(outlined in yellow) on the background of modern country borders.]]
(, , and
Germany on the south coasts of the
Baltic Sea between and on both sides of the
Vistula and
Oder (Odra) rivers, reaching the
Recknitz river in the west.
Polish Pomerania is currently divided into 3 (''Zachodniopomorskie, ZP''),
Pomeranian Voivodship (''Pomorskie, PM'') and the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship (''Kujawsko-Pomorskie, KP''). German Pomerania (Vorpommern) is part of the German ''
Bundesland '' (federal state) of
''Mecklenburg-Vorpommern'' (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) .
The history of the region is rich and varied, perhaps due to its having been under the rule of many different powers through the centuries. A Polish province since
962 , from
1181 until
1806 , Pomerania was a part of the
Holy Roman Empire and was ruled as imperial
Fief s by the
Dukes Of Pomerania , and, briefly, the kings of
Poland ; also
Denmark ,
Saxony ,
Brandenburg ,
Prussia , and
Sweden . With the demise of the
Holy Roman Empire Pomerania became a part of
Prussia , then, after
1871 of
Germany .
Pomerania takes its name from the Latin ''longum mare'', and means 'country by/next to/along the sea'
The name was probably first mentioned as Latin words 'longum mare' (=along the sea) in an obscure church record of around
1080 ), called the
Dagome Iudex , but supposedly dealing with
992 . It names
Oda Von Haldensleben and her husband as Dagome, which is assumed to refer to the Slav ruler
Mieszko I , referring to territory Dagome gave as gift to the pope. In an imperial record of
1046 there is an actual first mention of Pomerania as Zemuzil dux Bomeranorum (Siemomysl, Duke of Pomeranians). From then on Pomerania is mentioned many times in the chronicles by
Adam Of Bremen (ca.
1070 ) and Gallus Anonymous (ca.
1113 ).
In the German tradition Pomerania is often divided into ''Vorpommern'' (on the left bank of the
Oder river) and ''Hinterpommern'' (on its right bank). The easternmost part is known in German as ''
Pommerellen '', bordering and overlapping with
West Prussia .
Polish terminology divides Pomerania into: ''Pomorze Zachodnie'' (
Western Pomerania ) and ''Pomorze Wschodnie'' or ''Pomorze Gdańskie'' (
Gdańsk Pomerania ). The former covers roughly the teritorries referred to in German as ''Vorpommern'' and ''Hinterpommern'', the latter corresponds to ''Pommerellen''. Under Polish administration a number of several different voivodships all using the name Pomerania have been established.
Kashubian geographic terminology with regard to Pomerania is similar to Polish, and distinguishes between ''Zôpadnô Pòmòrskô'' (Western Pomerania) and ''Pòrénkòwô Pòmòrskô'' (Eastern Pomerania).
| Polish Voivodship or German Kreis | Capitals | Registration plates | Area
w km&2 | Population
Polish(Dec 31st of 1999)
German 2001 | territorial code |
|---|
| 17,969.72 | 2,100,771 | 04 |
| 18,292.88 | 2,192,268 | 22 |
| 22,901.48 | 1,732,838 | 32 |
| () - the site of the Voivod office. ('''&2''') - the site of the Voivod council |
| | | '''59,164.08''' | '''6,025,877''' | |
| Nordvorpommern | Grimmen | NPV | 2,168 | 117,722 | |
| Ostvorpommern | Anklam | OVP | 1,910 | 113,623 | |
| Rügen | Bergen Auf Rügen | RÜG | 974 | 74,400 | |
| Uecker-Randow | Pasewalk | UER | 1,624 | 83,459 | |
| Demmin (district) | Demmin | DM | 1,921 | 93,700 | |
| Greifswald | | HGW | 52.2 | 52,984 | |
| Stralsund | | HST | est. 52.2 | 60,000 | |
| | | '''8,701''' | '''595,888''' | |
The biggest cities are (with population figures for
1999 ):
- in Polish Pomerania
- --- Tricity metropolitan area (population(2001): 1035,000 area 1,332,51 km&2 ) including
-- Gdańsk (458,988) (1905 - 159,685)
-- Gdynia (253,521)
-- Sopot (46,000)
- --- Szczecin (416,988) (1905 - 224,078)
- --- Toruń (206,158)
- --- Koszalin (112,375)
- --- Słupsk (102,370)
- --- Stargard Szczeciński (72,000)
and Kołobrzeg (Kolberg), Szczecinek Świnoujście
Pomerania is the area along the
Baltic Sea between the
Vistula ,
Noteć ,
Warta and
Recknitz rivers. The islands of
Uznam ,
Wolin and
Rügen lie along the Pomeranian coast, while the
Hel Peninsula and the
Vistula Peninsula jut out into the Baltic.
The Baltic forms the
Bay Of Pomerania ,
Szczecin Bay ,
Gdańsk Bay with
Bay Of Puck , and
Vistula Bay along the coast. Lakes
Lebsko ,
Jamno and
Gardno were formerly bays but have been cut off from the sea.
In prehistoric times Pomerania was settled by
East Germanic migrants from
Scandinavia , called the
Rugians . Later, around 500 AD, they moved on to Central Europe and were replaced by Slavic tribes.
The Pomeranians are first mentioned around the year 1000 AD.
The territory of northern Germania, as it was recorded 2000 years ago was covered with ice, which did not start to recede until the late period of the Old Stone Age or Paleolithic some 10,000 years BC, when the Scandinavian glacier receded to the north. Various archeological cultures developed in the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age
. Note also the variant coat of arms on this map by Eilhardus Lubinus.]]
Pomerania was conquered by the Polish duke
Mieszko I in the second half of the 10th century. During the big pagan uprising in Poland in 1038 it became shortly indipendent to return later to Poland. In 1138 it became a part of the Polish seniorat, which the western part left in 1181 to join alliances with German noblemen. The eastern part was conquered by the Teutonic Knights in 1309, but returned to the kingdom of Poland in 1466.
Throughout the late mediaeval period Pomerania was claimed by Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and Poland, and occasionally by the Teutonic Knights. In 1420 the Wendish nobles of Brandenburg were supported by the Wends of Pomerania in an uprising against the Margrave of Brandenburg, Frederick von Hohenzollern ("Irontooth"), but were decisively defeated at Angermünde. Frederick believed that the key to the complicated politics of his region was to forge close ties with Poland, which could now control the Teutonic order and was therefore in a position to confirm Brandenburg’s claims to Pomerania. He therefore arranged for his second son, Frederick, to get engaged to King Vladislav of Poland’s daughter.
This enraged Sigismund of
Bohemia , who now threw his support behind the Dukes of Pomerania, granting them the Uckermark. In 1425 it came to war, with Brandenburg facing Pomerania, Mecklenburg, the Teutonic Order and even Poland. Frederick’s plans had come badly unstuck. In the war which followed, Frederick was able to keep the Uckermark, but Hohenzollern pretensions to rule Pomerania were thwarted.
Since 1200 a steady influx of German settlers and agricultural pioneers had existed in then mostly Slavic Pomerania.
Disputes with
Brandenburg continued. These were partially agreed at the Conference of Juterbog (1527) between Joachim I of Brandenburg and the Duke of Pomerania. As the Reformation gathered pace, Pomerania also went Lutheran Protestant, but the process was slower than in Brandenburg.
In 1637 the last of the Wendish Dukes of Pomerania, Bogislaw XIV, died out. During the Thirty Years War
Gustavus Adolphus Of Sweden occupied Pomerania. In the negotiations between France Brandenburg and Sweden following the Northern War the Brandenburgish diplomats Joachim Friedrich
Von Blumenthal and his son Christoph Caspar obtained the rights of succession for Brandenburg, though the argument with Sweden, especially over Hither Pomerania, continued to the end of the 17th century and beyond, until the
Treaty Of Stockholm in 1720.
Prussian noblemen began to acquire estates in Pomerania, while Pomeranian noblemen were integrated into Prussian society. Thus originally Wendish families such as the von Lettows, von Zitzewitzes and von Krockows intermarried with German families from Brandenburg such as the
Von Blumenthal s, who possessed great estates at Quackenburg, Varzin, Dubberzin, Schlönwitz and elsewhere. By the nineteenth century Pomerania was mostly Germanised, and was a popular place of retirement for the well-to-do such as Bismarck, who bought Varzin.
During the Nazi period Pomerania was a hotbed of opposition to as well as supporter of the Nazis, where the network of aristocratic estates and the loyalties they generated were ideal for conspiracy.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer ran his illegal seminary at the Pomeranian village of Schlönwitz in 1938. It was therefore ironic that Pomerania should have been given to Poland to compensate her for losses of territory in the East to the Soviet Union in 1945, and the German speaking population fled or was expelled (often by violence). A popular account of this period can be found in Christian von Krockow's book ''The Hour of the Women''. Pomerania became Polish in 1945.
The eastern part of Pomerania, ''Pomorze'', is a geographical and historical region in Poland that encompasses three Polish (''Zachodniopomorskie''),
Pomeranian Voivodship (''Pomorskie'') and the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship (''Kujawsko-Pomorskie''). The most western part of Pomerania (Vorpommern, in Polish ''Zapomorze'') is part of the German state (''Bundesland'') of
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (''Mecklenburg-Vorpommern'').
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- Open Directory Project - Western Pomerania - internet directory
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Poland/Voivodships/Pomerania-Kashubia/ Open Directory Project - Kashubian Pomerania - internet directory]
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Poland/Voivodships/Kuyavia_and_Pomerania/ Open Directory Project - Kuyavia and Pomerania - internet directory]
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Germany/States/Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania/ Open Directory Project - Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - internet directory]
