German Settlers and Poland/Prussia History Sources

 

Poland/Prussia historical highlights

• In the late 18th century, Poland went through a series of "partitions," which caused the Kingdon of Poland to be divided up between the super powers of that time - Austria, Prussia, and Russia. These partitions existed until 1806.
• The first partiti0n occurred in 1772 - a large area south of the Gulf of Gdansk and north of Posen was annexed to Prussia, and became West Prussia. This included an area called the Netze River District (including Bromberg, Kulm, Graudenz). Friedrich the Great promptly called for Germans to come settle this area.
• The second partition occurred in 1793 - an area known as South Prussia was created south of the Netze District, extending south to Silesia and east to the Vistula.
• The third partition occurred in 1795 - this partition wiped the Polish state off the map. The Lodz and Kalisch areas were annexed to South Prussia. An area called New East Prussia was created north of the Vistula River.
• As of 1806, South Prussia included the Posen, Kalisch, and Warsaw districts. After 1815, the Posen District became the Prussian province of Posen. The Kalisch and Warsaw distrcit became part of "Russian Poland." The area of South Prussia had a high conventration of German settlers who later immigrated to Bessarabia.
• As of 1906, New East Prussia included the Bialystok and Plozk districts.
• As of 1806, West Prussia included the Netze district, as well as the Kreise of Marienwerder, Marienburg, Kulm, Michelau, Dirschau, Danzig, Stargard, Konitz. The population of the Netze District was about 50% German - many of whom later immigrated to Bessarabia.

 

Other sources

• Armin Zimmerman's overview
•  Prussian Mennonite Genealogy
• Catalogue of Monuments of Dutch Colonization in Mazovia by Jerry Szalygin. A list of German villages in Poland, with locations and detailed descriptions (NOTE: The author incorrectly calls the German settlements "Dutch." Although there were some early Dutch settlers in the area, the mistranslation appears to be the result of mixing up the ethnicity of the people living in the villages (primarly German) with the system of government they lived under called "Hollendry." (A perpetual lease of land with cash payments to the owners.) Source: SGGEE listserv.