German minority in Poland

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The German minority in Poland consists of 152,900 people according to a 2002 census.[1][2][3]

At the end of World War II, the territories of West Prussia, southern East Prussia, Lower Silesia, Upper Silesia, East Brandenburg, and the larger part of Pomerania were granted to Poland. In spite of the flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II, there were those who remained. Recently, more Germans acquired land and property in the areas where they, or their ancestors, used to live, and moved there.

Votes for the German Minority in the 2007 elections in the Opole Vovoidship
Votes for the German Minority in the 2007 elections in the Opole Vovoidship

The German language is used in certain areas in Opole Voivodship (Oppeln), where most of the minority resides. The German minority electoral list currently has one seat in the Polish parliament (Sejm) benefiting from the provision in the current Polish Election Law which allows national minorities to be exempt from the 5 per cent national threshold (there were four from 1993 to 1997).

There are 325 Polish schools that use the German language as the first language of instruction, with over 37,000 students attending them. Most members of the German minority are Roman Catholic and only some of them are Protestants (the Evangelical-Augsburg Church). A number of German language newspapers and magazines are issued in Poland.

Contents

[edit] Statistic Data

Most Germans in Poland live in Silesia (93% of all Germans in Poland): Opole Voivodeship - 104,399 i.e. approx. 69,9% all Germans in Poland, and approx. 10% of the population of this Voivodeship and Silesia Voivodeship - 31,882 i.e. approx. 20.8% of all Germans in Poland. In the other voivodeships, the percentage of Germans in the population lies between 0.632–0.007%.

region population German  % German
Poland 38,557,984 147,094 0.381
Opole Voivodeship 1,055,667 104,399 9.889
Silesian Voivodeship 4,830,000 30,531 0.632
Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship 1,428,552 4,311 0.302
Pomeranian Voivodeship 2,192,000 2,016 0.092
Dolny Śląsk Voivodeship 2,898,000 1,792 0.062
West Pomeranian Voivodeship 1,694,865 1,014 0.060
Greater Poland Voivodeship 3,365,283 820 0.024
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship 2,068,142 636 0.031
Lubusz Voivodeship 1,009,005 513 0.051
Mazowsze Voivodeship 5,136,000 351 0.007
Łódź Voivodeship 2,597,000 263 0.010

[edit] German media in Poland

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ As of 2002, according to Polish National Census.
  2. ^ Marta Moskal in "Language minorities in Poland at the moment of accession to the EU" notes that 2% (704,000) did not state any nationality in the 2002 census. She assumes that some members of the German national minority who have inhabited the Silesia region for numerous generations might define their nationality as Silesian (173,200 defined their nationality as Silesian). Representatives of ethnic minorities presume that the figures for their groups are underestimated due to the fact that, given their exclusion in the communist period, the minority groups prefer not to state their real ethnicity.
  3. ^ Tomasz Kamusella in "Dual Citizenship ..." estimates the number of ethnic Germans to be 400-500 thousand.

[edit] References

  • Dual Citizenship in Opole Silesia in the Context of European Integration, Tomasz Kamusella, Opole University, in Facta Universitatis, series Philosophy, Sociology and Psychology, Vol 2, No 10, 2003, pp. 699-716
  • Scholtz-Knobloch, Till (2002). Die deutsche Minderheit in Oberschlesien - Selbstreflexion und politisch-soziale Situation unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des so genannten „Oppelner Schlesiens (Westoberschlesien)“ (in German). Goerlitz: Senfkorn-Verlag. ISBN 3-935330-02-2. 
  • Zybura, Marek (2004). "Niemcy w Polsce" (in Polish). Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie. ISBN 83-7384-171-7. 
  • Rabagliati, Alastair (2001). "A Minority Vote. Participation of the German and Belarusian Minorities within the Polish Political System 1989-1999" (in English). Kraków: Zakład Wydawniczy NOMOS. ISBN 83-88508-18-0. 

[edit] Further reading

  • Cordell, Karl (June 1996). "Politics and society in Upper Silesia today: The German minority since 1945". Nationalities Papers 24 (2): 269–285. 
  • Cordell, Karl; Stefan Wolff (June 2005). "Ethnic Germans in Poland and the Czech Republic: a comparative evaluation". Nationalities Papers 33 (2): 255–276. 
  • Dyboski, Roman (September 1923). "Poland and the Problem of National Minorities". Journal of the British Institute of International Affairs 2 (5): 179–200. 
  • Fleming, Michael (December 2003). "The Limits of the German Minority Project in Post-communist Poland: Scale, Space and Democratic Deliberation". Nationalities Papers 31 (4): 391–411. 
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