Posen

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Administrative Divisions of the Prussian Province of Posen (1815-1920)
Posen province in 1910: By ethnicities & language.
Map of Posen province showing Bromberg to the north with Posen province below it.

Posen (Polish: Poznan), along with Gnesen, is one of the most ancient Polish towns, on the bank of the river Warthe, and was originally part of so-called Great Poland. Following the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 it and the province of the same name were annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia and remained under German sovereignty until after June 1919 when the plutocratic Western Allies detached the province along with West Prussia and included it as part of the new resurrected Poland under the Treaty of Versailles, despite Poland not playing any sovereign role in WWI. During World War II it reverted to Germany and in May 1945 was returned to Poland.

In 1858 the population of the province (including the city) was estimated at 1,417,000 comprising 840,000 Poles, 505,000 Germans, and 72,000 Jews. In 1904 the city itself had 117,000 inhabitants (about half German and 10% Jews - the latter residing in the north-east quarter)[1]; in 1935 the population was 246,500 (with just under two million in the province).[2] In 1982 the estimated population of the city was 558,000.[3] Before The Great War the suburbs of Posen on the right bank of the Warthe were called the Wallischei and Schrodka and were inhabited mainly by Poles of the poorer classes.[4]

History

The City

Posen was the seat of a Bishop from the end of the 10th century and the residence of the Dukes/Kings of Poland down to 1296. The older part of the town, comprising the Alte Markt and the adjoining streets, owes its origins to the immigration, by invitation, of Germans in 1253, and it early achieved importance as a trading centre with the East; it was a member of the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages. In 1900, the new town (Nuestadt) formed a striking contrast with the older and poorer quarters, having been erected since it became part of Prussia in 1793. Outwardly Posen was a well-built German town, and important market centre with substantial shops and commercial buildings. Under the Prussian Government they endowed Posen with magnificent educational institutions, including a university.[5] In the decade before The Great War the town still stood under the protection of imposing fortifications, with a garrison of 7000 men. In front of the State Theatre on the Wilhelm-Platz once stood a momument in memory of the soldiers who fell at the Battle of Nachod in 1866. In front of the Military Headquarters once stood a monument, a war memorial for the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, with a statue of Kaiser Wilhelm 1st by the sculptor Barwald.

At the corner of the Wilhelmstrasse was the Raczynski Library containing 30,000 volumes, many on Polish history. On the corner of the Neustrasse and the Wilhelmstrasse once stood the Emperor Frederick Museum, opened in 1903, which contained prehistoric, natural history, and historical collections, and galleries of paintings and sculptures, including the Raczynski collection of paintings which were previously in Berlin. This collection was rich in modern works, especially of the Berlin and Munich schools, but contained also a few valuable and old Spanish and other paintings. At the south end of the Wilhelmstrasse in the churchyard of St. Martin's, is a monument to the Polish national poet, Mickiewicz (d.1855) who is buried in Cracow. In the Ritterstrasse the Kaiser Wilhelm Library was opened in 1902. In Victoriastrasse was the Museum of Count Mielzynski with the collections of the Polish Society of Friends of the Wissenschaft, including prehistoric antiquities, paintings including portraits of eminent Poles, coins, and a library.[6]

In the Alte Markt to the east of the Wilhelm-Platz was the Rathaus (Town Hall), originally a Gothic edifice, but rebuilt 1550-52 in the Renaissance style following a fire in 1536 by the Italian architect G. B. di Quadro. The tower, restored in 1783, commanded an extensive view. In front of the Rathaus was a Pillory from 1534, and a fountain erected in 1766. Beyond the canal to the north-east was the spacious square containing the Cathedral and the Church of St.Mary, the latter a small Gothic building of the 15th century. The cathedral was rebuilt in 1775 but, says Baedeker, is "architecturally uninteresting", but contained several treasures of art, including: five pillars upon which were memorial Brasses of the 15th-16th centuries including one for the Vovoide, or Governor, Gorka, who died in 1475; the Golden Chapel, erected in 1842 by a society of Polish nobles, in the Byzantine style, adorned with paintings and mosaics; and fine gilded bronzes of the first two Christian Polish Kings, by the leading German sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch, are opposite their sarcophaguses.[7]

It was said that "in former German Poland the standard of prosperity of the Polish community was higher than in the other divisions. At the same time the population were more thrifty."[8]

Until 1919 Posen was served by the extensive Prussian State Railways system (subsequently 1939-45 the Deutsche Reichsbahn).

Treaty of Versailles

Map showing the lost Prussian railway network in Posen province and the Polish Corridor in 1920. It will be seen that railways in old Congress Poland were scarce.
Any attempt to identify Silesia with Poland’s pre-1772 status is entirely unjustified and fallacious. It implies no more nor less than an attempt at new booty…. ~ Roman Catholic Archbishop of Posen and Gnesen, Florian Stablewski, in Kurjer Poznanski, 9 October 1892.

Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918, an Armistice Convention was established as the regulatory body until the Supreme Council of the Peace Conference had decided upon a Peace Treaty. In December 1918 the Polish politician Paderewski travelled through Posen province on his way to Warsaw, provoking patriotic demonstrations by the Polish-speaking inhabitants. This naturally led to reprisals by the Prussian garrison in Posen, the province still being under German sovereignty and jurisdiction. The Poles set up a so-called National Council of Posen with illegal groups of vigilante civilians in militia formations. Collisions followed between the German and Polish residents. The much reduced German garrisons in the province had some difficulty in maintain order against the Polish terrorists. At the end of January 1919 the Confernece proposed sending an Inter-Allied Commission with a view to calming the situation. The German Government reminded the Conference that until the Peace Treaty they could not enter German territory. This was ignored and the Commission travelled to Posen province where they managed to bring a halt to Polish provocations.[9]

Posen as well as the province of that name was awarded to the new Poland in the imposed Peace Treaty of June 1919. In the next decade the Poles carried out many civic improvements and extended the city boundaries. Unfortunately the Poles began an aggressive Polonisation programme and the systematic oppression of the German population (despite German still being the language of commerce), notably in education; German properties were often compulsorily liquidated, "a favourite device"! Large owners of land and factories who were settled here prior to 1908 had the option to acquire Polish citizenship and some did. However a strict interpretation of the article concerning this in the Versailles Treaty was responsible for the expulsion by Poland of thousands of Germans. In the case of German companies they were obliged to accept Polish directors, despite their lack of, or absence of, knowledge. Polish officials became domineering in most things but especially taxation. Despite many families having been in Posen for up to 700 years and led blameless existences, the great exodus of Germans began, despite petitions to the League of Nations which Poland either opposed or ignored.[10][11] Even the Roman Catholic Church took part in these expulsions, with Polish Bishops ousting German priests (who were usually bilingual) and replacing them with ardently Polish new clergy who follow the nationalist policies and only spoke Polish.[12]

Notables

  • Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934) was born in Posen. Famous Prussian Field-Marshall in The Great War who defeated the Russian armies in the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg and who became President of Germany from 1925 until his death.
  • Richard Friedrich Johannes Pfeiffer (1858–1945) was born in Treustädt, Posen province. A famous German bacteriologist, he is remembered for his many fundamental discoveries in immunology and bacteriology, particularly for the phenomenon of bacteriolysis.
  • Erich Ludendorff (1865–1937) was born in Kruschewnia-bei-Schwersenz, Posen province. Famous German General-Quartermaster and one of the victors of the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914. He was subsequently a deputy in the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic.
  • Bruno Kittel (1870–1948) was born in Entenbruch nr.Posen, and became a famous choral conductor and violinist. He died in Wassenberg, nr.Köln, West Germany.
  • Günther Adolf Ferdinand von Kluge (1882-1944) was born in Posen. A German Field-Marshall who from Sept 1939 to Oct 1943 held senior commands on the Eastern Front. He died in France by his own hand.
  • Josef Mai (1887–1982) was born in Ottorowo, Kreis Samter, Posen province. A German officer of the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps and the Reichswehr and an outstanding flying ace who was awarded the Golden Military Merit Cross.
  • Vice Admiral Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière (1886–1941; de) was born in Posen. The most successful U-boat commander in history.
  • Walter Schneiber (b. 6 July 1895) was born in Posen. In Sept 1914 he became a lieutenant in Infantry Regiment No. 63. He was decorated with the Iron Cross (first class) and the Hohenzollern House Order. For his heroism in storming the Matajurberg on the Isonzo-front he (with Erwin Rommel) was awarded the Pour le merite.
  • Arthur Greiser (1897–1946) was born in Schroda, Posen province. He was Gauleiter of Warthland during WWII. Murdered by Communist Poland authorities after the war.
  • Kurt Lück (1900–1942) was born in Kolmar, Posen province. A German historian, ethnographer, and Doctor of Philosophical Sciences. He became a Obersturmbannführer in the SS during World War Two being killed in action in White Russia.
  • Arthur Liebehenschel (1901–1948) was born in Posen. An SS camps' functionary during WWII; temporarily (5 months) Commandant of Auschwitz camp. Murdered after a post-war Polish-communist show trial.
  • Heinz Reinefarth (1903-1979) was born in Gnesen. He was an SS Commander during WWII and elected government official in West Germany after the war.
  • Ernst von Klipstein (1908–1993) was born in Posen. A German actor, he is known for his work on Die Flucht nach Holland (1967), Two Blue Eyes (1955) and Danke, es geht mir gut (1948).
  • Friedrich (Fritz) Egon Scherfke (1909-1983) was born in Posen. He attended the Schiller-Gymnasium, the largest German school in Posen. Scherfke joined the Polish Warta Posen football club in 1925 with his older brother Günther, and went on to become a famous footballer, also taking part in the 1936 Olympics.
  • Wernher von Braun (1912–977) was born in Wirsitz, Posen province. Famous German rocket scientist and head of the USA's NASA agency.
  • Elizabeth Schwarzkopf (1915–2006) was born in Jarotschin, Posen province, Prussia. World-famous soprano.
  • Wilfriede Hoffmann (née Tews) (1932–2010) was born in Kolmar, Bromberg district, Posen province. Top German athlete.
  • Gudula Blau (b. 22nd February 1940 in Posen). An actress, known for Einmal eine grosse Dame sein (1957), Die Heilige und ihr Narr (1957) and The Flying Classroom (1973). She was previously married to Karlheinz Böhm, actor and son of the famous conductor Karl Böhm.
  • Gunther von Hagens (originally Liebchen; b. 10 January 1945) was born in Alt-Skalden nr. Ostrowo, Posen province, Reichsgau Wartheland, Germany. A German anatomist, known for his works: Anatomy for Beginners (2005), Plastic Planet (2009) and Terra X - Rätsel alter Weltkulturen (1982).

Images

  • Posen market & part of the Rathaus, 1848 (coloured).

  • Posen, Royal Palace or Residence.

  • Posen City Library on the Wilhelmplatz.

  • Posen main railway station (before 1919).

  • Posen old town on 10th August 1919.

  • Posen, circa 1930.

  • Posen Opera House (photo taken in WWII).

  • Posen, Petriplatz, 1940.

  • Forts Grolman and Rauch, part of the Posen citadel, 1916.

  • Fort Winiary, part of the Posen citadel, 1941.

Sources

  • Imperial Germany by Prince Bernhard von Bulow, Cassell & Co., London & New York, 1914, "The Eastern Marches" pps:239-269.
  • The Colonization of the Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia by Hans Jacob Schmitz, translated into English by Ernst Horstmann, Heimatblatter-Verlag, n/d (l930s).
  • Germany Under The Treaty by William Harbutt Dawson, Longmans, New York & London, 1933.
  • The German Minority in Interwar Poland by Professor Winson Chu, Cambridge University Press, U.K., 2012 (paperback 2013) ISBN 978-1-107-63462-6

References

  1. ↑ Northern Germany by Karl Baedeker, Leipzig & London, 14th revised edition, 1904, p.180.
  2. ↑ The New Atlas of the World by Odhams Press Ltd., London,1935, Gazetteer, p.278.
  3. ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropaedia, volume 9, Chicago, p.659.
  4. ↑ Baedeker, 1904, p.181.
  5. ↑ The Polish Corridor by Sir Robert Donald, G.B.E., LL.D., London, 1929, p.57.
  6. ↑ Baedeker, 1904, p.181-2.
  7. ↑ Baedeker, 1904, p.181-2.
  8. ↑ Polish Economist, January 1928 edition.
  9. ↑ Temperley, H.W.V., editor, A History of the Peace Conference of Paris, vol.1, London, 1920, p.339-340.
  10. ↑ Donald, 1929, pps:57-60.
  11. ↑ The Cauldron Boils by Emil Lengyel, New York, 1932. p.24-6.
  12. ↑ The Eastern Frontiers of Germany by René Martel, University of Paris, London, 1930, p.18-9.
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