POSEN / POZNAN

South Prussia

The Pittelkau’s by several different names lived in Landkreis Bromberg, Posen, Prussia (Posen, Preußen) from at least the early 1600’s until 1945. At this place of safety for the Pittelkau family came the immigrants to America and Western Germany. These folks lived under the Polish flag from their first arrival to 1773, Prussian until 1945 and then once again Polish. Although some of these folks may have spoke Polish or Russian, the predominant language used in this area was Plattdeutsch.

An Additional list of the Pittelkau from Kreis Bromberg: More Pittelkau Some of these folks can be found listed elsewhere, but some are not. Please take note of the variations in spelling of the name over time.

NOTE: Government areas of Kreis Bromberg were Bromberg-Stadt (City of Bromberg) and Landkreis Bromberg with Stadts or Cities of Fordon, Schulitz, Crone,and Brahe. The communities east of Bromberg belonged to the Bromberg Evangelical Diocese. Many of the following villages cannot be found on a map. Some are field names, others are estates or place names for the parts of estates where the workers lived.

Map of the Area of Bromberg:

¨ Bromberg and area.

PLACE NAMES

Bromberg Stadt, Schulitz Stadt, Schulitzer Holländer (Schlosshauland and Stadthauland), Schulitzer Vorwerk, Schulitzer Kämpe, Ort Langenau, Ort Flötenau, Ort Otterowe (Otteraue, Otterauer Mühle), Ort Siebenbergen, Ort Feyerland, Ort Steindorf, Ort Ruden, Ort Jania (Jonia), Lęzini, Lęzni, Laski, Lącki, Ort Krempa (Od Brodu), Topole (Rapole), Rosenke, Beim Krüger=Ex taberna Perek, Zusamenn=Susen, Czersk, Salwin, Ort Przylubie (Weischselthal or Weischelhof or Weischselthal und Grätz), Ort Kabott (Jezierce, Trzciana), Ort Getau, Ort Grätz, Katrinchen, Krossen (Dombrowa and Dembinki), Ort Kobelblott, Leschitz.

NOTE: "The first colonists in Posen came from the Netherlands. These people knew how to cultivate high water places. Places where they lived at first were called "Hollaendisch" Otteraue, Przylubie etc. Later the name changed to Hauland. In german it is easier to explain than it is in English: Netherland = Holland (people called Hollaender) later Hauland (people called Haulaender)." See the hand drawn map taken from the Die Holländerdörfer in der Weichselniederung um Thorn written by Von Dr. Reinhold Heuer, published by "Copernikus Verein für Wissenschaft und Kunst" (Copernikus society of knowledge and art), the book is named "Mitteilungen des Copernikus-Vereins für Wissenschaft und Kunst"( information from Copernikus society of knowledge and art), Thorn no 42, 1934. This map indicates the places where the Hollaendisch first lived in Middle Poland.

You may also notice the City of Gurske near the center of the map. The church at Gurske was the first in the Valley of Thorn to use a Churchbook to record baptisms and other family history information.

· Stadt Schulitz, Kreis Bromberg, Posen, Preußen [Stadt- and Schlosshauland are parts of Schulitz] Schulitz is now the city of Solec Kujawski: http://www.soleckujawski.pl/ Poland.

· Ort Kabott, Kreis Bromberg, Posen, Preußen

· Ort Weichselthal, Kreis Bromberg, Posen, Preußen [1594- the lord of manor Prylubie, named Przylubski, brought in German and Netherland colonists on his lands to cultivate the wild places near the Weichsel river. First it was called Polish, German and Netherland Przylubie later Weichselthal und Graetz, later still the Graetz was dropped and it was just Weichselthal.

· After 1900 Graetz and Getau became one place named Jaytowy. [The names Weichselthal, Graetz and Getau appear on a Prussian map dated 1878]

· Bismarcksruhm is west of Bromberg in Kreis Kolmar, Posen, Preussen.

NOTE: Jürgen Meyer has for additional historical information about Kreis Bromberg's area near the Weischel River. This map section is of the area to the immediate east of Bromberg. Getau is off the map in the southeast corner. Pittelkau’ spelled many ways lived in every town on this map at one time or the other for a period of at least 400 years. See 1912 information about Otteraue and Getau.

Getau is important to the American Pittelkau’s of the Northwestern United States because it is where their direct lineage and roots are. Daniel Pittelkau of 1817 and Christine Wilhelmine Glaser of 1824 became the Landed Proprietors of and at Getau. We now know not how large the estate was at this time but do know that by the rules of their Prussian Society of the mid 1800’s other persons performed labor for them. Christine and her sons August Julius, Emil Robert and others made their way to the Pacific Northwestern United States in the late 1800’s and reside here forever.

Kreis Bromberg | Bydgoszcz: These are the German Kreis ("county") divisions from about 1816 to 1920

(when almost all emigration occured). www.flash.net/~birchwd/Genealogy/POSEN_L/Counties/KrBromberg.html

Bydgoszcz or Kreis Bromberg has a history that is separate of Poland, Prussia and even the Province of Posen itself. The people of Posen have at one time or the other been ethnically of virtually every culture in Europe and Russia. This melting pot, much like the City of New York in the USA, reflects in its historical cultures the many cultures of the places from whence its immigrants came. Since 1945 much of the historically mixed cultures have disappeared along with the original place names of the places where our ancestors are from. Anyway, when you look at a modern road map, you will not find the names of the places where the grandparents might have been.

Document Research at the Archive of Berlin by Kurt Pittelkau, Berlin