mariusz kowalski, przemysŁaw ŚleczyŃski: the migration of poles to germany in the context of the...

7/28/2019 MARIUSZ KOWALSKI, PRZEMYSAW LECZYSKI: THE MIGRATION OF POLES TO GERMANY IN THE CONTEXT OF TH

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PRZEGLD ZACHODNI2010, No 2

MARIusZ KOwALsKI,PRZEMysAw LEsZysKI

wara

THE MIGRATION OF POLES TO GERMANY IN THE CONTEXT

OF THE MOST COMMON POLISH SURNAMES

The MostCommon PolishSurnamesinGermany

INTRODuCTION

One of the method ed in tdie on the origin of poplation i the anali ofthe ditribtion of the rname that are characteritic for a given nationalit. with-ot going into too mch detail a far a the literatre on the bject, hat hold benoted are the fndamental advantage and diadvantage of the method:

It ield rather general information on the direction of migration ith1)repect to certain contrie and nationalit grop;It i not poible to determine the actal nmber of migrant, or the cale of2)

their inx in a given period, nle comparable data for different periodare available;The preence of a particlar rname in a given area i conditioned not onl3)b external migration, bt alo b internal one (econdar migration).

with the abovementioned hortcoming in mind, e preent an anali of the20 mot freqent Polih rname in German arond the ear 2000. Among other,the td e data provided b the Internet ebite Verwandt(.verandt.de).

HIsTORICAL BACKGROuND

The hitor of the preence of Polih rname in German i ndobtedl long,and date back to hen modern rname ere beginning to form in Poland. Thifact tem from the cloe contact beteen the to contrie, hich entailed a con-tant migration exchange. The earliet Polih rname began to appear a earl ain the late Middle Age, and emerged ith increaed freqenc dring the periodof the Renaiance and Reformation. srname ere all borne b tdent atuniveritie and emigrant (religio, political and economic). Alread at that timeman of thoe ho arrived from Poland ettled in German permanentl, and veroften their Polih rname ere kept b the folloing generation. Hoever, afamil name ere adjted to the German rle of pronnciation and pelling, the


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120 Mariz Koalki, Przema lezki

all became heavil ditorted. In the eatern part of German (saxon, Branden-brg, Mecklenbrg, Pomerania) there ere alo indigeno rname cognate ithPolih one, relting from the aimilation of Polabian slav and Pomeranian.

The political relation beteen the German and Polih territorie made popla-tion exchange moother. sileia a part of the dominim of the Atrian Hoeof Habbrg, and beqentl the Brandenbrg Hohenzollern line (ince 1742).Pomerania and the Dch of Pria ere afliated ith Brandenbrg ince the 17thcentr, and in the beqent hndred ear the became part of the Kingdom ofPria. The Polih migration to saxon ere alo facilitated b a peronal nionbeteen the to tate (1697-1764).

srname of Polih origin ere preent primaril in the othern part of theDch of Pria, i.e. Maria1. People of Polih decent contitted approximatel30% of the poplation of Knigberg2. Man Polih rname ere alo preent in

the eatern part of the Dch of Pomerania, chie in the area of the Lbork (Laen-brg) and Bt (Bto) Land3. To a large extent thee ere indigeno inhabitantof Polih or Pomeranian decent. A a relt of the migration exchange, Polih r-name permeated from the territorie of the borderland into Brandenbrg (chie tothe capital cit of Berlin), a ell a into other German tate. The territorial mobilitof particlar migrant from the Dch of Pria a o great, that in the 18th centrit a poible to nd ome individal originating from thi province and namedKoalk or Drok even in Dtch soth Africa, here the larget grop of et-tler, next to the Dtch, ere emigrant from German4.

The Partitioning of the Republic of Poland extended the cope of Pruian rule

over Polih territorie, and the nal reach of thi authority lating until 1920 a

etablihed by the Congre of Vienna (1815). Region that ere part of the King-

dom of Pruia included Pomerania, wet Pruia, Eat Pruia, the Grand Duchy of

Pozna (Poen) and sileia, here occurrence of Polih urname temmed from

the preence of cluter of indigenou Polih inhabitant, a ell a Brandenburg,

Rhineland and wetphalia, here more and more immigrant arrived from the eatern

part of the Pruian tate. Thi proce intenied in the econd half of the 19th century

and a referred to a Ostfucht(ecape to the Eat). It caue are typically aoci-

ated ith the development of indutrial area and large urban centre in central and

etern part of Pruia and Germany. Thi, a a reult, enticed immigrant fromthe Eat eeking ork and a better life (Table 1). Cloe-knit group of inhabitant of

Polih decent and upholding Polih tradition ere formed in many ton. Thi a

1 G. Biaki, Naz ooboe na Mazrach (XV-XVIII .), Onomastica 41 (1996): 83-95;M. Biolik, Germanizacja nazik polkich miezkac okolic wgorzea latach 1653-1853,Zeszyty Naukowe Wyszej Szkoy Pedagogicznej w Olsztynie. Prace Jzykoznawcze 1 (1997): 5-19.

2 s. Agieicz, J. Jaiki, T. Oracki, Wybitni Polacy w Krlewcu XVI-XX wiek(Olztn, 2005);M. Kaki, Polac Krlec, in Gos znad Pregoy 6/119 (2006): 7.

3 M. Dzicielki, Pochodzenie zlacht lborkiej i rozj anoci ziemkiej na przkadzie

Dzicielca i rodzin Dzicielkich,Biuletyn Historyczny 10 (1999): 12-23.4 M. Koalki, Polih Boer Familie, The inence of earl Polih immigration on Boer fami -lie,Familia Quarterly Journal of the Genealogical Society of South Africa 43 (2006): 38-46.


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121The Mot Common Polih srname in German

particularly true of the Ruhr ditrict, developing beteen Rhineland and wetphalia.

For intance, at the beginning of the 20th century, thoe inhabitant of Polih origin

contituted 40% of the population5 of Bottrop urban centre, hich a hy the ton

a alo knon a Little wara6

. Even on the level of ditrict (Kreise), the percent-age of Polih inhabitant ometime exceeded 10% of the entire population (Table 2).

Hoever, thee are only the ofcial data, hich due to variou conideration hould

be perceived a underetimated. There mut have been many more people of Polih

origin, a ell a an additional number of inhabitant bearing Polih urname, a

many German immigrant from the Eat ho had had Polih urname for gen-

eration hould alo have been taken into conideration. In the decade that folloed

the majority of the inhabitant of the Ruhr of Polih decent became Germanied, and

hat remained ere the urname along ith other trace of a Polih preence.

The proce of Germaniation alo took place in the eatern Pruian province,

here the Polih inhabitant ere indigenou. The main factor contituting thi proc-e ere the action of German intitution, a ell a the direct inuence of German

ociety. It hould be noted, hoever, that the oppoite proce the Poloniation of

German people, both on territorie belonging to Pruia and beyond it eatern bor-

der alo occurred. One of the effect of thi centurie-long mutual inuence a the

emergence of both a large group of German bearing Polih urname, a ell a a large

group of Pole ith German urname. Repreentative of thee group left a mark on

the hitorie of both nation. In the cae of Germany, thee ere e.g. Otto skorzenny,

Erich von dem Bach-Zeleki, Gnter schaboki, Herbert Hupka and Hort Bienek.

On the other hand, in Poland, uch example ere among other: wincenty Pohl, Jdrzej

Giertych, Jzef Haller, wadya Ander, Emil wedel and Antoni Blikle.

Table 1

The national background of miners in the Ruhr region in 1893.

Region (contr or province) of origin thoand %

wetphalia 67.2 42.5

Rhineland 32.0 20.2

Eat Pria, wet Pria, the Pozna province, sileia 39.4 24.9

Other part of German 4.0 9.0Atria-Hngar 1.9 1.2

The Netherland 1.3 0.8

Ital 0.7 0.5

Other 1.4 0.9

Total 158.2 100.0

sorce: Timelines and History of Migration: Germany. The Ruhrpolen - Poles in the Ruhr area. http://.gh-mh.de/migration/project/timeline/tl_ge_2.htm

5 F. Heckmann,Ethnische Minderheit, Volk und Nation, (stttgart, 1993).6 B. Frilling,Bottrop Bergbaustadt im Ruhrgebiet, 1971, http://.bernhard-frilling.de/semi-

nararbeit/seminararbeit_Inhalt.html


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Table 2

Districts (Stdte or Kreise) of the Ruhr region with the largest percentages of inhabitants declaringPolish as their native language in 1900 and 1910.

Ditrict 1900 1910

Gelenkirchen (Stadt) 13.1% 17.7%

Recklinghaen (Kreis) 13.8% 15.7%

Bochm (Stadt) 9.1% n/a

Dortmnd (Stadt) 7.3% 12.2%

sorce: Statistik des Deutschen Reichs..., 1903; B. Czopek-Kopcich, Nazwiska polskie w Zagbiu Ruhry(Krak, 2004).

The large ave of inhabitant of the Polih-German borderland moving to theterritor of contemporar German a alo caed b German loing ome of iteatern province (mot of the Poen ditrict and wet Pria, a maller part of up-per sileia). Man German, alo thoe bearing Polih rname, did not ee a ftrefor themelve in the nel formed Polih tate, and choe to emigrate to the wet.

The greatet poplation movement affecting the people of the Polih-Germanfrontier ere a coneqence of world war II. The rt emigration ave a caedb the eatern front draing nearer. German, bt alo Pole, left their home for fearof the Red Arm, bt alo de to a reglation ied b the German athoritie. The

econd ave took place alread after the ar, and a an effect of the reoltion ofthe great poer, hich decided to expel the German poplation from the territorieof Central Erope, inclding Poland (Fig. 1).

sbeqent emigration ave ere related to the exod of the o-called nativepoplation in the decade folloing world war II. Thee ere primaril memberof familie, hich had declared Polih nationalit immediatel after the ar. De topolitical and economic conideration, a large part of that poplation exercied theirright to a German citizenhip. Beteen 1956 and 1989 thi trned ot to be the caefor abot 1 million people, inclding practicall all the inhabitant of Maria, a ma-jorit of thoe living in warmia and a large nmber of sileian, a ell a a nmberof maller poplation grop. sch migration can alo be oberved toda; hoever,in recent ear the dnamic of thi exod have dindled. Thi i connected bothith the exhation of migration reorce, a ell a ith the aimilation proc-ee. Another important factor i related to the opening of border and Polandacceion to the Eropean union. The poibilit of free travel dicorage peoplefrom making the deciion to emigrate permanentl. Alo, it ha been oberved thatman emigrant are retrning home. The 2002 poplation cen indicated that al -mot 20% of the inhabitant of the Opolkie voivodehip have German citizenhip(in mot cae a Polih one a ell); hich hoever, doe not contitte an incentive

to emigrate permanentl.


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Figre 1

The percentage of migrants in the populations of German regions in 1950 and the main destinationsof resettlement from the territories granted to Poland.

sorce: baed onPutzger Historischer Weltatlas, 2002

Apart from the people ho either had German citizenhip or had the right toone imilarl a it a before the Partition the migration alo pertained to theinhabitant of thoe Polih territorie that did not contitte a part of the Prian(German) tate. The indtrial centre deep inide German attracted Pole from

Congre Poland and Galicia, and after 1918 alo from independent Poland. Theepoplation movement alo contined after the ar and are till happening toda.In fact, the ere not hindered b the obtacle introdced b commnim, or theretriction on the nmber of Pole orking in German after Poland joined the E-ropean union. According to a report prepared b the plenipotentiar of the Germangovernment for immigration, ithin the German poplation there are over 2 millionpeople ho came from Poland motl the o-called late reettler (Sptaussie-dler). Over 300,000 of them have Polih citizenhip onl7.

7 J. Koalki, B. Ddek, Niemc, kraj imigrant, 2007, http://.d.de/niemc-kraj-imigrant/a-3015011.

Schleswig-Holstein

HamburgBremen

North Rhine-Westphalia

Rhineland-Palatinate

Saarland

Baden

Wrttemberg-Hohenzollern

Baden-Wrttemberg

Bavaria

HesseThuringia Saxony

Silesia

East Prussia*GDVN

Pomerania

Mecklenburg

Saxony-Anhalt

LowerSaxony

EastBrandenburg

Brandenburg

Berlin

The main directions ofUHVHWWOHPHQWV from the3RODQGVterritories

Total number of inhabitants of a region

Percentage ofUHVHWWOHUV in the total number of inhabitantsof a region


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THE DIsTRIBuTION OF POLIsH suRNAMEs IN GERMANy

The hitorical background outlined above indicate that the trong connection

beteen Polih and German territorie and frequent migration contributed to therelatively common preence of Polih-ounding urname beyond the etern

border. what i intereting, knoledge of the fact i ell rooted in Germany. For

intance, the German edition of the popular online encyclopaedia wikipedia

report that 13% of the inhabitant of Germany (approximately 10 million) ith

urname of Polih origin. Nonethele, thi gure doe eem exceive, and the

author do not give any reference for thi information.

The bet knon and the mot thoroughly tudied area of Germany ith re-

pect to the incidence of urname of Polih origin i undoubtedly the Ruhr. The

unique tatu of thi area ha among other thing caued it to be the object

of numerou linguitic publication by pecialit in onomatic8. with repect

to the number of Polih urname, uch place a Recklinghauen, Dortmund,

weel, Een and Bochum have the larget number. In fact, practically the entire

area of thi indutrial ditrict i characterized by a higher percentage of Polih

urname (Fig. 2).

The mot characteritic of all Polih urname i Koalki9 and it i alo

common in thi region. The commune here the number of inhabitant under

thi name i particularly large are the ame one here the percentage of Pole at

the beginning of the 20th century (Table 2 and 3) a the larget. The number of

people named Koalki i o high that it even matche ome ton in Poland.In Catrop-Rauxel, a city ith 76.900 inhabitant, there are about 60 people un-

der thi name, hich equal 80 peron named Koalki per 100,000 inhabit-

ant (Table 3). In suaki, a Polih city ith a imilar number of inhabitant

(69,600) there are 50 people named Koalki, hich tranlate into a lightly

loer ratio (72 per 100,000). Hoever, the northeat borderland of Poland are

not a repreentative area in thi repect. For the entire country, thi ratio i 359,

and reache record value in the Ciechan ditrict, here the frequency i

1,300, i.e. 1.3% of the inhabitant are named Koalki. It can be aumed that

in the cae of urname more geographically concentrated in Poland, and tillcommonplace in Germany (e.g. Leandoki), the area here the incidence of

thee urname i maller in Poland than in the Ruhr can be much larger.

8 B. Czopek-Kopcich,Nazwiska polskie; K. Rmt, J. Hoffmann,Lexikon der Familiennamenpolnischer Herkunft im Ruhrgebiet, (Krak, 2006).

9 There are more inhabitant nder the name Noak; hoever, it i alo poplar in other slavicnation, in particlar among Czech.


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Table3

CommunesinWestphaliawiththegreatestnumberoftelephonesubscrib

ersunder

thenam

eKowalski

City(commune)

Numberoftelephone

ubcriberin2005

Numberofurname

per100,000telephone

ubcriber

Numberofinhabitant

inthecity(commune)

in2007

Etimatednumberofinhabitant

namedKoalki

Dortmund

76

36.9

586,909

217

Gelenkirchen

54

60.9

264,765

161

Bochum

45

32.3

378,596

122

Hagen

31

42.6

193,748

83

Recklinghauen

24

55.4

120,536

67

Catrop-Rauxel

23

81.0

76,876

62

Bottrop

23

53.9

118,597

64

Herne

21

37.8

168,454

64

Hamm

21

33.6

183,065

62

Lnen

20

63.4

88,832

56

source:http://.ll.org/LwL/Kultur/komuna/online_p

rojekte/familiennam

engeograe.seealo:R.

Damme,Fam

iliengeograeimInternetamBeispiel

desInternet-

portalsWestflischeFamiliengeograe.in:G.vonCornelien,H.E

ickman(ed.),FamiliennamenanNiederrheinundMaas,Bottrop2010,p.8

3-92.


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Figre 2

The number of persons named Kowalski among telephone subscribers in the Westphaliascommunes (per 100,000 subscribers).

sorce: sorce: http://.ll.org/LwL/Kltr/komna/online_projekte/familiennamengeograe.

Thank to the preented map, it i alo poible to point ot other area here

peron of Polih decent and ith Polih rname are fond (Fig. 4). Man of themlive in the large rban centre of northern German, primaril in Berlin, Hambrg,Hannover, and Bremen. Relative vale, hoever, are not on a par ith thoe obervedin the Rhr. In thi repect, man maller ton in North German are characteriedb high gre. In order to illtrate thi phenomenon, one can anale the incidenceof the rname Koalki. In Loer saxon, ditrict ch a solta-Fallingbotel,Peine, wolfbrg, Vechta, Brancheig and Helmtedt preent a higher percentageof peron ith thi rname; in Mecklenbrg scherin, Parchim and Gtro; inVorpommern thee are Rgen and Nordvorpommern, and in Brandenbrg Ober-havel, Prignitz, Potdam and Frankfrt (Oder).

Per 100,000 telephone

ubcriber

0.116.0

16.123.0

23.146.0

46.192.4


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Figre 3

The distribution of telephone subscribers named Kowalski before the resettlement of the Germanpopulation, according to the Reichstelefonbuch 1942.

sorce: http://.gen-evol.de.

In the cae of large and medim citie, the concentration of Polih rname indobtedl a relt of economic emigration dating back to the ear of the indtri-al revoltion at the trn of the 19th centr. Coneqentl, Polih rname are borneb the decendant of old emigrant from Polih territorie, hich at the time erePrian province. Thi proce a to an extent pplemented b economic andpolitical migration (among other, the o called late reettler), hich took place

after world war II. In the cae of a high freqenc of peron ith Polih rnamein the poorl rbanied area of Northern German, it can be amed that theeere the relt of complor reettlement dring and immediatel after the secondworld war. The grop of people expelled from the territorie lot to Poland herername of Polih origin ere freqent ere tranferred primaril to the northernpart of German10 (Fig. 1). Thi i probabl h thi area no ha a high percent-age of inhabitant ith famil name ch a Koalki, Leandoki, Kamiki,Zieliki, Jankoki, Graboki and Piotroki (Fig. 4).

10 T. Kra, E. Menen, H. Mortenen, H. schlenger,Atlas stliches Mitteleuropa (Bielefeld-Ber-lin-Hannover, 1959).

Schleswig-

Holstein

Hamburg

Bremen

North Rhine-Westphalia

Saarland

Rhineland-

Palatinate

Baden

Baden-

Wrttemberg

Wrttemberg-

Hohenzollern

Bavaria

Hesse

Thuringia Saxony

Brandenburg

Saxony-

Anhalt Berlin

Mecklenburg

Lower

Saxony

Pomerania

East

Brandenburg

Silesia

*GDVN East Prussia

Telephone subscribers with the surname

Kowalski" in the phone register in Germany in 1942


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Thank to map illtrating rname ditribtion one can alo trace ho the in-habitant of particlar region ere dipered. It i poible b analing the in-cidence of rname characteritic of a given area. Among other, thi pertain to

the name Kaczmarek tpical to the region of Greater Poland (wielkopolka). Thecope of it expanion inclde Brandenbrg and saxon in particlar (Fig. 4).

Figre 4

The relative and absolute distribution of the selected, most common Polish surnames in Germany

Per 1 million

phone subscribers

Per 1 millionphone subscribers


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Per 1 millionphone subscribers

Per 1 millionPhone subscribers


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sorce: .verandt.de.

A detailed comparion indicate that the hierarch of the mot common Polihrname according to the freqenc of their incidence i lightl different in Germa-

n than that oberved in Poland. In Poland thee are: Noak, Koalki, winieki,wjcik, Koalczk and Kamiki repectivel. In German, on the other hand,the ordering i a follo: Noak11, Kamiki, Koalki, Graboki, Dbroki,Jankoki. Thi fact illtrate the electivene of emigration, hich pertainedchie to the territorie of the ethnic borderland, hich from the point of vie ofonomatic a apparentl not repreentative of the entire area of Poland. Conid-ering onl the 4% ratio calclated on the bai of the nmber of the mot freqentPolih rname (Table 5), one might conclde that the nmber of German inhabit-ant ith Polih rname i onl abot a third of hat i ggeted b e.g. wikipe-dia or other German orce. It hold be borne in mind, hoever, that in Germanthe trctre of rname originating from the Polih langage i exceptionall notrepreentative of the trctre of rname in contemporar Poland. Thi can beoberved hen comparing tatitic pertaining to the 20 mot freqent rname inPoland and thoe in German. Of the top 20 mot common Polih rname inGerman, ix achieved an incidence of over 5% ith repect to their total nmber inPoland (Noak, Graboki, Kamiki, Kozoki, Jankoki, Dbroki), hile

11 It hold be noted that man contemporar German named Noak have their root alo inCzech territorie (ee alo note 9).

Per 1 millionPhone subscribers


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in the cae of wjcik and Koalczk thee ratio eqalled onl 0.7% and 1.5%repectivel. Hoever, none of the rname exceeded the level of 10% (or, for thatmatter, the aforementioned 13%).

still, the percentage of German inhabitant ith Polih rname i not nece-aril retricted to 4% of the poplation. One can ame, that the trctre of thername originating from Polih in German i characteritic of the former Polih-German borderland, rather than the entire territor of Poland. undobtedl, certainrname abent from other region of Poland mt be overrepreented there,herea ome of the mot commonplace name in Poland (among other, the above-mentioned top 20) are mch le freqent.

Analing the ditribtion of the sileian rname Kool can facilitate ill-trating thi phenomenon. In Poland, there are approximatel 2,500 people ith thirname; in German, in trn, abot 1,300 citizen have rname pelled Koolor Kooll. Qite imilar i the cae of the name Piechoki concentrated in theregion of Kahbia. There are 1,534 peron ith thi name in Poland and 426 inGerman. One can infer that the itation ill be identical ith repect to man otherrname preent in area of the former Polih-German borderland. Thee examplema indicate that there cold be lightl more than jt 4% of German inhabitantith rname of Polih origin.

No dobt, the grop of rname preent in the former Polih-German border-land inclde the folloing one, hich are idepread in German: Janke, Radtke,Rechke, Liedtke, Mielke, Pachke. According to E. Breza12 (2000), the originate

from dimintive form ch a: Janek, Radek, Ltek, Miek, or Pazek, characteriticamong other for the Polih Kahbia. The are alo ver commonplace in Meck-lenbrg, Brandenbrg, and saxon (in the region of Latia in particlar), and evenin the eatern part of the hitoric region of Holtein. Thi clearl demontrate thatthe rname are wet slavonic, rather than Polih. Thee ere not onl the nameof Germanied Pole, bt alo or mabe even above all Pomeranian, Obotrite,Veleti, and sorb. Coneqentl, it old be difclt to claif ch rname abeing trictl of Polih origin.

The example preented above indicate that the problem of German rnameoriginating from Polih cannot be treated eparatel from the ie of rnameoriginating from wet slavonic. In ome cae it i impoible to determine n-eqivocall hether the tem from Polih, Czech or Polabian territorie. with theereervation in mind, hoever, it i poible to claim that 4% i the loet poibleetimate of the nmber of German inhabitant ith rname originating from Polihin the entire German poplation. Nonethele, it doe not eem plaible that thigre cold reach 13%. still, thi percentage might refer to the nmber of peron inGerman ho bear rname not of Polih, bt rather of slavic origin.

12 E. Breza,Nazwiska Pomorzan: pochodzenie i zmiany (Gdak, 2000).


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Figre 5

The distribution of the surname Janke in Germany indicates its origins in the northern partof the historic region of Polabia (among others: Mecklenburg, Wendland, Vorpommern,

of the western part of Holstein).

sorce: .verandt.de.

An exact etimation of the nmber of people in German ith rname ofPolih and slavic origin doe eem to be a feaible tak. It old reqire acce toa tate regiter of the poplation of German a ell a the participation of competentlingit. The obtained relt, hoever, old not atomaticall tranlate into thenmber of peron of Polih or slavic decent among the ancetor of contemporarGerman. It old alo be necear to inclde people hoe forefather changedtheir name to tpicall German one, a ell a thoe hoe lineage originall hada German-onding name from it ver beginning. In ch cae, de to the lack ofmaterial docmenting the majorit of thee phenomena, onl rogh etimate arepoible. Coneqentl, the attained nmber of people ith rname of Polih and

slavic root old, in thi cae contitte, the loet poible etimate of the nmberof the ancetor of contemporar German ho ere Polih ith slavic decent.

Per 1 million

Shone subscribers


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Table 4

A comparative characteristic of the 20 most frequent Polish surnames in Poland and Germany.

surnameEtymological

category

Number of urname Number of urname per100,000 inhabitant Ratio of thenumber of

urname in

Germany to that

in Poland (%)Poland Germany Poland Germany

Noak* general 19,008 37,730 522 46 8.8

Koalkicognominal

(occupation)136,937 10,313 359 13 3.5

winieki cognominal (plant) 108,072 8,089 283 10 3.5

wjcikvariou (chiey

patronymic)

97,995 1,394 257 2 0.7

Koalczykcognominal

(occupation)96,435 3,187 253 4 1.5

Kamikicognominal

(nature)92,831 12,602 243 15 6.3

Leandokicognominal (plant)/

neophitic90,935 5,636 238 7 2.9

Zielikicognominal (plant)

/ neophytic89,118 6, 666 234 8 3.5

szymaki patronymic 87,570 7,225 230 9 3.8

woniakcognominal

(occupation)87,155 2,322 229 3 1.2

Dbroki cognominal (plant) 84,497 9,044 222 11 5.0

Kozokicognominal

(animal)74,790 8,309 196 10 5.2

Jankoki patronymic 67,243 7,467 176 9 5.2

Mazurethnic/cognominal

(ditrict)66,034 4,517 173 6 3.2

wojciechoki patronymic 65,239 1,866 171 2 1.3

Kiatkoki cognominal (plant) 64,963 2,719 170 3 1.9

Kraczykcognominal

(occupation)62,832 2,834 165 3 2.1

Kaczmarek toponymic 60,713 5,716 159 7 4.4

Piotroki patronymic 60,255 5,356 158 7 4.1

Graboki cognominal (plant) 57,426 9,702 151 12 7.9

Total Total 1,750,048 12,694 4,589 186 4.1

*a urname popular alo in other slavic countrie, particularly in the Czech Republic and slovenia (mot frequent ur-

name: ee alo note 9 and 11). Interetingly, the geographic ditribution of the name Noak to a large extent alo involve

Bavaria and Baden-wrttemberg, i.e. region (epecially in the cae of the former) cloet to the Czech Republic in term

of phyical ditance.


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Table 5

The estimated number of inhabitants with Polish surnames in the German population.

Nmber of peron ith one of the 20 mot freqent Polih rname inPoland

1,750,048

Percentage of people ith one of the top 20 rname to entire Polihpoplation

4.59%

Nmber of peron ith one of the 20 mot freqent Polih rname inGerman

15,694

Etimated nmber of people ith Polih rname in German, aming152,694 contitte 4.59% of the poplation

3,328,642

Etimated percentage of people ith rname of Polih origin in the Germanpoplation

4.06%

CONCLusIONs

srname ditribtion anali i a valable method of tding migration, al-beit one not ithot certain a. It prodce rather detailed information on thedirection of movement ith repect to certain contrie of nationalit grop. Ho-ever, it i not poible to ae the actal nmber of migrant or the magnitdeof the inx ith the e of thi method, nle comparable data for vario timeperiod are available. Moreover, the preence of a particlar rname in a given area

i conditioned not onl b external migration, bt internal one a ell (econdarmigration).In the cae of Polih-German migration, hat ha had a particlarl ignicant

impact on the crrent and pat ditribtion of rname a the complicated hitori-cal pat, connected among other ith the trong procee of Germaniation takingplace in Polih territorie. what i more, in man area, the migration ave occr-ring at vario point in time mt have ndobtedl overlapped.

solel on the bai of the preence of Polih rname, ithot condcting moredetailed reearch, it i difclt to determine here the immigrant ith Polih namecame from, and hen their movement took place. Nonethele, the preented meth-

od make it poible to tentativel identif the ditribtion of minoritie, and mapplement other, more accrate, orce one baed on poplation regiter inparticlar. A comparion of the data from both thee orce ma be of particlar ein the hitoric tdie of migration that go beond archive orce, or in the cae ofa lack of thereof.

The large nmber of Polih rname among German, and imilarl Germanrname borne b Pole13 alo encorage more general reection. It mt be a-

13 The rnameMller(Miller, Miler, Mueller) occr in 15,000 people in Poland, and taking into

conideration alo the pelling Meller 20,000 (calclation on the bai of the data from the eb-ite .moikreni.pl). Thee peron inhabit area here poplation regiter indicate onl iolated


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med that man German had Polih ancetor, jt like nmero Pole have Ger-man root. The nmber of rname in thi itation erve a a general indicator,ince on both ide of the border rname ere changed o a to blend in ith

the environment better. srname ditribtion anali, hoever, prove beond andobt that both nation althogh belonging to different lingitic familie and ep-arated b hitorical antagonim are trongl intermingled.

One can onl hope that ith time rname in pblic regiter tem ill be-come more acceible for cientic prpoe; crrentl, chie de to peronal dataprivac conideration, obtaining lit of rname from maller territorial nit inot poible. simltaneol, the development of information technologie cha GIs (Geographic Information stem) and data mining techniqe (tatiticalproceing of large databae) create enormo poibilitie for ing the above-mentioned orce of information for the prpoe of reearch on migration, hitorand lingitic.

cae of inhabitant ith German nationalit, hich mean that the majorit of thee people conider

themelve to be Polih. similar gre pertain to the nmber of people ith the name Schmidt(Szmit,szmd).


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mariusz kowalski, przemysŁaw ŚleczyŃski: the migration of poles to germany in the context of the...

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