SCENES IN PRUSSIA - THE PROVINCES OF BRANDENBERG, POSEN AND SILESIA
The first picture which I have is related to the family of Christian Lange and is of the church in Klemzig - photo provided by Kevin Brewer. Klemzig (now called Klepsk) is near Zullichau (Sulechow) - (See map on left). The church dates back to the 14th century and was originally catholic being set up by Cistercian monks, until taken over by the "new" Lutherans. It appears that much of the decoration of the interior we see today was carried out in the period C1580 to C1690. Prussian was a protestant state (including many Lutherans) and Polish catholics became a minority in the area. I will not attempt to chronicle the history of this area which has changed hands and been controlled by so many for the last 400 years! (The German influence in the area goes back 700 years) The building is considered a cultural monument as it is mainly of timber construction with brick infill for the supporting walls within a timber frame. Since this photo was taken there was some fire damage to the tower/steeple which has been repaired. Follow the link to see the new water sprinkler system in action to protect the chuch and the timber roof.click here.
I have been very fortunate to have made contact with a resident of Klemzig (Klepsk) who has a small website (in Polish); (click here to go to his webpage)
He is a young man and was born in the town when his father moved to the area for work 19 years ago. I am most grateful for his permission to reproduce some of the photos from his website. He has a number of photo galleries showing the area around Klepsk which are most interesting.
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The photo on the left shows the church interior C1930 (click photo to see colour view from modern postcard) and that on the right the exterior and churchyard. The picture above the church is of the local "Schloss" (now in ruins) where the major landowner would have lived. Over the past 500 years there have been a number of significant landowners in the area and this building was erected in the 19th century by one of them. The headstones in the churchyard are now gone probably caused by WW2 and its aftermath.
To see more of the beautiful interior of the church with the painted ceilings and carved woodwork use this link to a Polish website about Sulechow and surrounds (it is in Polish but the pictures need no words!) (click here to go to the webpage on which the photos are posted)
The photo on the left shows the school (click on photo to see how it looks today), which is diagonally opposite the churchyard. From 1720 all children in Prussia had to attend compulsory education and this is probably why literacy was so high amongst the ordinary person. As far as I know all my ancestors from Prussia could read & write. The other card on the right showing various scenes around the area and in particular the street scene probably shows what would have been the main street of the town. The house in the bottom right hand corner is apparently a foresters house as there were forests in the area.
The town nearest to Klemzig was approximately 10kms away and was known at the time as Zullichau (now called Sulechow). It was a substantial well established small city with a long history and many public buildings. No doubt the Langes would have visited there some time as this probably would have been the administrative centre for the area and even in those days one could not escape the bureaucracy, particularly as they were planning to leave the country and needed permits. The town was badly damaged during WW2 and the images below are from old postcards dating back to C1900. The photo in the centre is Sulechow today.
POSEN - Even before the Partitions of Poland, Wielkopolska had some German population but as it became part of the Kingdom of Prussia, the German colonization increased significantly. Most of the settlers were Lutheran and many Protestant parishes were established. Before WWI, the German-speaking inhabitants were about 35% of the total population. The majority of them lived in the western and northern districts. The central and southern part of Wielkopolska retained its Polish and Catholic identity.
After Germany lost WWI, the territory of the Province of Posen was returned to Poland which was then restored as an independent nation. This was possible following the victorious Polish uprising in Dec 1918 - Feb 1919 and accepted later by the resolutions of the Versailles Treaty. Only some of the western regions remained part of Germany. Together with the western districts of the former West Prussia, those areas were included in a new province called Grenzmark Posen-Westpreussen which existed until 1938 (then dissolved into the neighboring Prussian provinces). The majority of the German-speaking inhabitants of the Polish parts of Wielkopolska emigrated to Germany after 1920.
After WWII also the areas of the former Province of Grenzmark were incorporated into Poland. Germans living there were forced to leave and Poles from the former Polish territories in the East started to settle there.
The map shows the territory of the Province of Poznan (Posen) at the beginning of the 20th century. (Click map to open in new page and then enlarge for easy reading). The division into districts and the Polish and German names of the district towns are provided. The regions marked in yellow are those which remained in Germany after WWI. The parts of historical Silesia which were incorporated into the Poznan voivodship after 1920 are shown in cyan.
The town of Tirschtiegel (now Trzciel), dates back to the 12th century at least and was owned by various families over the years. After the 30 years war in the first half of the 17th century a group of German lutheran refugees moved to the area and were permitted to establish a 'new' town on the other side of the river. This town developed quickly and many new industries were introduced to add to the existing, mainly agricultural and aquacultural base. Pictured on the right is the town coat of arms which dates to 1659. I suspect that this was devised by the new arrivals possibly based on an exisitng design as it is dated within the period in which the new town was establsished. Eventually the two towns amalgamated to form one. It was from this town that the Roehr and Hampel families came in 1841.
Below is a present day street scene in Trzciel, in the former Posen which now has a population of around 2,500. Karl Wilhelm was a shoemaker - was his shop in the town?. The district and town has a total population of around 7,500. The second picture is of the Evangelical Lutheran church in the town dated 1928. This church was abandoned at the end of WW2 when the German Lutherans in the former Prussia were forced to leave the country and became refugees in Germany. Some of the church fittings were removed to the Catholic Church and in 1960 the building was demolished and the site is now a park/playground. A sad ending and one of the many un-happy events from that terrible war. I have confirmed that this is the church that Pastor Fritzsche officiated at until he fell out with the authorities over a doctrinal matter which was the main cause for many Lutherans to emmigrate to Australia. He lost his position in the church and was forced to hold services for his followers in private homes and the nearby woods. These services were considered illegal by the Prussian authorities. He was known to have held meetings in the home of Carl Braunach. (This family married into the Roehr/Hampel families at a later time. It would appear that they immigrated to Australia in C1850)
This town also had many Jewish inhabitants in the 19th century.
SILESIA - In the Middle Ages, Silesia was inhabited mostly by people of Slavonic ethnic background and belonged at first to Poland and later to Bohemia. Since the 13th century Silesia together with Bohemia has come under German cultural and political influence. In the 16th century it became part of Austria and a significant part of the inhabitants were germanized. This process continued during the next centuries. In 1742 Prussia conquered most of Silesia, only the southernmost regions (marked in orange on the map below) of Opava and Cieszyn remained Austrian.
In 1815 the eastern part of Saxony was incorporated into Silesia, while the northernmost part of Silesia, the enclave of Swiebodzin (Schwiebus) became part of the Province of Brandenburg (marked in red on the map of Brandenburg). In the 19th century the greater part of the Silesian people were Roman Catholics. In the western and central regions practically only German was spoken, while in the eastern part of Silesia (Upper Silesia) the Polish language was predominant.
As independent Poland came into existence in 1918, the Polish speaking populace also wanted to belong to it. After three Polish uprisings and a plebiscite, the region was divided between Poland and Germany (the area which then became Polish is shown in green). Small fragments of Middle Silesia (marked in cyan) were also incorporated into Poland and a little area in the south (marked in magenta) - into Czechoslovakia.
After WWII, the greater part of Silesia became part of Poland. Only three districts west of the Neisse River remained German (they are now part of the State of Saxony). German inhabitants of the province either escaped or were expelled from Silesia after 1945 and Poles from the formerly Polish regions in the East settled there.
The map shows the territory of Silesia at the beginning of the 20th century. The colored regions are explained above. The pink line is the present border between Poland and Germany. Polish and German names of cities are provided.
THE STATE OF SAXONY - from where the Niemz family came in 1846.
The scenes here are of Gebelzig (first mentioned in records dating from 1390), the town in Saxony from which Johann Niemz and his mother immigrated in 1846. It is situated near a larger old town called Weissenberg in the border regions of Saxony and Silesia. It is within easy reach of Dresden & Prague and remains within Germany unlike my other ancestors who came from regions now within Poland. Johann's father was a head gardener and it would be interesting to find out what happened to him as he did not come out with his wife and son. I believe he had died. Anna's (nee Kleinig) brother accompanied her and her son to Adelaide. The aunt and uncle brought him up in Australia as his mother died on the voyage out.
Recent photos of the church and the former Schloss which is now an elementary school. There was a second "schloss" at Nieder-Gebelzig which was owned by the Rittergut Family from 1658. In 1825 72 persons were on the estate as far as I can find out and probably a village grew around the castle. The population reach around 300 into the 20th century. I have included pictures which I believe is the building which is in poor repair. Was Johann Niemz senior the head gardener at this property or the other one?
(The views on the left and right are of what I believe to be the castle at Nieder-Gebelzig which is a few kilometres from the village of Gebelzig)
It is also possible that the family were Wendish. The Wends (or Sorbs) were slavic peoples who settled into the Germanic lands between the Elbe and Oder rivers as early as 500AD, supplanting the Germanic populations at the time. They formed into various tribes and many united creating duchies with a Duke as an overlord having a political influence in events. This did not happen in the area around Gebelzig as it would appear that the groups in this area remained as independant tribes only coming together when there was a common threat. After 1,000AD their influence declined as the Germanic peoples under OttoI (936AD) began the Germanisation of the eastern provinces including the Wendish areas when he authorise Herman Billungs to bring the area under German influence which led to him becoming the Duke of Saxony. Thus began the Germanisation of the area and by the 14thC Germans had supplanted Wends (Slavs) as the main ethnic group. After the passing of many turbulent centuries of changes in control between the German states, Poland and Bohemia there are around 60,000 Wends/Slavs in Germany today.
At the time of my great grandfather and his mother travelling to Australia there was reference to this group having difficulties with the Saxon authorities and it is known that some immigrated to Australia to escape discrimination. This included discouraging the use of their language and their schools made to do all teaching in German. In the Nazi era real persecution reached a peak with the complete banning of their language, the closing of Sorb language newspapers and other cultural institutions as well as some of the prominent 'Sorbs' being executed as part of the Nazi ideal of the 'pure' German nation.
An article written recently and published on the website of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Saxony which includes Gebelzig, referred to the translation of the New Testament into the Sorb 'Wendish' language over more than two centuries and in the 19th century the pastor of the church in Gebelzig was involved in this project.
There is a significant minority population of Wendish (Sorbs) in the area today. They even have some bilingual signs! I think there is very strong evidence to lead me to believe that the Niemz/Kleinig families may have been part of that minority group. On the left is a view of Bautzen and on the right the bilingual sign for the town.
The information concerning the various Prussian provinces which have been incorporated into present day Poland was sourced from the Polish Roots website. Click the link below to go to their site:
