In AD 98 Tacitus described one of the tribes living near the Baltic Sea (Latin: Mare Suebicum) as Aestiorum gentes and amber-gatherers. Prussia (/ ˈ p r ʌ ʃ ə /; German: Preußen, pronounced [ˈpʁɔʏsn̩] (), Old Prussian: Prūsa or Prūsija) was a series of countries.Originally it was a historically prominent German state that originated in 1525. (historical) A German province which was originally located in this area but later greatly expanded, and which was the predecessor to and a member of the German Empire; abolished as an administrative unit at the end of the Second World War. The chief member of the German Empire (1871–1918) and a state of the Weimar Republic (1919–33), Prussia occupied more than half of all Germany and the major part of N Germany. After the acquisition of Pomerelia in 1308–1310, the meaning of the term Prussia was widened to include areas west of the Vistula. Historical region on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea in Europe, Christianization and the Teutonic Knights, However, the constitution of the short-lived, CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, Western branch of the Baltic language group, "The Bavarian Geographer and the Old Prussians", "The Old Prussians: the Lost Relatives of Latvians and Lithuanians", "LITHUANIAN AMBER ARTIFACTS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AND THEIR PROVENANCE WITHIN THE LIMITS OF EASTERN BALTIC REGION", "The Scandinavians in Poland: a re-evaluation of perceptions of the Vikings", "Medieval Sourcebook: Privileges Granted to German Merchants at Novgorod, 1229", "Das litauische Siedlungsgebiet in Ostpreussen; Angaben zur Bevölkerungsstatistik", "Brandenburg-Prussia, 1466-1806: The Rise of a Composite State", "A modern history of Europe : men, cultures, and societies from the Renaissance to the present", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prussia_(region)&oldid=998626943, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Lithuanian-language text, Articles containing Russian-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2016, Europe articles missing geocoordinate data, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Shennan, Margaret. [23], Map by Caspar Henneberg, Elbing, 1576: Duchy and Royal Prussia originally with same colour (for the duchy the colour was added later), Prussia after 1466: light grey – Duchy of Prussia.coloured – Royal Prussia with its Voivodeships as a province of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Tacitus' Germania (98 CE) is the oldest known record of an eyewitness account on the territory and its inhabitants. 2. [5] The Balts would have become differentiated into Western and Eastern Balts in the late 1st millennium BC. [8][9] A river to the east of the Vistula was called the Guttalus, perhaps corresponding to the Nemunas, the Łyna, or the Pregola. Is there still a country named Prussia? Danzig became a free city under the protection of the League of Nations. The King of Prussia Mall, the largest mall in the country by square feet of retail space, was desolate on Sunday on what would otherwise be a busy day of shopping and dining at the retail center. In New Latin the area is called Borussia and its inhabitants Borussi. In 1871 a united German state was proclaimed and the Old Prussian lands remained part of the country, as the region of East Prussia, until the end of the Second World War. The city of Königsberg (modern Kaliningrad) was founded in 1255, and joined the Hanseatic League in 1340. East Prussia had been German for centuries. The Teutonic Order wore a white coat embroidered with a black cross with gold insert and black imperial eagle. Adalbert, accompanied by armed guards, attempted to convert the Prussians to Christianity. We use Cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. While these were repelled by the Prussians, the Chełmno Land became exposed to their frequent raids. Today, the region's territory under Polish rule (with Lębork and Bytów) covers about 45,000 km2 (17,000 sq mi) and has over 4,000,000 inhabitants, while the Russian territory covers 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi) and is home to almost 1,000,000 people. [17], At that time, Pomerelia belonged to the diocese of Włocławek, while Chełmno belonged to the diocese of Płock. Bolesław I Chrobry sent Adalbert of Prague in 997 on a military and Christianizing mission. For additional information, see Expulsion of Germans from Poland. The regions of Prussia and the corresponding tribes are said to bear the names of Widewuto's sons — for example, Sudovia is named after Widewuto's son Sudo. Most Germans were expelled from there, other fled. After the monarchy was abolished in 1918, Prussia became a republic, the Free State if Prussia, and still existed as a state within Germany. Preussen, former state, the largest and most important of the German states. "[12][1], According to a legend, recorded by Simon Grunau,[citation needed] the name Prussia is derived from Pruteno (or Bruteno), the chief priest of Prussia and brother of the legendary king Widewuto, who lived in the 6th century. The Free State of Prussia was established in 1918 following the German Revolution, abolishing the German Empire and founding the Weimar Republic in the aftermath of the First World War.The new state was a direct successor to the Kingdom of Prussia, but featured a democratic, republican government and smaller area based on territorial changes after the war. Gdańsk had about 50,000 inhabitants. So while there’s no place called Prussia any more, the word ‘Prussian’ is still out there in general useage, but has become more generic, used to describe someone good at giving and obeying orders, being punctual, proper, disciplined, punctual, and honest. [18], With the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), Prussia was divided into eastern and western parts. The people there are decended from EPIC. (historical) A Baltic country located in this area, conquered by the Teutonic Orderand ultimately absorbed into Germany. In 1492, a life of Saint Dorothea of Montau, published in Marienburg (Malbork), became the first printed publication in Prussia. He was killed by a Prussian pagan priest in 997. It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. At the end of World War II, the situation at the end of the crusades was repeated- the historic Prussian lands were occupied for a second time. Considering Prussia is now Eastern Germany, to become its own individual country it would probably start a war. Prussia became a country in 1525. We'll bring you a regularly-updated smörgåsbord of everything that's happening direct to your Inbox. newsletter your first port of call, and leave the rest to us. Warmia and Masuria are now in Poland, while northern East Prussia (minus the former Memelland which is now the Klaipėda region of Lithuania) forms the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave of the Russian Federation.[26]. 1945 was a horrific year for Germans of East Prussia. Suiones, Sitones, Goths and other Germanic people had settled to the east and west of the Vistula River, adjacent to the Aesti, who lived further to the east. The Kingdom of Prussia (German: Königreich Preußen) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. [5], In the beginning of the 13th century, Konrad of Mazovia had called for Crusades and tried for years to conquer Prussia, but failed. The former kingdom and later state of Prussia (1701–1947) derived its name from the region. The black and white national colours were already used by the Teutonic Knights and by the Hohenzollern dynasty. They destroyed many areas in Prussia, including Truso and Kaup, but failed to dominate the population totally. [1] Pliny the Elder had already confirmed that the Romans had navigated into the waters beyond the Cimbric peninsula (Jutland). I consent to receiving email updates from Germany is Wunderbar and have read the Privacy Policy.Please leave this field empty. (chiefly historical)A geographical area on the Baltic coast of northeastern Europe. Prussians used the Baltic Sea as a trading route, frequently travelling from Truso to Birka (in present-day Sweden). In 1525 Ducal Prussia became a hereditary duchy under Albrecht Hohenzollern, the last grand master of the Teutonic Knights. Prussia Company Throughout its history, the R.S. Gdańsk was the biggest city and main port of Poland in 15th–18th century. Prussia prŭsh´ə , Ger. Prussia was a very fascinating piece of history. Upon the establishment of the Prussian Kingdom, the region became a single province, later divided again into West and East and the northernmost area of Greater Poland (Sępólno Krajeńskie, Złotów and Wałcz) was adjoined to it. An autonomous region of Royal Prussia was ruled by the King of Poland-Lithuania as the official language was German. [10], The Vikings started to penetrate the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea in the 7th and 8th centuries. I consent to receiving email updates from Germany is Wunderbar and have read and agree to the, I consent to receiving email updates from Germany is Wunderbar and have read the. Beginning in 1944 with the westward advance of Soviet troops the native German-speaking population was subject to forced relocation or reeducation. Under its 2nd and 3rd Kings, Frederick William I and Frederick II (the Great), Prussia became a thoroughly militaristic state boasting the most efficient army in Europe. The driving force in the uniting of the German states. The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia. [14], Meanwhile, the big part of later Prussia, west of the Vistula and south of the Osa River, has been inhabited by Lechitic (Polish and Pomeranian) tribes. The ducal capital of Königsberg, now Kaliningrad, became a centre of learning and printing through the establishment of the Albertina University in 1544 for not only the dominant German culture, but also the thriving Polish and Lithuanian communities as well. Finally the Duke invited the Teutonic Knights to fight the inhabitants of Prussia in exchange for a fief of Chełmno Land. [13], The Old Prussians spoke a variety of languages, with Old Prussian belonging to the Western branch of the Baltic language group. Ducal Prussia and the Kingdom of Prussia… Prussia, German Preußen, Polish Prusy, in European history, any of certain areas of eastern and central Europe, respectively the land of the Prussians on the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea, which came under Polish and German rule in the Middle Ages; the kingdom ruled from 1701 by the German Hohenzollern dynasty, including Prussia and Brandenburg, with Berlin as its capital, which seized much of northern Germany and western Poland in the 18th and 19th centuries and united Germany und… The former ducal lands became known as East Prussia.[21]. [15], After the Christianisations of the West Slavs in the 10th century, the state of the Polans was established and there were first attempts at conquering and baptizing the Baltic peoples. Prussia is no longer a country, it is a part of Germany. [5][6][7], The Greek explorer Pytheas (4th century BC) may have referred to the territory as Mentenomon and to the inhabitants as Guttones (neighbours of the Teutones, probably referring to the Goths). It was an independent country back in 18th century, up until the German Reich was formed. Want to keep up with the latest German travel news and views? [16] While the regions further south were riven with religious dispute and busy with the cultivation of vines, this largely flat and protestant north turned out to be excellent at wheat production, and the land-owning dynasties developed sophisticated trade links and transport to the North Sea ports. That was the beginning of the end for Prussia; the Kaiser abdicated at the end of the war, and the Prussian state was abolished by the Nazis. Left: Arms of the Kingdom of Prussia (1871–1918) Right: Arms of the Free State of Prussia (1933–1935) Copyright © 2021 germanyiswunderbar.com. The western part became the province of Royal Prussia adjacent to the Kingdom of Poland, while the eastern part of the monastic state became a fief of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[19]. As well as rather blinkered, inflexible and unimaginative. Since Prussia was connected to the European trade network spanning via the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Berlin was the capital. But a nation just can't suddenly reappear onto the world map. Prussia in its modern meaning came into existence only in 1701, when the elector of Brandenburg assumed the title king in Prussia. [11], At the end of the Viking Age, the sons of Danish kings Harald Bluetooth and Cnut the Great launched several expeditions against the Prussians. About the R.S. The unity of both parts of Prussia remained preserved by retaining its borders, citizenship and autonomy until western and eastern Prussia were also politically reunited under the German Kingdom of Prussia (which despite the name was governed in Berlin, Brandenburg). The Prussian coat of arms, on a wall in Goerlitz, east Germany. He knew that a country with different people and many skills would be wealthy and strong. The largest trade centres of the Prussians, such as Truso and Kaup, seem to have absorbed a number of Norse people. Parts of Prussia, however, became parts of Poland, Russia, Denmark, Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Lithuania after the German losses in World War I and World War II. Frederick William was a firm Protestant, but he believed that people should be allowed to worship God as they pleased. The combination of the black and white colours with the white and red Hanseatic colours of the free cities Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, as well as of Brandenburg, resulted i… Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. That was the beginning of the end for Prussia; the Kaiser abdicated at the end of the war, and the Prussian state was abolished by the Nazis. These decisive steps taken by Prussia eventually changed the course of history and helped Prussia assert its dominance over Austria financially, for the first time. If the country still had a monarchy today, the castle's owners would be its royal family, led by Georg Friedrich, whose ceremonial title is also his legal surname: Prince of Prussia. It was in Königsberg that the first Lutheran books in Polish, Lithuanian, and Prussian languages were published. Prussia Prussia was a German kingdom located in what is now Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Denmark, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland. [2][3], The region's inhabitants of the Middle Ages have first been called Bruzi in the brief text of the Bavarian Geographer and since been referred to as Old Prussians, who, beginning in 997, repeatedly defended themselves against conquest attempts by the newly created Duchy of the Polans. They took their name from the Old Prussians, effectively the tribes of the Baltic States, who were eventually conquered by the Teutonic Knights back in the 13th century. All Rights Reserved. Old Prussian, or related Western Baltic dialects, may have been spoken as far southeast as Masovia and even Belarus in the early medieval period, but these populations would probably have undergone Slavicization before the 10th century. Royal Prussia was annexed from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Kingdom of Prussia during the late 18th-century Partitions of Poland and administered within West Prussia. Prussia pieces were and continue to be highly valued, though individual pieces may be more or less expensive depending on a number of factors. It became a substantial European power in 1740 under the leadership of … The people called Preussen in German, who inhabited the land on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic, were Slavs, related to … Prussians were the dominant force in that new state, but it was their King, Kaiser Wilhelm II, an impetuous, impatient man, who effectively globalised the First World War (by joining the Austrian declaration of war on Serbia after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand) because he thought the English and French were seeking his annihilation. [25], According to the Potsdam Conference in 1945 after World War II, the German part of Prussia was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union, which divided its part further between the Lithuanian SSR and the Russian SFSR. R.S. Its population remained partly Polish and partly German, partly Catholic and partly Lutheran (both divisions overlapping especially in the west). Prussia during the early 19th century, the most powerful German state, Kaiser Wilhelm II was the last Prussian King. Prussia was politically divided between 1466 and 1772, with western Prussia under protection of the Crown of Poland and eastern Prussia a Polish–Lithuanian fief until 1660. A Viking (Varangian) presence in the area was "less than dominant and very much less than imperial. Make The Germany is Wunderbar! London: Routledge, 1995, Feuchtwanger, E. J. 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