[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Germans and Poland

[Paul Rakow]

  Hello Margaret, 

       I just got back yesterday from a visit to Pommern, (where my
 ancestors on my father's side came from). 

      As you've gathered, before 1871 there was no Germany, but lots
 of little states, duchies, electorates, bishoprics, etc. Through most of
 the middle ages Pommern was a duchy (or two - sometimes the ruling family
 split the East and West parts between them).  At the beginning of the
 1600s the ruling family started dying at an alarming rate - this was
 blamed on witchcraft, the witch was tracked down and executed, but it
 didn't help. 

     The last Duke of Pommern was Bogislaw the Fourteenth, he died in 1637
 (during the 30 years War) without an heir. Brandenburg and Sweden both
 had claims to Pommern. In 1648, when the 30 years war ended, they split
 it, Sweden got the West, Brandenburg the East. (Oversimplifying a bit
 here - Poland also got some bits of Pommern at about this time, such 
 as Lauenburg, but they soon went to Brandenburg, at least in practice)

      Then in 1701 Brandenburg decided to rename itself Prussia, and the
 rulers started calling themselves kings instead of electors. 

      Then in 1871 Germany was formed, and the Kings of Prussia 
 promoted themselves again, this time to Kaisers of Germany.  
   
      Pommern was already Prussian before the time of the partitions of 
 Poland, so they aren't so relevant to your husband's family's history. 
      
      So, if you want a simplified version of who ruled Eastern Pomerania
 in the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s: 

    It was the Dukes of Pomerania up till 1637, 

    A bit unclear in the 1640s and 1650s, 

    The Electors of Brandenburg from 1648 or 1658, till 1701. 

    The Kings in/of Prussia from 1701 till 1871. 

    Then the German Kaisers from 1871 till 1918, 

 (but these three - Electors of Brandenburg, Kings of Prussia, and
 Kaisers of Germany, were really the same family, just giving themselves
 more and more elevated titles as time went on). 

    The German republic from 1918 till 1945, 

    Poland from 1945 on. 

      I'll leave it to others to discuss to what extent that makes your
 husband Polish or German. 

       Does this leave you any less confused then before? 

           Paul Rakow 
           rakow at ifh.de 

 "Marlo50" <Marlo50 at bex.net> wrote: 

> Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Germans and Poland
> 
> 
> I have been following this subject and am totally confused.  I am not
> German, my husband is.  His ancestry is actually Pommern and that is
> my question.  His grandparents were from the areas of Stolp, 
> Rummelsburg, Lauenburg, and who knows where else.  If Germany was not
> unified until 1871 into one country and his ancestors lived in the
> area now Poland what were they in the early years?  I can 
> only go back to births in the early 1800's but it was in Pommern.
>  What were these
> people?  German?  Wasn't this area part
> of what was Poland and partitioned several times to give to other
> countries?  The ancestors who were born in the 1700's and the 1600's,
> are what I am curious about.  I
> will never get that far back but I am still curious. What nationality
> would they have been? The names are Loroff/Lohroff and Schwochow and
> Villwock. Do they sound German?  The other thing is there are so many
> villages with the same name.  My husbands maternal grandparents moved
> to Volhynia from someplace in Rummelsburg (I think) and that only adds
> to the confusion.  Please forgive my ignorance, but it is really a
> mystery. I wish I could read and speak German, I am sure
> that would make it much easier.

> Margaret
>