Michelauer Land (West Prussia)

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The Michelauer Land ("Michelaw") on a map from 1576
The Michelau district at the end of the 18th century

The Michelauer Land , formerly also known as the Michelau , is a historical area in Poland southeast of the central Drwęca (Drewenz) between the Kulmerland in the west, Masuria in the north and Mazovia in the south. The closest town was Brodnica (Strasburg in West Prussia). From 1772 to 1818 the district of Michelau existed in West Prussia , which in addition to the actual Michelauer Land also included the area northwest of the Drwęca with the cities of Löbau , Neumark and Strasburg.

history

In 1303 the dukes of Kujawia pledged the Michelau land to the Teutonic Order , with the stipulation that if the pledge was not redeemed by them (and no one else) within three years, the land would become the legal property of the Teutonic Order. The deposit was never redeemed. Despite the clear legal situation, there were numerous disputes over the country as a result. It was the subject of several treaties between the Teutonic Order and Poland. The rule of the Teutonic Order was confirmed in the Treaty of Kalisch (1343) and the Peace of Lake Melno (1422). In 1466, in the Second Peace of Thorn , Prussia got a royal share under the Polish crown. From then until 1772 it belonged to the Kulmer Land Voivodeship . With the Lublin Union in 1569 , Royal Prussia was unilaterally declared part of the Polish-Lithuanian Rzeczpospolita , but this was not accepted. A description from the 19th century read:

“The small landscape of Michelau , which is sometimes counted as part of the Kulmerland , lies eastwards from it, separated by the Drewenz river . It takes its name from a former permanent Michelau Castle, which in 1789 had not existed for unimaginable years. It was on the spot where the Strasburg treasury village of Michelau was in 1789. "

With the first division of Poland in 1772, the Michelauer Land became part of the Kingdom of Prussia . It gave its name to the Michelau district in the southeast of the West Prussian province . The eight cities of Gollub , Gorzno , Kauernik , Lautenburg , Löbau, Neumark, Schönsee and Strasburg as well as the royal domain offices Brattian, Brzezynko, Krottoschin, Lautenburg, Löbau, Longorrek, Gollup and Strasburg belonged to this circle . District administrators were Johann Andreas von Tyszka (1772–1797), von Nostitz (1797–1799), Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel (1799–1804) and Ernst von Schroetter (from 1804).

After the Kulm district had already been ceded to the Duchy of Warsaw due to the Tilsit Peace , Prussia also had to cede the Michelau district to the latter due to the Second Elbingen Convention of November 10, 1807. In 1815 the Kulmerland and the Michelau district fell back to Prussia. During the district reform of 1818 in the Marienwerder administrative district , the Michelau district was divided into the new Löbau and Strasburg districts.

literature

  • Johann Friedrich Goldbeck : Complete topography of the Kingdom of Prussia . Part II: Topography of West Prussia , Kantersche Hofbuchdruckerei, Marienwerder 1789, pp. 42–48.
  • Marija Gimbutas: The Balts . Herbig, Munich 1983 (1963), p. 20
  • Max Hein, Rudolf Philippi: Prussian document book . Hartungsche Verlagsdruckerei, 1882, p. 245

Individual evidence

  1. a b 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. 42 ff . ( Digitized version ).
  3. ^ Rolf Straubel : Biographical manual of the Prussian administrative and judicial officials 1740–1806 / 15 . In: Historical Commission to Berlin (Ed.): Individual publications . 85. KG Saur Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-598-23229-9 .

Coordinates: 53 ° 12 '  N , 19 ° 24'  E