Heilsberg
Kreis Heilsberg
Landkreis
Coat of arms of Heilsberg
Coat of arms
Country
ProvinceEast Prussia
RegierungsbezirkKönigsberg
Established1818
Dissolved1945
SeatHeilsberg
Population
 (1939)[1]
 • Total55,057

Heilsberg was a district in East Prussia and existed as a Prussian-German district in the period from 1818 to 1945. Due to its affiliation with Warmia, the district had a majority Catholic population, and the Center Party won an absolute majority of votes in elections until 1933. From 1773 to 1818, there had already been a district of Heilsberg in Warmia, which covered a much larger area.

History

The area of the district of Allenstein historically belonged to the prince-bishopric of Warmia, which fell to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772 as part of the first Polish partition. After the incorporation into the Prussian state, the two districts of Braunsberg and Heilsberg were established in Warmia in 1773, both of which were assigned to the War and Domain Chamber of Königsberg.[2] The county of Heilsberg at that time had an area of about 2500 km2 and included the old Warmian offices of Allenstein, Bischofsburg, Bischofstein, Heilsberg, Rößel, Seeburg as well as Wartenburg.[3][4][5]

Composition and establishment

As part of the Prussian administrative reforms, the need arose for a comprehensive district reform throughout East Prussia, as the districts established in 1752 or 1773 had proven to be inappropriate and too large. In Warmia, a new district of Heilsberg was formed from the northern part of the old district of Heilsberg and the southern part of the old district of Braunsberg, effective February 1, 1818. It initially included the Catholic parishes of Arnsdorf, Benern, Elditten, Glottau, Guttstadt, Heiligenthal, Heilsberg, Kalckstein, Kiwitten, Krekollen, Peterswalde bei Guttstadt, Queetz, Reichenberg, Reimerswalde, Roggenhausen, Schlit, Siegfriedswalde, Stolzhagen, Wernegitten, Wolfsdorf, Wormditt and Wuslack.[6] The seat of the district administration was the town of Heilsberg. On April 1, 1819, the district boundaries were changed once again. The parish of Frauendorf from the district of Braunsberg came to the district of Heilsberg and the parish of Wormditt moved from the district of Heilsberg to the district of Braunsberg.[7]

The Kreis Heilsberg was assigned to the administrative district Königsberg.

German unification and modern times

In 1829 - after the merger of the former provinces of Prussia and West Prussia - the district belonged to the new province of Prussia with its seat in Königsberg. Since July 1, 1867 the district belonged to the North German Confederation and from January 1, 1871 to the German Empire. After the division of the province of Prussia into the new provinces of East Prussia and West Prussia, the district of Heilsberg became part of East Prussia on April 1, 1878. The district office, which had been located in Guttstadt for some time, was moved back to Heilsberg on October 1, 1896.

On September 30, 1929, in accordance with the development in the rest of Prussia, a territorial reform took place in the district of Heilsberg, in which almost all manor districts were dissolved and assigned to neighboring rural communities.

From January to March 1945, the Red Army conquered the district. In May 1945 it placed it under the administration of the Polish People's Republic. Subsequently, the established German population of the district was expelled from the district and, from 1946, systematically settled in their place Poles, 43.7 percent of whom were themselves displaced persons from eastern Poland.[8]

In 1999, the present-day Powiat Lidzbarski (Heilsberg District) was established with modified boundaries.

Population evolution

Year Population Source
1800 64.416 [9]
1818 26.966 [10]
1846 43.611 [11]
1871 45.699 [12]
1890 53.537 [13]
1900 51.629 [13]
1910 51.912 [13]
1925 52.757 [13]
1933 53.672 [13]
1939 55.057 [13][1]

Politics

District council

Elections

In the German empire the district Heilsberg alongside the district Braunsberg would build the 6th Imperial election district of Königsberg. This Catholic dominated district would vote for a Center party candidate in every Reichstag election from 1871 to 1912.[15]

Municipalities

At the end of 1945 the district Heilsberg had 104 municipalities and 2 cities[7][13]

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 Viebahn, Georg; Dechen, Heinrich; Dove, Heinrich Wilhelm; Klotzsch; Ratzeburg (17 December 2018). Landeskunde. ISBN 9783111579627.
  2. ↑ Viebahn, Georg; Dechen, Heinrich; Dove, Heinrich Wilhelm; Klotzsch; Ratzeburg (2018-12-17). Landeskunde (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-157962-7.
  3. ↑ Töppen, Max (1858). Historisch-comparative Geographie von Preussen: Nach den Quellen, Namentlich auch Archivalischen (in German). J. Perthes.
  4. ↑ Baczko, Ludwig von (1803). Handbuch der Geschichte, Erdbeschreibung und Statistik Preussens (in German). Nicolovius.
  5. ↑ Allgemeine geographische Ephemeriden (in German). Verlag d. Industrie-Comptoirs. 1810.
  6. ↑ Töppen, Max (1858). Historisch-comparative Geographie von Preussen: nach den Quellen, namentlich auch archivalischen, dargestellt; mit einem Atlas in fünf Blättern. Textband (in German). Perthes.
  7. 1 2 "Heilsberg". www.territorial.de. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  8. ↑ Kossert, Andreas (2005). Ostpreussen : Geschichte und Mythos [East Prussia: history and myth] (in German) (1st ed.). München: Siedler. p. 353. ISBN 3886808084.
  9. ↑ Friedrich Justin Bertuch, ed. (1810), Allgemeine geographische Ephemeriden, Band 31, Weimar: Landes-Industrie-Comptoir
  10. ↑ Christian Gottfried Daniel Stein (1819), "Der Regierungsbezirk Königsberg", Handbuch der Geographie und Statistik des preußischen Staats, Berlin: Vossische Buchhandlung, retrieved 2020-09-09
  11. ↑ Königliches Statistisches Bureau, ed. (1849), Mittheilungen des Statistischen Bureau's in Berlin, Band 2 (Einwohnerzahlen der Kreise), p. 304
  12. ↑ Die Gemeinden und Gutsbezirke des Preussischen Staates und ihre Bevölkerung. 1, Die Gemeinden und Gutsbezirke der Provinz Preussen und ihre Bevölkerung : nach den Urmaterialien der allgemeinen Volkszählung vom 1. December 1871. Königl. Statistischen Bureaus. May 25, 1874 – via dLibra.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de: Kreis Heilsberg".
  14. 1 2 Straubel, Rolf (2009). Einzelveröffentlichungen. München: K. G. Saur Verlag. ISBN 978-3-598-23229-9.
  15. ↑ "Munich Digitization Center (MDZ) - Homepage". www.digitale-sammlungen.de. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
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