province of posen

The Province of Posen (German: Provinz Posen, Polish: Prowincja Poznańska) was a province of Prussia (1846-1918). Known as the "cradle of the Polish nation", this region was the home to Poles, Germans, some Jews and a smattering of other peoples. Almost all the Poles were Roman Catholic, and about 90% of the Germans were Protestant. The small numbers of Jews were primarily to be found in the larger communities, mostly in skilled crafts, local commerce and regional trading. The smaller the community, the more likely it was to be either Polish or German. These "pockets of ethnicity" existed side by side, with more of them being German in the northwest, and more being Polish in the southeast. As the years progressed, the population became more German until the end of the 1800s, when the trend reversed (so called Ostflucht). This was despite efforts of the government in Berlin, which established a resettlement program to buy land from Poles and make it available only to Germans.

Description

The land is mostly flat, drained by two major watershed systems; the Notec (German: Netze) in the north and the Warta (German: Warthe) in the center. Ice Age glaciers left moraine deposits and the land is speckled with hundreds of "finger lakes", streams flowing in and out on their way to one of the two rivers. Agriculture was the primary industry, as one would expect for the 1800s. The three-field-system was used to grow a variety of crops, primarily rye, sugar beets, potatoes, other grains, and some tobacco and hops. Significant parcels of wooded land provided building materials and firewood. Small numbers of livestock existed, including geese, but a fair amount of sheep were herded. When this area came under Prussian control, the feudal system was still in force. It was officially ended in Prussia (see Freiherr vom Stein) in 1810 (1864 in Congress Poland), but lingered in some practices until the late 1800s. The situation was thus that (primarily) Polish serfs lived and worked side by side with (predominantly) free German settlers. Though the settlers were given initial advantages, in time their lots were not much different. In simplistic terms, serfs worked for the lord and the lord took care of them. Settlers worked for themselves and took care of themselves, but paid taxes to the lord. Typically, an estate would have its manor and farm buildings, and a village nearby for the Polish laborers. Near that village, there might be a German settlement. And in the woods, there would be a forester's dwelling. The estate owners, usually of the nobility, owned the local grist mill, and often other types of mills or perhaps a distillery. In many places, windmills dotted the landscape, reminding one of the earliest settlers, the Dutch, who began the process of turning unproductive river marshes into fields. This process was finished by the German settlers who were used to reclaim unproductive lands (not only marshland) for the host estate owners.

Changing hands

Originally part of the Kingdom of Poland, this area roughly coincided with the Polish region known as Great Poland. This area became controlled by the Kingdom of Prussia during the Partitions of Poland. The first Partition (1772) took just the northern portion, north of the Netze (Polish: Noteć) river. The Second Partition added the remainder in 1793. Prussia lost control briefly during the Kosciuszko Uprising (1794). Initially, it was called "South Prussia". Prussia (and later Germany) retained control until the end of World War I, with the exception of the period of time when Napoleon changed the landscape of Europe (1806-1815). The Duchy of Warsaw, was created following the Prussian defeat at the Treaty of Tilsit. Polish people were the main ally of Napoleon in Central Europe, participated in the Great Poland Uprising of 1806 and supplied troops for his campaigns. After the fall of Napoleon in 1815 according to the Vienna peace congress, Great Poland returned to Prussia, and became the Grand Duchy of Posen (1815-1846), an autonomous province under Hohenzollern rule with the rights of "free development of Polish nation, culture and language", and outside the German Confederation. At this time the city of Posen was the administrative center and the site of the "prince Antoni Henryk Radziwiłł of Posen". However, shortly after the outbreak of the November Uprising Prussia broke the Vienna peace congress arrangements, ignored the autonomy and in 1846 the province was renamed to Province of Posen. With the unification of Germany, the province of Posen became part of the German Empire (1871-1918) and the city of Posen was officially named an imperial residence city. Most of the province passed to Poland with the end of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles after Great Poland Uprising 1918 and became Poznań Voivodship. The part remaining in Germany formed Grenzmark Posen-Westpreussen with Schneidemhl (Pila) as capital, until 1938, when it was divided between Silesia, Pomerania and Brandenburg. Finally, all the territory was returned to Poland only after the end of World War II.

Ethnic conflict

Due to the large number of resident Germans (first as settlers and then as occupiers) and the presence of powerful, warring nations on all sides and the internal strife between three major religious faiths, the area was often a battleground of ethnic conflicts. During the first half of the 1800s, the German population grew due to state sponsored colonisation. In the second half, the Polish population grew gradually due to the Ostflucht and higher birth-rate. The clash peaked during the Kulturkampf, when many Catholics Germans in Posen joined with ethnic Poles in opposition to the Protestant Prussian government. Polish language were gradually removed from the schools and offices due to Germanisation.

Statistics

Area: 28,970 km²

District Posen 17,503 km²
District Bromberg 11,448 km²

Population

1816: 820,176
1868: 1,537,300 (Bromberg 550,900 - Posen 986,400)
1871: 1,583,843

Religion: 1871

Catholics 1,009,885
Protestants 511,429
Jews 61,982
others 547

1875: 1,606,084
1880: 1,703,397
1900: 1,887,275
1905: 1,986,267
1910: 2,099,831 (Bromberg 763,900 - Posen 1,335,900)

Divisions

Note: Prussian provinces were subdivided into units called "Kreise" (singular "Kreis", abreviated "Kr.", English circle), which were similar to large counties in US terms. Cities would have their own "Stadtkreis" (English: municipal county) and the surrounding rural area would be named for the city, but referred to as a "Landkreis" (English: rural county). In the case of Posen, the Landkreis was split into two: Landkreis Posen West, and Landkreis Posen East. Data is from Prussian censuses, during a period of state-sponsored germanization, and includes military garrissons. It is commonly critisized for being falsified. Kreis ("County")>

b>Polish spelling	1905 Pop	Polish speakers	German speakers¹	Jewish²	Origin
a href="/encyclopedia/Posen-district" title="Posen district">Posen district (southern)
a href="/encyclopedia/Poznan" title="Poznan">City of Posen	Poznań	55%	45%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Adelnau" title="Kreis Adelnau">Adelnau	Odolanw	90%	10%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Birnbaum" title="Kreis Birnbaum">Birnbaum	Miedzychd	51%	49%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Bomst" title="Kreis Bomst">Bomst	Babimost	49%	51%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Fraustadt" title="Kreis Fraustadt">Fraustadt	Wschowa	27%	73%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Gostyn" title="Kreis Gostyn">Gostyn	Gostyn	87%	13%	\|Krben
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Grtz" title="Kreis Grtz">Grtz	Grodzisk	82%	18%	\|Buk
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Jarotschin" title="Kreis Jarotschin">Jarotschin	Jarocin	83%	17%	\|Pleschen
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Kempen" title="Kreis Kempen">Kempen	Kępno	84%	16%	\|Schildberg
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Koschmin" title="Kreis Koschmin">Koschmin	Koźmin	83%	17%	\|Krotoschin
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Kosten" title="Kreis Kosten">Kosten	Kościan	89%	11%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Krotoschin" title="Kreis Krotoschin">Krotoschin	Krotoszyn	70%	30%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Lissa" title="Kreis Lissa">Lissa	Leszno	36%	64%	\|Fraustadt
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Meseritz" title="Kreis Meseritz">Meseritz	Międzyrzecz	20%	80%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Neutomischel" title="Kreis Neutomischel">Neutomischel	Nowy Tomyśl	51%	49%	\|Buk
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Obornik" title="Kreis Obornik">Obornik	Oborniki	61%	39%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Ostrowo" title="Kreis Ostrowo">Ostrowo	Ostrw	80%	20%	\|?Adelnau?
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Pleschen" title="Kreis Pleschen">Pleschen	Pleszew	85%	15%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Posen-Ost" title="Kreis Posen Ost">Posen Ost	Poznań, Wsch.	72%	28%	\|Posen
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Posen-West" title="Kreis Posen West">Posen West	Poznań, Zach.	87%	13%	\|Posen
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Rawitsch" title="Kreis Rawitsch">Rawitsch	Rawicz	55%	45%	\|Krben
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Samter" title="Kreis Samter">Samter	Szamotuły	73%	27%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Schildberg" title="Kreis Schildberg">Schildberg	Ostrzeszw	90%	10%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Schmiegel" title="Kreis Schmiegel">Schmiegel	Śmigiel	82%	18%	\|Kosten
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Schrimm" title="Kreis Schrimm">Schrimm	Śrem	82%	18%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Schroda" title="Kreis Schroda">Schroda	Środa	88%	12%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Schwerin-in-Posen" title="Kreis Schwerin in Posen">Schwerin	Skwierzyna	5%	95%	\|Birnbaum - 1877
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Wreschen" title="Kreis Wreschen">Wreschen	Września	84%	16%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Bromberg-district" title="Bromberg district">Bromberg district (northern)
a href="/encyclopedia/Bydgoszcz" title="Bydgoszcz">City of Bromberg	Bydgoszcz	16%	84%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Bromberg" title="Kreis Bromberg">Bromberg	Bydgoszcz	38%	62%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Czarnikau" title="Kreis Czarnikau">Czarnikau	Czarnikw	27%	73%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Filehne" title="Kreis Filehne">Filehne	Wieleń	28%	72%	\|Czarnikau
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Gnesen" title="Kreis Gnesen">Gnesen	Gniezno	67%	33%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Hohensalza" title="Kreis Hohensalza">Hohensalza	Inowrocław	64%	36%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Kolmar-in-Posen" title="Kreis Kolmar in Posen">Kolmar	Chodzież	18%	82%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Mogilno" title="Kreis Mogilno">Mogilno	Mogilno	76%	24%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Schubin" title="Kreis Schubin">Schubin	Szubin	56%	44%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Strelno" title="Kreis Strelno">Strelno	Strzelno	82%	18%	\| ??
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Wirsitz" title="Kreis Wirsitz">Wirsitz	Wyrzysk	47%	53%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Witkowo" title="Kreis Witkowo">Witkowo	Witkowo	83%	17%	\|?Gnesen?
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Wongrowitz" title="Kreis Wongrowitz">Wongrowitz	Wągrowiec	77%	23%	\|
a href="/encyclopedia/Kreis-Znin" title="Kreis Znin">Znin	Żnin	77%	23%	\| ??

¹ includes bilingual speakers
² only religious jews, without regard of their native language

The Presidents (German: Oberprsidenten) of Province of Posen

Time in Office>

b>Name
815 - 1824	Joseph Zerboni de Sposetti 1760 - 1831
825 - 1830	Johann Friedrich Theodor von Baumann 1768 - 1830
830 - 1840	Eduard Heinrich Flottwell 1786 - 1865
840 - 1842	Adolf Heinrich Graf von Arnim-Boitzenburg 1803 - 1868
843 - 1850	Carl Moritz von Beurmann 1802 - 1870
850 - 1851	Gustav Carl Gisbert Heinrich Wilhelm Gebhard von Bonin (1.time in office) 1797 - 1878
851 - 1860	Eugen von Puttkamer 1800 - 1874
860 - 1862	Gustav Carl Gisbert Heinrich Wilhelm Gebhard von Bonin (2.time in office) 1797 - 1878
862 - 1869	Carl Wilhelm Heinrich Georg von Horn 1807 - 1889
869 - 1873	Otto Graf von Knigsmarck 1815 - 1889
873 - 1886	William Barstow von Guenther 1815 - 1892
886 - 1890	Robert Graf von Zedtlitz-Trtzschler 1837 - 1914
890 - 1899	Hugo The. Wich.Freiherr von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff 1840-1905
899 - 1903	Karl Julius Rudolf von Bitter 1846 - 1914
903 - 1911	Wilhelm August Hans von Waldow-Reitzenstein 1856 - 1937
911 - 1914	Philipp Schwartzkopf ?
914 - 1918	Joh. Karl Friedr. Moritz Ferd. v. Eisenhart-Rothe 1862-1942