Farther Pomerania,
Further Pomerania or
Eastern Pomerania (), which before the
German-Polish border shift of 1945 comprised the eastern part of the
Duchy, later
Province of Pomerania, roughly stretching from the
Oder River in the West to
Pomerelia in the East. Today, the bulk of former Farther Pomerania is within the
West Pomeranian Voivodeship, while its easternmost parts are within the
Pomeranian Voivodeship. The post-1945
Polish successor of Farther Pomerania is termed
Pomorze Zachodnie ("Western Pomerania"), in modern
Polish usage a synonym to the West Pomeranian Voivodship, while in Polish historical usage this term applied to all areas west of
Pomerelia (including
Vorpommern, which in English usage is also referred to as Western Pomerania).
Farther Pomerania emerged as a subdivision of the
Duchy of Pomerania in
the partition of 1532, then known as
Pomerania-Stettin and already including the historical regions
Principality of Cammin,
County of Naugard,
Lands of Schlawe and Stolp, and the
Lauenburg and Bütow Land. After the
Brandenburg-Swedish partition of Pomerania, Farther Pomerania became the
Brandenburg-Prussian
Province of Pomerania (1653-1815). After the reorganization of the
Prussian
Province of Pomerania in 1815, Farther Pomerania was administered as
Regierungsbezirk Köslin. In 1938,
Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia was merged in. In 1945, Farther Pomerania
was placed first under Soviet, subsequently under Polish administration,
resettled primarily with Poles after the
former German population fled or was expelled. Before 1999, the
Szczecin Voivodeship (1945-1998) and its spin-offs
Koszalin Voivodeship (1950-1998) and
Słupsk Voivodeship (1975-1998) roughly resembled the area of former Farther Pomerania. The
Szczecin and
Koszalin Voivodeships were merged in 1999 and now constitute the
West Pomeranian Voivodeship, while
Słupsk Voivodeship was merged into the
Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Origin and use of the term
Farther Pomerania is the rough English translation of German
Hinterpommern, which is literally
behind or
rear Pomerania. Initially, the term meant areas east of ("behind")
Pomerania-Wolgast and was gradually adopted for areas east of Stettin in the 1500s. When the 1648
Peace of Westphalia and the
Treaty of Stettin (1653) divided the
Duchy of Pomerania into its Western,
Swedish and Eastern
Brandenburgian parts,
Farther Pomerania was used for the latter - in opposition to
Swedish Hither Pomerania (
Vorpommern) now including Stettin (
Szczecin) and a strip of land east of the Oder River. As this Swedish-Prussian border shifted west several times afterwards, the Oder River was considered the western edge of Farther Pomerania. To the Southeast and East, Farther Pomerania has no distinct border to the Pomerelian region, as the administrative borders between the duchy and later province of Pomerania and its neighbors varied significant over time. In the post-1945 era, Farther Pomerania was affected by the
Polish-German border shift. Before, it happened to be the Eastern part of German Pomerania (
Pommern, consisting of Hither and Farther Pomerania), yet thereafter it became the Western part of Polish Pomerania (
Pomorze, consisting of Farther Pomerania and Pomerelia). As Polish
Pomorze has also been in use for Pomerelia, Farther Pomerania is termed
Western Pomerania in Poland and roughly represented in today's
West Pomeranian Voivodeship, including Szczecin
(Stettin) and
Wolin (Wollin). However, this term is not being adopted by the Germans, as the German part of Pomerania (Hither Pomerania) is considered to be Western Pomerania, so
Farther Pomerania is still in use.
Towns
Major towns of Farther Pomerania included:
- Lauenburg in Pommern (now Lębork)
Historical languages and dialects
History (Timeline)
- 1532 Partition of the Duchy of Pomerania, Farther Pomerania becomes Pomerania-Stettin
[Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp.205-220, ISBN 3886802728][Gerhard Krause, Horst Robert Balz, Gerhard Müller, Theologische Realenzyklopädie, Walter de Gruyter, 1997, p.40ff, ISBN 3110154358]
See also
