Poznań Voivodeship (1919–1939)

Poznań Voivodeship
Województwo Poznańskie
Voivodeship of Poland
1919–1939

Location of Poznań Voivodeship (red)
within the Second Republic of Poland (1938).
CapitalPoznań
Area
 • Coordinates52°24′N 16°55′E / 52.400°N 16.917°E / 52.400; 16.917
 
• 1921
26,528 km2 (10,243 sq mi)
• 1931
26,528 km2 (10,243 sq mi)
• 1939
28,089 km2 (10,845 sq mi)
Population 
• 1921
1,967,865
• 1931
2,339,600
Government
Voivode 
• Aug–October 1919 (first)
Wojciech Trąmpczyński
• September 1939 (last)
Cyryl Ratajski
History 
• Established
1 August 1919
1 April 1938
• Annexed
12 September 1939
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Province of Posen
Reichsgau Wartheland

Poznań Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo Poznańskie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1919–1939, created after World War I from the Prussian-German province of Poznań (Province of Posen). The borders were changed in 1939: the city of Bydgoszcz passed to the Pomeranian Voivodeship, but some eastern areas were included (see Territorial changes of Polish Voivodeships on April 1, 1938).

During World War II, it was occupied by Nazi Germany and annexed as Reichsgau Wartheland "(Reich province of the Land of the Warta River)".

Area and counties[edit]

Between April 1, 1938 and September 1, 1939, the Voivodeship's area was 28 089 km2, and its population - 2 339 600 (according to the 1931 Polish census). It consisted of 29 powiats (the highest number in Poland, however, most of them were very small, both in area and population), 100 towns (the highest number in Poland) and 237 villages. Railroad density was high, with 10.1 km. per 100 km2 (total length of railroads within the Voivodeship's area was 2684 km, the highest in the whole country). Forests covered 19.8% of the Voivodeship, which was lower than the national average (in 1937 the average was 22.2%).

Poznańskie Voivodeship was one of the richest and best developed in interwar Poland. With numerous cities and well-developed rail, it also was a breadbasket of the country, its highly efficient agriculture was well-mechanized. The city of Poznań was a big industrial center, as well as a key railroad junction. Only 7.6% of population was illiterate, which was much lower than the national average of 23.1% (as of 1931). Poles made up the majority of the population (90.5%), with 9.2% Germans and 0.3% Jews.

After World War I the number of Germans was 224,254 in 1926 and 203,135 in 1934.[1]

This is the list of the Poznań Voivodeship counties as for August 31, 1939:

  • Chodzież county (area 893 km2, pop. 44 500),
  • Czarnków county (area 919 km2, pop. 43 300),
  • city of Gniezno county (area 18 km2, pop. 30 700),
  • Gniezno county (area 1 126 km2, pop. 57 300),
  • Gostyń county (area 701 km2, pop. 55 900),
  • Jarocin county (area 1 124 km2, pop. 87 500),
  • Kalisz county (area 1 478 km2, pop. 196 700),
  • Kępno county (area 1 179 km2, pop. 86 900),
  • Koło county (area 1 097 km2, pop. 109 800),
  • Konin county (area 2 152 km2, pop. 168 000),
  • Kościan county (area 1 057 km2, pop. 78 900),
  • Krotoszyn county (area 915 km2, pop. 75 500),
  • Leszno county (area 827 km2, pop. 61 200),
  • Międzychód county (area 755 km2, pop. 31 000),
  • Mogilno county (area 1 059 km2, pop. 70 300),
  • Map of the administrative division in 1938.
    Nowy Tomyśl county (area 1 276 km2, pop. 87 300),
  • Oborniki county (area 966 km2, pop. 50 400),
  • Ostrów Wielkopolski county (area 1 194 km2, pop. 104 100),
  • city of Poznań county (area 77 km2, pop. 246 500),
  • Poznań county (area 1 227 km2, pop. 91 200),
  • Rawicz county (area 523 km2, pop. 49 900),
  • Szamotuły county (area 1 076 km2, pop. 67 700),
  • Środa Wielkopolska county (area 800 km2, pop. 49 900),
  • Śrem county (area 921 km2, pop. 57 300),
  • Turek county (area 1 591 km2, pop. 130 500),
  • Wągrowiec county (area 1 037 km2, pop. 54 300),
  • Wolsztyn county (area 754 km2, pop. 47 900),
  • Września county (area 608 km2, pop. 43 700),
  • Żnin county (area 739 km2, pop. 41 500).

Main cities[edit]

The biggest cities of the Voivodeship were (data according to the 1931 census):

  • Poznań (pop. 246 500),
  • Kalisz (pop. 68 300),
  • Gniezno (pop. 30 700),
  • Ostrów Wielkopolski (pop. 24 400),
  • Leszno (pop. 19 400),
  • Koło (pop. 13 800)
  • Krotoszyn (pop. 13 000),
  • Konin (pop. 10 300).

Ethnic and religious structure[edit]

According to the 1921 census the voivodeship was inhabited by 1,967,865 people, of whom by nationality 1,636,316 were Poles (83.2%), 327,846 were Germans (16.7%), 1,485 were Jews (0.1%) and 2,218 were all others (0.1%). By religion, according to the 1921 census, 1,632,087 were Roman Catholics (83%), 322,872 were Protestants of all kinds (16.4%), 10,397 were Jews (0.5%) and 2,509 were all others (0.1%).[2]

The detailed results of the 1931 census by county are presented below:

Linguistic (mother tongue) and religious structure of Poznań Voivodeship according to the 1931 census[3][4]
County Pop. Polish % Yiddish & Hebrew % German % Other language % Roman Catholic % Jewish % Protestant % Other religion %
Poznań City 246470 238167 96.6% 1067 0.4% 6387 2.6% 0.3% 236829 96.1% 1954 0.8% 6516 2.6% 0.5%
Bydgoszcz City 117200 104647 89.3% 912 0.8% 11276 9.6% 0.3% 103594 88.4% 1692 1.4% 10648 9.1% 1.1%
Bydgoszcz County 58139 50247 86.4% 144 0.2% 7517 12.9% 0.4% 44831 77.1% 148 0.3% 12700 21.8% 0.8%
Chodzież 44508 31930 71.7% 47 0.1% 12493 28.1% 0.1% 30831 69.3% 150 0.3% 13384 30.1% 0.3%
Czarnków 43256 36764 85.0% 138 0.3% 6273 14.5% 0.2% 36997 85.5% 259 0.6% 5894 13.6% 0.2%
Gniezno City 30675 29873 97.4% 102 0.3% 675 2.2% 0.1% 29802 97.2% 137 0.4% 678 2.2% 0.2%
Gniezno County 57256 50391 88.0% 24 0.0% 6790 11.9% 0.1% 49215 86.0% 174 0.3% 7595 13.3% 0.5%
Gostyń 55929 53461 95.6% 0 0.0% 2456 4.4% 0.0% 53270 95.2% 28 0.1% 2543 4.5% 0.2%
Inowrocław City 34364 33498 97.5% 51 0.1% 753 2.2% 0.2% 33356 97.1% 139 0.4% 750 2.2% 0.3%
Inowrocław County 48599 40956 84.3% 5 0.0% 7584 15.6% 0.1% 40796 83.9% 25 0.1% 7605 15.6% 0.4%
Jarocin 87546 83692 95.6% 52 0.1% 3744 4.3% 0.1% 84355 96.4% 113 0.1% 2912 3.3% 0.2%
Kępno 86849 82685 95.2% 102 0.1% 3273 3.8% 0.9% 77658 89.4% 296 0.3% 8393 9.7% 0.6%
Kościan 78899 76019 96.3% 1 0.0% 2832 3.6% 0.1% 75984 96.3% 24 0.0% 2675 3.4% 0.3%
Krotoszyn 75456 69733 92.4% 44 0.1% 5625 7.5% 0.1% 69264 91.8% 152 0.2% 5833 7.7% 0.3%
Leszno 61211 51240 83.7% 115 0.2% 9814 16.0% 0.1% 55120 90.0% 222 0.4% 5729 9.4% 0.2%
Międzychód 31032 28013 90.3% 7 0.0% 2992 9.6% 0.1% 27107 87.4% 11 0.0% 3844 12.4% 0.2%
Mogilno 89186 81347 91.2% 35 0.0% 7719 8.7% 0.1% 80814 90.6% 158 0.2% 7965 8.9% 0.3%
Nowy Tomyśl 87331 70946 81.2% 25 0.0% 16289 18.7% 0.1% 71915 82.3% 150 0.2% 14888 17.0% 0.4%
Oborniki 50388 42296 83.9% 48 0.1% 7960 15.8% 0.2% 42216 83.8% 193 0.4% 7785 15.5% 0.4%
Ostrów Wlkp. 104126 100017 96.1% 6 0.0% 3985 3.8% 0.1% 93636 89.9% 106 0.1% 10082 9.7% 0.3%
Poznań County 91182 86466 94.8% 8 0.0% 4596 5.0% 0.1% 86134 94.5% 32 0.0% 4654 5.1% 0.4%
Rawicz 49882 44834 89.9% 61 0.1% 4812 9.6% 0.4% 44254 88.7% 94 0.2% 5258 10.5% 0.6%
Szamotuły 67742 62933 92.9% 82 0.1% 4709 7.0% 0.0% 62640 92.5% 250 0.4% 4578 6.8% 0.4%
Szubin 47825 38091 79.6% 35 0.1% 9638 20.2% 0.1% 37770 79.0% 119 0.2% 9776 20.4% 0.3%
Śrem 57304 54269 94.7% 20 0.0% 2996 5.2% 0.0% 54107 94.4% 82 0.1% 3000 5.2% 0.2%
Środa Wlkp. 49902 47833 95.9% 17 0.0% 2016 4.0% 0.1% 47667 95.5% 75 0.2% 2029 4.1% 0.3%
Wągrowiec 54259 47159 86.9% 36 0.1% 7039 13.0% 0.0% 46574 85.8% 100 0.2% 7424 13.7% 0.3%
Wolsztyn 47892 37993 79.3% 12 0.0% 9857 20.6% 0.1% 38708 80.8% 48 0.1% 8968 18.7% 0.4%
Września 43698 41119 94.1% 42 0.1% 2506 5.7% 0.1% 41370 94.7% 77 0.2% 2188 5.0% 0.1%
Wyrzysk 66873 53057 79.3% 20 0.0% 13736 20.5% 0.1% 53414 79.9% 132 0.2% 13069 19.5% 0.4%
Żnin 41521 36719 88.4% 33 0.1% 4738 11.4% 0.1% 36573 88.1% 71 0.2% 4724 11.4% 0.4%
Total 2106500 1906395 90.5% 3291 0.2% 193080 9.2% 0.2% 1886801 89.6% 7211 0.3% 204087 9.7% 0.4%

German minority[edit]

In 1926 and 1934 German minority in Poznań Voivodeship carried out their own censuses, counting themselves. Here are their results:

County
(German name in brackets)[1] 		ethnic German population (1926) ethnic German population (1934)
Odolanów (Adelnau) 10,038 9,442
Międzychód (Birnbaum) 4,655 4,377
Bydgoszcz (Bromberg, town) 11,016 10,021
Bydgoszcz (Bromberg, district) 13,281 12,211
Czarnków (Czarnikau) 5,511 4,773
Gniezno (Gnesen) 8,616 7,876
Gostyń (Gostyn) 2,395 2,162
Grodzisk Wielkopolski (Grätz) / Nowy Tomyśl (Neutomischel) 16,576 16,555
Inowrocław (Hohensalza) 8,455 8,096
Jarocin (Jarotschin) / Pleszew (Pleschen) 4,667 4,019
Kępno (Kempen) / Ostrzeszów (Schildberg) 16,631 10,889
Chodzież (Kolmar) 14,246 12,348
Koźmin (Koschmin) / Krotoszyn (Krotoschin) 6,542 5,807
Leszno (Lissa) 9,917 8,371
Mogilno (Mogilno) / Strzelno (Strelno) 8,727 7,770
Oborniki (Obornik) 9,417 8,410
Poznań (Posen, town) 5,980 4,387
Poznań (Posen, district) 4,687 4,252
Rawicz (Rawitsch) 6,184 5,038
Szamotuły (Samter) 5,029 4,841
Śmigiel (Schmiegel) / Kościan (Kosten) 3,636 3,488
Śrem (Schrimm) 2,802 3,574
Środa Wielkopolska (Schroda) 2,269 2,029
Szubin (Schubin) 10,193 8,879
Wyrzysk (Wirsitz) 13,495 12,410
Wolsztyn (Wollstein) 10,369 9,313
Wągrowiec (Wongrowitz) 8,401 7,143
Września (Wreschen) 2,436 2,115
Żnin (Znin) 5,404 4,539
Poznań Voivodship (total) 224,254 203,135

Voivodes[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Kotowski, Albert S. (1998). Polens Politik gegenüber seiner deutschen Minderheit 1919-1939 (in German). Forschungsstelle Ostmitteleuropa, University of Dortmund. p. 56. ISBN 3-447-03997-3.
  2. ^ "Plik:Woj.poznańskie-Polska spis powszechny 1921.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia" (PDF). commons.wikimedia.org (in Polish). 1928. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  3. ^ "Plik:Woj.poznańskie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia" (PDF). commons.wikimedia.org (in Polish). 1938. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  4. ^ Statystyczny, Główny Urząd (1938), English: Dane spisu powszechnego 1931 Miasto Poznań (PDF), retrieved 2024-06-16

References[edit]

  • Maly rocznik statystyczny 1939, Nakladem Glownego Urzedu Statystycznego, Warszawa 1939 (Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland, Warsaw 1939).
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