Landsmannschaft West Prussia
The West Prussian Society - Landsmannschaft Westpreußen e. V. is an association of expellees . It sees itself as an association that is committed to representing the Germans from West Prussia and their descendants. The West Prussian Society is a member of the Association of Expellees (BdV).
stand-in
The West Prussian Society represents West Prussia and their descendants, i.e. those expellees who come from the area on both sides of the lower Vistula . After the ratification of the Versailles Treaty , the German Reich had to return most of West Prussia to the re-established Poland . After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the ceded areas were annexed by Germany in violation of international law . The Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia was then formed from the latter areas, parts of the province of East Prussia and the Free City of Danzig . At the end of the Second World War , West Prussia was liberated from Soviet troops. The Soviet government in Poland had almost the entire German-speaking population evicted, forcing almost all of their mobile and immobile property to be abandoned. The expulsion itself was accompanied by serious war crimes committed by Soviet soldiers against the German civilian population .
history
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The West Prussian Society was founded on April 6, 1949 in Hamburg under the name Landsmannschaft West Prussia by representatives from the West Prussian home districts. With the election of its first spokesman (chairman) it was hoped to achieve a union with the Gdansk Association, which had been founded around three years earlier . However, this did not succeed in 1949 or later. Its first statute was passed on June 18, 1966, and it has been a registered association under German law since January 29, 1968. The club is based in Münster . In 2018 it changed its name to " West Prussian Society - Landsmannschaft Westpreußen eV ".
aims
- Representation of the concerns of Germans from West Prussia and their descendants at home and abroad, both in relation to constitutional and international law, as well as culture and social issues
- Promotion of homeland awareness
- Promotion of science and research, especially in relation to Prussia and the home region of West Prussia
- Promotion of international understanding by means of encounters between Germans and Poles, as well as by promoting activities and institutions that are intended and suitable to serve international understanding
- Promotion of the exchange of information, especially about the home area in Germany and abroad
- Promotion of popular education through publications, seminars and other events at home and abroad
- Collection and preservation of cultural values from the home region of West Prussia
- Promotion of monument preservation
- Erection of memorials
- Contribute to the creation of a united Europe
Club building
The Landsmannschaft West Prussia has two organs, the Federal Assembly and the Federal Board. The Federal Assembly meets once a year. With its committees and presidium, it has a structure similar to that of parliament; in terms of association law, it is the general assembly of the West Prussian Landsmannschaft. There is also a support group for West Prussia .
Organizationally, the West Prussian Landsmannschaft is divided into:
- 16 regional groups, corresponding to the German federal states, with many district and local groups,
- the Federal Group of West Prussian Women,
- 24 home district communities, corresponding to the historical urban and rural districts of West Prussia
- 7 other organizations, namely
- the Artushof Association eV ( Thorn ), publisher of the " Thorner Nachrichten "
- the Bidegast Association eV ( Bromberg ), formerly editor of the magazine "Bromberg", which will appear until April 2012
- the Copernicus Association for History and Regional Studies of West Prussia eV
- the West Prussian Cultural Foundation (formerly the Erik von Witzleben Foundation), sponsor of the West Prussian State Museum
- the Truso Association ( Elbing )
- the association for the promotion of West Prussian youth
- the youth and student union Danzig-West Prussia.
Federal spokesman
- 1949: Gerhard Gülzow (1904–1980), senior consistorial councilor
- 1949–1956: Erik von Witzleben (1884–1958), landowner
- 1956–1960: Hans Joachim Kohnert (1905–1972), farmer and businessman
- 1960–1962: Walther Kühn (1892–1962), former district president D., Member of the Bundestag
- 1962–1967: Paul Pockrandt (1888–1970), Government Veterinary Councilor i. R.
- 1967–1972: Ernst Coelle (1898–1990), manor owner
- 1972–1978: Felician Antonius Prill (1904–1981), ambassador a. D.
- 1978–1999: Odo Ratza (1919–2002), retired Brigadier General D.
- 1999–2009: Siegfried Sieg , retired rector. D.
- 2009–2011: Sibylle Dreher , President of the Women's Association in the Association of Expellees
- 2011–2018: Ulrich Bonk
- since 2018: Erik Fischer
Events and publications
The West Prussian Society organizes the West Prussian Congress in Warendorf on the fourth weekend in September each year with simultaneous translation from Polish to German / German to Polish.
The federal organ of the West Prussian Society is the monthly newspaper Der Westpreuße - Unser Danzig . The Landsmannschaft also publishes the West Prussia yearbook every year and is the owner of the West Prussia publishing house, which is also based in Münster.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ always on the Friday afternoon before the last weekend in September, on which the annual West Prussian Congress takes place
- ↑ http://www.Artushof-Vereinigung.de .
- ↑ Kohnert, Hans . In: East German Biography (Kulturportal West-Ost)
- ^ Pockrandt, Paul . In: East German Biography (Kulturportal West-Ost)
- ↑ Coelle, Ernst . In: East German Biography (Kulturportal West-Ost)
- ↑ Prill, Felician . In: East German Biography (Kulturportal West-Ost)