Since the
First Partition of Poland in 1772, the Bromberg district was one of the four districts of the Prussian
Netze District. During the
Napoleonic Wars, the Bromberg district was ceded by Prussia to the
Duchy of Warsaw through the
Treaty of Tilsit in 1807. The entire Netze District was restored to the
Kingdom of Prussia at the
Congress of Vienna on 15 May 1815. Its southeastern part with the Bromberg district was assigned to
Regierungsbezirk Bromberg in the
Grand Duchy of Posen which became the
Province of Posen in 1848. As part of a first district reform on 1 July 1816, the Bromberg district ceded the city of
Exin to the
Wirsitz district. In a second district reform on 1 January 1818, the Bromberg district was significantly reduced in size. The towns of
Mrotschen,
Nakel and their surroundings were transferred to the
Wirsitz district, and the towns of
Bartschin,
Labischin,
Rynarschewo and
Schubin, together with their surroundings formed the new
district of Schubin. Another part of the Bromberg district became part of the
district of Inowrazlaw. Since then, the district of Bromberg included
Bromberg,
Fordon,
Polnisch Krone and
Schulitz. The district office was set up in Bromberg. As part of the
Province of Posen, the district of Bromberg became part of the newly founded
German Empire on 18 January 1871. On 29 May 1875 the city of Bromberg was detached from the Bromberg district and formed its own urban district
(Stadtkreis Bromberg). The remainder of the district came to be known as
Landkreis Bromberg. On 27 December 1918 the
Greater Poland uprising began in the province of Posen, but the district of Bromberg remained under German control. On 16 February 1919 an armistice ended the Polish-German fighting, and on 28 June 1919 the
German government had to cede the district of Bromberg and the predominantly
German-populated city of Bromberg to
Poland as part of the provisions of the
Treaty of Versailles. On 25 November 1919 Germany and Poland concluded an agreement on the evacuation of state facilities and the transfer of the areas to be ceded, which was ratified on 10 January 1920. The state facilities were evacuated and handed over to Poland between 17 January and 4 February 1920. The city of Bromberg, known in
Polish as Bydgoszcz was handed over to Poland on 19 January 1920.
Interwar Period The district of Bromberg continued in Poland as
Powiat Bydgoski (Bydgoszcz County). In 1920, 16 small villages were transferred from the Powiat to the city of Bydgoszcz. On 1 April 1938 the Bydgoszcz county moved from the
Poznań Voivodeship to the
Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 1921, Bydgoszcz county had 140,263 inhabitants, of which 14% were Germans and 86% were Poles. The city of Bydgoszcz itself had 87,643 inhabitants, of which 27% were Germans and 73% were Poles. In 1931, only 10% of the city's population were Germans.
Bromberg district in Occupied Poland (1939-1945) After the
German Invasion of Poland in 1939, the area of the Bromberg district was annexed by
Nazi Germany into
Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia and the Bromberg district was re-established. At the beginning of
World War II, there were clashes between the German minority and Polish armed forces in the area, and several hundred people were killed on
Bloody Sunday. After the invasion of the
Wehrmacht, members of the German minority formed paramilitary units, called the
Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz, led by the
SS and
Gestapo, and committed mass murder of the Polish population. According to Polish sources, around 5,000 Poles were killed at
Fordon, and a total of 37,000 Polish residents of the city of Bydgoszcz lost their lives by the end of the war. In 1941, the district of Bromberg had 54,949 inhabitants, the city of Bromberg itself had 144,252 inhabitants. On 1 January 1945 the district comprised three cities and 114 municipalities. At the end of
World War II, numerous German residents fled west. In January 1945 the district was occupied by the
Red Army and was restored to Poland. == Demographics ==