The Province of Pomerania (; ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Pomerania was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815, an expansion of the older Brandenburg-Prussia province of Pomerania, and then became part of the German Empire in 1871. From 1918, Pomerania was a province of the Free State of Prussia until it was dissolved following World War II by decree of the Allied Control Council with the de jure abolition of Prussia on 25 February 1947, and its territory divided between Poland and Allied-occupied Germany. The city of Stettin (present-day Szczecin, Poland) was the provincial capital.
Overview Etymology The name Pomerania comes from Slavic , which means "Land at the Sea".Der Name Pommern (po more) ist slawischer Herkunft und bedeutet so viel wie "Land am Meer". ()
Geography
The Province of Pomerania encompassed lands to the east and west of the mouth of the Oder River along the coast of the Baltic Sea. The province possessed a humid continental climate, with oceanic influences nearer to the sea.
To the west, the region of Hither Pomerania () was bounded on its west by the Recknitz River. Here, the province bordered the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and the Province of Brandenburg. The island of Rügen lays just off the heavily-indented coastline, featuring numerous inlets of the sea and chalk cliffs. Hither Pomerania was drained by many small rivers, the largest of which were the Peene and Uecker. The regional capital of Stralsund, as well as the towns of Greifswald, Anklam, and Demmin, were the most prominent political, cultural, and economic centers of this region.
In the center, the Oder River emptied into the Stettin Lagoon, and from there reached the Baltic Sea through the Peenestrom, Swine, and Dievenow channels. The islands of Usedom and Wollin separated the lagoon from the sea. Upriver, the Unteres Odertal was a low-lying, marshy network of waterways as the Oder neared its estuary. Aside from the Oder, the main rivers of this region were the Ihna and Plöne. Stettin (), the provincial capital, was found at the mouth of the Oder. Other major cities in this area included Stargard in Pommern and Swinemünde ().
To the east, the region of Farther Pomerania () reached over 250 kilometers to the northeast. Here the province shared borders with the Prussian provinces of Posen and West Prussia. The long, graded shoreline featured numerous sandy beaches, as well as large lagoons, among which were the Lebasee and Gardersee. The Slovincian Coast stretched along these lagoons in the easternmost parts of the province. Inland, Farther Pomerania was heavily forested and included a portion of the Baltic Uplands. The largest rivers of this region, most of which flowed northward towards the Baltic Sea, included the Rega, Persante, Wipper, Stolpe, and Leba. The capital of this region was Köslin (); other major cities included Kolberg () and Stolp ().
History The province was created from the former Prussian Province of Pomerania, which consisted of Farther Pomerania and the southern Western Pomerania, and former Swedish Pomerania. It resembled the territory of the former Duchy of Pomerania, which after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 had been split between Brandenburg-Prussia and Sweden. Also, the districts of Schivelbein (Świdwin) and Dramburg (Drawsko Pomorskie), formerly belonging to the Neumark, were merged into the new province.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p. 366,
While in the Kingdom of Prussia, the province was heavily influenced by the reforms of Karl August von HardenbergWerner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 393ff, and Otto von Bismarck.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 420ff, The Industrial Revolution primarily affected the Stettin area and the infrastructure, while most of the province retained a rural and agricultural character.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 412, 413, 464ff, From 1850, the net migration rate was negative; Pomeranians emigrated primarily to Berlin, the West German industrial regions and overseas.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 400ff,
After World WarI, democracy and the women's right to vote were introduced to the province. After WilhelmII's abdication, it was part of the Free State of Prussia.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 472ff, The economic situation worsened due to the consequences of World WarI and worldwide recession.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 443ff, 481ff, As in the previous Kingdom of Prussia, Pomerania was a stronghold of the national conservativesAdolf Hitler: a biographical companion David Nicholls page 178 (November 1, 2000 The main nationalist party the German National People's Party DNVP was divided between reactionary conservative monarchists, who wished to turn the clock back to the pre-1918 Kaisereich, and more radical volkisch and anti-Semitic elements. It also inherited the support of the old Pan-German League, whose nationalists rested on the belief in the inherent superiority of the German people who continued in the Weimar Republic.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 377ff, 439ff, 491ff,
In 1933, the Nazis established a totalitarian regime, concentrating the province's administration in the hands of their , and implementing . The German invasion of Poland in 1939 was launched in part from Pomeranian soil. Jewish and Polish populations (whose minorities lived in the region) were classified as "subhuman" by the German state during the war and subjected to repressions, slave work and executions.Polonia szczecińska 1890–1939 Anna Poniatowska Bogusław Drewniak, Poznań 1961HITLER'S PLANS FOR EASTERN EUROPE The Origins of the Final Solution Christopher R. Browning, Jürgen Matthäus page 64 University of Nebraska Press, 2007 Opponents were arrested and executed; Jews who by 1940 had not emigrated were all deported to the Lublin reservation.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 500ff, 509ff Nathan Stoltzfus, Resistance of the Heart: Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Nazi Germany, Rutgers University Press, 2001, , p. 130: February 11/12 from Stettin, soon thereafter from Schneidemühl, total of 1,260 Jews deported, among the deportees were intermarried non-Jewish women who had refused to divorce, eager Nazi Gauleiter Schwede-Coburg was the first to have his Gau "judenfrei", Eichmann's "RSHA" (Reich Security Main Office) ensured this was an isolated local incident to worried Eppstein of the Central Organization of Jews in Germany (Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland) Besides the air raids conducted since 1943, World WarII reached the province in early 1945 with the East Pomeranian Offensive and the Battle of Berlin, both launched and won by the Soviet Union's Red Army. Insufficient evacuation left the population subject to murder, war rape, and plunder by the successors.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 511–515,
When the war was over, the Oder–Neisse line cut the province in two unequal parts. The smaller western part became part of the East German State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The larger eastern part was attached to post-war Poland as Szczecin Voivodeship. After the war, ethnic Germans were expelled from Poland in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement and the area was re-settled with Poles.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p. 515, Currently, most of the territory of the province lies within the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which share the same city—now Szczecin—as its capital.
Until 1932, the province was subdivided into the government regions (Regierungsbezirk Köslin (eastern part, Farther Pomerania), Stettin (southwestern part, Old Western Pomerania), and Stralsund (northwestern part, ).Peter Oliver Loew, Staatsarchiv Stettin: Wegweiser durch die Bestände bis zum Jahr 1945, a translation of Radosław Gaziński, Paweł Gut, Maciej Szukała, Archiwum Państwowe w Szczecinie, Poland. Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Państwowych, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2004, pp. 91–92, The Stralsund region was merged into the Stettin region in 1932. In 1938, the Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia region (southeastern part, created from the former Prussian Province Posen-West Prussia) was merged into the province. The provincial capital was Stettin (now Szczecin), the capitals were Köslin (now Koszalin), Stettin, Stralsund and Schneidemühl (now Piła), respectively.
In 1905 the province of Pomerania had 1,684,326 inhabitants, among them 1,616,550 Protestants, 50,206 Catholics, and 9,660 Jews. In 1900 Polish was the native language of 14,162 of the inhabitants (at the border to West Prussia), and there were 310 (at the Lake Leba and at the Lake Garde) whose native language was Kashubian. The area of the province amounted to .Meyers Großes Konversationslexikon, 6th edition, Vol. 16, Leipzig/Wien: Bibliographisches Institut, 1909, p. 134. In 1925, the province had an area of , with a population of 1,878,780 inhabitants.Der Große Brockhaus, 15th edition, Vol. 14, Leipzig: Brockhaus Verlag, 1933, p. 741.
Creation and administration of the province within the Kingdom of Prussia
Although there had been a Prussian Province of Pomerania before, the province of Pomerania was newly constituted in 1815, based on the "decree concerning improved establishment of provincial offices" (), issued by Karl August von Hardenberg on 30 April, and the integration of Swedish Pomerania, handed over to Prussia on 23 October.
The Hardenberg decree reformed all Prussian territories, which henceforth formed ten (later eight) provinces with similar administrations. After the implementation of the reform, the new province of Pomerania consisted basically of its predecessor and Swedish Pomerania, but also of the Dramburg and Schivelbein counties.
The province was headed by a governor (, literally "senior president") with his seat in the capital, Stettin. It was subdivided into government regions () headed by a president (). Initially, two such regions were planned (Regierungsbezirk Stettin, comprising Western Pomerania, and Regierungsbezirk Köslin, comprising Farther Pomerania). Hardenberg however, who as the Prussian chief diplomat had settled the terms of session of Swedish Pomerania with Sweden at the Congress of Vienna, had assured to leave the local constitution in place when the treaty was signed on 7 June 1815. This circumstance led to a creation of a third government region, Regierungsbezirk Stralsund, for the former Swedish Pomerania at the expense of the Stettin region.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 366–369,
In early 1818, Governor Johann August Sack had reformed the county () shapes, yet adopted the former shape in most cases. Köslin government region comprised nine counties, Stettin government region thirteen, and Stralsund government region four (identical with the former Swedish (districts)).
The new parliament () assembled first on October 3, 1824. Based on two laws of June 5Allgemeines Gesetz wegen Anordnung der Provinzialstände and July,Gesetz wegen Anordnung der Provinzialstände im Herzogtum Pommern und im Fürstentum Rügen 1823, the was constituted by 25 lords and knights, 16 representatives of the towns, and eight from the rural communities.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p. 375,
Subordinate to the provincial were two assemblies, one for former Swedish Pomerania (Western Pomerania north of the Peene River) and one for the former Prussian part.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p. 377,
The counties each assembled a , where the knights of the county had one vote each and towns also just one vote."Kreisordnung des Herzogtums Pommern und des Fürstentums Rügen" of 17 August 1825
Throughout its existence, the province was a stronghold of the Conservative Parties.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 377ff, 439ff,
Infrastructure