Pomerania's historical border in the west is the Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian borderUrstromtal,[a] which now constitutes the border between theMecklenburgian and Pomeranian part of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, while it is bounded by theVistula River in the east. The easternmost part of Pomerania is alternatively known asPomerelia, consisting of four sub-regions:Kashubia inhabited by ethnicKashubians,Kociewie,Tuchola Forest andChełmno Land.
Pomerania has a relatively lowpopulation density, with its largest cities beingGdańsk andSzczecin. Outside its urban areas, it is characterized by farmland, dotted with numerous lakes, forests, and small towns. In the west of Pomerania lie several islands, the largest of which areRügen, the largest island in Germany;Usedom/Uznam, andWolin, the largest island in Poland. The region has a rich and complicated political and demographic history at the intersection of several cultures.
Pomerania is the area along theBay of Pomerania of theBaltic Sea between the riversRecknitz,Trebel,Tollense andAugraben in the west andVistula in the east.[1][2] It formerly reached perhaps as far south as theNoteć river, but since the 13th century its southern boundary has been placed further north.
The western coastline is jagged, with many peninsulas (such asDarß–Zingst) and islands (includingRügen,Usedom, andWolin) enclosing numerous bays (Bodden) and lagoons (the biggest being theLagoon of Szczecin).
TheWest Pomeranian Voivodeship (Zachodniopomorskie) in Poland, stretching from the Oder–Neisse line to theWieprza river, encompassing most of historical Pomerania in the narrow sense (as well as small parts of historicGreater Poland andLubusz Land).
The bulk ofFarther Pomerania is included within the modern West Pomeranian Voivodeship, but its easternmost parts (theSłupsk area) now constitute the northwest of Pomeranian Voivodeship. Farther Pomerania in turn comprises several other historical subregions, most notably the formerPrincipality of Cammin, theNowogard County, and theSłupsk and Sławno Land. TheLębork and Bytów Land is considered a part ofPomerelia (Kashubia) by the Polish historiography, and ofFarther Pomerania by the German historiography.
Parts of Pomerania and surrounding regions have constituted aeuroregion since 1995. ThePomerania euroregion comprises Hither Pomerania andUckermark in Germany, West Pomerania in Poland, andScania in Sweden.
Pomerania (Pomorze) against the background of modern administrative borders
InLechitic languages the prefix "po-" meansalong; unlike the word "po", which meansafter.Pomorze, therefore, meansAlong the Sea. This construction is similar to toponymsPogórze (Along the Mountains),Polesie (Along the Forest),Porzecze (Along the River), etc.
Pomerania was first mentioned in animperial document of 1046, referring to aZemuzil dux Bomeranorum (Zemuzil, Duke of the Pomeranians).[3] Pomerania is mentioned repeatedly in the chronicles ofAdam of Bremen (c. 1070) andGallus Anonymous (ca. 1113).
The territorial designation "Pomerania" lacks a universally accepted definition, since it may refer either to combined Hither and Farther Pomerania only (in German contemporary and historical usage[4]) or to Hither and Farther Pomerania combined withPomerelia (in Polish contemporary and historical usage).
As a consequence, the term "West Pomerania" is ambiguous, since it may refer to either Hither Pomerania (in German usage and historical usage based on German terminology[4]), or to combined Hither and Farther Pomerania (in Polish usage and historical usage based on German terminology). In parallel, the term "East Pomerania" may similarly carry different meanings, referring either toFarther Pomerania (in German usage and historical usage based on German terminology[4]), or to Pomerelia (in Polish usage and historical usage based on German terminology).
As a further complication, the borders of the eponymous administrative units have been drawn disregarding mostly the historical ones. The Polish unit calledwojewództwo zachodniopomorskie (West Pomeranian Voivodeship) includes the whole Polish part of Hither Pomerania, but only the western two-thirds of Farther Pomerania, with the remaining easternmost one-third (Słupsk,Ustka, andMiastko) has been part of thewojewództwo pomorskie ([East-]Pomeranian Voivodeship). The former regional unit stretches however far more south than the historical region, to include the northern part of the historicalNeumark, located in the previous medieval border area between Pomerania andGreater Poland (Chojna,Trzcińsko-Zdrój,Myślibórz,Nowogródek Pomorski,Lipiany,Barlinek,Pełczyce,Suchań,Choszczno,Recz, andDrawno), as well as a strip the historicalGreater Poland (Tuczno,Człopa,Mirosławiec,Wałcz, andCzaplinek), or even a small parts ofPomerelia (Biały Bór) andLubusz Land (Dębno); in turn the other one comprises only approximately northern two-thirds of Pomerelia but also parts of historicalMalbork Land and Upper Prussia known under the ethnographic designation ofPowiśle and constituting the westernmost strip of historicalPrussia; and finally, the remaining one third ofPomerelia forms part ofwojewództwo kujawsko-pomorskie (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship), a further regional unit, in this case bearing a name accurately reflecting historical heterogeneity of its territory. Similarity but to lesser extent, borders of the combined German districtsVorpommern-Rügen andVorpommern-Greifswald deviate significantly in numerous locations from the historical ones with Mecklenburg andBrandenburg. As a consequence, the common understanding of the terms has started to be used more and more frequently in the sense of the current administrative units.
Poland with Pomerania under the rule ofMieszko I, c. 960-992.Dagome iudex first defined Poland's geographical boundaries (including Pomerania) and placed the lands under the protection of theApostolic See.
The Prussian Province of Pomerania within Prussia and the German Empire circa 1871TheProvince of PomeraniaThe flag used in the German part of Pomerania
Following the German Empire's defeat in World War I, however, eastern Pomerania/Pomerelia was returned to the rebuilt Polish state, while German-majority Gdańsk/Danzig was transformed into the independentFree City of Danzig. In the interbellum, the border with Poland and the creation of what German propaganda called the "Polish Corridor" were often contested in Germany. Irredentist claims towards Poland were one of the factors contributing to the rise of theNazi Party in Germany. In 1938 Germany's Province of Pomerania was expanded to include northern parts of the former Province ofPosen–West Prussia (part of historicGreater Poland).
Under theNazi government, the persecution of Poles in the German-controlled part of Pomerania intensified. In January 1939, Germany resumedexpulsions of Poles and many were also forced to flee.[36] TheSturmabteilung,Schutzstaffel,Hitler Youth andBund Deutscher Osten launched attacks on Polish institutions, schools and activists.[37] From May to August 1939, theGestapo carried out arrests of Polish leaders, activists, entrepreneurs, and even some staff of the Consulate of Poland in Szczecin.[38]
In September 1939, Germanyinvaded Poland startingWorld War II. The first battle of the war,at Westerplatte, was fought in the region. Afterwards the Polish part of Pomerania wasannexed by Germany, and made part of theReichsgau Danzig-West Prussia. TheNazis deported the Pomeranian Jewsto a reservation near Lublin.[39] The Polish population suffered heavily during theNazi oppression; more than 40,000 died in executions, death camps, prisons andforced labour, primarily those who were teachers, businessmen, priests, politicians, former army officers, and civil servants.[40] Thousands of Poles and Kashubians sufferedexpulsion, their homes taken over by the German military and civil servants, as well as some Baltic Germans resettled there between 1940 and 1943 in accordance with theLebensraum policy. TheStutthof concentration camp with numerous subcamps was located in the region. There were also numerous Nazi prisons, forced labour camps, and multipleprisoner-of-war camps, including the largeStalag II-B andStalag II-D, for Polish,French, Belgian, Dutch, Serbian,Italian, American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander and otherAllied POWs.Połczyn-Zdrój was the location of aGermanisation camp forkidnapped Polish children.[41] ThePolish resistance movement was active both in the pre-war Polish part and the pre-war German part of Pomerania.
AfterNazi Germany's defeat in World War II, the German–Polish border was shifted west to theOder–Neisse line,[42] and all of Pomerania was in theSoviet Occupation Zone.[35]: 512–515 [43]: 373ff The German inhabitants of theformer eastern territories of Germany and Poles of German ethnicity from Pomerelia wereexpelled. Between 1945 and 1948, millions of ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) and German citizens (Reichsdeutsche), were removed from former German territory now governed by Poland and other Eastern European countries. Many German civilians were sent to internment and labor camps where they were used as forced labor as part of German reparations to countries in Eastern Europe. The death toll attributable to the flight and expulsions is disputed, with low-range estimates in the hundreds of thousands (see:Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)). The area was resettled primarily with Poles of Polish ethnicity, (some themselvesexpellees fromformer eastern Poland) and somePoles of Ukrainian ethnicity (resettled underOperation Vistula) and fewPolish Jews.[43]: 381ff [44][45] Most of Hither orWestern Pomerania (Vorpommern) remained in Germany, and most of the expelled Pomeranians found refuge there, later many moved on to other German regions and abroad. Today German Hither Pomerania forms the eastern part of the state ofMecklenburg-Vorpommern, while the Polish part is divided mainly between theWest Pomeranian,Pomeranian voivodeships, with their capitals in Szczecin andGdańsk. During the 1980s, theSolidarity andDie Wende ("the change") movements overthrew theCommunist regimes implemented during the post-war era; since then, Pomerania isdemocratically governed.
Pomeranian dialect and traditions still live in the country of Brazil in a colony where the language is still spoken. The arrival of Pomerania immigrants with Germans and Italians helped form the state ofEspírito Santo since the early 1930s.[46] Their importance and respect are one of the cultural signatures of the area. The Brazilian city ofPomerode (in the state ofSanta Catarina) was founded by Pomeranian Germans in 1861 and is considered the most typically German of all the German towns of southern Brazil.
Pomerelia is dominated by theTricitymetropolitan area (Pomeranian Voivodeship) with its population in 2012 estimated at least at 1,035,000 and the area at 1,332,51 km2, encompassing theTricity itself with a population of 748,986 combining the eponymous three cities ofGdańsk (population 460,427),Gdynia (population 248,726) andSopot (population 38,217), as well as theLittle Kashubian Tricity with a population of 120,158 people (2012), formed by the City ofWejherowo (population 50,310 in 2012) and the towns (urban gminas) ofRumia (population 49,230 in 2020) andReda (population 26,011 in 2019). The area also includes two smaller towns ofŻukowo andPruszcz Gdański belonging to the eponymous urban-rural gminas, and a number of rural gminas.
Altogether, there are 16 cities in the broad-sense Pomerania, understood as comprising alsoPomerelia. Their list is presented below and includes the 14 municipalities in Poland electing a city mayor (Polish:prezydent miasta) instead of a town mayor (Polish:burmistrz), with 9 of them holding the status of acity with powiat rights (Polish:miasto na prawach powiatu, anindependent city), as well as the 2 municipalities in Germany holding the status of a district-belonging city (German:Große kreisangehörige Stadt), as no city of the German part of Pomerania holds currently any higher status, such as a partially of fullyindependent city (German:Große selbständige Stadt,Kreisfreie Stadt, orStadtkreis), or acity-state (German:Stadtstaat).
Cities in the historical region of Hither Pomerania
Schwedt/Oder (Uckermark,Brandenburg) expanded in contemporary times, so that it now also encompasses some neighbourhoods north of theWelse, the historical border river between Brandenburg and Pomerania (Blumenhagen, Gatow, Hohenfelde, Jamikow, Kummerow, Kunow, Schönow andVierraden): 33,524
Tricity (Pomeranian Voivodeship): 748,986; theTricitymetropolitan area (Pomeranian Voivodeship): population in 2012; at least 1,035,000 area 1,332,51 km2
Those parts of Pomerania that remained German after 1945 are almost entirely located in theMecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch area. Only the regions between theZarow river in the west and theOder river in the east are historically part of the Central Pomeranian dialect region: the southern shores of theSzczecin Lagoon (Ueckermünde), the towns along theUecker andRandow rivers, and those parts of Pomerania that are now inBrandenburg (Gartz and the northern districts ofSchwedt/Oder). Central Pomeranian is also spoken along the historically Brandenburgian headwaters of theUecker river (Prenzlau). InMecklenburg-Vorpommern, however, the dominating Low German standard version is the Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, and Central Pomeranian texts are often rewritten.
A map of Polish dialects. The Pomorze region contains theKashubian language and a mix of Polish dialects from other parts of the country.
Pomerania historically lay in theLow German dialect region:Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch, Central Pomeranian (on the map:Mittelpommerisch) andEast Pomeranian (on the map: Hinterpommerisch) dialects. The regions east of thePiaśnica river are not regarded as speaking East Pomeranian according to German terminology, and the Low German dialects that were spoken there are calledLow Prussian.
The Central Pomeranian dialect region ofLow German, east of theZarow and north of theWelse, where "Ohren" (ears) is pronounced like "oan" and "orn" (now bounded by the Oder-Neisse line in the east)
At least 50 museums in Poland cover the history of Pomerania, the most important of them being theDistrict Museum in Toruń, the Museum in Grudziądz, the National Museum inGdańsk, theNational Maritime Museum, Gdańsk, the Museum of Sopot, theEmigration Museum in Gdynia, the Museum of Polish Navy in Gdynia, the Museum of Kociewie in Starogard Gdański, the Museum of Kashubian and Pomeranian Literature and Music in Wejherowo, the Kashubian Museum in Kartuzy, the Central Pomerania Museum inSłupsk,[48] theDarłowo Museum,[49] theKoszalin Museum,[50] the Museum of Archeology and History in Stargard,[51] theNational Museum inSzczecin,[52] theMuseum of the Puck Region, and the Museum of Maritime Fisheries in Świnoujście.
Several museums devoted to World War II history are located in Polish Pomerania, including theMuseum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, the Guardhouse no. 1 at Westerplatte (a branch of the Museum of Gdańsk), the Museum of Coastal Defence inHel, theStutthof Museum inSztutowo with the branchPiaśnica Museum inWejherowo, the Museum of thePomeranian Wall and World War II inSzczecinek, and the Armory Museum inKłanino.
There are around 40 museums in the district ofVorpommern-Rügen, the most notable of which are:
the "Foundation German Oceanographic Museum" in Stralsund, which runs four locations: theGerman Oceanographic Museum, which is housed in the former St. Catherine's Monastery in Stralsund, theOzeaneum Stralsund (a natural history museum with a focus on the sea), the Nautineum on theDänholm, and theNatureum inBorn auf dem Darß.
the Museumshafen Greifswald is Germany's largest museum harbour.
Ukranenland, an archaeological open-air museum on the banks of theUecker inTorgelow, which is modeled on an early medieval Slavic village. It depicts the life of theUkrani, the Elbe Slavic tribe once native to theUckermark.
Agriculture primarily consists of raising livestock, forestry, fishery, and the cultivation ofcereals,sugar beets, and potatoes. Industrial food processing is increasingly relevant in the region. Key producing industries areshipyards, mechanical engineering facilities (i.e.renewable energy components), andsugar refineries, along with paper and wood fabricators.[1] Service industries today are an important economical factor in Pomerania, most notably with logistics, information technology,life science,biotechnology, health care, and otherhigh-tech branches oftenclustering around research facilities of the Pomeranian universities.
Since the late 19th century, tourism has been an important sector of the economy, primarily in the numerousseaside resorts along the coast.
ThePeene Valley is, with a total area of about 45,000 hectares, the largest contiguousfen region of Europe.[53]
TheRandow, historic border river between Pomerania and theUckermark, is a river which is fed by lateral tributaries and swampland and has a mouth at both ends.
^Biskup, Marian; Tomczak, Andrzej (1955).Mapy województwa pomorskiego w drugiej połowie XVI w. (in Polish). Toruń. p. 129.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich (in Polish). Vol. XIV. Warszawa. 1895. p. 201.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^abJohannes Hoops, Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Walter de Gruyter, p.422,ISBN3-11-017733-1
^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,ISBN87-983097-5-7OCLC43087092, Sydsjællands Museums Publikationer Vol. 1"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 11 September 2008. Retrieved1 October 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^Jan M Piskorski,Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, 1999, pp.18ff,ISBN83-906184-8-6
^Horst Wernicke,Greifswald, Geschichte der Stadt, Helms, 2000, pp.16ff,ISBN3-931185-56-7
^A. W. R. Whittle, Europe in the Neolithic: The Creation of New Worlds, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p.198,ISBN0-521-44920-0
^Werner Buchholz,Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.25,ISBN3-88680-272-8: pagan uprising that also ended the Polish suzerainty in 1005
^A. P. Vlasto,Entry of Slavs Christendom, CUP Archive, 1970, p.129,ISBN0-521-07459-2: 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,ISBN0-521-87616-8,ISBN978-0-521-87616-2
^Michael Borgolte, Benjamin Scheller,Polen und Deutschland vor 1000 Jahren: Die Berliner Tagung über den "Akt von Gnesen", Akademie Verlag, 2002, p.282,ISBN3-05-003749-0,ISBN978-3-05-003749-3
^Richard du Moulin Eckart,Geschichte der deutschen Universitäten, Georg Olms Verlag, 1976, pp.111, 112,ISBN3-487-06078-7
^Gerhard Krause, Horst Robert Balz, Gerhard Müller,Theologische Realenzyklopädie, Walter de Gruyter, 1997, pp.43ff,ISBN3-11-015435-8
^Werner Buchholz, '"Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp. 263, 332, 341–343, 352–354,ISBN3-88680-272-8
^Muret, Eduard (1885).Geschichte der Französischen Kolonie in Brandenburg-Preußen, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Berliner Gemeinde. Aus Veranlassung der Zweihundertjährigen Jubelfeier am 29. Oktober 1885 (in German). Berlin. pp. 208–209, 211, 256, 259, 266, 269.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Cygański, Mirosław (1984). "Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939-1945".Przegląd Zachodni (in Polish) (4): 45.
^Leni Yahil, Ina Friedman, Haya Galai,The Holocaust: The Fate of European Jewry, 1932–1945, Oxford University Press US, 1991,ISBN0-19-504523-8, p.138: 12/13 February 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 12 March, Lublin reservation chosen in winter, 30,000 Germans resettled before to make room[2]
^"Lebensborn".Połczyn-Zdrój (in Polish). Retrieved3 November 2023.
^"It is difficult to credit with good faith any person who asserts that Poland's western boundary was fixed by the Potsdam conference, or that there was a promise that it would be established at some particular place." See:Speaking Frankly by James F. Byrnes, New York & London, 1947, p.79-81. Byrnes, a Judge and former State Governor, served as a close adviser to President Truman and became US Secretary of State in July 1945. In that capacity, Byrnes attended the Potsdam Conference and the Paris Conference.
^Tomasz Kamusella in Prauser and Reeds (eds),The Expulsion of the German communities from Eastern Europe, p.28, EUI HEC 2004/1[3]Archived 1 October 2009 at theWayback Machine
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