. The earth and its inhabitants .. . 1815 1C20 1867 Of the two banks of the'Lower Vistula the western is more Slav than the eastern. The less fertile tracts on the former were allowed to remain in possession of the Poles, whilst Germans settled in the rich alluvial delta of the river, which was drained by Flemish and Saxon colonists, brought thither by the Teutonic Knights. The descendants of these Low Germans have fair hair, blue eyes, and broad shoulders ; they are of somewhat heavy gait, but resolute. The descendants of Polish serfs, who sought a refuge from the oppression of their masters,
. The earth and its inhabitants .. . 1815 1C20 1867 Of the two banks of the'Lower Vistula the western is more Slav than the eastern. The less fertile tracts on the former were allowed to remain in possession of the Poles, whilst Germans settled in the rich alluvial delta of the river, which was drained by Flemish and Saxon colonists, brought thither by the Teutonic Knights. The descendants of these Low Germans have fair hair, blue eyes, and broad shoulders ; they are of somewhat heavy gait, but resolute. The descendants of Polish serfs, who sought a refuge from the oppression of their masters, live amongst them, being for the most part employed as labourers. This German colony on the delta of the Vistula almost separates the Poles of Western Prussia from the bulk of their compatriots. No Poles whatever live to the east of the Lower Vistula, the whole of the country stretching from Marienburg and Elbing to the delta of the Memel being occupied by Germans. It was here that the Teutonic Knights founded their state, exterminating the pagan natives of the country, and repeopling it with German colonists. When, after a dominion of * In -1815 615,000 iBliabitants (79-4 per cent, of the total population) of the province of Posen spoke Polish ; in 1867, 840,000 (54'7 per cent.).
Size: 3567px × 1401px
Photo credit: © The Bookworm Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade18, booksubjectgeography, bookyear1883
