District of Elbing

coat of arms	Germany map
Basic data (status approx. 1939/45)
Existing period:	1818-1945
Country :	Prussia
Province :	East Prussia
Administrative region :	West Prussia
Administrative headquarters :	Elblag
Surface:	483.6 km²
Residents :	28,149 (May 17, 1939)
Population density :	58.2 inhabitants per km²
License plate :	IC
Circle structure:	15 administrative districts 68 municipalities 3 manor districts
Location of the circle

The Elbing district was a Prussian district that existed from 1818 to 1945 . Originally part of the province of West Prussia , it was divided in 1920 by the Treaty of Versailles . Its area west of the Nogat fell to the Free City of Danzig . The rest came to East Prussia and remained in the German Reich until 1945 . The district town of Elbing formed its own urban district from 1874. The area of ​​the former district is now part of the Polish Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship .

history

The city of Elbing and its surrounding area came to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772 with the first division of Poland from Prussia's royal share and initially belonged to the Marienburg district (West Prussia) . The Prussian provincial authorities ordinance of April 30, 1815 and its implementing provisions made the area part of the Danzig administrative district of the West Prussian province . As part of a comprehensive district reform in the Gdansk administrative district, the new Elbing District was formed on April 1, 1818 from the northern part of the Marienburg District . It included the cities of Elbing and Tolkemit , the Intendanturämter Elbing and Tolkemit and the noble estates of Kadinen and Rehberg. The district office was in Elbing.

From December 3, 1829 to April 1, 1878, West Prussia and East Prussia were united to form the Province of Prussia , which had belonged to the North German Confederation from July 1, 1867 and to the German Empire from January 1, 1871 .

Kingdom of Prussia in the German Empire

On January 1, 1874, the city of Elbing left the district and formed its own urban district . The district of Elbing has since been referred to as a district . In 1897 a large area with archaeological finds was discovered near Gut Hansdorf, and excavations were carried out in the 1920s. A large burial ground was also found near Elbing. The finds came to the Elbinger Museum. Further excavations could not be continued because of the war.

On April 1, 1913, the district area was reduced by incorporating the towns of Klein Röbern, Klein Teichhof, Pangritz-Kolonie, Stolzenmorgen, Strauchmühle, Thumberg, Wansau and Wittenfelde into the Elbing district.

Free State of Prussia in the Weimar Republic

West Prussia administrative district 1922–1939

Even before the entry into force of the Treaty of Versailles on October 1, 1919, were on the Vistula Spit nearby rural communities Kahlenberg , Narmeln , Neukrug and Vöglers the circle Danziger lowland reports to the district Elblag. When the Versailles Treaty came into force on January 10, 1920, the part of the Elbing district west of the Nogat had to be ceded to the Free City of Danzig . The district of Elbing lost 25% of its territory and 23% of its inhabitants. In the Free City of Danzig, this area became part of the Großes Werder district .

As a result of the dissolution of the province of West Prussia on November 28, 1920, the district of Elbing was subordinated to the district president in Marienwerder and the province of East Prussia . On December 24, 1920, the rural community of Pröbbernau was reclassified from the Free City of Danzig to the district of Elbing in a subsequent border correction. At the same time, the rural community of Zeyerniederkampen and the manor district of Nogathaffkampen, which had been ceded in January 1920, returned to the district of Elbing. The district of Elbing was also formally incorporated into the province of East Prussia on July 1, 1922. The Marienwerder administrative region was renamed the West Prussia administrative region for reasons of tradition . The seat of the district president remained in Marienwerder.

On September 30, 1928 the manor districts Freiwalde, Groß Wesseln, Herrenpfeil, Pfarrwald and Vogelsang and on October 17, 1928 the manor districts Eichwalde and Spittelhof were incorporated into Elbing. On September 30, 1929, a territorial reform took place in the Elbing district, as in the rest of the Free State of Prussia , in which all but three manor districts were dissolved and assigned to neighboring rural communities.

Prussia under the National Socialist Reich government

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia (August 1943)

The district of Elbing became part of the newly formed Reichsgau West Prussia on November 26, 1939, later Gdansk-West Prussia and became part of the new administrative district of Danzig . In January and February 1945 the district was occupied by the Red Army . In the summer of 1945, the Soviet occupying power placed the Reich territory under Polish administration in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement . The vast majority of German inhabitants were in the aftermath of the circle area sold .

Polish Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship

Since the end of the Second World War, the district has continued to exist in the form of the Powiat Elbląski ( Elbląg District ), whose administration has its seat in Elbing and which has been part of the Warmia-Masurian Voivodeship since 1998 . This voivodeship largely corresponds to the southern half of East Prussia, which was placed under Polish administration in the summer of 1945 in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement ; its capital is Olsztyn (Allenstein).

politics

District administrators

• 1818-1819 00Bax
• 1819–1821 00Eichel ( provisional )
• 1821–1868 Karl Friedrich Abramowski00
• 1868-1879 00Frank
• 1879-1883 00Arthur Birkner
• 1883–1888 Eugen Dippe00
• 1888–1907 Rüdiger Etzdorf00
• 1907 Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner ( acting )0000000
• 1908–1925 00Nikolaus von Posadowsky-Wehner
• 1926–1944 Carl Cichorius00

elections

In the German Empire, the city and the district of Elbing together with the district of Marienburg formed the Reichstag constituency of Danzig 1 . Almost all of the constituency was won by conservative candidates.

• 1871 Wilhelm von Brauchitsch , Conservative Party00
• 187400 Wilhelm von Brauchitsch, Conservative Party
• 1877 Otto Hausburg , independent liberal00
• 1878 Wilhelm von Minnigerode , German Conservative Party00
• 188100 Wilhelm von Minnigerode, German Conservative Party
• 1884 Bernhard von Puttkamer , German Conservative Party00
• 188700 Bernhard von Puttkamer, German Conservative Party
• 1890 Richard zu Dohna-Schlobitten , German Conservative Party00
• 189300 Bernhard von Puttkamer, German Conservative Party
• 189800 Bernhard von Puttkamer, German Conservative Party
• 1903 Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau , German Conservative Party00
• 190700 Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau, German Conservative Party
• 1912 Rudolf Schröder , Free Conservative Party00

Local constitution

The district of Elbing was divided into the cities of Elbing (until 1874) and Tolkemit, in rural communities and - until their disappearance in 1929 - in manor districts . With the introduction of the Prussian Municipal Constitution Act of December 15, 1933, there was a uniform municipal constitution for all municipalities from January 1, 1934. With the introduction of the German municipal code of January 30, 1935, the municipal constitution valid in the German Reich came into force on April 1, 1935, according to which the previous rural communities were now referred to as municipalities. These were grouped together in administrative districts . A new district constitution was no longer created; The district regulations for the provinces of East and West Prussia, Brandenburg, Pomerania, Silesia and Saxony from March 19, 1881 continued to apply .

population

In 1874 the city of Elbing left the district as a separate urban district. In order to ensure comparability of the figures before and after, the aggregated values ​​of the city and district are also given.

Hansdorf manor around 1860, Alexander Duncker collection

Population development

• 1821 0041,632
• 1831 0044,406
• 1852 0059.297
• 1861 0060.852
• 1871 0068.471
• 1890 0037,610, with Elbing 79,186
• 1900 0038,800, with Elbing 91,318
• 1910 0038,611, with Elbing 97,247
• 1925 0026,717, with Elbing 94,595
• 1933 0026.202, with Elbing 98.611
• 1939 0026.992, with Elbing 110.182

Denominations

year	Protestant		Catholics		Jews		other
	absolutely	%	absolutely	%	absolutely	%	absolutely	%
1821	32,636	78.4	6,534	15.7	288	0.7	2.174	5.2
1852	46,401	78.3	10,331	17.4	510	0.9	2,055	3.5
1871	53,137	77.6	12,559	18.3	560	0.8	2,215	3.2
1890	28,572	76.0	7,321	19.5	28	0.1	1,689	4.5
1910	29,153	75.5	7,964	20.6	18th	0.1	1,476	3.8
together with the Elbing district :
1890	60,676	76.6	15,436	19.5	512	0.6	2,562	3.2
1910	74,866	77.0	18,904	19.4	389	0.4	3,088	3.2

The rather large group of the other denominations was mostly formed by Mennonites . The steady decline in their share of the population was due to strong emigration.

cities and communes

Municipalities ceded in 1920

The following municipalities belonged to the area west of the Nogat, which had to be ceded to the Free City of Danzig in 1920:

inlay Fürstenau Border village A Border village B Gross Mausdorf

Maid Keitlau Little Mausdorf Klein Mausdorferweide Krebsfeld

Lakendorf Lupushorst Neudorf Neulanghorst Neustädterwald

Rosenort Stuba Walldorf Zeyer Zeyervorderkampen

Administrative structure 1945

At the beginning of 1945, the district of Elbing consisted of 68 communities, including the city of Tolkemit , and three manor districts:

Districts & municipalities	Population (1939)	comment
City of Tolkemit
1. Tolkemit, city	3866
Cadinen district
1. Cadines	448
Damerau district
1. Behrendshagen	347
2. Damerau	370
3. Drewshof	173
4. Schönwalde	211
District Dörbeck
1. Dörbeck	631
2. Groß Steinort	628
3. Lenzen	998
4. Succase	770
Ellerwald district
1. Ellerwald I. Trift	211
2. Ellerwald II. Trift	181
3. Ellerwald III. Trift	411
4. Ellerwald IV. Trift	220
5. Ellerwald V.	252
6. Kraffohlsdorf	683
Fichthorst district
1. Fichthorst , parish -free manor district (partially)	1533	Renamed 16 July 1938, formerly Elbinger Territory
2. Hoppenau	155
3. Moss break	162
4. Möskenberg	85
5. Neuhof	182
6. Nogathau	466
7. Mud bag	48
8. Schwarzdamm	63
District of Frisches Haff
1. Fresh lagoon, part of Kr. Elbing, community-free estate district	0
District Grunau Höhe
1. Dambitzen	421
2. Grunau height	533
District of Kahlberg
1. Kahlberg, Forst, parish-free manor district	0
2. Kahlberg- Liep	742
3. Narmels	295
4. Neukrug	114
5. Pröbbernau	269
6. Vöglers	188
Kerbswalde district
1. Ash stalls	236
2. Great Wickerau	193
3. Carved horn	164
4. Klein Wickerau	164
5. Oberkerbswalde	349
6. Extensor foot	306
7. Unterkerbswalde	308
Lärchwalde district
1. Groß Röbern	288
2. Lärchwalde	1176
District Neukirch Höhe
1. Birkau	75
2. Conradswalde	267
3. Dünhöfen	159
4. Haselau	191
5. Hut	214
6. Klakendorf	49
7. Neuendorf-Kämmereidorf	70
8. Neukirch Höhe	602
9. back	157
Pomehrendorf district
1. Fichthorst, parish-free manor district (remainder)	1533	Renamed 16 July 1938, formerly Elbinger Territory
2. Pomehrendorf	351
3. Stoboi	583	Renamed July 16, 1938, formerly Stoboy
4. Wolfsdorf height	286
District Prussian Mark
1. Beard comb	109
2. Bohemian mix	157
3. Kämmersdorf	256
4. Meis Latin	167
5. Neuendorf Höhe	249
6. Plans	190
7. Prussian mark	248
8. Serpin	179
9. Wöklitz	328
Terranova district
1. Bulwark	395
2. Fischerskampe	293
3. Terranova	1245
4. Zeyerniederkampen	682
Trunz district
1. Baumgart	487
2. Königshagen	158
3. Maypole	495
4. Trunz	661

literature

• Eugen Gustav Kerstan: The history of the district of Elbing is presented in a popular way on a scientific basis . 1925, reprinted 1967.
• Prussian Ministry of Finance: Results of the property and trade tax assessment in the administrative district of Danzig . Danzig 1867. See: 4. Elbing District , pp. 1–27.
• Christian Eduard Rhode: The Elbinger Kreis in topographical, historical and statistical terms. In addition to 7 cards on 2 sheets. AW Kafemann, Danzig 1871 ( full text without maps ).
• Gustav Neumann : Geography of the Prussian State , 2nd edition, Vol. 2, Berlin 1874, pp. 42–43, item 4.
• ACA Friedrich: Historical-geographical representation of old and new Poland . Berlin 1839, p. 628.
• M. Rademacher: German administrative history from the unification of the empire in 1871 to the reunification in 1990. (online material for the dissertation, Osnabrück 2006)

Web links

Commons : Landkreis Elbing  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• District of Elbing Administrative history and district list on the website territorial.de (Rolf Jehke), as of July 16, 2013.
• Home districts of Elbing-Stadt and Elbing-Land
• Website about Elblag
• History of the district
• District communities in 1910 with population figures

Remarks

1. ↑ One of the few original copies is in the city ​​library (Lübeck) , in the Herder Institute (Marburg) , in the Truso archive of Elbing's godfather city of Bremerhaven and in Herne's Martin-Opitz-Bibliothek .

Individual evidence

1. ^ August von Haxthausen : The rural constitution in the individual provinces of the Prussian monarchy . Bornträger Brothers, Königsberg 1839, p. 153 ( digitized version ).
2. ^ Johann Friedrich Goldbeck (ed.): Complete topography of the Kingdom of Prussia . tape 2 . Marienwerder 1789, p. 14th ff . ( Digitized version ).
3. ^ Max Toeppen : Historisch-Comparative Geographie von Preussen . Justus Perthes, Gotha 1858, p. 353 ( digitized version ).
4. ↑ Database of members of the Reichstag ( memento of the original from January 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Cities, municipalities and manor districts 1910
6. ^ Community encyclopedia for the Free State of Prussia, Volume 1: Province of East Prussia, Berlin 1931
7. ↑ ^{a b} Official directory of the German Reich 1939, 2nd edition 1941