Netzekreis

Map of the Province of Posen-West Prussia with the Netzekreis (1922).

In the 18th century, the area of the future Netzekreis belonged to the Netze District, which became part of the Kingdom of Prussia with the First Partition of Poland in 1772. From 1807 to 1815, the area was ceded by Prussia to the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1815, it was restored to Prussia and became part of the Bromberg Region in the Grand Duchy of Posen, which became the Prussian Province of Posen in 1848. It belonged to Germany since 1871.

After the end of World War I, large parts of the Province of Posen were ceded by Germany to the Second Polish Republic as a consequence of the Treaty of Versailles. Since 2 August 1919 the parts of the districts of Czarnikau, Filehne and Kolmar that remained in Germany were jointly administered from Schönlanke. On 20 November 1919 the area was subordinated to the new administrative region of Grenzmark West Prussia-Posen with its headquarters in Schneidemühl. The formal merger of the three districts to form the new Netzekreis district took place on 15 December 1919. On 10 January 1920 the Treaty of Versailles came into effect, according to which all areas of the former districts of Czarnikau, Filehne and Kolmar south of the new German-Polish border became part of Poland.

On 11 January 1921 the administrative region of "Grenzmark West Prussia-Posen" was renamed "Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia". On 1 July 1922 the new Province of Posen-West Prussia was formed from the administrative region. The new Schneidemühl region was formed on 1 August 1922, which was congruent to the province. In 1936, the municipality of Lukatz-Kreuz was renamed Kreuz (Ostbahn) and was made a town. On 1 October 1938 the Netzekreis was incorporated into the Province of Pomerania after the Province of Posen-West Prussia was dissolved. For reasons of tradition, the Schneidemühl Region was renamed "Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia" Region.

In the spring of 1945, the district was conquered by the Red Army and placed under Polish administration after the end of World War II.

At the end of its existence in 1945, the Netzekreis comprised the two towns of Kreuz (Ostbahn) and Schönlanke and 57 other municipalities:[3]

Due to the establishment of the Polish-German border along the Netze river in 1920, only the parts of the three towns of Czarnikau, Filehne and Usch which lay north of the Netze remained in Germany. These areas continued to exist in the Netzekreis as the municipalities of Deutsch Czarnikau, Deutsch Filehne and Deutsch Usch. In 1937, the prefix “Deutsch” was dropped in these three municipalities.