Lubusz Land ( pl, Ziemia lubuska; german: Land Lebus) is a

historical region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political basis, regardless of latterday borders. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing soc ...

and cultural landscape in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on both sides of the Oder river. Originally the settlement area of the

Lechites Lechites (, german: Lechiten), also known as the Lechitic tribes (, german: Lechitische Stämme), is a name given to certain West Slavic tribes who inhabited modern-day Poland and eastern Germany, and were speakers of the Lechitic languages. Dist ...

, the swampy area was located east of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

and west of Greater Poland, south of

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

and north of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

and

Lower Lusatia Lower Lusatia (; ; ; szl, Dolnŏ Łużyca; ; ) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the sou ...

. Presently its eastern part lies within the Polish

Lubusz Voivodeship Lubusz Voivodeship, or Lubuskie Province ( pl, województwo lubuskie ), is a voivodeship (province) in western Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra Voivodeships, pursuant to the Po ...

, the western part with its historical capital Lebus (Lubusz) in the German state of

History

Kingdom of Poland

When in 928 King Henry I of Germany crossed the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

river to conquer the lands of the Veleti, he did not subdue the Leubuzzi people settling beyond the Spree. Their territory was either already inherited by the first Polish ruler Mieszko I (~960-992) or conquered by him in the early period of his rule. After Mieszkos' death the whole country was inherited by his son Duke, and later King, Bolesław I the Brave. After the German Northern March got lost in a 983 Slavic rebellion, Duke Bolesław and King Otto III of Germany in 991 agreed at

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...

to jointly conquer the remaining

Lutici The Lutici or Liutizi (known by various spelling variants) were a federation of West Slavic Polabian tribes, who between the 10th and 12th centuries lived in what is now northeastern Germany. Four tribes made up the core of the federation: th ...

an territory, Otto coming from the west and Bolesław starting from Lubusz in the east. However, they did not succeed. Instead Otto's successor King

Henry II of Germany Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler o ...

in the rising conflict over the adjacent Lusatian march concluded an alliance with the Lutici and repeatedly attacked Bolesław. Silesia 1241-1243

Lubusz Land remained under Polish control even after King

Mieszko II Lambert Mieszko II Lambert (; c. 990 – 10/11 May 1034) was King of Poland from 1025 to 1031, and Duke from 1032 until his death. He was the second son of Bolesław I the Brave, but the eldest born from his third wife Emnilda of Lusatia. He was pro ...

in 1031 finally had to withdraw from the adjacent, just conquered March of Lusatia and accept the overlordship of Emperor Conrad II. In 1125 Duke

Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth ( pl, Bolesław III Krzywousty; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between ...

of Poland established the Bishopric of Lebus to secure Lubusz Land. 1124-1125 records note that the new Bishop of Lebus was nominated by Duke Bolesław under the

Archbishopric of Gniezno The Archdiocese of Gniezno ( la, Archidioecesis Gnesnensis, pl, Archidiecezja Gnieźnieńska) is the oldest Latin Catholic archdiocese in Poland, located in the city of Gniezno.Archbishops of Magdeburg, who also tried to make Lebus their suffragan. The Polish position was decisively enfeebled by the process of fragmentation after the death of Duke Bolesław III in 1138, when Lubusz Land became part of the Duchy of Silesia. The Duchy of Silesia was restored to the descendants of Władysław II the Exile in 1163, and Lubusz Land together with

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...

was given to his eldest son Bolesław I the Tall. In the 13th century Polish dukes in order to help develop Lubusz Land, granted some areas to different Catholic religious orders, such as the Cistercians, Canons Regular and Knights Templar. Among those orders possessions were Łagów, Chwarszczany, Lubiąż (today's ''Müncheberg'') and Dębno. Lubusz remained under the rule of the

Silesian Piasts The Silesian Piasts were the elder of four lines of the Polish Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile (1105–1159), eldest son of Duke Bolesław III of Poland. By Bolesław's testament, Władysław was granted Silesia as his h ...

, though Bolesław's son Duke

Henry I the Bearded Henry the Bearded ( pl, Henryk (Jędrzych) Brodaty, german: Heinrich der Bärtige; c. 1165/70 – 19 March 1238) was a Polish duke from the Piast dynasty. He was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1201, Duke of Kraków and High Duke of all Pol ...

in 1206 signed an agreement with Duke Władysław III Spindleshanks of Greater Poland to swap it for the

Kalisz Region Kalisz Region ( pl, Kaliskie) is a historical and ethnographical area of Poland, located in central Poland mainly in the Greater Poland Lakes Area and South Greater Poland Plain. It forms the eastern part of Greater Poland proper. Kalisz Region e ...

. This agreement however did not last as it provoked the revolt of Władysław's nephew

Władysław Odonic Władysław Odonic, nicknamed Plwacz or the Spitter, ( – 5 June 1239) was a duke of Kalisz 1207–1217, duke of Poznań 1216–1217, ruler of Ujście in 1223, ruler of Nakło from 1225, and duke of all Greater Poland 1229–1234; from 1234 un ...

, while in addition the Lusatian margrave Conrad II of Landsberg took this occasion to invade Lubusz. Duke Henry I appealed to Emperor

Otto IV Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218. Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 119 ...

and already started an armed expedition, until he was once again able to secure his possession of the region after Margrave Conrad had died in 1210. Nevertheless, the resistance against the Imperial expansion waned as the Silesian territories were again fragmented after the death of Duke

Henry II the Pious Henry II the Pious ( pl, Henryk II Pobożny; 1196 – 9 April 1241) was Duke of Silesia and High Duke of Poland as well as Duke of South-Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. Between 1238 and 1239 he also served as regent of Sandomierz and ...

at the Battle of Legnica in 1241. His younger son Mieszko then held the title of a "Duke of Lubusz", but died only one year later, after which his territory fell to his elder brother

Bolesław II the Bald Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to: In people: * Boleslaw (given name) In geography: * Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, ...

. In 1248 Bolesław II, then Duke of Legnica, finally sold Lubusz to Magdeburg's Archbishop Wilbrand von Käfernburg and the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg in 1249, wielding the secular reign.

March of Brandenburg

As to secular rule Lubusz Land was finally separated from Silesia, according to

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

however, the Lebus diocese, comprising most of Lubusz Land, remained subordinate to the Gniezno

metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...

. Meanwhile, the Brandenburg margraves forwarded the incorporation of Lubusz Land into their New March, created and expanded further to the northeast after the acquisition of the Santok castellany in 1296 on the forest areas between the

Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (german: Herzogtum Pommern; pl, Księstwo Pomorskie; Latin: ''Ducatus Pomeraniae'') was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania (''Griffins''). The country ha ...

and Greater Poland. The Lebus bishops tried to maintain their affiliation with Poland and in 1276 therefore moved their residence east of the Oder river to Górzyca (Göritz upon Oder), an episcopal fief. When in 1320 the Brandenburg House of Ascania became extinct, King

Władysław I the Elbow-high Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym * ...

took the chance, allied with Bishop Stephen II and campaigned the New March. In return the head of secular government in Lubusz, governor Erich of Wulkow, loyal to the new Brandenburg margrave Louis I of Wittelsbach, raided and captured the episcopal possessions in 1325, burning down the Górzyca cathedral. Bishop Stephen fled to Poland. In 1354 Bishop Henry Bentsch reconciled with Margrave Louis II and the episcopal possessions were returned. The see of the bishopric returned to Lebus, where a new cathedral was built. In 1373 the diocese was again devastated by a Bohemian army, when Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg took the Brandenburg margraviate from the House of Wittelsbach. It became part of the Lands of the Bohemian (Czech) Crown. The see of the bishopric now moved to Fürstenwalde (Przybór) ( St Mary's Cathedral, Fürstenwalde). Polish monarchs still made peaceful attempts to regain the region. The northern part of the diocese of Lubusz, the Kostrzyn land, administratively became part of the New March, a peripheral region for Czech rulers who were willing to sell it. In 1402, an agreement was reached in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

between them and the Poles, under which

was to purchase this region, however in the same year the Luxembourgs sold the region to the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...

, Poland's arch-enemy. In 1454, after the Thirteen Years’ War broke out, the Teutonic Knights sold the region to Brandenburg in order to raise funds for war against Poland. The bulk of the Lubusz Land remained part of the Bohemian (Czech) lands until 1415. Dom St Marien - panoramio

In 1424 the Lebus bishopric became a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg, finally leaving the Gniezno ecclesiastical province. In 1518 Bishop Dietrich von Bülow bought the secular lordship of

Beeskow Beeskow ( dsb, Bezkow) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, and capital of the Oder-Spree district. It is situated on the river Spree, 30 km southwest of Frankfurt an der Oder. Demography File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Beeskow.pdf, Developm ...

- Storkow, in secular respect a Bohemian fief, in religious respect mostly no part of his diocese but of the Diocese of Meissen. The castle in

became the episcopal residence. The last Catholic bishop was

Georg von Blumenthal Georg von Blumenthal (1490 – 25 September 1550) was a German Prince-Bishop of Ratzeburg and Bishop of Lebus. He also served as a Privy Councillor of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and Chancellor of the University of Frankfurt (Oder), common ...

, who died in 1550 after a heroic non-military counter-reformatory campaign. However, when in 1547 Bishop Georg tried to recruit and arm troops in order to join the Catholic Imperial forces in the Smalkaldic War, his vassal city of Beeskow refused to obey. From 1555 the bishopric was secularised and became a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

diocese and the area east of the Oder was later called Eastern Brandenburg. In 1575 King Maximilian II of Bohemia granted the Beeskow lordship of the Lebus diocese to Brandenburg as a Bohemian

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

, which it remained until the

First Silesian War The First Silesian War (german: Erster Schlesischer Krieg, links=no) was a war between Prussia and Austria that lasted from 1740 to 1742 and resulted in Prussia's seizing most of the region of Silesia (now in south-western Poland) from Austria. T ...

in 1742. When in 1598 the Magdeburg administrator Joachim Frederick of Hohenzollern became Elector of Brandenburg, all official links with Poland had long been cut.

Prussia and Germany

But new links to Poland developed, because since 1618 the prince-electors of Brandenburg ruled the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...

, then a Polish

vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

, in

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

. In 1657 Prussia gained sovereignty, so in 1701 the electors could upgrade their simultaneously held Prussian dukedom to the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

, dropping the title of elector of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

at its dissolution in 1806. In 1815 the kingdom joined the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

, in 1866 the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...

, which enlarged in 1871 to united Germany. By the 17th century most of the population, consisting of autochthon

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

and German settlers, had mingled and assimilated to

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

. By later eastward extensions of Brandenburg on the expense of Polish territory also a new Polish-speaking minority was incorporated. The most numerous Polish minority was in the village of Kaława (''Kalau''), although the great majority (90+%) of the population spoke German. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-E0406-0022-012, Sowjetische Artillerie vor Berlin

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-E0406-0022-012, Sowjetische Artillerie vor Berlin

Lubusz Land was the site of fierce fighting on the Eastern Front of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1945. In February and March the battle for

Kostrzyn nad Odrą Kostrzyn nad Odrą (literally Kostrzyn upon Oder) (; german: Küstrin ) is a town in Gorzów County, Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland, close to the border with Germany. Geography The town is situated within the historic Lubusz Land (''Ziemia ...

(then ''Küstrin'') was fought, which resulted in 95% of the town being destroyed, making it the most destructed town of post-war Poland. In April the

Battle of the Seelow Heights The Battle of the Seelow Heights (german: Schlacht um die Seelower Höhen) was part of the Berlin Offensive, Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation (16 April–2 May 1945). A pitched battle, it was one of the last assaults on large Field entrenchm ...

took place, ending in a Soviet-Polish victory. It was one of the last battles before the capitulation of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and the end of World War II in Europe.

In Poland and Germany

Most of the Lubusz Land was transferred to Poland by the 1945

Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris P ...

, while Germany retained areas west of the Oder-Neisse line including the historical capital Lebus as well as the towns of Fürstenwalde and Müllrose. In German ''Land Lebus'' denotes only a relatively small area of the wider historical land. Whereas Frankfurt upon Oder, founded later and under Marcher auspices, does not form part of the Lebus Land in German comprehension, its western and northwestern environs do, as much north as

Letschin Letschin is a municipality in the district of Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany. The municipality has ten subdivisions: Demography File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Letschin.pdf, Development of Population since 1875 within the Current ...

, west as far as Buckow in Marcher Switzerland and and from there, the southern frontier follows a line via Fürstenwalde to Müllrose. Polish and Soviet authorities expelled most of the German population from the Polish annexed part of Lubusz Land. Refugees who had fled before the Soviet forces were prevented from returning to their homes. The area was then resettled with Poles expelled from Soviet-annexed eastern Poland and migrants from central Poland. The largest cities and capitals of the Polish

today are Zielona Góra and Gorzów Wielkopolski, which however were not part of the historical Lubusz Land (cf. map above), but were parts of

and Greater Poland (the Santok castellany) respectively. Today, the largest town of Lubusz Land is Frankfurt (Oder), located in the German part of the region. On the Polish side the largest town is

. The region's historic capital, Lebus, is one of the smallest towns. In the Polish part of the Lubusz Land, in

Słubice Słubice is a border town in the Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. Located on the Oder river, it lies directly opposite the city of Frankfurt (Oder) in Germany, which it was a part of as ''Dammvorstadt'' until 1945. As of 2019, the town ha ...

, the

Wikipedia Monument The ''Wikipedia Monument'' ( pl, Pomnik Wikipedii), located in Słubice, Poland, is a statue designed by Armenian sculptor Mihran Hakobyan honoring Wikipedia contributors. It was unveiled in Frankfurt Square (Plac Frankfurcki) on 22 October ...

, world's first monument dedicated to the

Wikipedia community The Wikipedia community, collectively known colloquially as Wikipedians, is an informal community that volunteers to create and maintain Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. Since August 2012, the word "Wikipedian" has been an '' Oxford Diction ...

, was unveiled in 2014.

Towns

Towns on the west side of the Oder, in

: *

* Buckow *

Eisenhüttenstadt Eisenhüttenstadt (literally "ironworks city" in German; , dsb, Pśibrjog) is a town in the Oder-Spree district of the state of Brandenburg, Germany, on the border with Poland. East Germany founded the city in 1950. It was known as Stalinstadt ( ...

* Frankfurt (Oder) *

Fürstenwalde Fürstenwalde/Spree (; Lower Sorbian: ''Pśibor pśi Sprjewje'') is the most populous town in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, Germany. Geography The town is situated in the glacial valley (''Urstromtal'') of the Spree river north of the ...

* Lebus * Müllrose *

Müncheberg Müncheberg is a small town in Märkisch-Oderland, Germany approximately halfway between Berlin and the border with Poland, within the historic region of Lubusz Land. Geography Prior to 2003 the area today covered by Müncheberg was organized as ...

Seelow Seelow () is a German town, seat of the Märkisch-Oderland, a district of Brandenburg. As of 2013 its population was of 5,464. Geography It is situated in the extreme east of Germany, 70 km (40 miles) east of Berlin, 16 km (10 miles) wes ...

Towns on the east side of the Oder, in

: * Cybinka * Dębno *

Ośno Lubuskie Ośno Lubuskie (german: Drossen) is a town in Słubice County, Lubusz Voivodeship, Poland. It has 3,951 inhabitants (2019). Geography Ośno Lubuskie is located near the river Łęcza and the lake Reczynek. It is located in the historic Lubusz ...

Rzepin Rzepin (german: Reppen) is a town in western Poland. Situated in the Lubusz Voivodeship (since 1999), in Słubice County it is a seat of the urban-rural Rzepin Gmina. From 1975 until 1998 the town, from an administrative point of view, belonged ...

* Sulęcin *

Torzym Torzym (german: Sternberg in der Neumark) is a small town in Sulęcin County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It is the administrative seat of the urban-rural Gmina Torzym. It was known as ''Toruń Lubuski'' between 1945 and 1946. Geograph ...

Witnica Witnica (german: Vietz in Ostbrandenburg) is a town in western Poland, situated in the Lubusz Voivodeship, with 6,747 inhabitants (2019). The town is located in the historic Lubusz Land. The town's name derives from the Polish language, Polish ...

External links

Info on the Lubusz Land

Pictures of Lubusz

Footnotes

{{Authority control Lubusz Voivodeship Margraviate of Brandenburg Regions of Poland Regions of Brandenburg History of Silesia