Western Pomerania


Historical Western Pomerania, also called Cispomerania, 'Fore Pomerania, Front Pomerania or Hither Pomerania', is the western extremity of the historic region of Pomerania, located mostly in north-eastern Germany, with a small portion in north-western Poland, at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea.
Western Pomerania's boundaries have changed through the centuries as it belonged to various countries such as the Duchy of Pomerania, Denmark, Sweden, as well as Prussia which incorporated it as the Province of Pomerania.
Today, the region contains the whole area of Pomerania west of the Oder River, small bridgeheads east of the river, as well as the islands in the Szczecin Lagoon. Its majority forms part of Germany and has been divided between the states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg, with the cities of Stralsund and Greifswald, as well as towns such as Ribnitz-Damgarten, Bergen auf Rügen, Anklam, Wolgast, Demmin, Pasewalk, Grimmen, Sassnitz, Ueckermünde, Torgelow, Barth, and Gartz. The cities of Szczecin and Świnoujście, as well as the towns of Police, Goleniów, Wolin, Międzyzdroje, Nowe Warpno, and Dziwnów are part of Poland. The German part forms about one-third of the present-day north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, while the Polish part constitutes the westernmost border areas of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.
German Western Pomerania had a population of about 470,000 in 2012 while the Polish districts of the region had a population of about 520,000 in 2012. Overall approximately 1 million people live in the historical region of Western Pomerania today.

Terminology

The German prefix Vor- denotes a location closer to the speaker, and is the equivalent of "Fore"/"Front"/"Hither" in English and Anterior/Citerior/Cis- in Latin. Historically the name "Hither Pomerania" has been used, but in modern English the German region is more commonly called "Western Pomerania" or by its native name. The formerly widespread local dialect term is.
The name Pomerania comes from Slavic po more, which means "land by the sea". The adjective for the region is Pomeranian, inhabitants are called Pomeranians. The Polish names for the historical region, Pomorze Zachodnie or Pomorze Nadodrzańskie, have usually been applied to the entire narrower Pomerania, including Farther Pomerania, but excluding Pomerelia. In the narrower sense, the designation may also refer to the western part of the area only, alternatively called for precision Pomorze Szczecińskie, encompassing the entire German Pomerania combined with the Polish part of the historical Middle Pomerania up to Rega. In such case, the remainder of Farther Pomerania is called Pomorze Środkowe or Pomorze Koszalińsko-Słupskie.
As a further complication, the borders of the eponymous administrative units have been drawn disregarding mostly the historical ones. The Polish unit called województwo zachodniopomorskie includes the whole Polish part of Hither Pomerania, but only the western two-thirds of Farther Pomerania, with the remaining easternmost one-third forming a part of the neighbouring województwo pomorskie. On the other hand, it stretches far more south than the historical region, to include the northern part of the historical Neumark, as well as a strip the historical Greater Poland, or even a small part of Pomerelia. As a consequence, the common understanding of the term West Pomerania has recently started to shift towards this current administrative extent. Similarly, borders of the German districts Vorpommern-Rügen and Vorpommern-Greifswald deviate from the historical ones in numerous locations.
The name Pomorze Przednie, Przedpomorze corresponding to Hither/Fore Pomerania is nowadays used in Polish almost exclusively when referring to the part located in Germany, while its usage in the full meaning is limited to exact translations of German texts. It is also referred to as Pomorze Wołogoskie.
File:Steilküste bei Ahrenshoop.jpg|thumb|Western Pomerania is famous for its sandy beaches along the Baltic Sea, its islands such as Rügen, Usedom and Hiddensee – and the many lagoons, part of them protected in the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park. The photo shows the steep coast at Darss West Beach, near Ahrenshoop.

Geography

The major feature of Western Pomerania is its long Baltic Sea and lagoons coastline. Typical is a distinct "double coast", whereby offshore islands separate lagoons from the open sea, forming a unique landscape. The islands Kirr, Hiddensee, Ummanz, Dänholm, Rügen, Öhe, Riems, Vilm, Greifswalder Oie, Usedom, Karsibór and Wolin, as well as the islands of the city of Szczecin are located in Western Pomerania.
The largest city in Western Pomerania is Szczecin on the Polish side and Stralsund on the German side. Today it is still an important town economically. The towns of Stralsund and Greifswald together, after Rostock, are the second largest centres of population in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In addition the region has the highest population density of the four planning regions in the state.
Western Pomerania has several national parks:
Another region in Western Pomerania under extensive conservation protection is the Peene Valley.

Administrative subdivisions

German Vorpommern is understood today as comprising the islands of Rügen and Usedom and the nearby mainland, roughly matching the administrative districts of Vorpommern-Rügen and Vorpommern-Greifswald, though those districts' boundaries with Mecklenburg proper do not match the pre-1945 demarcation.
The region is mentioned in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state constitution as one of the two constituting regions of the state with the right to form a Landschaftsverband, which is an administrative entity subordinate only to the state level. Consideration was given during an unsuccessful district reform project in 1994 to restoring the old boundary, but this was not implemented. The Ribnitz, Marlow and Fischland area of Vorpommern-Rügen were historically part of Mecklenburg. The old western boundary line was preserved in the division between the two Protestant church bodies of the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg and the Pomeranian Evangelical Church prior to their absorption into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany.
The Polish part encompasses the cities with powiat rights of Szczecin and Świnoujscie, the entire Police County, Gmina Goleniów in Goleniów County, as well as the part of Kamień County located on the island of Wolin.

Cities and towns

There are four cities in the region, namely Szczecin and Świnoujście on the Polish side, as well as Stralsund and Greifswald on the German side of the border. Major towns in the German part of the region include Bergen auf Rügen, Demmin, Anklam, Wolgast and Pasewalk. The municipalities of Binz, Zingst, Zinnowitz and Heringsdorf do not have town rights, but are in fact semi-urban localities, with the latter of them covering the area known as Dreikaiserbäder consisting of the former municipalities of Ahlbeck, Bansin and Heringsdorf. Towns in the Polish part include Police, Goleniów, Wolin, Międzyzdroje, Nowe Warpno, and the left-bank part of Dziwnów. In addition, the highly populated villages of Mierzyn, Przecław, Warzymice and Bezrzecze constitute in fact direct residential extensions of the city of Szczecin, consisting mostly of large housing estates, thus having along with the resort locality of Trzebież a semi-urban character, in spite of neither holding town rights nor being seats of a municipality, and despite being several-fold more populated than the seats of the respective municipalities that they are parts of.
You can sort this complete table of cities and towns by clicking one of the upper columns. The list does not include the former town of Dąbie, which currently is a neighbourhood of Szczecin; it also does not include the Brandenburgian city of Schwedt whose parts located north of Wesel, acquired in contemporary times, belong to historic Western Pomerania.
Town or city
in Germany/Poland		Coat of ArmsDistrict of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania or Brandenburg/
County of West Pomeranian Voivodeship		first mentionedTown privilegesArea in km2Population at 31 December 2013Image
Szczecincity with powiat rights1243301.30408105
Hanseatic City of StralsundVorpommern-Rügen1234123438.97
Hanseatic and University City of GreifswaldVorpommern-Greifswald1241125050.50
Świnoujściecity with powiat rights1765197.2341371
PolicePolice County1243126036.8433625
GoleniówGoleniów County1220126811.7422776
Bergen auf RügenVorpommern-Rügen1314161351.42
AnklamVorpommern-Greifswald1243126456.57
WolgastVorpommern-Greifswald1123125761.52
DemminMecklenburgische Seenplatte1070123681.56
PasewalkVorpommern-Greifswald1121125154.99
GrimmenVorpommern-Rügen1267128750.29
SassnitzVorpommern-Rügen1906195746.45
TorgelowVorpommern-Greifswald1281194549.46
UeckermündeVorpommern-Greifswald1178126084.69
BarthVorpommern-Rügen1255125540.83
MiędzyzdrojeKamień County15th century19454.515425
AltentreptowMecklenburgische Seenplatte1245128252.83
WolinKamień County966126714.414999
EggesinVorpommern-Greifswald1216196688.01
LoitzVorpommern-Greifswald1242124289.53
PutbusVorpommern-Rügen1810181066.60
Ribnitz-Damgarten Vorpommern-Rügen1258
3289
JarmenVorpommern-Greifswald1269172030.64
GützkowVorpommern-Greifswald1301135342.68
TribseesVorpommern-Rügen1136128554.75
GartzUckermark1124124961.692508
Garz/RügenVorpommern-Rügen1207131965.44
PenkunVorpommern-Greifswald1240128478.64
UsedomVorpommern-Greifswald1124129838.54
LassanVorpommern-Greifswald1136127427.98
FranzburgVorpommern-Rügen1231158715.19
RichtenbergVorpommern-Rügen1231153515.62
Nowe WarpnoPolice County1184129524.511231
Dziwnów
Kamień County124320044.07
3.04 		2137
669