Free State of Schwenten
The Free State of Schwenten was a Free State of the Weimar Republic that existed from January to August 1919 . It only included the area of the municipality of Schwenten (now Świętno , Poland).
Until 1918 Schwenten, which in 1905 had only 610 inhabitants, belonged to the Bomst district in the Poznan province . The inhabitants of the village on the railway line from Kontopp to Grätz were exclusively German-speaking, surrounded by villages and towns with a mixed German-Polish population. In the Poznan uprising (1918-1919) , large parts of the province of Poznan came under the influence of the Polish insurgents from the end of December 1918. German and Polish militias fought violently at times. Concerns about Polish attacks and the occupation by the Poles gripped all German villages, including Schwenten.
In view of this danger and after the unsuccessful request for protection troops in Glogau , the convened community assembly decided on January 5, 1919 in the Wolff Inn to proclaim the independence of the neutral "Free State of Schwenten". Immediately afterwards, negotiations with the neighboring villages of Kiebel and Obra began and a non-aggression pact was reached with the local Polish commanders. Pastor Emil Gustav Hegemann was appointed President and Foreign Minister, and Mayor Drescher was appointed Minister of the Interior. Forester Teske acted as "Minister of War". The plans to build a "navy" under the leadership of the village barber were pointless as long as the lake was frozen over. A constitution and laws were enacted; The finance minister passed a budget under difficult circumstances, because the Free State's main source of income, the production and trade in beer, remained untaxed. Otherwise, the innkeeper Schulz would not have served any more free beer to the Schwenten parliament, which was meeting in his inn.
The German and Polish militias recognized the neutrality of the Free State of Schwenten. "Foreigners" could only enter or cross the Free State with a visa , which was a stamp of the local church office . After the Allies recalled the German border guards, which had meanwhile become active, there was an armistice and at the Versailles peace negotiations the exact demarcation of the border was negotiated. Ultimately, the Schwenten state government had to recognize that independence could not be maintained, decided on August 10, 1919 to give up neutrality and applied for admission to the Land of Prussia of the German Empire. This was complied with on June 9, 1920, after the Entente Commission had arrived ; the border between Germany and Poland was determined as agreed in the Treaty of Versailles , and Schwenten was allowed to stay with Germany. With the dissolution of the district of Bomst in 1938, Schwenten became part of the district of Grünberg i. Schles. assigned.
In memory of the Free State, the community of Schwenten celebrated a festival every year on June 9th in the so-called "Historic Inn", where the Entente Commission met in 1920. During the Nazi era , Berlin became aware of this event, the Free State of Schwenten was stylized into a German hero myth and Nazi greats such as Reichsleiter Robert Ley and Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick took part in the annual celebration. After the collapse of the Third Reich and the end of the Second World War , Schwenten, henceforth Świętno, came under Polish administration and the German population was expelled between 1945 and 1947.
literature
- Martin Sprungala: The “Free State of Schwenten” - Truth or Propaganda? In: Yearbook Weichsel-Warthe, 55 (2009), pp. 155–159.
Web link
- Wolne Państwo Świętno - Free City of Schwenten. Private Polish side