300 Years of Bamberg Settlers in Greater Poland

Greater Poland (Wielka Polska, Maior Polonia, or Stara Polska) is the oldest historical region in west-central Poland and the cradle of the Polish nation. Formed at the turn of the 9th and the 10th centuries, it is often thought of as the heart of the Polish state and contains three of the earliest Polish capitals:  Gniezno ,  Kruszwica , and Poznań (all cities marked by yellow line at the map on the right). It comprises much of the area drained by the  Warta River  watershed, one of its most important physical features and resources, which historically allowed farmers to plentifully irrigate their cropland. 

Poznań is the historic capital of Greater Poland and its most prominent center. The city began in the 9th century with construction on the east bank of the Warta River known as Ostrów Tumski. Over the centuries, the city expanded across the west bank of Warta River and grew beyond the medieval boundaries of the Old Market Square. As the seat of the oldest Polish cathedral and diocese, Poznań became one of Poland's earliest centers of crafts and trade.

Through the 15th and 16th century Poznań continued to develop as an international trade center with cultural prominence due to shifts in trading routes benefiting the city and the subsequent inflow of skilled Jewish, German, and other European minorities who contributed to the city's development. The map swipe on the right enables you to interact with old and contemporary Poznań maps.

In the 17th and early 18th century, the development of Greater Poland was interrupted by the  Swedish Invasion  and the  Great Northern War , which affected also other regions such as  Pomerania  shown on the map. Additionally, a series of cholera epidemics decimated the people and economy of Greater Poland. Poznań and the surrounding lands suffered heavy losses in population and infrastructure.

War and disease left the outskirts of Poznań devastated and abandoned, however the city needed the steady food supply produced by the surrounding villages. Poznań had a good trade relationship and contact between archbishops in Bamberg. Both factors influenced the decision to invite Catholic settlers from Upper Franconia. Those who decided to follow the invitation were enticed by promises of land and free meadows and pastures, up to a six year period of no taxation, free grain for baking bread, and a small amount of money for development. In addition, the city offered personal freedom compared to the serfdom Bamberg farmers were at the time living under, and above all guaranteed rents.

Pulled by the promise of land and pushed to escape harsh economic conditions and overpopulated villages in Upper Franconia, settlers set out to cross approximately 700 kilometers between Bamberg and Poznań. They had to traverse uplands, basins, and low mountains before arriving on the plains of Greater Poland.

Bamberg migrants settled in the farmland surrounding Poznań. Their settlement took place in four main temporal stages. The first Bamberg settlers came to the village of  Luboń  in 1719. There were approximately thirteen families with a total of 60 people. In 1730-1740 the second group of settlers came to  Dębiec  (68 people) and three families settled in  Bonin ,  Jeżyce , and  Winiary  respectively. A third larger wave came in 1746-1747 with 13 families settling in the village of  Rataje , and 15 families settling in  Wilda . The fourth stage was in 1750 when Bambergs arrived in Jeżyce (16 families) and  Górczyn  (14 families). By that time the villages of Dębiec, Rataje and Luboń had become majority Bamberg, and many other villages had Bamberg populations including areas that did not belong to Poznań, such as  Wiórek  and  Czapur y near the town of  Głuszyna , and  Tłokinia Kościelna  near  Kalisz .

While Poland survived the Great Northern War, it was weakened. The early 18th century saw its further decline due in part to multiple wars with Russia. Poland's neighbors took advantage of the country's fragility and between the years of 1772-1795 Prussia, Russia, and Austria partitioned Poland in three rounds, splitting and annexing Poland's territories. By 1795 after the last partition Poland disappeared from the map of Europe and Greater Poland was designated as Southern Prussia.

Even though the Bambergs living in the area shared language with the Prussian occupiers, they held onto their Catholic religion and traditions while the Prussians were mostly Protestant. During this time when Poland was without a state, through their ties to religion the Bamberg settlers played a key role in maintaining and shaping the Polish national identity. After the defeat of Napoleon the fate of Greater Poland returned to the Congress of Vienna. In 1815 a decision was made to form the  Grand Duchy of Poznań  (Wielkie Księstwo Poznańskie). The map on the right presents the Grand Duchy of Poznań in recent Greater Poland territory.

The ethnographic map on the right depicts Poland's territory in 1858 reflecting the country's partitions by Prussia, Russia, and Austria. It vividly displays the geographic proximity of Polish (Polonais, dark rose color) and German (Allemands, blue color) speaking populations living side by side in the area of Greater Poland. Cast against this backdrop the Bamberg settlers and their Polish neighbors shared some of each other's religion, customs, traditions, and culture, leading to gradual integration of the settlers with the Polish-speaking population.

The Bamberg woman (Bamberka) costume was impressive and expensive. It was functionally associated with the rituals of the Catholic Church. During the Prussian domination, the Catholic Church played a big role as a refuge for the Polish aspects of the Bamberg’s cultural traditions. The Bamberka costume eventually became a regional costume of Greater Poland.

From the original 700 Bamberg migrants that settled in villages near Poznań, the Bamberg population grew and surrounding villages became part of the city over time. The map depicts Poznań’s urbanization over time and its integration of surrounding villages into the main boundary of the city. While originally the Bamberg settlers were farmers, cattleman, and gardeners selling their products at municipal fairs, they quickly became a prosperous social group because of their better legal status than Polish peasants.

Along with the transformation of colonized villages into districts of Poznań, most Bamberg settlers withdrew from farming and took up renting of tenement houses, running craft shops, and helped to develop various types of new enterprises in the city.

The bond between Bamberg settlers and Polish people became strong through marriages, polonization of German names (Schultz – Szulc, Tietz –Tyc), adopting Polish names and customs, and learning Polish. Schools and the Catholic Church played an important role in the assimilation of Bamberg settlers. During the partitions and brutal Germanization policy initiated by Bismarck, they defended the Catholic Church, Polish schools, and native Poles. While Bamberg settlers adapted and integrated with the host environment they were able to maintain their own identity. As a small ethnic minority they contributed to and impacted Greater Poland's agriculture, economy, trade and enriched its culture.

Bamberg settlers’ culture and heritage lives on today. There are many monuments in Poznań, marked on the map, reminding of Bamberg settlers’ impact on the city. They contributed to the transition from serfdom to the rent economy, architecture, culture, cuisine, and work ethic. They shown loyalty to Poland while forced to support Prussia and later Germany during the II World War.

Today, in commemoration of this ethnic minority’s impact on Poznań and the surrounding region, on the first Saturday of August the city celebrates Bamber Festival.

The Poznań dialect was influenced, among others, by German language due to German migrations and Bamberg settlers. Here is an example when two friends meet and go to the restaurant “Bamerski Dwór” to eat typical Poznań cuisine: sausage, cabbage, potato or vegetable soup, and potato pancakes with goulash. 

Hyniu i Byniu

Suchej no Henas, kędy my nojszybciej doletymy do Jeżyckiego Rynku? Tutej, Kościelną pod górkę i za porę minut my som. Ale wjisz co – ciągnął Beniu, chapsnąłbym cuś na ząb, bo od śniodania minęła wuchta czasu i już mnie porzumnie w dołku ścisło. To się dobrze składa, bo tu za kawołek jest jakiś Bamberski Pałac. Nie pałac ino Bamberski Dwór – terozmi się przypumniało. Tej, a co byś wciungnął. A jo wjim co tam mają. To się zoboczy, ale tak se myślę, że wcząchniemy cuś naszygo. J omom smakę na aisbanę z kapuchą. Mogłaby być ale jo jestem taki głodny, że chyntnie spucnę nawet rumpuć albo ślepe ryby, a do tego plyndze zez guloszem. No to co ryn do środka.

Text by Jan Strugarek