Kreis Schwetz in 1890
Province of West Prussia (1913) Regierungsbezirk Danzig
Regierungsbezirk Marienwerder
Danzig-West Prussia (1943)
Kreis Schwetz was a Prussian district that existed from 1818 to 1920, with its capital at Schwetz . The district was located on the western bank of the Vistula river in the part of West Prussia that fell to Poland after the First World War through the Treaty of Versailles in 1920.
History
The area of the Schwetz district belonged to the State of the Teutonic Order since 1309 until 1466, after which the region became part of Royal Prussia , which was under the Polish Crown .[1] In 1569, Royal Prussia was fully integrated into the Kingdom of Poland .[2]
The area of the Schwetz district became part of the Kingdom of Prussia with the First Partition of Poland in 1772 and belonged to the Konitz district until 1818. In 1815, the area became part of Regierungsbezirk Marienwerder in the province of West Prussia . As part of a comprehensive district reform, the new Schwetz district was formed on April 1, 1818, with its capital at Schwetz .
With the signing of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I , the Schwetz district had to be ceded by Germany to Poland on January 10, 1920 for the purpose of establishing the Polish Corridor . After the invasion of Poland in 1939 and the annexation of the territory by Nazi Germany , the district became part of the new Regierungsbezirk Bromberg in Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia . Towards the end of World War II , the district was occupied by the Red Army in the spring of 1945 and was restored to Poland.
Demographics
The district of Schwetz had a mixed population of Germans and Poles.[3]
Ethnolinguistic distribution of population in the Schwetz district [3]
Year
1837
1855
1861
1900
1910
German (includes local Jews)
25,673
57.5%
32,722
54.1%
34,648
53.3%
37,021
44.7%
42,233
47.1%
Polish / Bilingual / Other
18,977
42.5%
27,784
45.9%
30,310
46.7%
45,754
55.3%
47,479
52.9%
Total
44,650
60,506
64,958
82,775
89,712
Politics
District administrators
1827–1829: Sartorius von Schwanenfeld
1829–1850: Raimund von Pape
1850–1867: Richard Wegner
1867–1870: Hans von Zedlitz-Leipe
1870–1874: Wilhelm Woldeck von Arneburg
1874–1897: Gustav Gerlich
1897–1903: Hans Grashoff
1903–1916: Gustav Adolf von Halem
1916–1919: Friedrich Frankenbach
1919–1920: Werner Zschintzsch
Reichstag elections
In the German Empire , the Schwetz district formed the Marienwerder 5 Reichstag constituency. In all Reichstag elections, this constituency was closely contested between German and Polish candidates. The respective winners only prevailed with narrow majorities:[4]
1871 : Gustav Gerlich, National Liberal Party
1874 : Erazm Parczewski , Polish Party
1877 : Franz August von Gordon, German Conservative Party
1878 : Franz August von Gordon, German Conservative Party
1881 : Boleslaw von Kossowski, Polish Party
1884 : Franz August von Gordon, German Conservative Party
1887 : Otto Holtz, Free Conservative Party
1890 : Otto Holtz, Free Conservative Party
1893 : Otto Holtz, Free Conservative Party
1898 : Otto Holtz, Free Conservative Party
1903 : Otto Holtz, Free Conservative Party
1907 : Julian von Saß-Jaworski, Polish Party
1912 : Gustav Adolf von Halem, Free Conservative Party
Municipalities
In 1912, the Schwetz district included the two towns of Neuenburg in Westpreußen and Schwetz , as well as 151 rural communities:[5]
References