German Eastern Marches Society
The German Ostmark club was a German nationalist organization that was founded in 1894 in the city of Poznan and worked in the eastern area of the German Empire.
Target and membership structure
The club was first established as " Association for the Promotion of the Germans in the eastern marches " in 1894 in Poznań by Ferdinand von Hanse Man Pempowo, squires, Hermann Kennemann - Klenka, Landesökonomierat, and Heinrich von Tiedemann Seeheim, lords of the manor of Seeheim and retired Major, and 1899 renamed " Ostmark German association" (DOV ). ( The initial letters of the founders was formed from the perspective of Poland, the epithet " HKT = Hakata " or " Hakatist " an enemy of Poland. ) Prior to the founding of the association was of 1700 German Poznań citizens a " pilgrimage " to Bismarck's residence in Varzin been undertaken, under whose patronage they wanted to make the envisaged implementation of the association's goals. Bismarck held an hour-long speech to them. 1900 was called in the body of the society " The Ostmark " to build a monument to Bismarck. It should be " a landmark of the Germans in Posen, a symbolic representation of the German incumbent on us sergeant on the Warta River, a sign of the fact that the German eagle never publishes again, where he struck his fangs once ".
The aim of the club was pressing ahead with the Germanization and "Strengthening of Germanism " in the annexed by Prussia in the partitions of Poland areas Posen and West Prussia. Thus, a response to the growing proportion of the Polish population was to be found, as has already tried to respond, which was founded in 1886 Prussian Settlement Commission. Among other numerous place names were Germanized in the east of the German Reich under this policy.
The DOV decreed in 1913 more than 446 local chapters with 50 230 members. Teachers, professors, entrepreneurs and senior executives: Striking the high proportion of groups whose members than multipliers can apply ' are. This corresponds to the membership of the ideologically related Pan-German League, whose founding goal was " revitalization of the patriotic consciousness in the home and fight all the national development opposing directions.
Article 1 of the Statute of the DOV was:
"Strengthening of the German people " was the name that the target came down to combat established in the eastern marches Prussian Poland, Prussia as well as people belonging to the German Empire from 1871 like everyone else, German -born ' citizen of the Reich. The club tried in vain to respond to the fact that in the course of his work which German -born ' Prussia were Ostflucht less and the citizens of Polish descent increased demographically and won by the Poles party influence, although the Prussian legislation under the influence of " Ostmarker " strengthening should promote the Germanness by favoring German settlement.
Walkenhorst stated in 2007 that the Ostmark club have held closely to the requirements of the Prussian government, was also encouraged by this, which led to the fact that he found many supporters within the bureaucracy in the eastern provinces. This self- bonding have led, however, " that, Hakatisten ' with criticism of the official Polish policy were extremely cautious and ready to programmatic compromises a far greater extent than about the Pan-German ".
Ideological support for the conviction of the planned " Germanization " was won by the club in the developed by Gustaf Kossinna Ethnoarchaeology, from which evidence for an originally Germanic settlement even more Eastern European territories before the migrations were. So could " Ostmarker " from, vast land east of the Elbe between the Baltic and Sudeten deep into Russian Poland ' talk, which the, undoubted claim to the honor as the original home and birthplace of the only self- similar Germanic ' zukomme. From the Polish side has responded with equivalent concepts in the " Polish western research ", by the West Józef Kostrzewski researchers who had studied at Kossinna.
Since 1895 there was a group of women in the club, 1896 the name " German women for the Eastern Marches " were located. The aim was to support the German population in nursing, parenting and related fields. Until 1914, 30 branch associations had been formed, which included 3415 members.
After 1919, when Germany was forced to cede large parts of these areas, which was founded again as the new Eastern European nation state of Poland because of the Treaty of Versailles, the club came word leading to a revision of the new eastern border. In 1926 he won Albert Brackmann as an important member, who sought as Ostforscher around the reinforcement and expansion of German influence and the withdrawal of Polish and Czechoslovak nationhood. While maintaining his goals, he was transferred as a core with other East German associations in 1933 under Franz Luedtke in the Federation of German East.