Landkreis Schlochau was a Kreis, or district, of Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

 from 1818-1945. Its capital was Schlochau (Człuchów). By 1 January 1945, the district included five cities: Baldenburg (Biały Bór), Hammerstein (Czarne)

Czarne

Czarne is a town in Człuchów County of Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. Population: 6,053 .-History:The town was founded on the territories that were formerly part of the Kingdom of Poland. They were acquired by the Monastic State of the Teutonic Order in 1308. Konrad von Jungingen...

, Landeck (Lędyczek)

Ledyczek

Lędyczek is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Okonek, within Złotów County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately east of Okonek, north of Złotów, and north of the regional capital Poznań....

, Preußisch Friedland (Debrzno)

Debrzno

Debrzno is a town in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland.The town was first mentioned as Fredeland in a document of 1346, when the manager of the Teutonic Order in Schlochau assigned four Hufen territory to Tylo. 1354 the Grandmaster Winrich von Kniprode granted the Culmer Law to the town....

 and Schlochau. The district also included 72 communities and a forest region.

History

Kreis Schlochau was created as a district of West Prussia

West Prussia

West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...

 on 1 April 1818, as a result of administrative reforms in the Kingdom of Prussia

Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...

 after the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. It was included within Regierungsbezirk Marienwerder and encompassed most of the rural regions around Schlochau, where the district president had his office.

The district was part of the Province of Prussia

Province of Prussia

The Province of Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1829-1878 created out of the provinces of East Prussia and West Prussia....

 from 1829-1878, after which it became a part of West Prussia again.

Following the dissolution of West Prussia after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and the Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

, the Schlochau district became part of Regierungsbezirk Schneidemühl in Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia. The northeastern part of the district was transferred to the Second Polish Republic

Second Polish Republic

The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...

. When Posen-West Prussia was dissolved on 1 October 1938, Kreis Schlochau was transferred to the Province of Pomerania and administered within Regierungsbezirk Grenzmark Posen-Westpreußen. On 1 January 1939, the district was renamed from Kreis Schlochau to Landkreis Schlochau.

The Schlochau district was conquered by the Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 in 1945 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. It was subsequently dissolved after being placed under Polish administration according to the post-war Potsdam Conference

Potsdam Conference

The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...

.