Kreis Heilsberg

As part of the Prussian administrative reforms, the need arose for a comprehensive district reform throughout East Prussia, as the districts established in 1752 or 1773 had proven to be inappropriate and too large. In Warmia, a new district of Heilsberg was formed from the northern part of the old district of Heilsberg and the southern part of the old district of Braunsberg, effective February 1, 1818. It initially included the Catholic parishes of Arnsdorf, Benern, Elditten, Glottau, Guttstadt, Heiligenthal, Heilsberg, Kalckstein, Kiwitten, Krekollen, Peterswalde bei Guttstadt, Queetz, Reichenberg, Reimerswalde, Roggenhausen, Schlit, Siegfriedswalde, Stolzhagen, Wernegitten, Wolfsdorf, Wormditt and Wuslack.[6] The seat of the district administration was the town of Heilsberg. On April 1, 1819, the district boundaries were changed once again. The parish of Frauendorf from the district of Braunsberg came to the district of Heilsberg and the parish of Wormditt moved from the district of Heilsberg to the district of Braunsberg.[7]

The Kreis Heilsberg was assigned to the administrative district Königsberg.

In 1829 - after the merger of the former provinces of Prussia and West Prussia - the district belonged to the new province of Prussia with its seat in Königsberg. Since July 1, 1867 the district belonged to the North German Confederation and from January 1, 1871 to the German Empire. After the division of the province of Prussia into the new provinces of East Prussia and West Prussia, the district of Heilsberg became part of East Prussia on April 1, 1878. The district office, which had been located in Guttstadt for some time, was moved back to Heilsberg on October 1, 1896.

On September 30, 1929, in accordance with the development in the rest of Prussia, a territorial reform took place in the district of Heilsberg, in which almost all manor districts were dissolved and assigned to neighboring rural communities.

From January to March 1945, the Red Army conquered the district. In May 1945 it placed it under the administration of the Polish People's Republic. Subsequently, the established German population of the district was expelled from the district and, from 1946, systematically settled in their place Poles, 43.7 percent of whom were themselves displaced persons from eastern Poland.[8]

In 1999, the present-day Powiat Lidzbarski (Heilsberg District) was established with modified boundaries.

• 1773–1804 Wilhelm Boguslaw von Gottberg[14]
• 1804– Ludwig Constantin Sylvester von Creytz (min. till 1810)[14]
• 1817–1836 von Conradi
• 1836–1839 N.N.
• 1839–1864 von Buddenbrock
• 1864–1894 Theodor von Saß (1833–1894)
• 1894–1910 Ernst von Schröter
• 1910–1915 Otto von Schlieben (1875–1932) (German conservative party)
• 1914–1916 von Seydlitz und Ludwigsdorf (temporary)
• 1916–1918 Herbert Rohde (1885–1975) (commissioner)
• 1918–1923 Karl Klamroth (1878–1976)
• 1923–1927 Friedrich Büttner (1886–1942)
• 1927–1928 Ernst Fischer (1896–1965) (commissioner)
• 1928–1937 Franz Hüppi (died in 1888)
• 1937–1943 Paul Hundrieser (1881–1972)
• 1943–1945 N.N.

In the German empire the district Heilsberg alongside the district Braunsberg would build the 6th Imperial election district of Königsberg. This Catholic dominated district would vote for a Center party candidate in every Reichstag election from 1871 to 1912.[15]