuria
Liebstadt Mohrungen 2 742 Miłakowo Warmia-Masuria
Lötzen
 Landkreis Lötzen 13 000 Giżycko (Lec) Warmia-Masuria
Lyck
 Landkreis Lyck 16 482 Ełk (Łęg) Warmia-Masuria
Treuburg
 Landkreis Oletzko/Treuburg Olecko Warmia-Masuria
Marienburg in Westpreußen
 Marienburg Malbork Pomeranian Voivodeship (Poland)
Mehlsack
 Braunsberg
Melzak
)		 Warmia-Masuria
Memel Stadtkreis 41 297 Klaipėda Klaipėda
Mohrungen
 Mohrungen 5 500 Morąg Warmia-Masuria
Mühlhausen Landkreis Preußisch Holland Młynary Warmia-Masuria
Neidenburg
 Landkreis Neidenburg 9 201 Nidzica (Nibork) Warmia-Masuria
Nikolaiken
 Landkreis Sensburg Mikołajki Warmia-Masuria
Nordenburg Gerdauen 3 173 Krylovo Kaliningrad
Ortelsburg
 Landkreis Ortelsburg 14 234 Szczytno Warmia-Masuria
Osterode (Ostpreußen)
 Osterode 19 519 Ostróda Warmia-Masuria
Passenheim
 Ortelsburg 2 431 Pasym Warmia-Masuria
Peterswalde
 Osterode Piertzwald Warmia-Masuria
Pillau
 Samland 12 000 Baltiysk Kaliningrad
Preußisch Eylau
 Preußisch Eylau 7 485 Bagrationovsk Kaliningrad
Preußisch Holland
 Preußisch Holland Pasłęk Warmia-Masuria
Ragnit
 Landkreis Tilsit-Ragnit 10 094
Neman
 Kaliningrad
Rastenburg
 Rastenburg 19 634
Rastembork
)		 Warmia-Masuria
Rhein (Ostpreußen)
 Lötzen Ryn Warmia-Masuria
Rößel
 Rößel 5 000 Reszel Warmia-Masuria
Saalfeld Mohrungen Zalewo Warmia-Masuria
Schippenbeil
 Bartenstein Sępopol Warmia-Masuria
Schirwindt
 Landkreis Pillkallen
Kutuzovo
 Kaliningrad
Pillkallen-Schlossberg Pillkallen Dobrovolsk Kaliningrad
Seeburg Rößel
Zybork
)		 Warmia-Masuria
Sensburg
 Sensburg
Żądzbork
)		 Warmia-Masuria
Soldau
 Neidenburg 5 349 Działdowo Warmia-Masuria
Stallupönen
 Stallupönen 6 608 Nesterov Kaliningrad
Tapiau
 Wehlau 9 272 Gvardeysk Kaliningrad
Tilsit
 Stadtkreis 59 105 Sovetsk Kaliningrad
Wartenburg (Ostpreußen)
 Landkreis Allenstein 5 841
Wartembork
)		 Warmia-Masuria
Wehlau
 Wehlau 7 348 Znamensk Kaliningrad
Willenberg Ortelsburg 2 600
Wielbark
 Warmia-Masuria
Wormditt
 Braunsberg Orneta Warmia-Masuria
Zinten Heiligenbeil
Kornevo
 Kaliningrad

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ German: Ostpreußen [ˈɔstˌpʁɔɪ̯sn̩] ⓘ; Low Prussian: Ostpreißen; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Lithuanian: Rytų Prūsija
  2. ^ Part of pre-1918 county Nidzica with Działdowo and with around 27 thousand inhabitants;[14] as well as parts of county Ostróda near Dąbrówno, with areas around Groszki, Lubstynek, Napromek, Czerlin, Lewałd Wielki, Grzybiny and with around 4786 inhabitants.[16] Too small to form its own voivodeship, this territory was incorporated into the interwar Pomeranian Voivodeship.

Citations

  1. ^ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition (2008), East Prussia
  2. ^ Schaitberger, L. "Ostpreußen: The Great Trek". Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  3. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: Old-Prussian-language; Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.): Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 2005, Prussian
  4. ^ [email protected]. "Sarmatian Review XV.1: Davies". Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  5. ^ a b Andreas Kossert, Ostpreußen. Geschichte und Mythos, 2007 Pantheon Verlag, PDF edition, p. 342. According to Kossert East Prussia lost about 511,000 out of 2,490,000 inhabitants, thereof 311,000 civilians.
  6. ^ Górski, Karol (1949). Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych (in Polish). Poznań: Instytut Zachodni. pp. XXXI, XXXVII–XXXVIII.
  7. ^ Górski, p. 54
  8. ^ Górski, pp. 88–90, 99, 206–207, 217
  9. ^ Górski, pp. 96–97, 214–215
  10. ^ A Treatise on Political Economy
  11. ^ "LINGUISTIC PRINCIPLES OF THE RECOVERY OF OLD PRUSSIAN". Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  12. ^ Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-Century Central-Eastern Europe: History, Data, and Analysis. Piotr Eberhardt,page 166, 2003 M E Sharpe Inc
  13. ^ "Gemeindeverzeichnis Deutschland".
  14. ^ a b Rocznik statystyki Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 1920/21, 1921
  15. ^ Jehke, Rolf. "Rbz. Allenstein: 10.1.1920 Abtretung des Kreises Neidenburg (teilweise) an Polen; 15.8.1920 Abtretung der Landgemeinden Groschken, Groß Lehwalde (teilweise), Klein Lobenstein (teilweise), Gut Nappern und der Gutsbezirke Groß Grieben (teilweise) und Klein Nappern (teilweise) an Polen". territorial.de.
  16. ISBN 3-16-148403-7
    .
  17. ^ Matull, page 357
  18. ^ a b Robert S. Wistrich, Who's who in Nazi Germany, 2002, pp. 142-143.
  19. ^ Matull, Wilhelm (1973). "Ostdeutschlands Arbeiterbewegung: Abriß ihrer Geschichte, Leistung und Opfer" (PDF) (in German). Holzner Verlag. p. 350.
  20. ^ Die aufrechten Roten von Königsberg Spiegel.de, 28 June 2009 (in German)
  21. S2CID 143888997
    .
  22. ^ Tooze 2006, p. 44-45.
  23. ^ Richard Steigmann-Gall, The Holy Reich - Nazi Conceptions of Christianity 1919-1945, 2004, p. 102.
  24. ISBN 978-3-86153-433-4
    .
  25. ^ Szkolnictwo polskie w Niemczech 1919-1939, Henryk Chałupczak Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej,page9 1996
  26. ^ S. Achremczyk: Warmia, Olsztyn 2000.
  27. ^ S. Achremczyk: Historia Warmii i Mazur, Olsztyn 1997
  28. ISBN 978-1-935149-20-0
    .
  29. ^ Rademacher, Michael. "Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichte Preußen, Provinz Ostpreußen 1871 - 1945". Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  30. ISBN 978-0-253-06089-1
    .
  31. ISBN 0-670-88695-5
  32. ISBN 0-670-88695-5
  33. ISBN 9780880331746
    .
  34. ISBN 978-3-421-04366-5
  35. ^
    ISBN 0-7425-1094-8
    .
  36. ^ Ethnic Germans in Poland and the Czech Republic:A Comparative Evaluation Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine by Karl Cordell and Stefan Wolff
  37. ISBN 3-88680-808-4
  38. ^ The Polish toponymic guidelines[permanent dead link] (p.9)
  39. ^ Kosiński, Leszek (1960). "Pochodzenie terytorialne ludności Ziem Zachodnich w 1950 r. [Territorial origins of inhabitants of the Western Lands in year 1950]" (PDF). Dokumentacja Geograficzna (in Polish). 2. Warsaw: PAN (Polish Academy of Sciences), Institute of Geography: Tabela 1 (data by county) – via Repozytorium Cyfrowe Instytutów Naukowych.
  40. ISBN 978-3-421-04366-5
  41. ^ Plater, Stanisław (1825). Jeografia wschodniéy części Europy czyli Opis krajów przez wielorakie narody słowiańskie zamieszkanych: obejmujący Prussy, Xsięztwo Poznańskie, Szląsk Pruski, Gallicyą, Rzeczpospolitę Krakowską, Krolestwo Polskie i Litwę (in Polish). Wrocław: u Wilhelma Bogumiła Korna. p. 17.
  42. ^ Andree, Karl (1831). Polen: in geographischer, geschichtlicher und culturhistorischer Hinsicht (in German). Verlag von Ludwig Schumann. p. 218.
  43. ^ Hassel, Georg (1823). Statistischer Umriß der sämmtlichen europäischen und der vornehmsten außereuropäischen Staaten, in Hinsicht ihrer Entwickelung, Größe, Volksmenge, Finanz- und Militärverfassung, tabellarisch dargestellt; Erster Heft: Welcher die beiden großen Mächte Österreich und Preußen und den Deutschen Staatenbund darstellt (in German). Verlag des Geographischen Instituts Weimar. p. 41.
  44. ^ a b Haxthausen, August (1839). Die Ländliche Verfassung in den Einzelnen Provinzen der Preussischen Monarchie (in German). pp. 75–91.
  45. ^ "Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Wojnowo (Eckersdorf)". wojnowo.net.
  46. ^ Tetzner, Franz (1902). Die Slawen in Deutschland: beiträge zur volkskunde der Preussen, Litauer und Letten, der Masuren und Philipponen, der Tschechen, Mährer und Sorben, Polaben und Slowinzen, Kaschuben und Polen. Braunschweig: Verlag von F. Vieweg. pp. 212–248.
  47. ^ "Old Believers in Poland - historical and cultural information". Poland's Linguistic Heritage. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  48. ^ Hoffmann, Johann Gottfried (1818). Übersicht der Bodenfläche und Bevölkerung des Preußischen Staates : aus den für das Jahr 1817 mtlich eingezogenen Nachrichten. Berlin: Decker. p. 51.
  49. ISBN 978-3-87969-267-5.[permanent dead link
    ]
  50. ^ In some Prussian provinces the same office continued to be called Landesdirektor also thereafter. Cf. article: "Landesdirektor", in: Der Große Brockhaus: Handbuch des Wissens in zwanzig Bänden: 21 vols.; Leipzig: Brockhaus, 151928–1935; vol. 11 (1932), p. 71.
  51. ^ a b In 1933 the DNVP ran under the list KFSWR, also including Der Stahlhelm and the LB.
  52. ^ DVP and DNVP formed the united list called Prussian Block (PB, Preußemblock).
  53. ^ In 1921 the party was named United Communist Party of Germany, VKPD.
  54. ^ 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.

General bibliography

Publications in English
Publications in German
Publications in French
Publications in Polish
  • K. Piwarski (1946). Dzieje Prus Wschodnich w czasach nowożytnych. Gdańsk.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Gerard Labuda, ed. (1969–2003). "Historia Pomorza", vol. I–IV. Poznań.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • collective work (1958–61). "Szkice z dziejów Pomorza", vol. 1–3. Warszawa.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Andreas Kossert (2009). PRUSY WSCHODNIE, Historia i mit. Warszawa.
    ISBN 978-83-7383-354-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )

External links

54°44′N 20°29′E / 54.733°N 20.483°E / 54.733; 20.483

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