Regierungsbezirk Allenstein was a Regierungsbezirk, or government region, of the Prussian province of East Prussia from 1905 until 1945. The regional capital was Allenstein (present-day Olsztyn). The territory today is part of the Polish Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.
History The government region was created on 1 November 1905 as the third East Prussian Regierungsbezirk out of the southern districts of the two original administrative regions Gumbinnen and Königsberg, which had been established in 1815. It comprised the south of the former Duchy of Prussia; the lands of the Allenstein and Rößel districts had belonged to the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, annexed by Prussia in 1772. In the 1920 East Prussian plebiscite all the Allenstein Region plus the was part of the Allenstein Plebiscite precinct, with the electorate voting for remaining with Germany by more than 97%.
In 1945 following World War II, Regierungsbezirk Allenstein was dissolved when East Prussia was partitioned between the Republic of Poland and the Soviet Union (Kaliningrad Oblast) and the Memel Territory was incorporated into the Sovjet Republic of Lithuania according to the resolutions at the Potsdam Conference.
Demographics The Allenstein region was ethnically mixed in 1910, with German, Polish and Masurian speakers. +Ethnolinguistic structure in Regierungsbezirk Allenstein (1910 census)1910 censusPopulationGermanMasurianPolishBilingualAllenstein Region543,469274,32050.48%175,01632.20%73,15413.46%19,5323.59%Allenstein Urban33,07729,34488.71%990.30%2,2496.80%1,3254.01%Allenstein Rural57,91922,82539.41%5200.90%32,76656.57%1,7823.08%Johannisburg51,39916,37931.87%29,14156.70%4,2038.18%1,6203.15%Lötzen41,20926,35263.95%11,41227.69%1,5953.87%1,8024.37%Lyck55,57927,13848.83%19,40734.92%6,34811.42%2,5904.66%Neidenburg59,41620,87135.13%25,15042.33%10,46217.61%2,6454.45%Ortelsburg69,93520,21828.91%43,51362.22%3,3904.85%2,4633.52%Osterode74,66643,50858.27%26,69535.75%2,1302.85%2,2793.05%Rössel50,47243,18985.57%480.10%6,51212.90%7231.42%Sensburg50,09724,49648.90%19,03137.99%3,4996.98%2,3104.61%
Districts
As of 31 December 1937: District Capital (present name) Area Population Allenstein, urban district (Olsztyn) 46,513 (1939) Allenstein (Olsztyn) 57,077 (1939) Johannisburg in East Prussia (Pisz)Jańsbork between 1945-1946. 52,672 (1939) Lötzen (Giżycko)Lec between 1945-1946. 47,681 (1939) Lyck (Ełk) 56,129 (1939) Neidenburg (Nidzica)Nibork between 1945-1946. 39,486 (1939) Ortelsburg (Szczytno) 72,146 (1939) Osterode in East Prussia (Ostróda) 75,879 (1939) Bischofsburg (Biskupiec) 51,086 (1939) Sensburg (Mrągowo)Żądźbork between 1945-1947. 52,746 (1939) total Allenstein 568,024
Notes