[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Why Germans in Poland

[Richard Stein]

Further to Jerry's explanation of post-partition migration of Germans to
Polish lands, many Germans had settled prior to the partitions in areas
which later were included in Russian Poland.  I have been doing extractions
of Catholic records after the mid 1700's in the Sompolno and Chodecz areas
and find many Germans starting about 1780.  I believe that most of these
Germans were farmers who established colonies on mostly forested estates.
Many appear to have come from earlier settlements in Posen province (then
also part of Poland) rather than coming from southwest Germany.

Dick Stein

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jerry Frank" <FranklySpeaking at shaw.ca>
To: <GVLESS at aol.com>
Cc: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2007 11:08 AM
Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Why Germans in Poland


> Virginia,
>
> Some of the previous discussion has been about Poland in general and
reflects the Prussian regions to the north and Silesia to the southwest.
Your posting relates more to the region of Russian Poland.
>
> When Poland was taken over by the three major powers in the late 1700s,
Prussia expanded the Posen region eastward to include the Lodz and Warsaw
areas.  This region was known as South Prussia.  Many Germans moved into
this region upon occupation by Prussia.  In particular, many of these
Germans came to support the cloth making industry in the region of Lodz,
including Nowo Solna.  My Hemminger family were cloth makers in Wuerttemberg
for several hundred years before migrating to the Lodz area c.1803.  We will
be having a special presentation at this year's convention about the impact
of the cloth making industry on German migration.
>
> In 1806, Napoleon marched through and "liberated" central Poland including
most of South Prussia and created the Duchy of Warsaw.  After the defeat of
Napoleon and the subsequent Congress of Vienna in 1815, the eastern part of
South Prussia was turned over to Russia.  The Germans who lived there stayed
rather than returning to their native land.
>
> Previous occupation by Napoleon on the eastern frontier of France could
also have influenced the migration but I know less about that.
>
> You are correct in stating that many Germans went to work as farmers for
Polish nobility land owners at this time as well.  The regions of Lodz
(which was only a small village at the time) and Zyrardow in particular
supported the cloth making industry.
>
>
> Jerry
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: GVLESS at aol.com
> Date: Thursday, April 19, 2007 10:40 am
> Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Why Germans in Poland
>
> > Gunther and others on this list - did not some of the Germans come
> > into
> > Poland because of some of the large estate owners at the time
> > needing workers  for
> > the farms?  And the Germans leaving their homes in western areas
> > because of
> > the devastation of the area by Napoleon?  In our research of my
> > husband's
> > Bergstrasser  families they arrived in Poland at the turn of the
> > 19th century
> > (about 1801 etc) settling in NowoSolna (Neu Sulzfeld) east of
> > Lodz  and it
> > seems to us that in the history of the time  that  could have been
> > their reason
> > for leaving the Rhine river area  around Worms was because of
> > Napoleon's thrust
> > he had made into this area.   Did we make the correct assumption
> > here?  The
> > Bergstrasser family were  not from an urban area or craftsmen as
> > such.  What
> > about these estates that  were not in cities in Poland thus
> > needing workers to
> > work the land?
> > What percentage might that have been?  Just wondering.  Would
> > like to see
> > more discussion on this subject I guess.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Virginia Less
> >
> >
> >
> > ************************************** See what's free at
> > http://www.aol.com.
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