Circle Rößel

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Location in East Prussia

The district of Rößel was a German district in the administrative district of Königsberg (later Allenstein ) in the Prussian province of East Prussia . It was located in the old Prussian Gau Barten in the center of East Prussia and existed from 1818 to 1945. The seat of the district administration was initially Rößel , and from 1862 Bischofsburg .

geography

The area of ​​the district was 850.84 km² and was northeast of Allenstein . The four cities of the district, Rößel, Bischofsburg, Seeburg and Bischofstein , were located in the four corners of the district and promoted economic life. However, the district did not have a clear center.

From the heights of the Baltic ridge , the landscape merges north into the Schippenbeil Plain . The south-western area is touched by the Allenstein Lake District , the 10 km² Daddaisee (now Jezioro Dadaj) and the Lauternsee (Jezioro Luterskie) were the largest lakes in the district. Near the Lauternsee in the center of the district was the 220 meter high Voigtsdorfer Berg, the highest point. The northeast is touched by the Zaine River , the only river in the district worth mentioning. Large areas are covered with forests.

The district of Rößel was one of the smaller districts in East Prussia in terms of area, but was the most densely populated district with 61 inhabitants per km² at times. In 1939 51,086 people lived in the district, 88.3 percent of them of Catholic faith. While there were still 339 Jews in 1890, their number fell steadily afterwards: in 1925 there were 132, in 1933 only 108. In 1900 the Polish minority was given as 14 percent.

The towns of Bischofstein and Bischofsburg were on Reichsstrasse 128 Königsberg - Ortelsburg , and Reichsstrasse 141 Allenburg- Bischofsburg ran through Rößel . In addition, the Insterburg – Allenstein , Königsberg – Lyck and Wormditt – Rastenburg railway lines ran through the district. The main sources of income were agriculture and forestry, no industry worth mentioning had settled.

history

The history of the district was determined for a long time by the diocese of Warmia , which was a spiritual sovereign territory for several centuries. It was created in 1243 and was administratively divided into ten chamber offices , seven of which were subordinate to the Warmian bishop and three to the cathedral chapter. The area of ​​the later district was in the chamber offices of Rößel and Seeburg, which belonged to the episcopal domain. As a result of the Second Thorner Peace of 1466, the entire diocese of Warmia came under Polish sovereignty, which lasted until the first Polish partition in 1772. Then it came to Prussia and at the same time lost its independence.

Since 1818

Seal mark of the Royal District Office Rössel-East Prussia

With the Prussian administrative reform of 1815, the Ermland chamber offices were replaced by larger circles , and the Rößel district was formed with effect from February 1, 1818. It essentially comprised the area of ​​the former Warmian chamber offices of Rößel and Seeburg , namely the parishes :

Initially Rößel was designated as a district town, but in 1862 the district office was moved to Bischofsburg . Initially, the district was under the Prussian government district of Königsberg ; on November 1, 1905, it was assigned to the newly founded East Prussian administrative district of Allenstein .

From the end of the First World War until today

When after the First World War in the Treaty of Versailles required referendum on the membership to the Reich or to Poland, 88.7 percent of voters decided on 11 July 1920 for a stay in East Prussia.

Under the National Socialist Reich government in the Rößel district in 1938 the place names of villages and residential areas were renamed :

Towards the end of the Second World War , at the end of January 1945, the Red Army occupied the Rößel district without any significant fighting. Only after the occupation were the towns and villages partly destroyed by arson by Red Army troops.

After the end of the war, the Rößel district was placed under Polish administration by the Soviet occupying power in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, along with the southern half of East Prussia and all of West Prussia . Then the immigration of Poles began, some of whom came from the areas east of the Curzon Line that had fallen to the Soviet Union . The German population of the district was subsequently expelled by the local Polish administrative authorities .

Today the district is divided into the Polish districts Powiat Bartoszycki (Bartenstein district) , Powiat Kętrzyński (Rastenburg district) and Powiat Olsztyński (Allenstein district) .

District administrators

Communities

In 1908 the district consisted of 118 towns, municipalities and manor districts; the number decreased to 85 by incorporation in 1939. These included the four cities

literature

Web links

Commons : Landkreis Rößel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ^ Family tree Friedrich Freiherr von Puttkamer at www.einegrossefamilie.de
  3. ↑ www.haduloha.de
  4. ↑ [2]
  5. ↑ www.bischofsburg.de
  6. ↑ [3]