Lignitz (administrative district)

The district of Lignitz in the north bordered with the district of Frankfurt of the Prussian province of Brandenburg and the district of Posen of the province of Posen (1920-1939: with Poland ; 1939-1945: with the Reichsgau Varteland ), in the east with the Breslau district of Silesia ( Lower Silesia ), in the south with Austrian empire (1918–1938: with Czechoslovakia ; 1938–1945: with Reichsgau Sudetenland ), in the west - with Frankfurt County, Brandenburg Province and the Kingdom of Saxony (1918–1945: Saxony ). In everyday life, the district Lignitz was often called directly Lower Silesia .

The district of Lignitz was originally formed in 1808 in the territory controlled by the Lower Silesian Military Blast Chamber , which included the former Legnica , Yavorskoye and Zagan and partially Glogow Silesian principalities , as well as numerous Bohemian exclaves . On the basis of the decree of April 30, 1815 during the administrative reform carried out in Prussia after the Congress of Vienna to improve provincial administration, the district of Lignitz was re-approved as part of eleven districts Bunzlau, Freistadt, Glogau, Goldberg, Grünberg, Lauban, Lignitz, Leuvenberg, Lyuben, Zagan and Shprottau. In addition, in 1816, the former Saxon Upper Lusatia , previously located in the district of Merseburg in the Prussian province of Saxony , was also transferred to the district , as a result of which the Gorlitz and Rothenburg districts were also formed here.

On May 1, 1820, the District of Reichenbach was liquidated, from which the districts of Bolkenhain, Hirschberg, Jauer, Landeshut and Schönau passed into the district of Lignitz. In 1825, the region around Hoyerswerdy was transferred from the district of Frankfurt to the Prussian province of Brandenburg to the district of Lignitz, forming a new district of Hoyerswerda. In 1873, 1874 and 1920, respectively, the cities of Görlitz , Lignitz and Glogau were allocated from the districts of the same name, receiving the status of non-district cities . In the years 1922-1933 an independent urban district also formed the city of Grünberg .

During the administrative reform on October 1, 1932, the areas of Bolkenhayn, Zagan and Schönau were abolished, and their territory was divided between neighboring areas. In 1938, the Prussian province of Posen-West Prussia was liquidated and divided, as a result of which the district Lignitz received a new district of Fraustadt and the southern part of the abolished Bomst district, which became part of the Grunberg district.

After 1945, the main part of the district Lignitz was in Poland, where it became part of the newly formed Wrocław and Poznan provinces. After numerous administrative reforms in Poland today, these territories are mainly included in the Lower Silesian and Lubuskie provinces.

The westernmost part of the district of Lignitz (the region of Hoyerswerda entirely, partially the districts of Görlitz , Rotenburg and a small part of the district of Zagan) remained in Germany after 1945 and were annexed to Saxony , where they are today after the annexation of the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany and the restoration of Saxony in 1990.

A list of all ever existing districts of Lignitz County, with their administrative centers:

• Urban areas
  • urban district Goerlitz (highlighted in 1873)
  • urban area Lignitz (highlighted in 1874)
  • Glogau urban area (highlighted in 1920)
  • urban district Grunberg (allocated in 1922; abolished in 1933)
  • urban area Hirschberg in Riesengebirge (singled out in 1927; before 1820 - in the district of Reichenbach )
• Rural areas
  • district Bunzlau, adm. center - Bunzlau
  • Glogau district, adm. center - Glogau
  • Goldberg district (1817-1932: Goldberg-Heinau) , adm. Center - Heinau (until 1817 - Goldberg )
  • Grunberg district, adm. center - Grunberg
  • Zagan district (abolished in 1932) , adm. center - Zagan
  • district Lauban, adm. center - Lauban
  • district Leuvenberg, adm. Center - Lowenberg in Schlesien
  • district Lignitz, adm. center - Lignitz
  • district Luben, adm. center - Luben
  • Freistadt district, adm. Center - Freistadt
  • district Shprottau, adm. center - Shprottau
  • Goerlitz district (until 1816 - in the Merseburg district ) , adm. center - Görlitz
  • Rothenburg district (until 1816 - in the district of Merseburg) , adm. Center - Rothenburg
  • Bolkenhayn district (until 1820 - in the Reichenbach district ; abolished in 1932) , adm. center - Bolkenhain
  • Hirschberg district (until 1820 - in Reichenbach district) , adm. center - Hirschberg
  • District Jauer (before 1820 - in Reichenbach district) , adm. center - Power .
  • District Landeshut (until 1820 - in the district of Reichenbach) , adm. center - Landeshut
  • Schönau district (until 1820 - in the district of Reichenbach; abolished in 1932) , adm. center - Schönau
  • Hoyerswerda district (until 1825 - in the district of Frankfurt ) , adm. Center - Hoyerswerda
  • Fraustadt district (transferred in 1938 from the province of Posen-West Prussia ) , adm. center - Fraustadt

The territory and population of the county of Lignitz in 1900 ^[2] and in 1925 ^[3] , as well as as of May 17, 1939, on the borders of January 1, 1941, and the number of districts as of January 1, 1941 ^[4] were:

• Liegnitz // Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon . - Band 12. - Leipzig, 1908. - S. 540 (German)
• Liegnitz // Pierer's Universal-Lexikon. - Band 10. - Altenburg, 1860. - S. 368-369 (German)
• HGIS Germany: Regierungsbezirk Liegnitz (him)
• Territoriale Veränderungen in Deutschland: Regierungsbezirk Liegnitz (it.)