Farther Pomerania, Hinder Pomerania, Rear Pomerania or Eastern Pomerania (
Polish: Pomorze Tylne;
German: Hinterpommern, Ostpommern), is a subregion of the historic region of
Pomerania in north-western
Poland, mostly within the
West Pomeranian Voivodeship, while its easternmost parts are within the
Pomeranian Voivodeship.
It is the part of Pomerania which comprised the eastern part of the
Duchy and later
Province of Pomerania. It stretched roughly from the
Oder River in the West to
Pomerelia in the East. The
Polish term Pomorze Zachodnie ("Western Pomerania") is colloquially used in contemporary Poland as a synonym for the West Pomeranian Voivodship whose borders do not match the historical ones; in Polish historical usage, it applied to all areas west of
Pomerelia (i.e. to the entire narrow
Pomerania).
After Germany's defeat in
World War II, the region became again part of Poland. The German population was
expelled in accordance with the
Potsdam Agreement and replaced with Polish citizens, many of whom were
expellees themselves as well.
The toponym
Pomerania comes from
Slavicpo more, which means Land at the Sea.[1]
Initially, Farther Pomerania referred to the areas beyond (i.e. lying east of)
Pomerania-Wolgast, and the name eventually became adopted for areas east of Szczecin by the 16th century. When the 1648
Peace of Westphalia and the
Treaty of Stettin (1653) divided the
Duchy of Pomerania into its Western,
Swedish and Eastern
Brandenburgian parts, Farther Pomerania was used for the latter - in opposition to
Swedish Hither Pomerania (Vorpommern) including Stettin (
Szczecin), Wollin (
Wolin) and a strip of land east of the Oder River, ultimately limited to include two suburbs of Szczecin, namely the towns of Gollnow (
Goleniów) and Damm/Alt-Damm/Altdamm (
Dąbie). To the East, Farther Pomerania stretches to the border with Pomerelia, considered by the Polish historiography to be located on the river
Łeba.
In the post-1945 era, Farther Pomerania was affected by the
Polish-German border shift. Before, it happened to be the Eastern part of German Pomerania (Pommern, consisting of Hither and Farther Pomerania), yet thereafter it became the Western part of Polish Pomerania (Pomorze, consisting of Pomerania and Pomerelia). As Polish Pomorze has also been in use for Pomerelia, while Hither and Farther Pomerania are jointly referred to as West Pomerania (Pomorze Zachodnie) in Poland, located predominantly in today's
West Pomeranian Voivodeship, including Szczecin and
Wolin. However, this term is not being adopted by the Germans, as only Hither Pomerania is considered to be Western Pomerania, so Farther Pomerania is still in use.
In addition, the following towns are located in the historical
Lębork and Bytów Land, thus being treated as part of
Pomerelia by the Polish historiography, and as part of Farther Pomerania by the German historiography:
1919
Treaty of Versailles - the bulk of Pomerelia, as well as minor parts of the
Stolp,
Lauenburg and
Bütow districts are awarded to the
re-established Polish state; the bulk of Farther Pomerania, Lauenburg and Bütow Land, as well as minor parts of the remainder of Pomerelian lands remain part of
Germany