Vistula Germans
Encyclopedia
Vistula Germans are ethnic Germans who had settled in what became known after the 1863 Polish rebellion as the Vistula Territory. This territory, so designated by the ruling Russians of the time, encompassed most of the Vistula River (Weichsel in German, Wisła in Polish) watershed of central Poland up to just east of Toruń
.
(Danzig). German presence in the region around Gdańsk reaches back to the Middle Ages. Many were invited in by German and Polish nobility but most settled in cities and large towns which were often governed under a form known as German town law
.
German settlement on abandoned or empty land in Kujawy and Royal Prussia
increased as land owners sought to re-populate their lands after the losses of the Great Northern War
(1700–1721). Migration up the Vistula River, to Płock, Wyszogród
, and beyond, continued through the period of the Partitions of Poland
by Prussia, Austria and Russia. Much of the Vistula River watershed region came under Prussian rule in 1793 and became the provinces of South Prussia
and New East Prussia
.
In spite of the brief occupation by Napoleon (when the region was known as the Duchy of Warsaw
) and in spite of the takeover by Russia following the Treaty of Paris (1815)
, German migration continued into the region throughout the 19th century. They often settled in existing communities but also established many new ones so that, by World War I, well over 3000 villages with German inhabitants can be documented. A 1935 map created by Albert Breyer shows the distribution of German settlement in this region. While his map shows clearly defined boundaries of settlement by Germans from many different German territories, actual settlement occurred throughout the area beyond his boundaries and there was considerable overlap in their origins. This entire region is variously referred to as either Congress Poland
or Russian Poland.
Some German villages in the area were identified by the adjective Niemiecki, which means "German" in Polish (e.g., Kępa Niemiecka). This differentiated a German village from another in the same immediate area where Poles lived (the Polish village might have the adjective Polski (e.g., Kępa Polska
). After World War II, due to anti-German feelings, the adjective was commonly dropped or replaced by a term like Nowe (new). However, some villages even today still retain the old identifier.
The vast majority of Germans in this region were Lutheran
. While they retained a clear Germanic ethnicity, traditions and language, they often adapted or adopted Polish culture and food and sometimes surnames. A limited amount of intermarriage between the cultures occurred. Large numbers of these Germans chose to leave the area during the Napoleonic occupation, heading further south and east to the Black Sea and Bessarabian regions of Russia. Still others headed east to Volhynia during the Polish uprisings of the 1830s and 1860s. In addition to fleeing these unsettled conditions, the latter were also attracted by offers of land that became available as a result of emancipation of serfs in Russia.
Significant numbers of these Vistula Germans (including many who had spent a generation or more in the Black Sea, Bessarabia, and Volhynia regions) migrated to North America in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Since most were farmers, they tended to head for opportunities of inexpensive or virtually free homestead land in the Midwestern and Plains States and Canadian prairies. They are of course scattered about in other regions as well.
Those who remained in this area through World War II were repatriated to German territory in accord with the post-war agreements between the Allied Powers of Britain, Russia, and the United States. In a few cases, ethnic Germans who had been detained by Communist Polish authorities for forced labor remained in Poland, as did some ethnic Germans who had family ties with ethnic Poles. Some ethnic Germans were captured by Soviet troops, and were forced east to settle in Kazakhstan and Siberia. They were never repatriated.
. This type of village organization became known as the "Olęder Law," and such villages were called "Holendry" or "Olędry." Inhabitants of these villages were called Olędrzy
, regardless of whether they were of Dutch, German or other descent. There were two Mennonite communities in Mazovia: one at Wymyśle Polskie
and one at Deutsch Kazun
. Some Mennonite adherents lived in nearby villages where a substantial majority of the inhabitants were Lutheran Germans, such as Sady or Świniary, and there was some intermarriage between the two faith groups. These contacts may have contributed to Germanization of these Mennonites.
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
.
Migration history
The Vistula River flows south to north in a broad easterly loop that extends from the Carpathian Mountains to its mouth on the Baltic Sea near GdańskGdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
(Danzig). German presence in the region around Gdańsk reaches back to the Middle Ages. Many were invited in by German and Polish nobility but most settled in cities and large towns which were often governed under a form known as German town law
German town law
German town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...
.
German settlement on abandoned or empty land in Kujawy and Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
increased as land owners sought to re-populate their lands after the losses of the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
(1700–1721). Migration up the Vistula River, to Płock, Wyszogród
Wyszogród
Wyszogród is a town in Poland, in Masovian Voivodship, in Płock County, by the Vistula River. The population of Wyszogród was 2,793 in 2004.-History:...
, and beyond, continued through the period of the Partitions of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
by Prussia, Austria and Russia. Much of the Vistula River watershed region came under Prussian rule in 1793 and became the provinces of South Prussia
South Prussia
South Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1793 to 1807. It was created out of territory annexed in the Second Partition of Poland and included in 1793*the Poznań, Kalisz and Gniezno Voivodeships of Greater Poland;...
and New East Prussia
New East Prussia
New East Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1795 to 1807. It was created out of territory annexed in the Third Partition of Poland and included parts of Masovia and Podlaskie...
.
In spite of the brief occupation by Napoleon (when the region was known as the Duchy of Warsaw
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...
) and in spite of the takeover by Russia following the Treaty of Paris (1815)
Treaty of Paris (1815)
Treaty of Paris of 1815, was signed on 20 November 1815 following the defeat and second abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte. In February, Napoleon had escaped from his exile on Elba; he entered Paris on 20 March, beginning the Hundred Days of his restored rule. Four days after France's defeat in the...
, German migration continued into the region throughout the 19th century. They often settled in existing communities but also established many new ones so that, by World War I, well over 3000 villages with German inhabitants can be documented. A 1935 map created by Albert Breyer shows the distribution of German settlement in this region. While his map shows clearly defined boundaries of settlement by Germans from many different German territories, actual settlement occurred throughout the area beyond his boundaries and there was considerable overlap in their origins. This entire region is variously referred to as either Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
or Russian Poland.
Some German villages in the area were identified by the adjective Niemiecki, which means "German" in Polish (e.g., Kępa Niemiecka). This differentiated a German village from another in the same immediate area where Poles lived (the Polish village might have the adjective Polski (e.g., Kępa Polska
Kepa Polska
Kępa Polska is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bodzanów, within Płock County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Bodzanów, south-east of Płock, and west of Warsaw.-References:...
). After World War II, due to anti-German feelings, the adjective was commonly dropped or replaced by a term like Nowe (new). However, some villages even today still retain the old identifier.
The vast majority of Germans in this region were Lutheran
Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland
The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland , the largest Protestant body in Poland, is rooted in the Reformation. The first Lutheran sermons were held in 1518, and in 1523 the first Lutheran dean, Johann Heß, was called to the city of Breslau, whence Lutheranism was spread into the...
. While they retained a clear Germanic ethnicity, traditions and language, they often adapted or adopted Polish culture and food and sometimes surnames. A limited amount of intermarriage between the cultures occurred. Large numbers of these Germans chose to leave the area during the Napoleonic occupation, heading further south and east to the Black Sea and Bessarabian regions of Russia. Still others headed east to Volhynia during the Polish uprisings of the 1830s and 1860s. In addition to fleeing these unsettled conditions, the latter were also attracted by offers of land that became available as a result of emancipation of serfs in Russia.
Significant numbers of these Vistula Germans (including many who had spent a generation or more in the Black Sea, Bessarabia, and Volhynia regions) migrated to North America in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Since most were farmers, they tended to head for opportunities of inexpensive or virtually free homestead land in the Midwestern and Plains States and Canadian prairies. They are of course scattered about in other regions as well.
Those who remained in this area through World War II were repatriated to German territory in accord with the post-war agreements between the Allied Powers of Britain, Russia, and the United States. In a few cases, ethnic Germans who had been detained by Communist Polish authorities for forced labor remained in Poland, as did some ethnic Germans who had family ties with ethnic Poles. Some ethnic Germans were captured by Soviet troops, and were forced east to settle in Kazakhstan and Siberia. They were never repatriated.
Dutch Influences
In the 16th and 17th centuries, settlers from the Netherlands and Friesland, often Mennonites, founded self-governing villages in Royal PrussiaRoyal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
. This type of village organization became known as the "Olęder Law," and such villages were called "Holendry" or "Olędry." Inhabitants of these villages were called Olędrzy
Oledrzy
Olędrzy is a Polish term used to describe persons, often of Dutch or German origin or ancestry, who lived in settlements in Poland organized under a particular type of law....
, regardless of whether they were of Dutch, German or other descent. There were two Mennonite communities in Mazovia: one at Wymyśle Polskie
Wymysle Polskie
Wymyśle Polskie is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Słubice, within Płock County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Słubice, south-east of Płock, and west of Warsaw.-References:...
and one at Deutsch Kazun
Kazun Polski
Kazuń Polski is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Czosnów, within Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately west of Czosnów, south of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, and north-west of Warsaw....
. Some Mennonite adherents lived in nearby villages where a substantial majority of the inhabitants were Lutheran Germans, such as Sady or Świniary, and there was some intermarriage between the two faith groups. These contacts may have contributed to Germanization of these Mennonites.
Genealogy
Records for Lutheran Churches (as well as some Baptist and Moravian Brethren), many of them dating back to the late 18th century, can be found in Warsaw Archives and were microfilmed by the LDS Family History Library. Known available Lutheran records are listed on the website of the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe. In some places few if any records exist, primarily because of their destruction in World War II. Where Lutheran Churches did not exist, or in times prior to their existence, the Germans would have been obligated to register at a Roman Catholic church.See also
- OlędrzyOledrzyOlędrzy is a Polish term used to describe persons, often of Dutch or German origin or ancestry, who lived in settlements in Poland organized under a particular type of law....
- History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet UnionHistory of Germans in Russia and the Soviet UnionThe German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union was created from several sources and in several waves. The 1914 census puts the number of Germans living in Russian Empire at 2,416,290. In 1989, the German population of the Soviet Union was roughly 2 million. In the 2002 Russian census, 597,212...
- Nazi-Soviet population transfersNazi-Soviet population transfersThe Nazi–Soviet population transfers were a series of population transfers between 1939 and 1941 of tens of thousands of ethnic Germans and ethnic Russians in an agreement according to the German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.-...
- Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War IIFlight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War IIThe flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland was the largest of a series of flights and expulsions of Germans in Europe during and after World War II...
- German minority in PolandGerman minority in PolandThe registered German minority in Poland consists of 152,900 people, according to a 2002 census.The German language is used in certain areas in Opole Voivodeship , where most of the minority resides...
- German AmericanGerman AmericanGerman Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
Other Recommended Resources
- 1. Book - Die Deutschen in Polen Seit der Reformation, by Oskar Kossmann (in German)
- 2. Book - Historical Atlas of East Central Europe, by Paul Magocsi (in English)
External links
- Vistula Germans History and map settlements by region
- Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe - with focus on Russian Poland and Volhynia
- Germans From Russia Heritage Society Focus is on Black Sea and Bessarabia regions but some limited help available for Vistula Germans as well.
- German-Russian Settlement Map
- JewishGen's Shtetl (Village) Seeker Not just for Jewish villages.