Concept

Ruhrpolen

Ruhrpolen (ˈʁuːɐ̯ˌpoːlən, “Ruhr Poles”) is a German umbrella term for the Polish migrants and their descendants who lived in the Ruhr area in western Germany since the 19th century. The Poles (including Masurians, Kashubians, Silesians, and other groups) migrated to the rapidly industrializing region from Polish-speaking areas of the German Empire. The immigrants mainly came from what was then eastern provinces of Germany (Province of Posen, East Prussia, West Prussia, Province of Silesia), which were acquired by the Kingdom of Prussia in the late-18th-century Partitions of Poland or earlier, and which housed a significant Polish-speaking population. This migration wave, known as the Ostflucht, began in the late 19th century, with most of the Ruhrpolen arriving around the 1870s. The migrants found employment in the mining, steel and construction industries. In 1913 there were between 300,000 and 350,000 Poles and 150,000 Masurians. Of those, one-third were born in the Ruhr area. The Protestant Masurians did not accept being identified with Catholic Poles and underlined their loyalty to Prussia and the German Empire. The first Polish organization Jedność was founded in 1876 in Dortmund by bookseller Hipolit Sibilski. In 1890, Wiarus Polski, the first Polish newspaper in the region, was established in Bochum. Various Polish organizations were founded in the region, including Towarzystwo św. Michała ("St. Michael's Club") in 1888, Związek Polaków w Niemczech ("League of Poles in Germany") in 1894, a regional branch of the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society in 1898, and Zjednoczenie Zawodowe Polskie ("Polish Professional Union") in 1902. Dozens of Polish bookstores were founded in various places, including Dortmund, Bochum, Herne, Witten, Recklinghausen, Oberhausen, Habinghorst (present-day district of Castrop-Rauxel), Ückendorf (present-day district of Gelsenkirchen), Bruckhausen and Laar (present-day districts of Duisburg). There were also various Polish companies, co-operative shops, banks, sports clubs and singing clubs.

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Related concepts (5)
Witten
Witten (ˈvɪtn̩) is a city with almost 100,000 inhabitants in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis (district) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Witten is situated in the Ruhr valley, in the southern Ruhr area. Bochum Dortmund Herdecke Wetter (Ruhr) Sprockhövel Hattingen Witten is divided into eight boroughs and each borough is further divided into two or more city-districts.
Bochum
Bochum (ˈboʊxʊm , also US-əm , ˈboːxʊm; Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the 16th largest city of Germany. On the Ruhr Heights (Ruhrhöhen) hill chain, between the rivers Ruhr to the south and Emscher to the north (tributaries of the Rhine), it is the second largest city of Westphalia after Dortmund, and the fourth largest city of the Ruhr after Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg.
Essen
Essen (ˈɛsn̩; Latin: Assindia) is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as the ninth-largest city of Germany. Essen lies in the larger Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region and is part of the cultural area of Rhineland. Because of its central location in the Ruhr, Essen is often regarded as the Ruhr's "secret capital".
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