Province of Pomerania before World War I The
Province of Pomerania () was a
province of the
Kingdom of Prussia and the
Free State of Prussia from 1815 until 1934. ==== 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 reconstituted in 1815, based on the "decree concerning improved establishment of provincial offices" (), issued by
Karl August von Hardenberg on April 30, and the integration of
Swedish Pomerania, handed over to Prussia on October 23. The Hardenberg decree reformed all Prussian territories, which henceforth formed ten (later eight) provinces with similar administration. After the implementation of the reform, the new Province of Pomerania consisted basically of her predecessor and Swedish Pomerania, but also of the
Dramburg (Drawsko Pomorskie) and
Schivelbein (Świdwin) counties. In early 1818, governor
Johann August Sack had reformed the county (
Kreis) 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 previous Swedish
Amt districts). and July, 1823, the
Landtag was constituted by 25 lords and knights, 16 representatives of the towns, and eight from the rural communities. Subordinate to the provincial
Landtag were two
Kommunallandtag assemblies, one for former Swedish Pomerania (
Western Pomerania north of the
Peene river) and one for the
former Prussian part. The counties each assembled a
Kreisstand, where the knights of the county had a vote each and towns also just one vote. Throughout its existence, the province was a stronghold of the conservative parties.
Reorganisation of Catholic Church institutions in Pomerania With the conversion of most Pomeranians to
Lutheranism in the 16th and 17th centuries the Duchy of Pomerania turned into a Catholic diaspora. However, the repopulation policy under
Frederick II of Prussia brought about the settlement of
Palatine Catholics in Pomerania in 1748. So their three newly founded villages of Blumenthal (a part of today's
Ferdinandshof), Hoppenwalde (a part of today's
Eggesin) and
Viereck formed the first new post-Reformation Catholic congregations in Pomerania. The Catholic Northern Missions took care of Catholic Pomeranians. Between 1709 and 1780 then Brandenburgian Pomerania was part of the
Vicariate Apostolic for Upper and Lower Saxony, before this merged into the
Vicariate Apostolic of the North, then also comprising other Lutheran states. The affairs of the Roman Catholic Church in the
Kingdom of Prussia had been reorganised by the Bull "De salute animarum", issued in 1821. By that time there were six new Catholic congregations in the Prussian
Province of Pomerania, besides the above-mentioned three also one in
Demmin, Stettin (est. 1809), and
Stralsund (est. 1785). In the eastern, rather newer parts of the province, in the districts of
Bütow (Bytów) and
Lauenburg (Lębork), which had not been part of the Duchy of Pomerania during the Reformation, the Catholic faith had survived. These districts, however, belonged to the jurisdiction of the
Diocese of Culm (Chełmno) (until 1922). In 1821 the rest of Pomerania was disentangled from the
Vicariate Apostolic of the North and subordinated to a new jurisdiction of the
Diocese of Breslau (Wrocław). This jurisdiction was titled the
Prince-Episcopal Delegation for Brandenburg and Pomerania (, ), since
Emanuel von Schimonsky was invested to Breslau's see under the new honorary rank of prince-bishop in 1824. The delegate resided in Berlin and served in
personal union as provost of then
St. Hedwig's Church.
Breslau's Prince-Bishop Heinrich Förster (1853–81) gave generous aid to the founding of churches, monastic institutions, and schools, especially in the diaspora regions.
Pope Leo XIII appointed as his successor Robert Herzog (1882–86), until then Prince-Episcopal Delegate for Brandenburg and Pomerania. According to the Prussian
Concordat of 1929 Pope
Pius XI elevated the Prince-Episcopal Delegation for Brandenburg and Pomerania to the
Diocese of Berlin on August 13, 1930, becoming a
suffragan of the Diocese of Breslau simultaneously elevated to
archdiocese. So all of Pomerania became part of the
Eastern German Ecclesiastical Province, with Bütow (Bytów) and Lauenburg (Lębork) being part of the new
Territorial Prelature of Schneidemühl (Piła).
Infrastructure "
Rügensche Kleinbahn", operating since 1895 , tourist resort since the 1860s In the 19th century, the first overland routes ("Chaussee") and railways were introduced in Pomerania. In 1848, 126.8 Prussian miles of new streets had been built. On October 12, 1840, construction of the Berlin–
Stettin railway began, which was finished on August 15, 1843. Other railways followed: Stettin-
Köslin (1859),
Angermünde-
Stralsund and
Züssow-
Wolgast (1863), Stettin-
Stolp (1869), and a connection with
Danzig (1870). The construction of narrow-gauge railways was enhanced by a special decree of July 28, 1892, implementing Prussian financial aid programs. In 1900, the total of narrow-gauge railways had passed the 1,000 kilometer threshold. From 1910 to 1912, most of the province was supplied with electricity as the main lines were built. Plants were built since 1898. The
Świna and lower
Oder rivers, the major water route to Stettin, were deepened to 5 meters and shortened by a canal (
Kaiserfahrt) in 1862. In Stettin, heavy industry was settled, making it the only industrial center of the province. Stettin was connected to Berlin by the Berlin-Stettin waterway in 1914 after eight years of construction. The other traditional waterways and ports of the province however declined. Exceptions were only the port of
Swinemünde (Świnoujście), which was used by the navy, the port of
Stolpmünde (Ustka), from which parts of the
Farther Pomeranian export was shipped, and the port of
Sassnitz, built in 1895 for railway ferries to
Scandinavia. With the infrastructural improvements, mass tourism to the
Baltic coast started. The tourist resort ("Ostseebad")
Binz had 80 visitors in 1870, 10,000 in 1900, and 22,000 in 1910. The same phenomenon occurred in other tourist resorts.
Agricultural reform . Pomerania was the leading Prussian province in sheep breeding. Already in 1807, Prussia issued a decree ("Steinsches Oktoberedikt") abolishing
serfdom.
Hardenberg issued a decree on September 14, 1811, defining the terms by which
serfs were to be released ("Hardenbergsches Regulierungsedikt"). This could either be done by monetary payment or by letting soil to the former lord. These reforms were applied during the early years of the province's existence. The so-called "regulation" was applied to 10,744 peasants until 1838, who paid their former lords 724,954
Taler and handed over 255,952 hectares of farmland to bail themselves out. Tumults arose in 1847 in the cities of
Stettin (Szczecin) and
Köslin (Koszalin) due to food shortages, as a result, prices for some foods were fixed. On March 2, 1850, a law was passed settling the conditions on which peasants and farmers could capitalize their property rights and
feudal service duties, and thus get a long-term credit (41 to 56 years to pay back). This law made way for the establishment of "Rentenbank" credit houses and "Rentengut" farms. Subsequently, the previous rural structure changed dramatically as farmers, who used this credit to bail out their feudal duties, were now able to self-determine how to use their land (so-called "regulated" peasants and farmers, "regulierte Bauern"). This was not possible before, when the jurisdiction had sanctioned the use of farmland and feudal services according not to property rights, but to social status within rural communities and estates. From 1891 to 1910, 4,731 "Rentengut" farms were set up, most (2,690) with a size of 10 to 25
hectares. In 1869,
Friedrich Albrecht Graf zu Eulenburg drafted a county reform ("Kreisreform") that was promoted by Bismarck. The reform passed the House of Lords on December 7, 1872. Most important, the reform cut the linkage between noble status and the right to vote, the latter now depended on property (one had to be above a certain tax threshold) and not on status, aiming against the overrepresentation of the knights compared to
burghers.), which entered into force in 1876. It redefined the responsibilities of the provincial administration (headed by the Oberpräsident) and the self-administrative institutions ("Provinzialverband", comprising the provincial parliament ("Provinziallandtag"), a "Landeshauptmann" (head) and a "Landesausschuß" (commission)). The Provinzialverband was financed directly from the Prussian state budget. The Landtag was responsible for streets, welfare, education, and culture. Landownership was not a criterion to become elected anymore. The provincial Landtag (Provinziallandtag) was elected by the county representative assemblies ("Kreistag" for counties, "Stadtverordnetenversammlung" for town districts) for a six years' term. A subordinate Kommunallandtag only existed for Regierungsbezirk Stralsund, until it was abolished in 1881. In 1891, a county reform was passed, allowing more communal self-government. Municipalities hence elected a "Gemeindevorstand" (head) and a "Gemeindevertretung" (communal parliament). Gutsbezirk districts, i.e. estates not included in counties, could be merged or dissolved. ==== Effect of
Treaty of Versailles on territorial size ==== In contrast to the provinces of
West Prussia and
East Prussia, the
Peace Treaty of Versailles of 1919 had comparatively little influence on the territorial size of the province of Pomerania. In the framework of the treaty some parts of the eastern rural administrative districts of
Landkreis Bütow,
Landkreis Lauenburg and
Landkreis Stolp, amounting to altogether 9,64 km2, where in 1910 a population of 224 inhabitants had been counted, went lost to
Poland.
Administrative subdivisions Until 1932, the province was subdivided into the government regions (
Regierungsbezirk)
Köslin (Eastern part,
Farther Pomerania),
Stettin (Southwestern part,
Old Western Pomerania or
Altvorpommern), and
Stralsund (Northwestern part,
New Western Pomerania or
Neuvorpommern). The Stralsund region was merged into the Stettin region in 1932. The provincial capital was
Stettin (Szczecin), the
Regierungsbezirk capitals were
Köslin (Koszalin), Stettin, and
Stralsund, respectively.
Demographics of Province of Pomerania Number on inhabitants in years • 1905: 1,684,326 (56 per km2), among them 1,616,550 Protestants, 50,206 Catholics, and 9,660 Jews. • 1925: 1,878,780 and insurgents of the November Uprising were also imprisoned in
Biskupia Górka. In May–June 1832 and November 1833, more than 1,000 Polish insurgents departed partitioned Poland through the port of Gdańsk, boarding ships bound for
France, the
United Kingdom and the
United States (see
Great Emigration). Prussia and Germany enacted
Germanisation policies. From 1866 Polish teachers were relocated to Germany. In 1873, teaching in German was made compulsory in all subjects except religion and singing. In 1911 the first Polish secret
scout troop in the
Prussian Partition of Poland was established in Chojnice.
Population in 1896 • 1875 – 1,343,057 • 1880 – 1,405,898 • 1890 – 1,433,681 (717,532 Catholics, 681,195 Protestants, 21,750 Jews, others) • 1900 – 1,563,658 == World War I and aftermath ==