پروسيا الشرقية

"Ostpreussen" redirects here. For the World War II vorpostenboot, see German trawler V 305 Ostpreussen.

East Prussia Ostpreußen
Province Prussia
1773–1829 1878–1945
Flag درع
East Prussia (red), within the Kingdom of Prussia, within the German Empire, as of 1878
Anthem
Ostpreußenlied "Song of East Prussia" (1930—1945)
العاصمة	Königsberg
المساحة
• 1905	36,993 km2 (14,283 sq mi)
التعداد
• 1905	2,030,174
التاريخ
التاريخ
• Established	31 January 1773
• Province of Prussia	3 December 1829
• Province restored	1 April 1878
• Disestablished	1 August 1945
التقسيمات السياسية	Gumbinnen Königsberg Allenstein (from 1905) West Prussia (1922–1939) Zichenau (from 1939)
سبقها تلاها Duchy of Prussia Province of Prussia Klaipėda Region Marienwerder (region) Second Polish Republic Provisional Government of National Unity Soviet Union
اليوم جزء من	Poland Lithuania Russia

پروسيا الشرقية East Prussia، (ألمانية: Ostpreußen, pronounced [ˈɔstˌpʁɔʏsən]  ( listen); پولندية: Prusy Wschodnie; لتوانية: Rytų Prūsija or Rytprūsiai; روسية: Восточная Пруссия or Vostochnaya Prussiya) هو جزء رئيسي من منطقة پروسيا في جنوب شرق ساحل البلطيق من القرن الثالث عشر حتى نهاية الحرب العالمية الثانية في مايو 1945. من 1772–1829 و1878–1945، كانت مقاطعة پروسيا الشرقية جزء من ولاية ألمانيا الپروسية. وكانت عاصمتها مدينة كونيگسبرگ.

The bulk of the ancestral lands of the Baltic Old Prussians were enclosed within East Prussia. During the 13th century, the native Prussians were conquered by the crusading Teutonic Knights. After the conquest the indigenous Balts were gradually converted to Christianity. Because of Germanization and colonisation over the following centuries, Germans became the dominant ethnic group, while Masurians and Lithuanians formed minorities. From the 13th century, East Prussia was part of the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. After the Second Peace of Thorn in 1466 it became a fief of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1525, with the Prussian Homage, the province became the Duchy of Prussia. The Old Prussian language had become extinct by the 17th or early 18th century.

Because the duchy was outside of the core Holy Roman Empire, the prince-electors of Brandenburg were able to proclaim themselves King beginning in 1701. After the annexation of most of western Royal Prussia in the First Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772, eastern (ducal) Prussia was connected by land with the rest of the Prussian state and was reorganized as a province the following year (1773). Between 1829 and 1878, the Province of East Prussia was joined with West Prussia to form the Province of Prussia.

The Kingdom of Prussia became the leading state of the German Empire after its creation in 1871. However, the Treaty of Versailles following World War I granted West Prussia to Poland and made East Prussia an exclave of Weimar Germany (the new Polish Corridor separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany), while the Memel Territory was detached and annexed by Lithuania in 1923. Following Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II in 1945, war-torn East Prussia was divided at Joseph Stalin's insistence between the Soviet Union (the Kaliningrad Oblast became part of the Russian SFSR, and the constituent counties of the Klaipėda Region in the Lithuanian SSR) and the People's Republic of Poland (the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship). The capital city Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946. The German population of the province was largely evacuated during the war or expelled shortly afterwards in the expulsion of Germans after World War II. An estimated 300,000 died either in wartime bombing raids, in the battles to defend the province, or through mistreatment by the Red Army or from hunger, cold and disease.

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 خلفية

Ethnic settlement in East Prussia by the 14th century

At the instigation of Duke Konrad I of Masovia, the Teutonic Knights took possession of Prussia in the 13th century and created a monastic state to administer the conquered Old Prussians. Local Old-Prussian (north) and Polish (south) toponyms were gradually Germanised. The Knights' expansionist policies, including occupation of Polish Pomerania with Gdańsk/Danzig and western Lithuania, brought them into conflict with the Kingdom of Poland and embroiled them in several wars, culminating in the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War, whereby the united armies of Poland and Lithuania, defeated the Teutonic Order at the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) in 1410. Its defeat was formalised in the Second Treaty of Thorn in 1466 ending the Thirteen Years' War, and leaving the former Polish region Pomerania/Pomerelia under Polish control. Together with Warmia it formed the province of Royal Prussia. Eastern Prussia remained under the Knights but as a fief of Poland. 1466 and 1525 arrangements by kings of Poland were not verified by the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the previous gains of the Teutonic Knights, were not verified.

The Teutonic Order lost eastern Prussia when Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach converted to Lutheranism and secularized the Prussian branch of the Teutonic Order in 1525. Albert established himself as the first duke of the Duchy of Prussia and a vassal of the Polish crown by the Prussian Homage. Walter von Cronberg, the next Grand Master, was enfeoffed with the title to Prussia after the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, but the Order never regained possession of the territory. In 1569 the Hohenzollern prince-electors of the Margraviate of Brandenburg became co-regents with Albert's son, the feeble-minded Albert Frederick.

The Administrator of Prussia, the grandmaster of the Teutonic Order Maximilian III, son of emperor Maximilian II died in 1618. When Maximilian died, Albert's line died out, and the Duchy of Prussia passed to the Electors of Brandenburg, forming Brandenburg-Prussia. Taking advantage of the Swedish invasion of Poland in 1655, and instead of fulfilling his vassal's duties towards the Polish Kingdom, by joining forces with the Swedes and subsequent treaties of Wehlau, Labiau, and Oliva, Elector and Duke Frederick William succeeded in revoking the king of Poland's sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia in 1660. The absolutist elector also subdued the noble estates of Prussia.

 التاريخ

 من الولاية الكاثوليكية حتى الدوقية الپروتستانتية

The fortress Ordensburg Marienburg, founded in 1274, the world’s largest brick castle and the Teutonic Order's headquarters on the River Nogat.

Monument of Grand Master Albert، دوق پرسيا الأول، مالبورك، پولندا

 مملكة پروسيا

مقاطعة پروسيا الشرقية (بالأحمر)، مملكة پروسيا، في الإمبراطورية الألمانية، في عام 1871.

خريطة پروسيا الشرقية 1881.

 جمهورية ڤايمار

پروسيا الشرقية من 1923 حتى 1939 ما بين الحربين

 الحرب العالمية الثانية

تقسيم پروسيا الشرقية قبل، أثناء، وبعد الحرب العالمية الثانية (خريطة رسمت في ألمانيا)

Map of East Prussian Districts in 1945

East Prussia in 1941

After the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany opening World War II, the borders of East Prussia were revised. Regierungsbezirk Westpreußen became part of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, while Regierungsbezirk Zichenau was added to East Prussia. Originally part of the Zichenau region, the Sudauen district in Sudovia was later transferred to the Gumbinnen region. In 1939 East Prussia had 2.49 million inhabitants, 85% of them ethnic Germans, the others Poles in the south who, according to Polish estimates numbered in the interwar period around 300,000-350,000, the Latvian speaking Kursenieki, and Lietuvininkai who spoke Lithuanian in the northeast. Most German East Prussians, Masurians, Kursieniki, and Lietuvininkai were Lutheran, while the population of Ermland was mainly Roman Catholic due to the history of its bishopric. The East Prussian Jewish Congregation declined from about 9,000 in 1933 to 3,000 in 1939, as most fled from Nazi rule.

During World War II, the Polish ethnic minorities of Catholic Warmians and Lutheran Masurians were persecuted by the Nazi German government, which wanted to erase all aspects of Polish culture and Polish language in Warmia and Masuria The Jews who remained in East Prussia in 1942 were shipped to concentration camps, including Theresienstadt in occupied Czechoslovakia, Kaiserwald in occupied Latvia, and camps in Minsk in occupied Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Those who remained were later deported and killed in the Holocaust.

In 1939 the Regierungsbezirk Zichenau was annexed by Germany and incorporated into East Prussia. Parts of it were transferred to other regions, e.g. Suwałki Region to Regierungsbezirk Gumbinnen and Soldau to Regierungsbezirk Allenstein. Despite Nazi propaganda presenting all of the regions annexed as possessing significant German populations that wanted reunification with Germany, the Reich's statistics of late 1939 show that only 31,000 out of 994,092 people in this territory were ethnic Germans.

Hitler's top-secret Eastern front headquarters during the war, the Wolf's Lair, was located in East Prussia, near the town of Rasternburg.

East Prussia was only slightly affected by the war until January 1945, when it was devastated during the East Prussian Offensive. Most of its inhabitants became refugees in bitterly cold weather during the Evacuation of East Prussia.

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 إخلاء پروسيا الشرقية

المقالة الرئيسية: إخلاء پروسيا الشرقية

Germany's shift of borders after the world wars, dividing East Prussia among other countries.

Königsberg after the RAF bombing in 1944

In 1944 the medieval city of Königsberg, which had never been severely damaged by warfare in its 700 years of existence, was almost completely destroyed by two RAF Bomber Command raids – the first on the night of 26/27 August 1944, with the second one three nights later, overnight on 29/30 August 1944. Winston Churchill (The Second World War, Book XII) had erroneously believed it to be "a modernized heavily defended fortress" and ordered its destruction.

Gauleiter Erich Koch delayed the evacuation of the German civilian population until the Eastern Front approached the East Prussian border in 1944. The population had been systematically misinformed by Endsieg Nazi propaganda about the real state of military affairs. As a result, many civilians fleeing westward were overtaken by retreating Wehrmacht units and the rapidly advancing Red Army.

Reports of Soviet atrocities in the Nemmersdorf massacre of October 1944 and organized rape spread fear and desperation among the civilians. Thousands lost their lives during the sinkings (by Soviet submarine) of the evacuation ships Wilhelm Gustloff, the Goya, and the General von Steuben. Königsberg surrendered on 9 April 1945, following the desperate four-day Battle of Königsberg. An estimated 300,000 died either in wartime bombing raids, in the battles to defend the province, or through mistreatment by the Red Army or from hunger, cold and disease.

However, most of the German inhabitants, which then consisted primarily of women, children and old men, did manage to escape the Red Army as part of the largest exodus of people in human history: "A population which had stood at 2.2 million in 1940 was reduced to 193,000 at the end of May 1945."

 تاريخ ما بعد التقسيم والضم

Following Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II in 1945, East Prussia was partitioned between Poland and the Soviet Union according to the Potsdam Conference, pending a final peace conference with Germany. Since a peace conference never took place, the region was effectively ceded by Germany. Southern East Prussia was placed under Polish administration, while northern East Prussia was divided between the Soviet republics of Russia (the Kaliningrad Oblast) and Lithuania (the constituent counties of the Klaipėda Region). The city of Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946. Most of the German population of the province had left during the evacuation at the end of the war, but several hundreds of thousands died during the years 1944–46 and the remainder were subsequently expelled.

 طرد الألمان من پروسيا الشرقية بعد الحرب العالمية الثانية

المقالة الرئيسية: طرد الألمان بعد الحرب العالمية الثانية

Shortly after the end of the war in May 1945, Germans who had fled in early 1945 tried to return to their homes in East Prussia. An estimated number of 800,000 Germans were living in East Prussia during the summer of 1945. Many more were prevented from returning, and the German population of East Prussia was almost completely expelled by the communist regimes. During the war and for some time thereafter 45 camps were established for about 200,000-250,000 forced labourers, the vast majority of whom were deported to the Soviet Union, including the Gulag camp system. The largest camp with about 48,000 inmates was established at Deutsch Eylau (Iława). Orphaned children who were left behind in the zone occupied by the Soviet Union were referred to as Wolf children.

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  An illustration of the changing borders in Eastern Europe before, during, and after World War II (Map is written in German)

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  Changes in Germany's borders as a result of both World Wars, with the partition of East Prussia.

 جنوب بروسيا الشرقية إلى پولندا

المقالة الرئيسية: Masurian District, Olsztyn Voivodeship, and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship

Representatives of the Polish government officially took over the civilian administration of the southern part of East Prussia on 23 May 1945. Subsequently, Polish expatriates from Polish lands annexed by the Soviet Union as well as Ukrainians and Lemkos from southern Poland, expelled in Operation Vistula, were settled in the area, initially organised as the Masurian District, later replaced by the Olsztyn Voivodeship in 1947, with a few counties incorporated into Białystok Voivodeship and to Gdańsk Voivodeship. The latter counted in 1950 689,000 inhabitants, 22.6% of them coming from areas annexed by the Soviet Union, 10% Ukrainians, and 18.5% of them pre-war inhabitants. It was dissolved in 1975 to form three smaller units: a much smaller homonymous Olsztyn Voivodeship, the bulk of Elbląg Voivodeship and a significant part of the Suwałki Voivodeship.

The remaining pre-war population was treated as Germanized Poles and a policy of re-Polonization was pursued throughout the country Most of these "Autochthons" chose to emigrate to West Germany from the 1950s through 1980s (between 1970 and 1988 55,227 persons from Warmia and Masuria moved to Western Germany). Local toponyms were Polonised by the Polish Commission for the Determination of Place Names.

 أصل تعداد ما بعد الحرب

During the Polish post-war census of December 1950, data about the pre-war places of residence of the inhabitants as of August 1939 was collected. In case of children born between September 1939 and December 1950, their origin was reported based on the pre-war places of residence of their mothers. Thanks to this data it is possible to reconstruct the pre-war geographical origin of the post-war population. The same area corresponding to pre-war southern parts of East Prussia (which became Polish in 1945) was inhabited in December 1950 by:

1950 population by place of residence back in 1939:

Region (within 1939 borders):	Number	Percent
Autochthons (1939 DE/FCD citizens)	134,702	15.90%
Polish expellees from Kresy (USSR)	172,480	20.36%
Poles from abroad except the USSR	5,734	0.68%
Resettlers from the City of Warsaw	22,418	2.65%
From Warsaw region (Masovia)	158,953	18.76%
From Białystok region and Sudovia	102,634	12.11%
From pre-war Polish Pomerania	83,921	9.90%
Resettlers from Poznań region	7,371	0.87%
Katowice region (East Upper Silesia)	2,536	0.30%
Resettlers from the City of Łódź	1,666	0.20%
Resettlers from Łódź region	6,919	0.82%
Resettlers from Kielce region	20,878	2.46%
Resettlers from Lublin region	60,313	7.12%
Resettlers from Kraków region	5,515	0.65%
Resettlers from Rzeszów region	47,626	5.62%
place of residence in 1939 unknown	13,629	1.61%
Total pop. in December 1950	847,295	100.00%

Over 80% of the 1950 inhabitants were new in the region, less than 20% had resided in the province already back in 1939 (so called autochthons, who had German citizenship before World War II and were granted Polish citizenship after 1945). Over 20% of all inhabitants were Poles expelled from areas of Eastern Poland annexed by the USSR. The rest were mostly people from neighbouring areas located right next to East Prussia (almost 44% came from Masovia, Sudovia, Podlachia and pre-war Polish Pomerania) and southern Poland (≈16%).

 الجزء الشمالي إلى الاتحاد السوڤيتي

المقالة الرئيسية: Kaliningrad Oblast

Königsberg Castle, 1895

"Königsberg" license plate holder, 2009

In April 1946, northern East Prussia became an official province of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic as the "Kyonigsbergskaya Oblast", with the Memel Territory becoming part of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. In June 1946 114,070 German and 41,029 Soviet citizens were registered in the Oblast, with an unknown number of disregarded unregistered persons. In July of that year, the historic city of Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad to honour Mikhail Kalinin and the area named the Kaliningrad Oblast. Between 24 August and 26 October 1948 21 transports with in total 42,094 Germans left the Oblast to the Soviet Occupation Zone (which became East Germany). The last remaining Germans left in November 1949 (1,401 persons) and January 1950 (7 persons).

The Prussian Lithuanians also experienced the same fate.

A similar fate befell the Curonians who lived in the area around the Curonian Lagoon. While many fled from the Red Army during the evacuation of East Prussia, Curonians that remained behind were subsequently expelled by the Soviet Union. Only 219 lived along the Curonian Spit in 1955. Many had German names such as Fritz or Hans, a cause for anti-German discrimination. The Soviet authorities considered the Curonians fascists. Because of this discrimination, many immigrated to West Germany in 1958, where the majority of Curonians now live.

After the expulsion of the German population ethnic Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians were settled in the northern part. In the Soviet part of the region, a policy of eliminating all remnants of German history was pursued. All German place names were replaced by new Russian names. The exclave was a military zone, which was closed to foreigners; Soviet citizens could only enter with special permission. In 1967 the remnants of Königsberg Castle were demolished on the orders of Leonid Brezhnev to make way for a new "House of the Soviets".

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 الوضع الحالي

Although the 1945–1949 expulsion of Germans from the northern part of former East Prussia was often conducted in a violent and aggressive way by Soviet officials, the present Russian inhabitants of the Kaliningrad Oblast have much less animosity towards Germans. German names have been revived in commercial Russian trade and there is sometimes talk of reverting Kaliningrad's name to its historical name of Königsberg. The city centre of Kaliningrad was completely rebuilt, as Royal Air Force bombs in 1944 and the Soviet siege in 1945 had left it in ruins.

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, some German groups have tried to help settle the Volga Germans from eastern parts of European Russia in the Kaliningrad Oblast. This effort was only a minor success, however, as most impoverished Volga Germans preferred to emigrate to the richer Federal Republic of Germany, where they could become German citizens through the right of return.

The Polish part of the region, divided in 1975 to form three units: the Olsztyn Voivodeship, the Elbląg Voivodeship, and the Suwałki Voivodeship, has been reestablished as a single entity in 1999 under the name of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, whose borders correspond closely to those of southern East Prussia. Since 2004, Poland and Lithuania have become European Union member states, and both the Polish part of the region as well as the Lithuanian Klaipėda Region, has thereafter become freely accessible by Germans, in line with the free movement of people policy.

 الديمغرافيا

 البنية العرقية والدينية التاريخيتان

Ethnolinguistic distribution in East Prussia (1905)

In year 1824, shortly before its merger with West Prussia, the population of East Prussia was 1,080,000 people. Of that number, according to Karl Andree, ethnic Germans were slightly more than half, while 280,000 (≈26%) were ethnically Polish and 200,000 (≈19%) were ethnically Lithuanian. As of year 1819, there were also 20,000 strong ethnic Curonian and Latvian minorities as well as 2,400 Jews, according to Georg Hassel. Similar numbers are given by August von Haxthausen in his 1839 book, with a breakdown by county. However, the majority of East Prussian Polish and Lithuanian inhabitants were Lutherans, not Roman Catholics like their ethnic kinsmen across the border in the Russian Empire. Only in Southern Warmia (German: Ermland) Catholic Poles - so called Warmiaks (not to be confused with predominantly Protestant Masurians) - comprised the majority of population, numbering 26,067 people (≈81%) in county Allenstein (Polish: Olsztyn) in 1837. Another minority in 19th century East Prussia, were ethnically Russian Old Believers, also known as Philipponnen - their main town was Eckersdorf (Wojnowo).

In year 1817, East Prussia had 796,204 Evangelical Christians, 120,123 Roman Catholics, 864 Mennonites and 2,389 Jews.

 Ethnolinguistic composition by district

Districts of East Prussia (1910)

As of 1905, the province of East Prussia was divided into three government regions, known as Regierungsbezirke. These were the regions of Königsberg, Gumbinnen and Allenstein.

Ethnolinguistic structure of East Prussia by district (1905)

District (Kreis)	Regierungsbezirk	Population	German	%	Polish	%	Lithuanian	%
Braunsberg	Königsberg	54,751	54,548	99.6%	140	0.3%	12	0.0%
Fischhausen	Königsberg	52,430	52,235	99.6%	90	0.2%	43	0.1%
Friedland	Königsberg	40,822	40,784	99.9%	14	0.0%	5	0.0%
Gerdauen	Königsberg	33,983	33,778	99.4%	146	0.4%	1	0.0%
Heiligenbeil	Königsberg	43,951	43,909	99.9%	21	0.0%	2	0.0%
Heilsberg	Königsberg	51,690	51,473	99.6%	124	0.2%	8	0.0%
Landkreis Königsberg	Königsberg	45,486	45,342	99.7%	72	0.2%	12	0.0%
Stadtkreis Königsberg	Königsberg	223,770	221,167	98.8%	594	0.3%	159	0.1%
Labiau	Königsberg	51,295	45,659	89.0%	27	0.1%	5,293	10.3%
Memel	Königsberg	61,018	33,508	54.9%	40	0.1%	26,328	43.1%
Mohrungen	Königsberg	52,408	52,215	99.6%	113	0.2%	2	0.0%
Preußisch Eylau	Königsberg	49,465	49,325	99.7%	91	0.2%	3	0.0%
Preußisch Holland	Königsberg	38,599	38,505	99.8%	61	0.2%	4	0.0%
Rastenburg	Königsberg	46,985	45,998	97.9%	723	1.5%	19	0.0%
Wehlau	Königsberg	46,774	46,401	99.2%	178	0.4%	81	0.2%
Total (Königsberg)	Königsberg	893,427	854,847	95.7%	2,434	0.3%	31,972	3.6%
Angerburg	Gumbinnen	35,945	34,273	95.3%	1,499	4.2%	39	0.1%
Darkehmen	Gumbinnen	32,285	32,137	99.5%	74	0.2%	17	0.1%
Goldap	Gumbinnen	43,829	42,891	97.9%	436	1.0%	185	0.4%
Gumbinnen	Gumbinnen	50,918	50,703	99.6%	21	0.0%	21	0.0%
Heydekrug	Gumbinnen	43,268	19,124	44.2%	35	0.1%	23,279	53.8%
Landkreis Insterburg	Gumbinnen	46,237	45,693	98.8%	68	0.1%	311	0.7%
Stadtkreis Insterburg	Gumbinnen	28,902	28,412	98.3%	166	0.6%	62	0.2%
Niederung	Gumbinnen	55,129	47,792	86.7%	47	0.1%	6,497	11.8%
Oletzko	Gumbinnen	38,536	24,575	63.8%	12,451	32.3%	8	0.0%
Pilkallen	Gumbinnen	46,230	41,982	90.8%	65	0.1%	3,668	7.9%
Ragnit	Gumbinnen	54,741	45,525	83.2%	80	0.1%	8,394	15.3%
Stallupönen	Gumbinnen	43,875	43,099	98.2%	90	0.2%	383	0.9%
Landkreis Tilsit	Gumbinnen	46,441	25,322	54.5%	38	0.1%	20,674	44.5%
Stadtkreis Tilsit	Gumbinnen	37,148	35,598	95.8%	37	0.1%	1,442	3.9%
Total (Gumbinnen)	Gumbinnen	603,484	517,126	85.7%	15,107	2.5%	64,980	10.8%
Allenstein	Allenstein	85,625	45,723	53.4%	38,701	45.2%	21	0.0%
Johannisburg	Allenstein	50,452	13,651	27.1%	35,433	70.2%	5	0.0%
Lötzen	Allenstein	41,609	21,997	52.9%	16,877	40.6%	27	0.1%
Lyck	Allenstein	55,790	23,562	42.2%	30,555	54.8%	2	0.0%
Neidenburg	Allenstein	57,325	16,304	28.4%	38,690	67.5%	5	0.0%
Ortelsburg	Allenstein	69,464	17,221	24.8%	50,665	72.9%	58	0.1%
Osterode	Allenstein	73,421	39,778	54.2%	33,129	45.1%	13	0.0%
Rößel	Allenstein	50,390	42,555	84.5%	7,383	14.7%	15	0.0%
Sensburg	Allenstein	49,187	21,960	44.6%	25,381	51.6%	13	0.0%
Total (Allenstein)	Allenstein	533,263	242,751	45.5%	276,814	51.9%	159	0.0%
Total (East Prussia)	-	2,030,174	1,614,724	79.5%	294,355	14.5%	97,111	4.8%

 الإدارة

The Prussian central government appointed for every province an Oberpräsident ("Upper President") carrying out central prerogatives on the provincial level and supervising the implementation of central policy on the lower levels of administration.

Since 1875, with the strengthening of self-rule, the urban and rural districts (Kreise) within each province (sometimes within each governorate) formed a corporation with common tasks and assets (schools, traffic installations, hospitals, cultural institutions, jails etc.) called the Provinzialverband (provincial association). Initially the assemblies of the urban and rural districts elected representatives for the provincial diets (Provinziallandtage), which were thus indirectly elected. As of 1919 the provincial diets (or as to governorate diets, the so-called Kommunallandtage) were directly elected by the citizens of the provinces (or governorates, respectively). These parliaments legislated within the competences transferred to the provincial associations. The provincial diet of East Prussia elected a provincial executive body (government), the provincial committee (Provinzialausschuss), and a head of province, the Landeshauptmann ("Land Captain"; till the 1880s titled Landdirektor, land director).

 Upper Presidents of East Prussia and Prussia

1765–1791: Johann Friedrich von Domhardt, president of the Gumbinnen and Königsberg War and Demesnes Chambers

1791–1808: Friedrich Leopold von Schrötter, president of the Gumbinnen and Königsberg War and Demesnes Chambers, as of 1795 Minister for East and New East Prussia

1808–1814: vacancy?

1814–1824: Hans Jakob von Auerswald, upper president of East Prussia

1824–1842: Heinrich Theodor von Schön, upper president of Prussia, merged from East and West Prussia, since 1816 already upper president of West Prussia

1842–1848: Carl Wilhelm von Bötticher, upper president of Prussia

1848–1849: Rudolf von Auerswald, upper president of Prussia

1849–1850: Eduard Heinrich von Flottwell (1786–1865), upper president of Prussia

1850–1868: Franz August Eichmann, upper president of Prussia

1868–1869: vacancy

1869–1882: Carl Wilhelm Heinrich Georg von Horn, upper president of Prussia, after 1878 of East Prussia

1882–1891: Albrecht Heinrich von Schlieckmann, upper president of East Prussia

1891–1895: Count Udo zu Stolberg-Wernigerode, upper president of East Prussia

1895–1901: Count Wilhelm von Bismarck-Schönhausen, upper president of East Prussia

1901–1903: Hugo Samuel von Richthofen, upper president of East Prussia

1903–1907: Count Friedrich von Moltke, upper president of East Prussia

1907–1914: Ludwig von Windheim, upper president of East Prussia

1914–1916: Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe, upper president of East Prussia

1916–1918: Friedrich von Berg, upper president of East Prussia

1918–1919: Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe, upper president of East Prussia

1919–1920: August Winnig (SPD), upper president of East Prussia

1920–1932: Ernst Siehr (DDP), upper president of East Prussia

1932–1933: Wilhelm Kutscher (DNVP), upper president of East Prussia

1933–1945: Erich Koch (NSDAP), upper president of East Prussia

 Elections to the provincial diets

 {{{2}}}

Parties		% 1921	+/- 1921	Seats 1921	+/- 1921	% 1925	+/- 1925	Seats 1925	+/- 1925	% 1929	+/- 1929	Seats 1929	+/- 1929	% 1933	+/- 1933	Seats 1933	+/- 1933
	SPD	24.1		20		24.8	+0.7 (-)	22	+2 (-4)	26	+1.2	23	+1	13.6	-12.4	12	-11
	USPD			6	+6	merged in SPD
	DNVP	13.4	+13.4	11	+11	45.6		40	(+4)	31.2	(+17.8)	27	(+16)	12.7	-18.5	11	-16
	DVP	3.6	+3.6	4	+4					8.7	(+5.1)	8	(+4)			0	-8
	BWA			16	+16			0	-16			0	0			0	0
	Zentrum	9.3		8	+8	6.9	-2.4	6	-2	8.1	+1.2	7	+1	7	-1.1	7	0
	KPD	7	+7	6	+6	6.9	-0.1	6	0	8.6	+1.7	8	+2	6	-2.6	6	-2
	BWW			6	+6			0	-6			0	0			0	0
Parties		% 1921	+/- 1921	Seats 1921	+/- 1921	% 1925	+/- 1925	Seats 1925	+/- 1925	% 1929	+/- 1929	Seats 1929	+/- 1929	% 1933	+/- 1933	Seats 1933	+/- 1933
	DDP	5.7	+5.7	6	+6	3.6	-2.1	3	-3	2.8	-0.8	3	0			0	-3
	NSDAP	not run	not run	not run	not run					4.3		4	+4	58.2	+53,9	51	+47
	LL/WP			2	+2	4.2	+4.2	4	+2	4	-1.2	4	0			0	-4
	DFP	not run	not run	not run	not run	4.2	+4.2	4	+4			0	-4			0	0
	CSVD	not run	not run	not run	not run	not run	not run	not run	not run	3	+3	3	+3			0	-3
	AuA	not run	not run	not run	not run			2	+2			0	-2			0	0
	FOW			2	+2			0	-2			0	0			0	0
	Poles' Party			1	+1			0	-1			0	0			0	0
	Others			2	+?			0	-2			0	0			0	0
Total 1921				85		Total 1925		87		Total 1929		87		Total 1933		87

 Land Directors and Land Captains of East Prussia

1876–1878: Heinrich Edwin Rickert (NLP, later DFP), titled land director

1878–1884: Kurt von Saucken-Tarputschen (Fortschritt, later DFP), titled land director

1884–1888: Alfred von Gramatzki (DKP), titled land director

1888–1896: Klemens von Stockhausen, titled land director

1896–1909: Rudolf von Brandt, titled land captain

1909–1916: Friedrich von Berg, titled land captain

1916–1928: Manfred Graf von Brünneck-Bellschwitz, titled land captain

1928–1936: Paul Blunk, titled land captain

1936–1941: Helmuth von Wedelstädt (NSDAP), titled land captain

1941–1945: vacancy

1941–1945: Reinhard Bezzenberger, first land councillor, per pro

 المدن والبلدات

المقالة الرئيسية: List of cities and towns in East Prussia

City/Town	District (Kreis)	Pop. in 1939	Current Name	Current Administrative Unit
Allenburg	Landkreis Wehlau	2 694	Druzhba	Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia)
Allenstein	Landkreis Allenstein	50 396	Olsztyn	Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (Poland)
Angerburg	Landkreis Angerburg	10 922	Węgorzewo (Węgobork)	Warmia-Masuria
Arys	Landkreis Johannisburg	3 553	Orzysz	Warmia-Masuria
Barten	Rastenburg	1 541	Barciany	Warmia-Masuria
Bartenstein	Landkreis Bartenstein	12 912	Bartoszyce	Warmia-Masuria
Bischofsburg	Landkreis Rößel		Biskupiec	Warmia-Masuria
Bischofstein (Ostpreußen)	Rößel	3 200	Bisztynek	Warmia-Masuria
Braunsberg	Landkreis Braunsberg	21 142	Braniewo	Warmia-Masuria
Darkehmen/Angerapp	Darkehmen		Ozyorsk	Kaliningrad
Domnau	Bartenstein		Domnovo	Kaliningrad
Elbing	Stadtkreis	85 952	Elbląg	Warmia-Masuria
Eydtkuhnen	Landkreis Stallupönen	4 922	Chernyshevskoye	Kaliningrad
Fischhausen	Landkreis Samland	3 879	Primorsk	Kaliningrad
Frauenburg (Ostpreußen)	Braunsberg	2 951	Frombork	Warmia-Masuria
Friedland (Ostpreußen)	Bartenstein		Pravdinsk	Kaliningrad
Gehlenburg	Johannisburg		Biała Piska	Warmia-Masuria
Gerdauen	Landkreis Gerdauen	5 118	Zheleznodorozhny	Kaliningrad
Gilgenburg	Landkreis Osterode	1 700	Dąbrówno	Warmia-Masuria
Goldap	Landkreis Goldap	12 786	Gołdap	Warmia-Masuria
Gumbinnen	Landkreis Gumbinnen	24 534	Gusev	Kaliningrad
Guttstadt	Landkreis Heilsberg		Dobre Miasto	Warmia-Masuria
Heiligenbeil	Landkreis Heiligenbeil	12 100	Mamonovo	Kaliningrad
Heilsberg	Kreis Heilsberg		Lidzbark Warmiński	Warmia-Masuria
Heydekrug	Landkreis Heydekrug	4 836	Šilutė	Klaipėda County (Lithuania)
Hohenstein	Osterode		Olsztynek	Warmia-Masuria
Insterburg	Landkreis Insterburg	48 711	Chernyakhovsk	Kaliningrad
Johannisburg	Johannisburg		Pisz (Jańsbork)	Warmia-Masuria
Königsberg (Preußen)	Stadtkreis	372 000	Kaliningrad	Kaliningrad
Kreuzburg (Ostpreußen)	Landkreis Preußisch Eylau		Slavskoye	Kaliningrad
Labiau	Landkreis Labiau	6 527	Polessk	Kaliningrad
Landsberg in Ostpreußen	Preußisch Eylau		Górowo Iławeckie	Warmia-Masuria
Liebemühl	Osterode		Miłomłyn	Warmia-Masuria
Liebstadt	Mohrungen	2 742	Miłakowo	Warmia-Masuria
Lötzen	Landkreis Lötzen	13 000	Giżycko (Lec)	Warmia-Masuria
Lyck	Landkreis Lyck	16 482	Ełk (Łęg)	Warmia-Masuria
Marggrabowa/Treuburg	Landkreis Oletzko/Treuburg		Olecko	Warmia-Masuria
Marienburg in Westpreußen	Marienburg		Malbork	Pomeranian Voivodeship (Poland)
Mehlsack	Braunsberg		Pieniężno (Melzak)	Warmia-Masuria
Memel	Stadtkreis	41 297	Klaipėda	Klaipėda
Mohrungen	Mohrungen	5 500	Morąg	Warmia-Masuria
Mühlhausen	Landkreis Preußisch Holland		Młynary	Warmia-Masuria
Neidenburg	Landkreis Neidenburg	9 201	Nidzica (Nibork)	Warmia-Masuria
Nikolaiken	Landkreis Sensburg		Mikołajki	Warmia-Masuria
Nordenburg	Gerdauen	3 173	Krylovo	Kaliningrad
Ortelsburg	Landkreis Ortelsburg	14 234	Szczytno	Warmia-Masuria
Osterode (Ostpreußen)	Osterode	19 519	Ostróda	Warmia-Masuria
Passenheim	Ortelsburg	2 431	Pasym	Warmia-Masuria
Peterswalde	Osterode		Piertzwald	Warmia-Masuria
Pillau	Samland	12 000	Baltiysk	Kaliningrad
Preußisch Eylau	Preußisch Eylau	7 485	Bagrationovsk	Kaliningrad
Preußisch Holland	Preußisch Holland		Pasłęk	Warmia-Masuria
Ragnit	Landkreis Tilsit-Ragnit	10 094	Neman	Kaliningrad
Rastenburg	Rastenburg	19 634	Kętrzyn (Rastembork)	Warmia-Masuria
Rhein (Ostpreußen)	Lötzen		Ryn	Warmia-Masuria
Rößel	Rößel	5 000	Reszel	Warmia-Masuria
Saalfeld	Mohrungen		Zalewo	Warmia-Masuria
Schippenbeil	Bartenstein		Sępopol	Warmia-Masuria
Schirwindt	Landkreis Pillkallen		Kutuzovo	Kaliningrad
Pillkallen-Schlossberg	Pillkallen		Dobrovolsk	Kaliningrad
Seeburg	Rößel		Jeziorany (Zybork)	Warmia-Masuria
Sensburg	Sensburg		Mrągowo (Żądzbork)	Warmia-Masuria
Soldau	Neidenburg	5 349	Działdowo	Warmia-Masuria
Stallupönen	Stallupönen	6 608	Nesterov	Kaliningrad
Tapiau	Wehlau	9 272	Gvardeysk	Kaliningrad
Tilsit	Stadtkreis	59 105	Sovetsk	Kaliningrad
Wartenburg (Ostpreußen)	Landkreis Allenstein	5 841	Barczewo (Wartembork)	Warmia-Masuria
Wehlau	Wehlau	7 348	Znamensk	Kaliningrad
Willenberg	Ortelsburg	2 600	Wielbark	Warmia-Masuria
Wormditt	Braunsberg		Orneta	Warmia-Masuria
Zinten	Heiligenbeil		Kornevo	Kaliningrad

 انظر أيضاً

• Lithuania Minor
• قائمة مدن وبلدات پروسيا الشرقية
• Drang nach Osten
• East Colonisation
• Kaliningrad Oblast
• Landsmannschaft Ostpreußen
• Masuria
• Teutonic Knights
• Warmia

 المراجع

؛ منشورات بالإنگليزية

• Baedeker, Karl, Northern Germany, 14th revised edition, London, 1904.
• Beevor, Antony (2002). "chapters 1-8". Berlin: The Downfall 1945. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-670-88695-5. (on the years 1944/45)
• Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, " Nemesis at Potsdam". London, 1977. ISBN 0-8032-4910-1.
• Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, A Terrible Revenge: The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans, 1944-1950, 1994, ISBN 0-312-12159-8
• Dickie, Reverend J.F., with E.Compton, Germany, A & C Black, London, 1912.
• von Treitschke, Heinrich, History of Germany - vol.1: The Wars of Emancipation, (translated by E & C Paul), Allen & Unwin, London, 1915.
• Powell, E. Alexander, Embattled Borders, London, 1928.
• Prausser, Steffen and Rees, Arfon: The Expulsion of the "German" Communities from Eastern Europe at the End of the Second World War. Florence, Italy, European University Institute, 2004.
• Naimark, Norman: Fires of Hatred. Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2001.
• Steed, Henry Wickham, Vital Peace - A Study of Risks, Constable & Co., London, 1936.
• Newman, Bernard, Danger Spots of Europe, London, 1938.
• Wieck, Michael: A Childhood Under Hitler and Stalin: Memoirs of a "Certified Jew," University of Wisconsin Press, 2003, ISBN 0-299-18544-3.
• Woodward, E.L., Butler, Rohan; Medlicott, W.N., Dakin, Douglas, & Lambert, M.E., et al. (editors), Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939, Three Series, Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), London, numerous volumes published over 25 years. Cover the Versailles Treaty including all secret meetings; plebiscites and all other problems in Europe; includes all diplomatic correspondence from all states.
• Previté-Orton, C.W., Professor, The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History, Cambridge University Press, 1952 (2 volumes).
• Balfour, Michael, and John Mair, Four-Power Control in Germany and Austria 1945-1946, Oxford University Press, 1956.
• Kopelev, Lev, To Be Preserved Forever, ("Хранить вечно"), 1976.
• Koch, H.W., Professor, A History of Prussia, Longman, London, 1978/1984, (P/B), ISBN 0-582-48190-2
• Koch, H.W., Professor, A Constitutional History of Germany in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Longman, London, 1984, (P/B), ISBN 0-582-49182-7
• MacDonogh, Giles, Prussia, Sinclair-Stevenson, London, 1994, ISBN 1-85619-267-9
• Nitsch, Gunter, Weeds Like Us, AuthorHouse, 2006, ISBN 9781425967550

؛ منشورات بالألمانية

• B. Schumacher: Geschichte Ost- und Westpreussens, Würzburg 1959
• Boockmann, Hartmut: Ostpreußen und Westpreußen (= Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas). Siedler, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-88680-212-4
• Buxa, Werner and Hans-Ulrich Stamm: Bilder aus Ostpreußen
• Dönhoff, Marion Gräfin v. :Namen die keiner mehr nennt - Ostpreußen, Menschen und Geschichte
• Dönhoff, Marion Gräfin v.: Kindheit in Ostpreussen
• Falk, Lucy: Ich Blieb in Königsberg. Tagebuchblätter aus dunklen Nachkriegsjahren
• Kibelka, Ruth: Ostpreußens Schicksaljahre, 1945-1948
• Bernd, Martin (1998). Masuren, Mythos und Geschichte. Karlsruhe: Evangelische Akademie Baden. ISBN 8385135936.
• Nitsch, Gunter: "Eine lange Flucht aus Ostpreußen", Ellert & Richter Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-8319-0438-9
• Wieck, Michael: Zeugnis vom Untergang Königsbergs: Ein "Geltungsjude" berichtet, Heidelberger Verlaganstalt, 1990, 1993, ISBN 3-89426-059-9.

؛ منشورات بالفرنسية

• Pierre Benoît, Axelle
• Georges Blond, L'Agonie de l'Allemagne
• Michel Tournier, Le Roi des aulnes

Publications in Polish

• K. Piwarski (1946). Dzieje Prus Wschodnich w czasach nowożytnych. Gdańsk.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Gerard Labuda, ed. (1969–2003). "Historia Pomorza", vol. I-IV. Poznań.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• collective work (1958–61). "Szkice z dziejów Pomorza", vol. 1-3. Warszawa.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Andreas Kossert (2009). PRUSY WSCHODNIE, Historia i mit. Warszawa. ISBN 978-83-7383-354-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

 وصلات خارجية

• Brandenburg Prince-Electors co-inheritors 1568, co-regent 1577
• East Prussia FAQ
• East and West Prussia Gazetteer
• Provinz Ostpreußen (بالألمانية)
• Ostpreußen.net (بالألمانية)
• Ostpreußen Info - East Prussia Information (بالألمانية)
• East- and West Prussia in Photos
• Spuren der Vergangenheit / Следы Пρошлого (Traces of the past) This site by W.A. Milowskij, a Kaliningrad resident, contains hundreds of interesting photos, often with text explanations, of architectural and infrastructural artifacts of the territory's long German past. (بالألمانية) (بالروسية)
• German Empire: Province of East Prussia (بالألمانية)
• Britannica 2007 article
• Growing up in East Prussia An oral history project, documenting the German history of East Prussia with memories and reports by contemporary witnesses (بالألمانية) (Polish)