Only those who know the past can understand the present and shape the future.
— saying attributed to August Bebel
East Prussia — a brief look at its history
Today the territory of the former province of East Prussia belongs to Poland, Russia and Lithuania.
In the past, the majority of our travellers came from Germany, but also from Switzerland, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Canada, the USA, South America, Italy, Denmark and several other countries. Around the world live people whose ancestors came from East Prussia. So that as many as possible can read this information, this site has been created in several languages.
Before the Teutonic Order conquered the region between the Vistula and the Memel rivers towards the end of the 13th century, the indigenous Prussians mainly inhabited the area. In the following centuries they mixed with settlers from the German lands of the time as well as from France, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Switzerland.
After the "Great Plague" — an epidemic centred on the Baltic region (around 1708–1714) — claimed numerous victims, whole villages were left without inhabitants. In Königsberg, between 9,000 and 10,000 of the 40,000 inhabitants died from 1708 to 1710. In Danzig, of 50,000 inhabitants more than 23,000 died between July and December 1708 alone.
In 1731 the Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg began the expulsion of Evangelical Protestants. In response, in 1732 Prussia issued an invitation patent under which religious refugees were to be settled in the depopulated regions of East Prussia (Rétablissement). Most of these Salzburgers settled in the area around Gumbinnen.
However it must be said: contrary to common accounts, the Salzburgers played only a secondary role in the colonisation of East Prussia. The greater part of the estates and farmsteads had already been allocated since 1720 to many other settlers — for example from the Palatinate and Nassau, as well as around 2,000 Swiss. The Salzburgers therefore could not be settled in a compact body as initially planned.
These newcomers belonged to different religions. Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox Christians arrived. Also Jews, Mennonites (often French and Swiss) and members of other religious communities.
Population development in East Prussia between 1700 and 1945 was determined mainly by the following events:
More than a third of the population of East Prussia — about 240,000 people — died during the plague epidemic. In 1709 East Prussia still had around 660,000 inhabitants.
Resettlement under the "Soldier King" Frederick William I between 1710 and 1740 led to the arrival of approximately 68,800 new colonists in East Prussia. Under Frederick the Great, between 1740 and 1786, a further 16,000 colonists were settled.
During the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), Russian troops occupied East Prussia in 1757 but soon withdrew. Over the seven war years approximately 90,000 inhabitants of East Prussia died.
The number of civilian and military deaths during the Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815) in East Prussia is estimated at over 200,000.
After the emancipation of the peasants, the population grew between 1815 and 1867 from 860,000 to about 1.70 million inhabitants.
From 1871 to 1933, around 920,000 East Prussians emigrated due to lack of work. Many found employment in the Ruhr region; others travelled to Canada and to North and South America.
Between 1914 and 1945 the number of inhabitants increased slightly from 2.1 to 2.39 million; however, the death toll of both wars combined is estimated at 700,000.