Links for the Fall Issue of the Newsletter

Civil records online 
http://pommerscher-greif.de/standesamt-online.html

Church Books online 
http://pommerscher-greif.de/kirchenbuch-online.html

Polish digital libraries 
http://fbc.pionier.net.pl/owoc

Library in Stolp/Slupsk 
http://bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra 

State Archives 
State Archive in Stettin/Szczecin (point of entry for digitized documents) 
http://www.szczecin.ap.gov.pl/iCmsModuleArchPublic/showDocuments/
nrap/65

Database of the holdings of the Polish archives (only part of these 
holdings are online) 
http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/en/data-bases.html 

Civil records online 
http://pommerscher-greif.de/standesamt-online.html

Church Books online 
http://pommerscher-greif.de/kirchenbuch-online.html

Polish digital libraries 
http://fbc.pionier.net.pl/owoc

Library in Stolp/Slupsk 
http://bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra 

State Archives 
State Archive in Stettin/Szczecin (point of entry for digitized documents) 
http://www.szczecin.ap.gov.pl/iCmsModuleArchPublic/showDocuments/
nrap/65

Database of the holdings of the Polish archives (only part of these 
holdings are online) 

http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/en/data-bases.html


Civil records online 
http://pommerscher-greif.de/standesamt-online.html

Church Books online 
http://pommerscher-greif.de/kirchenbuch-online.html

Polish digital libraries 
http://fbc.pionier.net.pl/owoc

Library in Stolp/Slupsk 
http://bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra 

State Archives 
State Archive in Stettin/Szczecin (point of entry for digitized documents) 
http://www.szczecin.ap.gov.pl/iCmsModuleArchPublic/showDocuments/
nrap/65

Database of the holdings of the Polish archives (only part of these 
holdings are online) 

http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/en/data-bases.html 

David G. Marks' Story of Pommern Ancestry

[Editor's Note: This post was written by David G. Marks.  If you would like to submit a story about your Pommern ancestry, please email tperrone2@verizon.net with your story.]

I started my researching my family tree in 2006.  My Mom’s English and Irish side wasn’t too difficult.  There was documentation on my Dad’s maternal side that lead me to the right village in Germany, but nobody had any idea where the Marks’ had come from in Germany.

I finally found a reference to Pomerania in the 1920 Census where my Great Grandmother referred to it as her place of birth.  All other references had just been Prussia or Germany.  I found the website for the IGS/DPL and found that there was a submission for my Great Great Grandfather, Friedrich Wilhelm MARKS.  I filled out the form and sent it in with my donation and had an answer within a week.

The submitter of this information believed that Friedrich Wilhelm had been born in Lankwitz, Kreis Stolp.  I found the Stolpmailing list in the fall of 2008 and seeing that it was mostly in German spent a week composing the best German email I could from my high school and college German.  I sent it and didn’t get an answer.

Thanksgiving morning of 2008 and there was my answer from Uwe Kerntopf – in English.  Could the spelling of the last name actually be MARTZ or MARZ?  Every bit of information received in this email was right on in terms of dates.  I had never found the ship record for the families immigration.  I had always searched using the name MARKS.  I plugged MARZ in and the exact ship record popped up.  Nobody knew that the family name had been changed back in 1857.

I made a trip to Pomerania sponsored by the Wisconsin Vereinstadt in 2009.  After the tour portion was finished I wanted to go a meet with the Stolp Group at their office in Bonn.  I was very warmly greeted AND given a memory stick with copies of the church books where my family came from – allowing me to expand my tree back to the year 1700.

As a result of all of this I have met cousins in Germany (and many in the US) and became a member of the Stolp Group.  I help them in transcribing church records into a database and help with inquiries from people whose family came from the same parish as mine (Groß Garde).  I have attended the Stolp Family Research Meeting in Kassel the last two years.  Finding them to be such a great help and with wonderful people, I purchased my plane ticket for the October, 2014 meeting this last December.

I never would have found my family without the help of the IGS/DPL.

Benefits of a subscription to Die Pommerschen Leute

Wondering what the benefits are of getting a subscription to the Die Pommerschen Leute?  Read all about society president Toni Perrone's research success using the Die Pommerschen Leute as a resource!

Research Methods:

1) Interview of family members;

2) American record research;

3) View of Hamburg Passenger list (which stated the family left from Zarrenthin, Kreis Demmin, Vor Pommern);

4) Placed known family material in the Die Vorfahren section to the Die Pommerschen Leute (DPL) Periodical;

5) Received an E mail from another DPL subscriber that he was going to that area of Vor Pommern and would be willing to look at the church records in  Jarmen. Kreis Demmin, Vor-Pommern) since it was very near Zarrenthin and he had the same surname in his family there. (The church records were never microfilmed and remain in the church there);

6) received the following information from him:

Jarmen Church book. Vol. V. page 201 entry # 46

Bertha Johanne Wilhelmine Behrendt born July 19, 1863 at 10:30 in the morning  baptized on September 9, 1863 in Klein-Toitin, Kreis Demmin, Vor-Pommern; Father; The shepherd Johann Behrendt, Mother: Wilehimine Blietz. Witnesses^: Johann Heitmann, day laborer; Wilhelm Schroeder, shepherd from Daberkow and Johanne Wilke.

Jarmen Church book. Vol. V. page 167 entry # 29

Wilhelmine August Frederike Behrendt, born on March 20, 1861 at 3 0”clock, baptized on April 8, 1861 in Klein Toitin. Father; the shepherd Johann Behrendt, Mother: Wilehimine Blietz. Witnesses: Wilhelm Heyden, day laborer; Friederike Behning, wife of the day laborer Heitman; Auguste Ewald, wife of the day laborer Zell.

Jarmen Church book. Vol. VI. page 11 entry # 61

Wilhelm Friedrich Carl Behrendt, born on July 22, 1865 in Klein Toitin, Baptized on July 30, 1865 (this was an emergency baptism as he died the same day he was baptized.

Jarmen Church book. Vol. VI. Page 29 entry # 51

Wilhelm Carl Johann Behrendt, born on July 1, 1866 in Klein Toitin, Baptized on July 15, 1866

Jarmen Church book. Vol. G. page 12 entry # 29

Johann Behrendt , shepherd in Klein Toitin, died on September 25, 1866 1AM from Cholera; Age 35 years 11 months, 30 days.  Survivors: the widow and four minor children.

Jarmen Church book. Vol. C. entry # 167

Johann Carl Martin Droberg and Wilhelmine Christine Dorothea Blietz from Klein Toitin were married April 8, 1868 in Jarmen. Johann Carl Martin Droberg was born April 10, 1844 and  Wilhelmine Christine Dorothea Blietz Behrendt was born  October 29, 1835. 

If I had not subscribed to Die Pommerschen Leute Periodical and placed my information in the Die Vorfharen section I would never have received this material!

BERTHA JOHANNA Wilhelmina  BEhReNDT  was born on July 19, 1863 in Germany.

When Bertha was a very little girl in Kreis Demmin she, along with other little girls in her village, went to the home of the Baron and Baroness for instructions in crafts, sewing, darning, and weaving. There were several spinning wheels in the home. She, being the smallest at that time, learned on the littlest spinning wheel, how to spin flax into fiber and sheep's wool into yarn. She was very intent on learning to weave, and as she worked at it, the spinning wheel would move forward a few inches. She would pull her chair to it again and get close to it. Before she knew it everyone would start to laugh because she was moved clear across the room and hadn't even noticed. She told her grandchildren later that she was embarrassed but she soon learned how to spin very well.

She also learned to darn wool socks to perfection. Her granddaughter said she had never seen such close and even stitches as her grandmothers. Her grandchildren tried very hard to do it the way Bertha did, but never really succeeded. Of course no one darns stockings anymore, but Bertha certainly perfected the art.

Life in the Vor-Pommern for Bertha and her family and all the people in the village were very hard. While the little girls were learning crafts the little boys were taught to work in the fields at a very early age. Later the girls had to work in the fields too.

They were very poor. The only toys Bertha ever had were handmade ones. For Christmas they usually got something in the clothing line and perhaps an orange or an apple. The one big happy time in the year for all of the villagers was the Octoberfest - the celebration of the harvest. At this time there would be dancing and games. Otherwise, it was mostly work.

Bertha was 19 years old when she immigrated to the United States on the ship "SS Gellert," under the direction of Captain Kueshlewein, from Hamburg leaving March 4,1882 and arriving in New York April 19, 1882 with her Johann Droberg, her mother Wilhelmina Bleitz, her natural sister Minnie and step sister and step brothers.

When Bertha arrived in the United States she thought life was very beautiful here. The family settled in Chicago and immediately joined the Social Turner Verein, (a German social and athletic club). To think that she could go to a dance every Saturday and dance until three in the morning and no one stopped her or made her get back to work - that was to her, shear heaven.

Bertha met Heinrich (Henry) Claussen at the Turner Verein. They fell in love and were united in marriage on June 25, 1884 by Rev. William Bertling, minister of the Gospel at the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 18 W. Fremont Street, Chicago Illinois. Heinrich was the son of Johann Hinrich Claussen and Magdalena  Eichmeier

Henry was born October 26, 1853 in Dörpling, Kreis Dithmarschen, Schleswig Holstein, Germany. He learned to be a joiner, (a skilled workman who finishes inside woodwork for houses), a trade he pursued throughout his life. Henry immigrated to the United States from Hamburg, Schleswig Holstein, arriving in New York, May 23, 1881. He came with his brother Peter, sister Catharina Dorothea (Dora) Claussen, and his cousin's Katharine Claussen, Claus Boe , and Angenetha Catharina (Antje) Boe. They traveled across the ocean on the ship "SS Vandalia". The ship made one stop on the way in La Havre. They continued on to Chicago, Illinois where Henry and Peter decided to make their home while the rest of the family moved on to Iowa. Henry and Peter started their own construction business in Chicago in 1893.  The name of the business was Claussen Brothers Carpenters and Contractors and was located at 1025 Roscoe Street, Chicago, Illinois.

Henry was an active member in the Schleswig Holstein Verein and the Social Turner Verein in Chicago, Illinois. The Social Turner Verein was a society that had the philosophy of a sound mind and body that was practiced through physical fitness. They had gymnastic classes for the children and adults alike. The Social Turners were well known for passing down German heritage by offering German Theater, meeting places, and supporting German libraries as well as other cultural programs. Heinrich and Bertha attended several social functions at the Social Turner Verein in Chicago after their marriage.

Within a year or two of their marriage Henry and Bertha borrowed enough money to buy their own house. After a few years they were able to add on two stories so that they could rent out a flat. He later built his dream home at 2015 Addison Street, Chicago Illinois after having saved lumber and extra doors and trim from some of his contracting jobs. The house was one of the first houses on that block at that time.

It is unknown how much schooling Bertha had in Klein-Toitin, but she had a wide vocabulary, mostly in German and was an avid reader. Bertha was always reading her Abendpost in the evenings and keeping up with what was going on in the news. She also loved to read romantic novels. Nothing pleased her more than to have a German novel to read in the evenings. She never learned to read much English. Her speech was mostly a mixture of German and English. Usually she spoke to her grandchildren in German and they answered her in English, although her daughter Frieda and son in law Albert were fluent in German and often spoke German with her. Bertha was good in mathematics also and no one could fool her in making change or in figuring the cost of anything.

Henry died young at the age of 571/2 on February 7, 1911 in Chicago Illinois. He is buried in the Social Turner Verein Section of Forest Home (Waldheim) Cemetery 863 S. Des Plaines Avenue Forest Park, Illinois, 60130.

Bertha was now left alone to face debts that she had not known about. She had no income what so ever nor any insurance. It was then that her son in law sold a lot that had been given to him as a wedding gift by his father. He took the money to buy the house on Addison Street from Bertha. She then lived with her daughter and her family.

Bertha knew a great deal about farm work, all of it learned in Vor Pommern. She was the chief gardener in the family. No one else could do it good enough to suit her. She grew beautiful flowers as well as some vegetables. She worked hard outdoors, even insisting upon mowing the lawn until the summer before her death. Her grand-daughter, remembers Bertha cleaning the wallpaper even though she had a broken wrist.

Although Bertha never returned to her homeland in Vor-Pommern. She did receive a visit from her cousin Ernst Behrendt and his wife Emma who came from Germany to visit her sometime between 1920-1925. Bertha's granddaughter remembers the visit. She said he was a very stern man. He returned to Germany and was never heard from again as far as we know.

Bertha died on December 21, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois from a cerebral hemorrhage and carcinoma of the right cervix. She was buried in December of 1944 in Graceland Cemetery, Bellview Section, Lot 614, Chicago Illinois.

Click here to become a subscriber today!

July 2014 Meeting with Linda E. Serna

The next meeting for the Pommern Special Interest Group will be July 13, 2014 at the Immigrant Library (1310 Magnolia Ave, Burbank California) at 2 p.m.

Our guest speaker is Linda E Serna.  She has been involved with genealogy in researching and writing family stories for 30 years. In addition, she was privileged to work as a genealogist for the PBS Genealogy Roadshow program. Currently, she is amember of the Southern California Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (SCCAPG), the Genealogical Speakers Guild (GSG), the California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA), the Polish Genealogical Society (PGS-CA), and the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America (GSHA-CA) as well as being Vice President of Programs for the Orange County California Genealogical Society (OCCGS). Over the last 5 years, she wrote and gave several presentations on various topics for different groups in California and New Mexico, as well as teaching the Intermediate/Advanced class at her home group about twice a year. Linda is always in the process of writing new presentations. Her loves, in addition to public speaking, include history, writing, and traveling. She especially likes seeing how individual family stories fit in and make up the fabric of history.

Her topic will be "Genealogy as Detective Work."

Everyone is welcome and we hope to see you there.

Pomeranian State Museum: Greifswald

By: Anna Mareike Schonle

(reprinted here with permission)

On the Pomeranian coastline of the Baltic Sea you can find the university town and Hanseatic city of Greifswald. It is located between the islands of Rügen and Usedom. Greifswald is a beautiful town with many well-restored, pretty old buildings and medieval cobblestone streets. Its historic harbor with old fishing boats lies sheltered some miles away from the open sea. Visitors to Greifswald find the State Museum of Pomerania very close to the pretty market square.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the German reunification, the University of Greifswald and the City Council showed great commitment to the vision of establishing a new State Museum on the Baltic coast. Both institutions actively supported the project, and the German Government and the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also provided funding for the project. Everybody was aware that a Pomeranian State Museum was only feasible in cooperation with Poland and Sweden. This is due to the eventful and close history which connects the three countries. An advisory council with professional representatives from Poland, Sweden and Denmark was established because the museum sees itself not only as an exhibition of Pomeranian history and culture, but also as a forum in the Baltic Sea region for trans-national work, especially for international youth work. The Director of the Museum Dr. Uwe Schröder orga-
nized the setting up of the museum from the very beginning.

The museum is located on the grounds of a former Franciscan Monastery, and the former library, which is the only preserved part of the monastery, is integrated into the museum. Today’s picture gallery used to be the town school, built by Johann Friedrich Quistorp, the teacher of Caspar David Friedrich, one of the great sons of Greifswald. In 2000, the picture gallery opened to the public. The quality of our art collection is shown by the masterpieces of Caspar David Friedrich, which reflect the Nordic landscape. We own seven of his paintings, among them the famous “Eldena Ruins in the Sudeten mountains”.

 We also feature Vincent van Gogh and his “A Lane near Arles”. The painting was purchased by the Pomer-
anian picture gallery of Szczecin in 1911. To protect it against attacks in World War II, it was taken to Kiel
(Schleswig-Holstein) via Coburg (Bavaria), and after the foundation of the State Museum in Greifswald it
came back to Pomerania. For this reason the painting is  today known as the “Pomeranian van Gogh”.

Besides these, there are many paintings from the baroque era, such as works by the famous artist Frans
Hals. The collection also comprises works by Max Liebermann, one of the most famous German impres-
sionists, and works by expressionists like Max Pechstein, who worked in Pomerania.

In our history exhibition, which opened in 2005, we show 14,000 years, starting with natural history. You can follow the journey of amber, 50 million years after its formation. Core samples show fossils one million
years old, mineralized ammonites, seashells or sponges.

You can also find our first “guest” from Sweden, a huge boulder, pushed to Pomerania via the ice. It whispers myths about the “giant stones” to children.

The exhibition also refers to the legend of Vineta: Off the shore of the Pomeranian coast there was supposed
to be a wealthy town. People lived there in luxury and abundance. This annoyed a mermaid so much that she made the town sink to the bottom of the sea. The legend says that on quiet days you can still hear the bells
of Vineta chiming from the bottom of the sea.

Our medieval section shows the installation of the castle of Arkona on the island of Rügen, the original pil-
lars from a Cistercian monastery, the Reformation and medieval lifestyle and the Slavic craftsmanship and the rich culture of the Hanseatic cities.

Walking on through the museum, events follow chronologically. During the Thirty Years’ War the Swedish
King came to the island of Rügen in 1630, and 200 years of Swedish reign in Pomerania started. Therefore a detailed section of the exhibition refers to the Swedish times. The Swedish were able to occupy Pomera-
nia because the last Duke of Pomerania died in 1637.

The University of Greifswald inherited a large tapestry from the Duke’s Family which we are allowed to ex-
hibit. The “Croy Tapestry”, as it is called after the Duke’s sister’s married name, shows the Pomeranian commitment to the Protestant denomination. At the time this represented a very important testimony of Reformation, and today it is one of the major artifacts of Pomeranian culture.

After the Congress of Vienna [1815] Pomerania became Prussian. There is a most detailed miniature mod-
el of the Harbor of Stettin and another of the huge ship Kaiser Wilhelm I., which took many Pomeranians
abroad. Our last exhibition room deals with the life of Pomeranians who emigrated to the USA, Brazil, Aus-
tralia and other countries in the nineteenth century.

Currently, we are working on an exhibition of the twentieth century, which we hope to inaugurate in 2015. In our museum you have the opportunity not only to watch but also to listen and even to touch history. Au-
dio guides are available in German, English, Polish and Swedish. After the tour inside you can visit our monastery garden, with herbs and traditional plants. There are guided garden tours regularly. We try hard to make sure that everybody feels comfortable in the museum.

The whole complex is barrier-free, and we want to give children an adventurous time.

Our educational department is very committed. The staff create many programs for ages four and up. They organize special summer and winter programs, adventures during the holidays and interesting guided tours or
rallies through the exhibition suitable for every age.

Right next to the museum, also inside the medieval abbey walls, is a renowned gourmet restaurant named Le
Croy. Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden dined here when she visited the University of Greifswald on the
occasion of its 550th anniversary in 2006.

 Tickets for the museum are valid all day, so you can take a break during your visit, maybe in the Le Croy or in any other of the restaurants on the market square, which is only a three minutes’ walk.


We look forward to welcoming you in our museum in the center of the beautiful City of Greifswald! For more information about the State Museum of Pomerania or the Promotion Society visit our website at
www.pommersches-landesmuseum.de/.

Upcoming Meetings & Speakers

The Pommern Special Interest Group is excited to announce the topics and speakers for our upcoming meetings.  As always, our meetings are open and free to the public.  Please come by to say hi and listen to a great speaker!  Meetings are at 2 p.m. at the Immigrant Genealogy Library (1310-B West Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA)

April 6, 2014- Gena Ortega –“Advancing your History through Social Networking”

Gena Philibert Ortega holds a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (Psychology and Women’s Studies) and a Master’s degree in Religion. Presenting on various subjects involving genealogy, Gena has spoken to groups throughout California and in Utah as well as virtually to audiences in the United States and Europe. Gena is the author of over 100 articles published in genealogy newsletters and magazines. Her writings can also be found on her blogs, Gena’s Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. She is also the author of the books, "Putting the Pieces Together" and the "Cemeteries of the Eastern Sierra" (Arcadia Publishing, 2007). Gena serves as Vice-President for the Southern California Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

July 14, 2013 - Linda E Serna - "Genealogy as Detective Work."

Biography—Linda Serna Posted on GSG Website

I have been involved with genealogy in researching and writing family stories for 30 years. In addition, I was privileged to work as a genealogist for the PBS Genealogy Roadshow program. Currently, I am a member of the Southern California Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (SCCAPG), the Genealogical Speakers Guild (GSG), the California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA), the Polish Genealogical Society (PGS-CA), and the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America (GSHA-CA) as well as being Vice President of Programs for the Orange County California Genealogical Society (OCCGS).  Over the last 5 years, I've written and given several presentations on various topics for different groups in California and New Mexico, as well as teaching the Intermediate/Advanced class at my home group about twice a year.  I am always in the process of writing new presentations. My loves, in addition to public speaking, include history, writing, and traveling.  I especially like seeing how individual family stories fit in and make up the fabric of history.

October 14, 2014 - Tom Underhill - “Dead Man tell No Tales”

Tom Underhill is an Author. Graphic designer. Public speaker. Tom Underhill is the publisher and senior designer at Creative Continuum, a book design and publishing company specializing in high-quality, short-run books. During the last several years, Tom and his company produced more than 400 family history heirloom books, printed more than 9.75 million pages and scanned more than 12,000 photographs.Tom has spoken on diverse topics at regional, national and international venues. He is the lead architect for My Life Story, an initiative to find a fun and easy way to help people record their personal and family memoirs. The author of nine books, his latest book, Hypergratification: Teens, Porn and Online Addiction, helping youth survive online life is co-authored with Dr. Craig Georgianna. This comprehensive book helps teens and their parents deal with and work through the harsh reality and consequence of porn and video game addictions.

A Brief History of Pomerania

A Brief History of Pomerania

Written by Gene Mass

(Posted here with his permission)

The earliest inhabitants of Pomerania were Germanic tribes that migrated southwards from Scandinavia prior to 100 B.C.  By the fifth century A.D., these tribes, known as the Goths, Vandals, Germanii, and Teutoni, had migrated westward and the area was settled by Slavic tribes that entered from the east.  The Slavic tribes included the Pomerani and Polani, who settled in the areas that became Pomerania and Poland.  The German name Pommern comes from the Slavonic word, Po more, meaning "along the sea".  The Pomeranian Slavs were later referred to as the Wends.  In about 995, Pomerania was conquered by Boleslaus I, the first King of Poland.  However, wars between the Poles, Danes, and Germans for possession of the area were fought with varying results for more than a century.  In 1122 the Poles were victorious over the pagan Wends and Duke Boleslaw III introduced Christianity to Pomerania.  He also invited the first German settlers into the area.

Pomerania became a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire in 1181 when Bogislaw I swore his allegiance to Frederick I (Barbarosa), the German King and Roman Emperor.  Thus began a Greif dynasty that continued for the next four centuries, with the crown passed down from generation to generation through inheritance.  The last Pomeranian Duke was Bogislaw XIV who reigned until his death in 1637.  With no one to inherit the crown, the electors of Brandenburg assumed control of Pomerania.  During the 13th century, surnames began appearing and by 1400 they were in fairly common use throughout Germany.

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, tens of thousands of immigrants from the Rhineland, Westfalen, Niedersachsen, Holstein, Mecklenburg and Holland colonized Pomerania, establishing German villages among the Wend inhabitants and introducing trade.  The immigrants, who were welcomed by the Pomeranian Dukes, provided the necessary skills and tools needed to clear the forests, drain the marshes, build dikes and roads, and farm the land.  They introduced the iron plow and the 3-field rotation system of farming.  Eventually, the German language and culture dominated the country and by the 1400's the Wends of Pomerania disappeared completely as a result of intermarriage.

The Church figured prominently in the early colonization with various ecclesiastical institutions receiving or buying vast areas.  The Cistercians, the most prominent monastic order, established monasteries as early as the 1170's in Pomerania.  One, the monastery of Kolbatz, acquired huge land holdings in Hinterpommern and by 1313, owned 53 villages.  Intermixed among these possessions were the large estates of the princes and nobles, including both the native Slavs and the German knights who began arriving about 1235. 
Pomerania, like the other German states, was greatly affected by the Reformation.  Lutheranism took root in Pomerania in 1525 when Stralsund adopted Martin Luther's teaching.  Nine years later, the Lutheran Church of Pomerania was established when the Diet at Treptow on the Rega prepared the basis for its formation.  A plattdeutsch (low German) version of the bible was printed the same year and in 1536, the dukes of Pommern accepted the Lutheran faith.  However, the hostility between the Catholics and the Protestants continued unabated despite the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 which was intended to settle the religious issue in Germany. In 1618, the Thirty Years War began primarily as a civil war between the two religious factions.  In the summer of 1630, the war took on a political objective when Sweden entered the war.  King Gustavus Adolphus, a Protestant, was concerned about the growing power of the Roman Emperor Ferdinand.  The war continued for another 18 years until 1648 when the Treaty of Westphalia was signed.  As compensation for its role in the war, Sweden was awarded control over Stettin and Vorpommern.  Brandenburg retained control of Hinterpommern.  

The Thirty Years War took a heavy toll in Pomerania with possibly one-third of its people killed and whole villages and farms completely destroyed.  In the early 1700's, Pomerania again became the battleground for conflicts between Russia and Sweden.  It ended in 1720 with the Treaty of Stockholm, which ceded part of Hither Pomerania as far as the Peene River to Brandenburg-Prussia.  Following the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna gave the remaining part of Swedish Pomerania to Prussia in 1815.

When King Wilhelm I became the first emperor of a united Germany in 1871, Prussia had become a powerful military nation that occupied the northern two thirds of Germany. It extended from the Netherlands and Belgium on the west to Russia on the east.  In 1945, after World War II, Prussia ceased to exist as a German state and Pomerania was partitioned again at the Oder River.  Hinterpommern and Stettin (now called Szczecin) became part of Poland and all of the Germans fled or were expelled from their country.  Vorpommern, the area west of the Oder-Neisse Rivers, became part of East Germany.  In 1990, Vorpommern became part of the reunified Germany and was included in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. 

Sources:

This brief history of Pomerania was originally published by Gene Maas on his family genealogical website, http://www.genemaas.net/Pommern.htm. Two books by F.L Carsten, "The Origins of Prussia" (1954) and "A History of the Prussian Junkers" (1989); and one by H. W. Koch, "A History of Prussia" (1978) served as primary references in preparing this article.  A more extensive history can be found in article by Dr. Ludwig Biewer entitled, “Kleine Geschichte Pommerns”. the translated which appears on Heinz Radde’s site at http://grosstuchen.cwsurf.de/HistoryPomerania.html.

Attention: We Need a New Editor!

We are presently looking for a new editor starting with the fall 2014 issue of the DPL. 

The editor of Die Pommerschen Leute has notified the Pomeranian Special Interest Group (PSIG) of the Immigrant Genealogical Society that she will be resigning after the publication of the Summer 2014 issue of DPL. Consequently, the PSIG is looking for a volunteer who would be willing to accept the position of editor beginning with the Fall 2014 issue. The editor solicits and ...edits publishable articles and stories that deal with the history of Pomerania and the culture, traditions and way of life of its people. The editor completes the layout and design of approximately 10 pages of content for each of the 4 yearly issues. The "Die Vorfahren" section of DPL has its own editor who oversees its content and submissions. 

All of the editorial duties can be accomplished over the Internet, so the editor can be based anywhere in the USA or abroad. Software used has been MS Publisher. The new editor could begin working immediately with the outgoing editor to get oriented, and would have the next 8 to 10 months to work on the Fall 2014 issue. This is a great opportunity for anyone who would love to direct the editorial content of a quarterly publication concerning the history and culture of the Pomeranian people. 

Please contact Toni Perrone, the president of PSIG at tperrone2@verizon.net. She will discuss the duties and responsibilities required of the editor.