Pomerania ( , , , ) is a
historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea
. Divided between Germany
and Poland
, it
stretches roughly from the Recknitz
River near
Stralsund
in the West, via the Oder River
delta near Szczecin
, to the
mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk
in the East. It is inhabited primarily by
Poles,
Germans and
Kashubians. Pomerania was strongly
affected by 20th century,
post-World War
I and II border and population
shifts.
Pomerania belongs to the lowlands of the
North European Plain.
Outside the few urban
centers, most notably the Szczecin
and Tricity
metropolitan areas, the poor soil is mostly used as
farmland, dotted with numerous lakes, forests, and small
towns. Primary agriculture consists of raising livestock,
forestry, fishery and the cultivation of
cereals,
sugar beets, and
potatoes. Since the late 19th century,
tourism has become an important sector of
the economy, primarily in the numerous seaside resorts along the
coast. Of the limited industrial zones, the most important products
are ships, metal products, refined sugar, and paper.
Geography
Pomerania
is the area along the Bay of Pomerania
of the Baltic
Sea
between the rivers Recknitz
in the west
and Vistula in the east. It formerly
reached as far south as the
Noteć (Netze)
and
Warta (Warthe) rivers, but since 1250 its
southern boundary has been placed further north. Most of the region
is coastal lowland of the
North
European Plain, its southern, hilly parts belong to the
Baltic Ridge, a belt of terminal
moraines formed during the
Pleistocene. Within this ridge, a chain of
moraine-dammed lakes constitutes
the
Pomeranian Lake
District. The soil is generally poor, often sandy or
marshy.
The
western coastline is jagged, with lots of peninsulae (e.g.,
Darß
-Zingst
) and islands
(Rügen
, Usedom
, Wolin
and other,
small isles) enclosing numerous bays (Bodden)
and lagoons (e.g., the Lagoon of Szczecin
).
The eastern coastline is smooth.
The lakes Łebsko
, Jamno and Gardno
were
formerly bays but have been cut off from the sea.
The
easternmost coastline along the Gdańsk Bay
(with Bay of Puck) and
Vistula
Bay
has the Hel peninsula
and the Vistula peninsula
jut out into the Baltic.
Etymology
Pomerania
in all languages is derived from Old Slavic po, meaning "by/next
to/along", and more, meaning "sea", thus "Pomerania" is
literally "seacoast", referring to its proximity to the Baltic Sea
.
Pomerania was first mentioned in an
imperial document of 1046, referring to a
Zemuzil dux Bomeranorum (
Zemuzil, Duke of the
Pomeranians). Pomerania is mentioned repeatedly in the chronicles
of
Adam of Bremen (ca. 1070) and
Gallus Anonymous (ca. 1113).
Subdivisions

Current administrative division of
Pomerania
Pomerania is currently divided between the following main regions:
The bulk
of historical Farther
Pomerania is included within the modern West
Pomeranian Voivodeship
, its easternmost parts (Slupsk
(Stolp)
area) now constitute the northwestern Pomeranian
Voivodeship
. Farther Pomerania in turn comprised several
other historical regions itself, most notably the
Lands of Schlawe and Stolp, the
Lauenburg and Bütow
Land, the
County of Naugard
and the
principality of
the Cammin bishops. In the South, Farther Pomerania comprised
historical
Neumark regions, and former
Grenzmark Posen-West
Prussia was attached during World War II.
Parts of Pomerania and surrounding regions have constituted a
euroregion since 1995.
The Pomerania euroregion comprises
Germany's Vorpommern and Uckermark, Poland's Zachodniopomorskie
, and Scania in Sweden
.
Terminology
The term
"West Pomerania"
is potentially ambiguous, since it may refer to either Vorpommern (in historical and German usage), to
the Polish West Pomeranian Voivodeship
, or both (in Polish usage).
The term
Eastern Pomerania may similarly
carry different meanings, referring either to historical Farther Pomerania (in historical and
German usage), or the Pomeranian Voivodeship
(in Polish usage).
|
West |
Pomerania |
East > |
Stralsund |
|
Anklam |
|
Szczecin
(Stettin) |
|
Kolobrzeg
(Kolberg) |
|
Slupsk
(Stolp) |
|
Gdynia
(Gdingen) |
|
Gdansk
(Danzig) |
Current
regions |
Vorpommern
(Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ) |
Zachodniepomorskie
(West
Pomeranian Voivodeship ) |
Pomerelia
(Pomeranian
Voivodeship ) |
German
terminology
(corresponding English term) |
Pommern
(Pomerania) |
Pomerellen, Pommerellen
(Pomerelia)
Kaschubei
(Kashubia) |
Vorpommern
in modern usage excluding Szczecin
(Western Pomerania)
(Hither/Upper Pomerania) |
Hinterpommern
(Farther/Further Pomerania)
Ostpommern
(Eastern Pomerania) |
Polish
terminology
(corresponding English term) |
Pomorze Zachodnie, Zachodniepomorskie
in historical usage including Slupsk
(Western Pomerania)
Pomorze Szczecińskie (Szczecin Pomerania)
Pomorze Nadodrzańskie (Oder Pomerania) |
Pomorze, Pomorskie
in historical usage excluding Slupsk
(Pomerelia, literally Pomerania)
Pomorze Gdanskie
(Gdansk Pomerania)
Pomorze Wschodnie
(Eastern Pomerania) |
Pomorze Przednie
(Hither/Upper Pomerania) |
|
Pomorze Tylne
(Farther/Further Pomerania) |
Kashubian terminology
(corresponding English term) |
Zôpadnô Pòmòrskô
(Western Pomerania) |
Pòrénkòwô Pòmòrskô
(Eastern Pomerania) |
History
=== Prehistory and Early Middle Ages ===
Settlement in Pomerania started by the end of the
Vistula Glacial Stage, some 13,000
years ago. Archeological traces have been found of various cultures
during the
Stone and
Bronze Age,
Veneti and
Germanic peoples during the
Iron Age and, in the
Middle Ages,
Slavic tribes
and
Vikings.
Starting in the 10th century, early Polish dukes on several occasions subdued
parts of the region from the southeast, while the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark
augmented their territory from the west and
north.
High Middle Ages to Early Modern Age
In the
High Middle Ages, the area
became Christian and was
ruled by
local dukes of
the
House of Pomerania
(
Griffins) and the
Samborides,
at various times vassals of Denmark, the Holy Roman Empire and
Poland. From the late 12th century, the Griffin
Duchy of Pomerania stayed with the Holy
Roman Empire and the
Principality
of Rugia with Denmark, while Denmark,
Brandenburg, Poland and the
Teutonic Knights struggled for
control in Samboride
Pomerelia.
The
Teutonic Knights succeeded in integrating Pomerelia into their
monastic state
in the early 14th century. Meanwhile the
Ostsiedlung started to turn Pomerania
into a
German-settled area, the remaining
Wends, who became known as
Slovincians and
Kashubians, continued to settle within the rural
East. In 1325 the line of the princes of Rugia (Rügen) died out,
and the principality was inherited by
the Griffins. In 1466, with the
Teutonic Order's defeat, Pomerelia became
subject to the
Polish Crown as a part
of
Royal Prussia. While the Duchy of
Pomerania adopted the
Protestant
reformation in 1534,
Kashubia remained
with the
Roman Catholic
Church. The
Thirty Years' and
subsequent
wars severely ravaged and depopulated most of Pomerania. With
the extinction of the
Griffin
house during the same period, the
Duchy of Pomerania was divided
between the
Swedish Empire and
Brandenburg-Prussia in 1648.
Modern Age
Prussia gained the southern
parts of Swedish
Pomerania
in 1720, Pomerelia
in 1772, and the remainder of
Swedish Pomerania in 1815, when French
occupation
during the Napoleonic Wars was
lifted. The former Brandenburg-Prussian
Pomerania
and the former Swedish parts were reorganized into
the Prussian Province of Pomerania
, while Pomerelia was made
part of the Province of West
Prussia. With Prussia, both provinces joined the
newly constituted German
Empire
in 1871. Following the empire's defeat in World War I, Pomerelia
was transformed into the Polish
Corridor and the Free City of Danzig
. Germany
's Province of
Pomerania
was expanded in 1938 to include northern parts of
the former Province of Posen–West Prussia, and in 1939
the
annexed Polish Corridor became part of the wartime Reichsgau Danzig-West
Prussia. The
Nazis deported the
Pomeranian Jews
to a reservation near
Lublin and, in Pomerelia, mass murdered Jews, Poles and
Kashubians following
Nazi Germany's
untermensch ideology.
After
Nazi Germany's defeat in
World War II, the German–Polish border was
shifted west to the
Oder–Neisse
line and all of Pomerania was under
Soviet
military control. The German population of the
areas east of the line
was
expelled,
and the area was resettled primarily with Poles (some themselves
expellees from
former eastern Poland) and some
Ukrainians (resettled under
Operation Wisła) and
Jews.
Most of Western
Pomerania (Vorpommern) remained in Germany and today
forms the eastern part of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
, while the Polish part of the region is divided
between West Pomeranian Voivodeship
and Pomeranian Voivodeship
, with their capitals in Szczecin (Stettin) and
Gdańsk
(Danzig),
respectively. During the 1980s, the
Solidarnosc and
Die
Wende movements had overthrown the
Communist regimes implemented during the post-war
era, since, Pomerania is
democratically
governed.
Demographics
Western Pomerania is inhabited by
German Pomeranians. In
the eastern parts, Poles are the dominating ethnic group
since World War II.
Kashubians, descendants of the
medieval Slavic Pomeranians, are
numerous in rural
Pomerelia.
Polish Voivodeship/
German Landschaft |
Capital |
Registration
plates |
Area
(km²) |
Population
Polish 31 December 1999
German 2001
|
Territorial
code |
Kuyavian-Pomeranian
Voivodeship
(northernmost parts) |
Bydgoszcz (Voivod office)
Toruń
(Voivod council)
|
C |
17,969.72 |
2,100,771 |
04 |
Pomeranian Voivodeship |
Gdańsk |
G |
18,292.88 |
2,192,268 |
22 |
West Pomeranian Voivodeship |
Szczecin |
Z |
22,901.48 |
1,732,838 |
32 |
Polish Pomerania and Kuyavia total |
59,164.08 |
6,025,877 |
|
Nordvorpommern |
Grimmen |
NVP |
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  |
Demmin |
DM |
1,921 |
93,700 |
|
Greifswald |
|
HGW |
52.2 |
52,984 |
|
Stralsund |
|
HST |
39.0 |
57,613 |
|
German Pomerania total |
8,701 |
595,888 |
|
|
Cities and towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants
(with population figures for 1999):
- Tricity metropolitan area (Pomeranian
Voivodeship
) (population (2001): 1,035,000; area
1,332,51 km²), including:
- Szczecin
(West Pomeranian Voivodeship
, 416,988)
- Koszalin
(West Pomeranian Voivodeship
, 112,375)
- Słupsk
(Pomeranian
Voivodeship
, 102,370)
- Stargard Szczeciński
(Stargard i.P., West
Pomeranian Voivodeship
, 72,000)
- Stralsund
(Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
, 57,613)
- Greifswald
(Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
, 52,984)
Languages and dialects

Section of a detailed map from
Meyers Kleiner Hand-Atlas published by Julius Meyer in
Leipzig, Germany and Wien, Austria in 1892.
In the German part of Pomerania,
Standard German and the
East Low German Pomeranian dialects
Vorpommersch and
Mittelpommersch are spoken, though Standard
German dominates.
Polish is the
dominating language in the Polish part,
Kashubian dialects are also spoken by the
Kashubians in
Pomerelia.
Ostpommersch, the
East Low German dialect of
Farther Pomerania and western
Pomerelia,
Low
Prussian, the
East Low German
dialect of eastern
Pomerelia, and
Standard German were dominating in Pomerania
east of the
Oder-Neisse line before
most of its speakers were expelled after World War II.
Slovincian was spoken at the
Farther Pomeranian-
Pomerelian frontier, but is now extinct.
Kashubian or
Low German Pomeranian
dialects are also spoken by the descendants of emigrees, most
notably in the Americas.
Museums
The
Pomeranian
State Museum
in Greifswald
, dedicated to the history of Pomerania, has a
variety of archeological findings and artefacts from the different
periods covered in this article. At least 50 museums
in Poland cover history of Pomerania, the most important of them
The National Museum in Gdańsk
, Central
Pomerania Museum in Słupsk
, Darłowo
Museum, Koszalin
Museum, National Museum in Szczecin
.
See also
Footnotes
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,
Fourth Edition, 2000, Pomerania [1]
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,
Fourth Edition, 2000, Pomerania [2]: "Pomerania is the medieval Latin form of German
Pommern, itself a loanword in German from Slavic. The Polish word
for Pomerania is Pomorze, composed of the preposition po, “along,
by,” and morze, “sea.” The Slavic word for sea, more, which becomes
morze in Polish, comes from the Indo-European noun *mori–, “sea,”
the source of Latin mare, “sea,” and the mer- of English
mermaid."
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp.23,24, ISBN
3886802728
- e.g. here (Sheperd Atlas), or in old Enc Britannica
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001-07
- From the First Humans to the Mesolithic Hunters in the Northern
German Lowlands, Current Results and Trends - THOMAS TERBERGER.
From: Across the western Baltic, edited by: Keld Møller Hansen
& Kristoffer Buck Pedersen, 2006, ISBN 87-983097-5-7,
Sydsjællands Museums Publikationer Vol. 1 [3]
- Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999,
pp.18ff, ISBN 8390618486
- Horst Wernicke, Greifswald, Geschichte der Stadt,
Helms, 2000, pp.16ff, ISBN 3931185567
- Johannes Hoops, Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde,
Walter de Gruyter, p.422, ISBN 3110177331
- A. W. R. Whittle, Europe in the Neolithic: The Creation of New
Worlds, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p.198, ISBN
0521449200
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp.22,23,
ISBN 3886802728
- Joachim Herrmann, Die Slawen in Deutschland,
Akademie-Verlag Berlin, 1985, pp.pp.237ff,244ff
- Joachim Herrmann, Die Slawen in Deutschland,
Akademie-Verlag Berlin, 1985, pp.261,345ff
- Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, p.32, ISBN
839061848:pagan reaction of 1005
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.25, ISBN
3886802728: pagan uprising that also ended the Polish suzerainity
in 1005
- A. P. Vlasto, Entry of Slavs Christendom, CUP Archive,
1970, p.129, ISBN 0521074592: abandoned 1004 - 1005 in face of
violent opposition
- Nora Berend, Christianization and the Rise of Christian
Monarchy: Scandinavia, Central Europe and Rus' C. 900-1200,
Cambridge University Press, 2007, p.293, ISBN 0521876168,
9780521876162
- David Warner, Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar
of Merseburg, Manchester University Press, 2001, p.358, ISBN
0719049261, 9780719049262
- Michael Borgolte, Benjamin Scheller, Polen und Deutschland
vor 1000 Jahren: Die Berliner Tagung über den "Akt von
Gnesen", Akademie Verlag, 2002, p.282, ISBN 3050037490,
9783050037493
- James Thayer Addison, Medieval Missionary: A Study of the
Conversion of Northern Europe Ad 500 to 1300, Kessinger
Publishing, 2003, pp.57ff, ISBN 0766175677
- Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, pp.35ff,
ISBN 839061848
- Gerhard Krause, Horst Robert Balz, Gerhard Müller,
Theologische Realenzyklopädie, Walter de Gruyter, 1997,
pp.40ff, ISBN 3110154358
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999,
p.34ff,87,103, ISBN 3886802728
- Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, p.43, ISBN
839061848
- Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, pp.77ff,
ISBN 839061848
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp.45ff, ISBN
3886802728
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp.115,116,
ISBN 3886802728
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.186, ISBN
3886802728
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp.205–212, ISBN
3886802728
- Richard du Moulin Eckart, Geschichte der deutschen
Universitäten, Georg Olms Verlag, 1976, pp.111,112, ISBN
3487060787
- Gerhard Krause, Horst Robert Balz, Gerhard Müller,
Theologische Realenzyklopädie, Walter de Gruyter, 1997,
pp.43ff, ISBN 3110154358
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999,
pp.263,332,341–343,352–354, ISBN 3886802728
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp.341-343, ISBN
3886802728
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp.363,364, ISBN
3886802728
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.366, ISBN
3886802728
- Lucie Adelsberger, Arthur Joseph Slavin, Susan H. Ray, Deborah
E. Lipstadt, Auschwitz: A Doctor's Story, Northeastern
University Press, 1995, ISBN 1555532330, p.138: February 12/13,
1940
- Isaiah Trunk, Jacob Robinson, Judenrat: The Jewish Councils
in Eastern Europe Under Nazi Occupation, U of Nebraska Press,
1996, ISBN 080329428X, p.133: February 14, 1940; unheated wagons,
elderly and sick suffered most, inhumane treatment
- Leni Yahil, Ina Friedman, Haya Galai, The Holocaust: The
Fate of European Jewry, 1932-1945, Oxford University Press US,
1991, ISBN 0195045238, p.138: February 12/13, 1940, 1,300 Jews of
all sexes and ages, extreme cruelty, no food allowed to be taken
along, cold, some died during deportation, cold and snow during
resettlement, 230 dead by March 12, Lublin reservation chosen in
winter, 30,000 Germans resettled before to make room [4]
- Martin Gilbert, Eilert Herms, Alexandra Riebe, Geistliche
als Retter - auch eine Lehre aus dem Holocaust: Auch eine Lehre aus
dem Holocaust, Mohr Siebeck, 2003, ISBN 3161482298, pp.14
(English) and 15 (German): February 15, 1940, 1000 Jews
deported
- Jean-Claude Favez, John Fletcher, Beryl Fletcher, The Red
Cross and the Holocaust, Cambridge University Press, 1999,
ISBN 052141587X, p.33: February 12/13, 1,100 Jews deported, 300
died en route [5]
- Yad Vashem Studies, Yad ṿa-shem, rashut ha-zikaron la-Shoʼah
ṿela-gevurah, Yad Vashem Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance
Authority, 1996 Notizen: v.12, p.69: 1,200 deported, 250 died
during deportation
- Nathan Stoltzfus, Resistance of the Heart: Intermarriage
and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Nazi Germany, Rutgers
University Press, 2001, ISBN 0813529093, p.130: February 11/12 from
Stettin, soon thereafter from Schneidemühl, total of 1,260 Jews
deported, among the deportees were intermarried non-Jewish women
who had refused to divorce, eager Nazi Gauleiter Schwede-Coburg was
the first to have his Gau "judenfrei", Eichmann's "RSHA" (Reich
Security Main Office) ensured this was an isolated local incident
to worried Eppstein of the Central Organization of Jews in Germany
(Reichsvereinigung der
Juden in Deutschland)
- John Mendelsohn, Legalizing the Holocaust, the Later Phase,
1939-1943, Garland Pub., 1982, ISBN 0824048768, p.131: Stettin
Jews' houses were sealed, belongings liquidated, funds to be held
in blocked accounts
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, ISBN 3886802728,
p.506: Only very few [of the Pomeranian Jews] survived the Nazi
era. p.510: Nearly all Jews from Stettin and all the province,
about a thousand
- Alicia Nitecki, Jack Terry, Jakub's World: A Boy's Story of
Loss and Survival in the Holocaust, SUNY Press, 2005, ISBN
0791464075, pp.13ff: Stettin Jews to Belzyce in Lublin area,
reservation purpose decline of Jews, terror command of
Kurt Engels,
shocking insights in life circumstances
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp.512-515, ISBN
3886802728
- Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, pp.373ff, ISBN
839061848
- Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, pp.381ff, ISBN
839061848
- Tomasz Kamusella in Prauser and Reeds (eds), The Expulsion
of the German communities from Eastern Europe, p.28, EUI HEC
2004/1 [6]
- Philipp Ther, Ana Siljak, Redrawing Nations: Ethnic
Cleansing in East-Central Europe, 1944-1948, 2001, p.114, ISBN
0742510948, 9780742510944
- Gregor Thum, Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006,
pp.363, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175
- Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.515, ISBN
3886802728
- Dierk Hoffmann, Michael Schwartz, Geglückte
Integration?, p142
- Karl Cordell, Andrzej Antoszewski, Poland and the European
Union, 2000, p.168, ISBN 0415238854
- Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, p.406, ISBN
839061848
- Selwyn Ilan Troen, Benjamin Pinkus, Merkaz le-moreshet
Ben-Guryon, Organizing Rescue: National Jewish Solidarity in
the Modern Period, pp.283-284, 1992, ISBN 0714634131,
9780714634135
- http://www.muzeum.slupsk.pl/
- http://www.muzeumdarlowo.pl/
- http://www.muzeum.koszalin.pl/
- http://www.muzeum.szczecin.pl/
External links
Internet directories
Culture and history
Maps of Pomerania