History of Germans in Poland
The history of Germans in Poland dates back almost a millennium. Poland was at one point Europe's most multiethnic state during the medieval period. Its territory covered an immense plain with no natural boundaries, with a thinly scattered population of many ethnic groups, including the Poles themselves, Germans in the cities of West Prussia, and Ruthenians in Lithuania. 5 to 10% of immigrants were German settlers.[1] (In the Middle Ages, there was no homogeneous German state; the label "German" generally refers to German-speaking people, including Germanized Polabian Slavs and Lusatian Sorbs.[1][2])
The
History
The 13th century brought fundamental changes to the structure of Polish society and its political system. Because of the fragmentation and constant internal conflicts, the
The civil strife and foreign invasions, such as the
In 1228, the Acts of Cienia were signed into law by
Eastward settlement
The settlements involved internal colonization, associated with rural-urban migration by natives, and many of the Polish cities adopted laws based on those of the German towns of Lübeck and Magdeburg. Some economic methods were likewise imported from Germany.
Since the beginning of the
The 1257 foundation decree issued by Bolesław V the Chaste for Kraków was unusual insofar as it explicitly separated the local Polish population who already lived in the city,[10] in order to avoid depopulation of already existing settlements, leading to loss of taxes.[11] Often, the Ostsiedlung settlement was founded near a pre-existing fortress that was within the existing town, as for example with Poznań (Posen) and Kraków.[12]
Silesia
The
In the early 14th century Silesia had about 150 towns, and the population more than quintupled. The townspeople were Germans, who now formed the majority of the overall population, while the Slavs usually lived outside the cities. In a process of peaceful assimilation, Lower and Middle Silesia became organically[clarification needed] Germanized on the West bank of Oder. Upper Silesia retained a Slavic majority, but even there German villages and towns were established and there was increasing German agricultural cultivation of barren lands[clarification needed].
Kaczyce, Śląsk (1447) c. 1620) |
Dębno, ( Spisz )(c. 1450) |
Blizne, Podkarpacie (Red Ruthenia) (c. 1450) |
Haczów, Podkarpacie (Red Ruthenia) (1388) c. 1624 |
Binarowa, Podkarpacie (1400) c. 1500 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lesser Poland
As late as the end of the Middle Ages, the original forest areas, especially the northern ones, lying in the fork of the Vistula, Wisłoka, and San were barely accessible for settlement due to the land's marshy nature. The area was intensively settled during the 13th to 15th centuries. The settlements were located according to the German Law within an area flanked by the Wisłok and Wisłoka rivers.
On the northern and southern edges of the Carpathian Mountains German colonization had reached the Dunajec before 1300, whilst it filled wide mountain regions in upper Hungary. There were probably some isolated settlers in the area of Krosno, Sanok, Łańcut, Biecz and Rzeszów earlier. The Germans were usually attracted by kings seeking specialists in various trades, such as craftsmen and miners. They usually settled in newer market and mining settlements. The main settlement areas were in the vicinity of Krosno and some language islands in the Pits and Rzeszów regions. The settlers in the Pits region were known as Uplander Saxons. Until about the 15th century, the ruling classes of most cities in present-day Beskidian Piedmont consisted almost exclusively of Germans.
The term
German settlement in the Galician times (end of the 18th century), forced by the invading Austrian Habsburg.
Pomerelia
In Pomerelia, Ostsiedlung was started by the Pomerelian dukes[16] and focussed on the towns, whereas much of the countryside remained Slavic (Kashubians).An exception was the German settled Vistula delta(Vistula Germans), the coastal regions, and the Vistula valley.
The settlers came from Low German areas like Holstein, the Low Countries, Flanders, Lower Saxony, Westphalia and Mecklenburg, but a few also from the Middle German Thuringia region.
Teutonic Knights
In 1226
Cultural heritage
In terms of cultural heritage, Silesia was more under German and Protestant influences than Moravia; and Catholicism has deeper roots in Moravia than in Bohemia and Silesia.[citation needed] Silesia is one of the current Polish provinces where Polish, Czech and German cultural influences have competed and coexisted for many hundreds of years. Historically speaking, the national differences in this area were connected with the question of social and religious identity. The organic unity between the towns and the countryside, typical of Silesia in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, was progressively replaced by marked social differences.[19]
Marklowice dolne, Moravia (1360 - 1739) |
Hrabova, Moravia (14th - 1564) |
Hervartov (Bardiów) (c. 1500) |
Chlastawa (north. Śląsk) c. 1637) |
Zamarski, Śląsk (c. 1731) |
---|---|---|---|---|
The remaining German minority in Poland (152,897 people were registered in the 2002 census) enjoys minority rights according to Polish minority law. There are German speakers throughout Poland, and most of the Germans live in the
References
- ^ a b c d Bogucka M., Samsonowicz H., Dzieje miast i mieszczaństwa w Polsce przedrozbiorowej, Wrocław 1986 p.22-56
- ^ Wickham Ch., Medieval Europe, Yale University Press
- ^ Tkaczyński J., Prawo ustrojowe Niemiec, Kraków 2015 UJ
- ^
"Dopiero w połowie XVI wieku zaczęto pisać po polsku, Górnicki, Bielscy, Cyprian Bazylik, Budny, Wujek i Skarga, a przyczynił się do tego znany pisarz – Mikołaj Rey z Nagłowic, który w 1562 r. w utworze „Zwierzyniec” napisał: „A niechaj narodowie wżdy postronni znają, iż Polacy nie gęsi, iż swój język mają!”, [in:] Urbańczyk. Dwieście lat polskiego językoznawstwa: 1751-1950. 1993; "dopiero w roku 1600, zniosła rada miejska zagajanie sądów ławniczych po niemiecku; tak uporczywa była tradycja tu, w Poznaniu, Bieczu, i in. [in] Aleksander Brückner. Encyklopedia staropolska.
- ^ a b c d Wyrozumski Historia Polski. 116-128
- ISBN 1-56656-655-X, p. 260
- ^ Jerzy Lukowski and Hubert Zawadzki, A Concise History of Poland, p. 14-16
- ^ Norman Davies, Europe: A History , p. 366
- ^ Aleksander Brückner. Encyklopedia staropolska, tom II. str. 12, Niemcy.
- ^ Kancelaria miasta Krakowa w średniowieczu Uniwersytet Jagielloński, 1995, page 15
- ^ The Historiography of the So-called "East Colonisation" and the Current State of Research, w: B. Nagy, M. Sebők (red.), The Man of Many Devices, Who Wandered Full Many Ways... Festschrift in Honour of Janos Bak, Budapest 1999, s. 654-667
- ISBN 3-11-017061-2.
- ^ Franciszek Kotula. Pochodzenie domów przysłupowych w Rzeszowskiem. "Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej" Jahr. V., Nr. 3/4, 1957, S. 557
- ^ Marcin Bielski or Martin Bielski; "Kronika wszystkiego swiata" (1551; "Chronicle of the Whole World"), the first general history in Polish of both Poland and the rest of the world.
- ^ Ignacy Krasicki [in:] Kasper Niesiecki Herbarz [...] (1839-1846) tom. IX, page. 11.
- ISBN 3-88680-212-4
- ^ Howard B. Clarke, Anngret Simms, The Comparative History of Urban Origins in Non-Roman Europe: Ireland, Wales, Denmark, Germany, Poland, and Russia from the Ninth to the Thirteenth Century B.A.R., p.690, 1985
- ^ John Radzilowski, A Traveller's History of Poland, p. 39-41
- ^ Anna Czekanowska. Polish Folk Music: Slavonic Heritage - Polish Tradition 2006. p. 73
- ^ Concise Encyclopaedia of World History, 2007
- ^ Daily report: East Europe: United States. Foreign Broadcast Information Service, edit. 94, 1994