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Pomerania |
Pomerania (German: Pommern, Polish: Pomorze, Kashubian: Pòmòrze or Pòmòrskô, Latin: Pomerania or Pomorania) is a historical region on the south coast of the Baltic Sea, now 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 by Germans, Poles and Kashubians. Pomerania was strongly affected by 20th century border and population changes.
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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.
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.
The mainland consists of low elevation plains and hills.
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.
There is a probable first mention of Pomerania as the Latin longum mare ("long sea") in a monastery document or note from around 1080, the Dagome iudex, a shortened copy of an earlier document supposedly referring to the year 992. The document speaks of Oda von Haldensleben and her husband Dagome, presumably the Polish ruler Mieszko I, and refers to territory gifted by Dagome to the Pope. An imperial document of 1046 makes an actual first mention of "Pomerania" in reference to Zemuzil dux Bomeranorum (Zemuzil, Duke of the Pomeranians). From then on, Pomerania is mentioned repeatedly in the chronicles of Adam of Bremen (ca. 1070) and Gallus Anonymous (ca. 1113).
Pomerania is currently divided between the following main regions:
Also, small areas in the south of historical Pomerania today lie within Brandenburg in Germany and within Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Greater Poland Voivodeship and Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland.
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.
The term "West(ern) Pomerania" is potentially ambiguous, since it may refer to either Vorpommern (the western part of Pomerania as a whole), or to the present-day West Pomeranian Voivodeship (in fact lying in the eastern portion of historical Pomerania). The term Eastern Pomerania may similarly carry different meanings depending on context.
Most of Pomerania was within the former eastern territories of Germany. During and after World War II, all areas east of the Oder-Neisse line were ceded to Poland, ethnically cleansed of Germans and resettled with Poles. The former German administrative division of the area was replaced by voivodeships of different shape. Also, the traditional German naming for the Pomerenian regions was replaced by a Polish terminology.
Vorpommern, also Hither or Western Pomerania, comprised the area between the Recknitz and the Oder rivers, making up the western part of the former Province of Pomerania. While most of this region is still within Germany and continues the use of the name, the major cities of Stettin (now Szczecin) and Swinemünde (now Świnoujście) as well as the adjacted area (Stettiner Zipfel) became part of Poland and are now part of the Zachodniopomorskie region.
Vorpommern comprises the formerly independent historical regions Principality of Rügen and County of Gützkow.
Farther or Further Pomerania, also Hinterpommern, Eastern Pomerania or Ostpommern are the terms used to describe the eastern part of the former Province of Pomerania, stretching from the Oder River to Lauenburg i. Pom., (now Lebork). All of Farther Pomerania became a part of Poland after World War II and thereafter lost its territorial integrity. The bulk of Farther Pomerania is included within the West Pomeranian Voivodeship comprising the Zachodniopomorskie region. The easternmost parts, most notably the Stolp (now Sluspsk) area today are in the Pomeranian Voivodeship comprising the Gdansk Pomerania region.
In the east, Farther Pomerania comprised the historical Schlawe-Stolp and Lauenburg-Bütow lands. In the South, Farther Pomerania comprised historical Neumark regions (former Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia. The area around former Kolberg (Kolobrzeg) once constituted the historical area of the Cammin bishops' secular reign.
Pomerelia or Pommerellen is a historical region in the Southeast of Pomerania. Most of this region was not included in the Province of Pomerania but in West Prussia, therefore it is in many cases not considered to be part of Pomerania. Yet, Pomerelia's medieval Samboride dukes were entitled Duke of Pomerania, and in Polish terminology Pomorze (Pomerania) is used for Pomerelia even preferably, while Pomerania proper is termed Zachodniopomorskie (Western Pomerania).
The modern Gdansk Pomerania (major) and Zachodniopomorskie (east) regions, the West Pomeranian Voivodeship (east), Pomeranian Voivodeship (bulk) and the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (north) encompass the historical Pomerelia, but also many other regions.
Polish terminology divides Pomerania into:
Kashubian geographic terminology with regard to Pomerania is similar to Polish, and distinguishes between Zôpadnô Pòmòrskô (Western Pomerania) and Pòrénkòwô Pòmòrskô (Eastern Pomerania).
| Polish Voivodeship/ German Kreis |
Capitals | Registration plates |
Area w km² |
Population Polish 31 December 1999 German 2001 |
Territorial code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship | Bydgoszcz¹ Toruń² |
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 |
| (¹) - the site of the Voivod office. (²) - the site of the Voivod council | |||||
| Polish Pomerania total | 59,164.08 | 6,025,877 | |||
| Nordvorpommern | Grimmen | NPV | 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 (district) | Demmin | DM | 1,921 | 93,700 | |
| Greifswald | HGW | 52.2 | 52,984 | ||
| Stralsund | HST | est. 52.2 | 60,000 | ||
| German Pomerania total | 8,701 | 595,888 | |||
The biggest cities are (with population figures for 1999):
and Świnoujście, Kołobrzeg, Sopot, Malbork, Kwidzyn, Szczecinek, Lębork, Chojnice, Iława, Ostróda, Police, Wałcz
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The history of settlement in Pomerania goes back some 10,000 years. Archeological traces have been found of megalith cultures after the Ice Age, followed by Baltic tribes in the Bronze Age, Germanic tribes and, in the Middle Ages, Slavic tribes. Written records appear in the 10th century mentioning repeated conflicts between the Slavic Pomeranian tribes and early Poland. 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.
In the High Middle Ages, the area 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 Slavic Pomeranians, who became known as 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, the Kashubians of Pomerelia remained with the Roman Catholic Church. The Thirty Years' War 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.
Prussia gained the southern parts of Swedish Pomerania in 1720, Pomerelia in 1772, and the remainder of Swedish Pomerania in 1815. The former Duchy of Pomerania was reorganized into the Prussian Province of Pomerania, while Pomerelia was transformed into 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, Pomerelian territory formed 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 territories.
After Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II, the German–Polish border was shifted west to the Oder–Neisse line. The German population of the areas east of the line was expelled, and the area was resettled with Poles (some themselves expellees from former eastern Poland) and some Ukrainians (resettled under Operation Wisła). Western Pomerania (Vorpommern) remained in Germany, although Stettin (Szczecin), Police and Swinemünde (Świnoujście) went to Poland despite being west of the Oder. Today German Pomerania 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 and Gdańsk respectively.
 The Duchy of Pomerania, ruled by the dynasty of the Griffins, in the 17th century. Note also the variant coats of arms on this map by Eilhardus Lubinus. |
 thumb|right|270px|The former Duchy of Pomerania (center) partitioned between the Swedish Empire and Brandenburg after the Treaty of Stettin (1653). Swedish Pomerania (West Pomerania) is indicated in blue, Brandenburgian Pomerania (East Pomerania) is shown in orange. |
 The Province of Pomerania inside the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire, 1870 |
 Map of Pomerania, 1890 |
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.
"Pomerania". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company. |
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