Glatz
District of Prussia
1742–1945
Coat of arms of Glatz district
Coat of arms

Map from 1905
CapitalGlatz (Kłodzko)
History 
• Established
1742
• Disestablished
1945
Today part ofPoland

The district of Glatz was a Prussian district in Silesia, which existed from 1742 to 1945. Its capital was the town of Glatz (Kłodzko). Its territory is now part of the Polish Lower Silesian Voivodeship.

History

After conquering most of Silesia, King Frederick the Great introduced Prussian administrative structures in Lower Silesia by cabinet order on 25 November 1741.[1] This included the establishment of two war and domain chambers in Breslau (Wrocław) and Glogau (Głogów) as well as their subdivision into districts and the appointment of district administrators on 1 January 1742.[2]

The Glatz district initially belonged to the Breslau War and Domain Chamber until it was assigned to Regierungsbezirk Reichenbach of the Province of Silesia in the course of the Stein-Hardenberg reforms of 1815.[3] On 1 January 1818 the new Habelschwerdt district was formed from parts of the Glatz district. After Regierungsbezirk Reichenbach was dissolved, the districts of Glatz and Habelschwerdt were assigned to Regierungsbezirk Breslau on 1 May 1820. On 2 August 1855 the new Neurode district was created from the northern parts of the Glatz district with its capital in the city of Neurode (Nowa Ruda).

During the 19th-century Polish national liberation fights, many Polish insurgents and activists were imprisoned in the Kłodzko Fortress in the district, including publicist Włodzimierz Adolf Wolniewicz [pl], historian Wojciech Kętrzyński and priest Augustyn Szamarzewski [pl].[4][5][6]

On 8 November 1919 the Province of Silesia was divided into two parts and the Glatz district became part of the new Province of Lower Silesia, which was formed from Regierungsbezirk Breslau and Regierungsbezirk Liegnitz. On 1 October 1932 the Neurode district was merged back into the Glatz district. On 1 April 1938 the Prussian provinces of Lower Silesia and Province of Upper Silesia were merged again to form the Province of Silesia, but this was reversed on 18 January 1941.

During World War II, the district was the location of several subcamps of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp,[7] several forced labour subcamps of the Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs,[8] and a prison administered by the Reich Ministry of Justice and Wehrmacht, which housed prisoners of various nationalities, including Polish civilians and Allied POWs.[9][10] In 1942–1943, six FStGA field penal battalions (1, 7, 10, 13, 16, 20) were established in the district capital and afterwards relocated to the eastern front.[10] In January and February 1945, many prisoners from other locations were brought to the local prison either during death marches or transports, and many were then sent further west to Bautzen.[11]

In the spring of 1945 the district was occupied by the Red Army and in the summer of 1945, it was placed under Polish administration in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. The remaining German population was expelled in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement and replaced by Poles.

Demographics

According to the census of 1861, the Glatz district had a population of 56,584, of which 52,968 (93.6%) were Germans and 3,616 (6.4%) were Czechs.[12]

References

  1. ^ Gehrke, Roland (2009). Landtag und Öffentlichkeit: provinzialständischer Parlamentarismus in Schlesien 1825-1845 (in German). Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar. ISBN 978-3-412-20413-6.
  2. ^ Die Behördenorganisation und die allgemeine Staatsverwaltung Preussens im 18. Jahrhundert. University of California. Berlin, P. Parey. 1894.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ^ "Landesbibliothekszentrum Rheinland-Pfalz / Amtsblatt für das Rhein-... [618]". www.dilibri.de. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  4. ^ Wolniewicz, Paweł (2019). "Włodzimierz Adolf Dołęga Wolniewicz". Wieści Lubońskie (in Polish). No. 1 (338). p. 27. ISSN 1232-356X.
  5. ^ Brygier, Waldemar; Dudziak, Tomasz (2010). Ziemia Kłodzka. Przewodnik (in Polish). Pruszków: Oficyna Wydawnicza Rewasz. p. 348.
  6. ^ Marek Weiss (26 March 2015). "Walczył z zaborcą jako kapłan, społecznik i działacz gospodarczy". Głos Wielkopolski (in Polish). Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Subcamps of KL Gross-Rosen". Gross-Rosen Museum in Rogoźnica. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Working Parties". Lamsdorf.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  9. ^ Konieczny, Alfred (1974). "Więzienie karne w Kłodzku w latach II wojny światowej". Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka (in Polish). Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk. XXIX (3): 370–371.
  10. ^ a b Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 669–670. ISBN 978-0-253-06089-1.
  11. ^ Konieczny, pp. 377–378
  12. ^ Belzyt, Leszek (1998). Sprachliche Minderheiten im preussischen Staat: 1815 - 1914 ; die preußische Sprachenstatistik in Bearbeitung und Kommentar. Marburg: Herder-Inst. ISBN 978-3-87969-267-5.
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