Kreis Greifenhagen
Kreis History
- Greifenhagen means Griffin's woods.
- Most of the land was farmland with some forest and wetlands.
- Rye and potatoes were cultivated
- Freight and passenger shipping were big business and so were lumber and vegetables.
- Greifenhagen became a Kreis in 1818 and was part of the administrative district of Stettin until 1945.
- It gained land from Kreis Randow in 1939.
- The three major towns were Bahn, Fiddichow, and Greifenhagen.
- Along the eastern arm of the Oder River, the area was a Slavic fishing settlement in the 1100s.
- City rights were granted on March 1, 1254 by Duke Barnim I.
- A bridge over the Oder was constructed in 1306, and customs charges brought the city considerable wealth.
- In 1313, a city wall was constructed.
- In 1530, a fire destroyed all of the houses.
- A plague killed half of the residents.
- The bridges were destroyed in the Thirty Years' War.
- Greifenhagen came under the reign of Sweden until the Stockholmer Peace of 1720, when Greifenhagen became Prussian.
- In 1780, a flood caused heavy damages.
- In 1818, the city of Greifenhagen became the county seat of a county in Pomerania.
- In 1857, two wooden bridges linked the city to the western Oder River shore. These were replaces by steel construction in 1913.
- The construction of the railroad as well as new shipping from Stettin to Berlin added to the city's economy.
- The city of Greifenhagen was 70% destroyed in World War II, and the city became Polish after the war and was named Gryfino. The remaining Germans were expelled if they chose not to accept Polish citizenship.
- The city of Bahn was founded in 1234, and was the second oldest city in Pomerania. The area was populated around 1000 B.C.
- Bahn belong to the Knights Templar and then the Order of St. John.
- Bahn was at the southern periphery of the Pomeranian Dukes.
- In 1330, Brandenburg conquered Bahn during its border war with Pomerania.
- Bahn returned to Pomerania in 1345 with the help of Barnim III.
- Bahn established a passion play in 1417, but the principal actors were killed in a dispute in 1498 and the play was banned.
- In 1478, conflicts again occurred with Brandenburg, and the town was conquered and the city wall destroyed.
- In the Peace of Prenzlau in 1479, the city returned to the Pomeranian Duke Bogislaw X and he left it to the Order of St. John again.
- The town of Fiddichow was on an old trade route in the 9th and 10th century, and the Slavs had a fortress there.
- City rights were received in 1347 from Barnim III.
- Following the Thirty Years' War, Fiddichow came under Swedish reign. During the war the population of the town was reduced from 936 inhabitants to about 30.
- Following the Brandenburg and Swedish War, Brandenburg acquired Fiddichow in the 1679 Peace of St. Germain.
- Fiddichow had breweries and a sugar factory.
- At the beginning of World War II, the town had 2,496 inhabitants, but after the flight and expulsion, only 600 people lived there.
- Today Fiddichow is called Widuchowa.
- In 1939, a northern part of the Kreis became part of Stettin and a large part of Kreis Randow became of part of Greifenhagen. After WWII, this part of Randow was all that was left in Germany.
Resources
- Deutschland (Deutsches Reich) Reichsamt für Landesaufnahme. Kreis Greifenhagen und Stadtkreis Stettin. Berlin: Verl. des Reichamts für Landesaufnahme, 1940.
- Eulitz, Oskar. Kreis Greifenhagen. Stolp i./Pom. : Eulitz, 1923. (Map)
- Garske, Hugo, Franz Waldmann, et al. Moritzfelde im Bild : ein Bildband über Moritzfelde, Kreis Greifenhagen in Pommern. Senden : Pommersche Verlagshandlung, 1989.
- Heimat-Kalender für den Kreis Greifenhagen : 1933. Greifenhagen : Kundler, 1933.
- Heimatkreis Greifenhagen
- Des Herzogthums Hinterpommern Saatziger, Pyritzischer und Greiffenhagischer Kreis. [Wien] [1791] (Map)
- Hoffmann, Curt and Pommersche Landsmannschaft. Kreis Greifenhagen im Bild. Hamburg, 1959.
- Institut für Angewandte Geodäsie. Kreis Greifenhagen und Stadtkreis Stettin. [Frankfurt/Main], 1994.
- Jacobi, Werner von. Die Abwanderung der Landbevölkerung Pommerns, vornehmlich der Kreise Randow, Greifenhagen, Saatzig und Pyritz in der Zeit vom 1. 1. 1928 bis 30. 6. 1929. Greifswald : Verlag Ratsbuchhandlung L. Bamberg, 1930. The migration of the rural population of Pommern, Germany, especially the counties of Randow, Greifenhagen, Saatzig and Pyritz, 1928-1929.
- Kreis Greifenhagen. Berlin: Reichsamt für Landesaufnahme, 1931.
- Kreis Greifenhagen, aus GenWiki, dem genealogischen Lexikon zum Mitmachen.
- Kreis Greifenhagen in Wort und Bild. [Lübeck]: Heimatkreisausschuss Greifenhagen, 1964.
- Kreis Greifenhagen und Stadtkreis Stettin. [Berlin]: Institut für Angewandte Geodäsie. 1961. (Map)
- Kreisadressbuch Greifenhagen i. Pommern: Enth. d. Städte: Greifenhagen, Bahn, Fiddichow sowie d. Gemeinden u. Gutsbezirke im Kreise. Eberswalde [, Brautstr. 33]: Rekla-Verlag H. Rulf, 1927. 11,775 records.
- Landkreis Greifenhagen: Gebietsstand von 1939. (Michael Rademacher). Statistics and communities.
- Lemcke, Hugo. Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler des Regierungsbezirks Stettin. H. 6, Der Kreis Greifenhagen. Stettin : Kommissionsverlag von Léon Saunier, 1902.
- Lemcke, Hugo. Der Kreis Greifenhagen. Stettin : Saunier, 1902.
- Lemcke, Hugo and Gesellschaft für Pommersche Geschichte und Alterthumskunde. Die Regierungsbezirk Stettin. Stettin : L. Saunier, 1900-
- Moritzfelder Anzeiger : Zeitschrift für die Freunde und Einwohner von Moritzfelde, Kreis Greifenhagen in Pommern. Senden, Rohrkamp 80 : Moritzfelder Anzeiger c/o F. Waldmann, 1993- (Periodical)
- MyPomerania.com In the Inventory page, type Greifenhagen in the Kreis/State box. Emigration reocrds. Land book records.
- Nießen, Paul von. Geschichte der Neumark im Zeitalter ihrer Entstehung und Besiedlung : von den ältesten Zeiten bis zum Aussterben der Askanier. Landsberg a. W. 1905.
- Ortsfamilienbuch Brusenfelde. Includes Brusenfelde, Marwitz, Kranzfelde, Marienhof, Lustwerder.
- Ortsfamilienbuch Nipperwiese.
- Ortsfamilienbuch Wildenbruch.
- Personenstandsbücher im Standesamt I in Berlin (Civil Registry Offices) -- Buchholz, Hohenkrug, Hökendorf, Sydowsaue, Heinrichsdorf, Klebow, Lindow
- Der schöne Kreis Greifenhagen : eine Heimatkunde in Bildern. Senden : Waldmann, 2005.
- Schumann, Hugo. Der Bronzefund von Hökendorf, Kreis Greifenhagen. Stettin, 1894.
- Sülflohn, Paul. Heimatkundliches aus Uchtdorf (Kreis Greifenhagen). [Uchtdorf/Pommern] : [P. Sülflohn], [1935].
- Waldmann, Franz and Herbert Kämper. Der Kreis Greifenhagen im heimatlichen Schrifttum : eine Literaturübersicht. Senden (Westf.) : Waldmann, 2005.
- Waldmann, Franz. Moritzfelde gestern und heute : e. Heimatbuch über Moritzfelde, Kreis Greifenhagen in Pommern. Senden (Westf.), Spreewaldweg 36 : F. Waldmann, 1983.
- Wörmke, J. Dietrich. Trau- und Proklamationsregister der Dom-, Nicolai- und Alt-Lutherischen Kirche 1801 - 1874 von Cammin, Kreis Greifenhagen, Pommern. Witten : Wörmke, 1999.
Research Contacts
| Pommerscher Greif Ansprechpartner (Contact) |
Dr. Franz Waldmann
Rohrkamp 80
48308 Senden/Westfalen, Germany
Tel.: 02597-98687 o. 991300
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Towns and Communities (Städte und Gemeinden)
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