Swedish Pomerania (1637–1815)

During his reign, Gustavus Adolphus (1594–1632) continued the efforts of King Charles IX of Sweden to transform the Baltic Sea into an internal body of water of the House of Vasa (Dominium Maris Baltici), aiming to secure Sweden’s role as a Baltic superpower. To this end, Gustavus Adolphus engaged in conflicts with Denmark (1611–1613) and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1621–1629), and in 1630, he intervened in the Thirty Years’ War in Germany.

The Swedish monarch had been making preparations for this final move since the mid-1620s, while observing the events of the war in the Empire (the Danish period). Following the occupation of the Duchy of Pomerania by Imperial forces in November 1627, he took active measures, committing himself to the defense of Stralsund against Wallenstein’s troops. On June 25, 1628, he concluded an alliance treaty with the city and dispatched a Swedish garrison there. Stralsund thus became a bridgehead for further Swedish expansion in Pomerania and the Empire.

After concluding the Truce of Altmark with Poland in 1629, which secured Livonia and revenues from the Danzig (Gdańsk) customs duties for Sweden, the country launched an offensive in Pomerania in 1630. In April, Swedish forces occupied Rügen, and on July 6, King Gustavus Adolphus personally landed on the island of Usedom, reaching Stettin (Szczecin) by July 10. He forced Bogislaw XIV to sign a ‘defensive’ alliance. From then on, the Duchy of Pomerania served as a Swedish staging area for the Thirty Years’ War within the Empire, and the King became the protector of the Protestant estates in their struggle against the Emperor and the Catholic party.

The Swedish protection was to cost Pomerania the sum of 200,000 thalers, paid for the maintenance of the ‘Lion of the North’s’ army and for a contribution toward the construction of modern bastion fortifications in towns such as Stettin (Szczecin), Altdamm (Dąbie), Anklam, Stargard, Greifswald, and Kolberg (Kołobrzeg). By fashioning himself as the defender of the Evangelical confession, the Swedish king gained the sympathy of a large portion of Pomeranian society, including the port cities and many noble families.

In the Battle of Lützen in 1632, Gustavus Adolphus was killed, forcing the Swedes to shift to defensive operations. Nevertheless, until the end of the war, thanks to the skillful diplomacy of Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna—the regent for Queen Christina—and a still significant military force, Sweden maintained its control over Pomerania.

The Swedish protectorate over the Duchy of Pomerania occurred during a period of declining health for Bogislaus XIV, who had no heir to the throne. Succession treaties concluded with the Electors of Brandenburg provided that, should the House of Griffins become extinct, the Hohenzollerns were to assume power in Pomerania. Initially, the Swedes did not dispute Brandenburg’s rights to Pomerania; however, they simultaneously prepared, both politically and militarily, to keep the country in their hands upon the death of the last Griffin. They openly declared this intention at the meeting of the Estates of the Empire in Frankfurt am Main in 1634. Bogislaus XIV died on March 10, 1637. According to the treaty of 1529, the Elector of Brandenburg should have assumed power in the duchy, but the Swedes refused to honor the provisions of the agreement, as they intended to retain Pomerania themselves. To this end, they undertook efforts to win over the Pomeranian estates. Initially, they allowed a Pomeranian provisional government to function, but following its self-dissolution in March 1638, they assumed full sovereign civil and military authority over the country. During the peace negotiations held from the early 1640s in Hamburg, and later in Osnabrück and Münster, the Swedes maintained their position regarding the retention of the former Griffin domain.

The Peace of Westphalia, signed on October 24, 1648, decided the division of Pomerania into two parts: the Swedish part, known as Hither Pomerania, stretching from the Recknitz River to the mouth of the Oder, including Stettin (Szczecin), the islands of Wollin and Usedom, and Rügen; and the Brandenburg part, known as Farther Pomerania, extending eastward from Stargard to the border with the Lauenburg and Bütow Land. The Swedes delayed surrendering the eastern part of the Duchy of Pomerania, dragging out negotiations regarding the border demarcation. They yielded only under pressure from Emperor Ferdinand III. The final border between the Swedish and Brandenburgian domains was established on May 4, 1653, in the Border Recess of Stettin. The boundary ran along the right bank of the Dievenow (Dziwna), across the Szczecin Lagoon, and down the lower Oder. On the ‘east bank of the Oder,’ Sweden retained possession of Cammin (Kamień Pomorski), Gollnow (Goleniów), Altdamm (Dąbie), Greifenhagen (Gryfino), and the Lordship of Wildenbruch (Swobnica). From then until the beginning of the 18th century, Swedish Pomerania stretched from the island of Rügen and the Recknitz River in the west to the lower Oder, including the Szczecin Lagoon and its Baltic outlet, with the islands of Usedom and Wollin and a strip of land on the eastern side of these waters. Following the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1679, the Swedes lost the Lordship of Wildenbruch, Greifenhagen, and Cammin on the ‘right bank of the Oder.

Significant changes in Swedish rule over Pomerania occurred following the Great Northern War (1700–1720/21). After Charles XII’s defeat at Poltava in 1709, the Swedes were forced into a defensive position in the conflict. Consequently, the hostilities shifted to Swedish possessions on the eastern and southern Baltic, including those within the Empire. In 1711, Russian, Saxon, and Danish troops entered Swedish Pomerania, and King Frederick William I of Prussia—initially acting as a neutral monarch—seized Stettin (Szczecin) through subterfuge in 1713, before actively joining the war and occupying a significant portion of the Swedish domain. In January 1720, the new Swedish sovereign, Ulrika Eleonora (sister of the late Charles XII), concluded a peace treaty with Prussia. She ceded the substantial southeastern portion of Swedish Pomerania that he had occupied—the territory between the lower Oder and the Peene River, including Stettin, Altdamm (Dąbie), Gollnow (Goleniów), Demmin, Anklam, Pasewalk, and Ueckermünde, as well as the islands of Wollin and Usedom—to King Frederick William I for the sum of 2 million thalers.

In its new, territorially reduced form, Swedish Pomerania—encompassing the area between the Recknitz and Peene rivers, along with the island of Rügen and the primary urban centers of Stralsund, Greifswald, Barth, and Wolgast—existed as a domain of the monarchs in Stockholm until 1815, marking the end of the Napoleonic era.

In the 17th century, Hither Pomerania served as a base for political and military expansion on the southern shore of the Baltic. In 1655, Swedish troops set out from Pomerania toward Greater Poland, initiating the war against Poland known as the ‘Swedish Deluge’ (1655–1660). In 1700, General Klinkenström’s army departed from Stettin for Poland during the Great Northern War (1700–1721), and between 1708 and 1711, Catherine Leszczyńska, the wife of King Stanisław Leszczyński, resided in Stettin. Following the decline of Sweden’s status as a great power, Hither Pomerania became one of the monarchy’s peripheral provinces—an important bridge for economic and cultural exchange between the Scandinavian nation and mainland Europe.

The legal basis for Swedish rule in Pomerania was Article X of the Treaty of Westphalia from Osnabrück (Instrumentum Pacis Osnabrugense). On its basis, Queen Christina and her successors held the country in perpetuity (in perpetuum); thus, unlike other rulers in the Empire, they did not act as hereditary vassals of the Emperor, but as allodial rulers. By virtue of possessing the Pomeranian domain, the monarch of Sweden was an Estate of the Empire (Reichsstand), holding a vote in the Reichstag within the Council of Princes. The monarch also possessed an unlimited privilege prohibiting his German subjects from appealing to Imperial courts (privilegium de non appellando illimitatum), as well as the right to choose the legal forum for disputes in which he was a party (privilegium electionis fori). The treaty also guaranteed the Pomeranian estates the preservation of the Evangelical religion according to the Augsburg Confession (Lutheranism).

According to the provisions of the treaty, the estate-based system (Ständestaat) was to be preserved in the Swedish domain in Pomerania, as was the case in other German possessions. The estates held the right to defend their position against the Swedish crown within the Imperial forum. This privilege quite effectively restrained Swedish monarchs from introducing absolutist rule on Pomeranian soil, although it did not limit the effectiveness of actions taken by strong monarchs, such as Charles XII.

Toward his Pomeranian subjects, the Swedish king fulfilled the role of a duke. As mentioned above, the country preserved the estate-based system (Ständestaat) from the era of the Griffins, characterized by the dominant role of the nobility alongside the participation of the towns, and the complete economic, social, and legal subordination of the rural population to the authority of the former estate.

The King was represented in the country by a viceroy—the Governor-General (Statthalter – General-Gouverneur). One of the most prominent figures to hold this office was Carl Gustaf Wrangel (1613–1676), a Swedish field marshal and admiral who commanded Swedish forces during the ‘Deluge’ (1655–1660) and was also a holder of extensive estates in Pomerania. His competencies included supreme military and administrative authority over the province. Regarding the latter, he formally headed institutions established as early as the 1640s, which had evolved from the administrative system of the ducal era. The organization of the administration and the country’s political system were formalized in the ‘constitution’ (Regeringsform) passed at the Diet of Wolgast in 1663. It represented a compromise between Sweden’s absolutist and imperial aspirations and the estate-based system of Pomerania.

The aforementioned Governor-General headed the Regency (Regierung), a collegial body that also included the President of the Regency—who served simultaneously as the President of the High Court in Greifswald and held the title of Vice-Governor—as well as the Chancellor, two councillors, and the Castle Prefect (Burggraf). This office was the supreme institution of provincial administration, with competencies encompassing general and police administration. These included the monarch’s sovereign authority, provincial governance, public order, and oversight of sanitary, medical, fire safety, construction, and moral standards. The Regency also managed royal domains and regalia, controlled state finances and the Pomeranian Chamber, and supervised royal and private judiciaries, statistics, military affairs, and education—including oversight of the University of Greifswald. Furthermore, it oversaw the church, municipal and estate self-governments, social welfare, and economic development in trade, crafts, industry (manufactories), agriculture, fishing, and forestry. The Regency also functioned as an administrative court, resolving disputes between subjects or legal institutions (e.g., magistrates, foundations). Parties had the right to appeal the Regency’s verdicts directly to the Royal Tribunal in Wismar (Königliches Tribunal in Wismar). Additionally, the Regency collegium acted as the supreme feudal authority for the nobility and towns holding estates and privileges under feudal law. In these capacities, the collegium operated under the name of the Feudal Chancery (Lehnskanzelei).

The seat of the Regency was the ducal castle in Stettin (Szczecin) until the beginning of the 18th century, with the exception of the periods of siege in 1659 and 1677–1678. Following the outbreak of the Great Northern War in 1700, the office was evacuated in 1712 to Stralsund, where it ceased operations six years later after the entire territory of Swedish Pomerania was occupied by Russian, Saxon, Danish, and Prussian forces.

Following the Treaty of Stockholm in 1720 with Prussia, Sweden recovered a fragment of Hither Pomerania—the area north of the Peene River, including the island of Rügen. In 1721, the Regency and other provincial offices were reinstated, and the Pomeranian estates once again swore fealty to Queen Ulrika Eleonora. After the loss of Stettin, Stralsund became the capital of Swedish Pomerania, serving as the seat of the Regency until 1815. The organization of the office continued to be based on the regulations of 1663. Even the coup d’état carried out by King Gustav IV Adolf in June 1806 did not alter this, as the introduction of the Swedish constitution in this overseas province was halted by the occupation of the country by Napoleonic France. Sweden’s restoration of authority over Pomerania in 1810 provided a pretext for the Pomeranian estates to restore the particularistic system that had existed prior to 1806. As a result of the work of an organizational commission, the Regency was reconstituted as the primary provincial administrative body under the direction of the Governor-General, albeit with a partially modified structure and organization.

Another key official in Pomerania was the General Superintendent, who managed religious affairs on behalf of the King, extending beyond the Evangelical Church alone. He exercised part of his authority through the consistory, which served as a spiritual court for the faithful and as a secular court for the clergy in civil matters. The General Superintendent’s competencies included matters of faith and ensuring that both clergy and laity adhered to the church ordinance and other religious and official regulations concerning the Evangelical Church. He administered church property, visited synods and parishes, examined candidates for the ministry, and participated in the appointment of pastors to parishes. The Superintendent presided over provincial church synods and implemented royal decrees regarding ecclesiastical and religious affairs. Furthermore, he exercised oversight and control over education throughout the province. The General Superintendent in Greifswald simultaneously served as the provost of the local synod and held the title of parson in Gützkow. In the 17th century, the structure of the Evangelical Church in Pomerania consisted of 17 synods (Greifswald, Rügen, Barth, Wolgast, Grimmen, Loitz, Anklam, Treptow, Demmin, Ueckermünde, Pasewalk, Penkun, Stettin, Greifenhagen, Gollnow, Cammin, and Stralsund), which comprised individual parishes. After 1720, the number of synods was reduced to six (Greifswald, Rügen, Barth, Wolgast, Grimmen, Loitz) and two urban ministries (Greifswald, Stralsund). The synod on Rügen was divided into four provostries: Bergen, Gingst, Poseritz, and Jasmund-Wittow.

Furthermore, the High Court (Hofgericht) operated in Greifswald, and the Land Bailiff’s Court (Landvogteigericht) functioned in Bergen on Rügen; these served as higher instances and as courts of first instance for the nobility. Townspeople, on the other hand, were subject to municipal jurisdiction, while peasants fell under the patrimonial courts administered by the nobility. The supreme court was the aforementioned Royal Tribunal in Wismar.

In turn, the estate-based representation before the King and his officials was the Provincial Diet (Landtag), composed of representatives from the nobility and the towns. Initially, the nobility elected their deputies from 10 knightly districts, and after 1720, from five such districts: Rügen, Barth, Greifswald, Loitz-Grimmen-Tribsees, and Wolgast. Among the towns, the major centers held the decisive say at the Diet—most notably Stralsund and, until 1713, Stettin (Szczecin). The estate assembly exerted a strong influence on the actions of the Swedish monarchs in Pomerania, effectively blocking many measures of an absolutist nature. Furthermore, the estates maintained their own treasury administration (Landkasten), which collected land taxes and other levies, subsequently allocating them for provincial needs, the Swedish central treasury, and pan-German obligations (tributes to the Imperial Diet).

The Pomerania taken over by Sweden following the death of Bogislaus XIV in 1637 was a country severely devastated both demographically and economically, although the demographic losses of up to 80% reported by early chroniclers and later historians should be considered significantly exaggerated. Following the division of the country, the Swedish part was inhabited by approximately 120,000–130,000 people, with over 80,000 living in rural areas. After the loss of Stettin (Szczecin) and the Oder region, the Swedish province’s population fell to about 70,000. By 1764, the population had risen to approximately 83,000, with 59,000 residing in rural areas. By 1805, the provincial community had reached 118,000 people, 79,000 of whom lived in the countryside. Among them, more than half (46,000) consisted of serf laborers (compared to 22,000 in 1764).

The Thirty Years’ War and the remedial measures undertaken by landowners, with the support of the authorities, altered the character of the rural landscape in Swedish Pomerania. As early as the 16th century, the Griffin domain had entered the sphere of the re-feudalization of social relations, characterized by the dominance of the nobility, the limiting of the role of the bourgeoisie, and the complete subordination of the rural population—primarily through the development of a manorial-serf economy (Gutsherrschaft). The symbol of this in the Pomeranian duchies was the Peasant Ordinance (Bauerordnung) of 1616. In rural areas, landowners attempting to reconstruct their estates without the means to pay agricultural laborers restored peasant farmsteads; the inhabitants then received these in leasehold in exchange for labor on the lord’s land. Peasants were obligated to perform both socage with their own draught animals and tools (spannfähige Dienste) and manual labor (Handdienste). Often, labor obligations exceeded the number of days in a week. The nobility exercised, both in their own name and on behalf of the King, police, judicial, fiscal, and ecclesiastical authority over the rural population.

Changes in the agricultural economy occurred in Swedish Pomerania during the 18th century. Driven by a desire to intensify agricultural production, the nobility and domain lessees began to expand the acreage of manorial lands by consolidating peasant farmsteads (Bauernlegen). This resulted from factors such as increased demand for agricultural products and a demographic boom in the countryside, which created a surplus of labor available to work as agricultural laborers for lower wages. Furthermore, new agricultural techniques—including crop rotation and the introduction of new crops like potatoes and clover—led landowners to begin replacing corvée labor (serfdom) with wage labor. Consequently, by the end of the 18th century, the rural areas of Swedish Pomerania were primarily inhabited by cotters, crofters, and landless laborers (Insten), whose main occupation was wage labor on the manor, supplemented by their own small plots. Full-scale peasant farmers (Vollbauern) constituted only a small minority of the rural population.

Throughout the entire period of Swedish rule, the towns of Hither Pomerania preserved their political systems from the ducal era, based on the governance of city councils dominated by the local patriciate. New council members were appointed through co-option from among the local elites. The municipal administration exercised judicial, police, fiscal, and ecclesiastical authority over the townspeople, as well as over the subjects within their rural estates (including the right of patronage over local churches).

The landscape of the province was dominated by two major centers—Stralsund and Stettin (Szczecin)—alongside several medium-sized towns: Anklam, Greifswald, Wolgast, and Barth. After 1720, following the loss of Stettin and the mouth of the Oder, Stralsund became the primary administrative and economic center of Swedish Pomerania, followed in economic importance by Greifswald, Barth, and Wolgast. The remaining ten towns functioned as much smaller, local craft and trade centers (Bergen, Damgarten, Franzburg, Garz on Rügen, Grimmen, Gützkow, Lassan, Loitz, Richtenberg, and Tribsees). At the end of the 18th century, the largest of these cities, Stralsund, had over 10,000 inhabitants, whereas Greifswald had only 5,000. The smallest towns, Richtenberg and Franzburg, had only 561 and 451 inhabitants, respectively.

The maritime trade of Swedish Pomeranian towns was based on the export of grain and its derivatives (flour, malt). These products were shipped to Sweden, Lübeck, Schleswig, as well as Norway and the Netherlands. In turn, the ports of Stralsund and Greifswald received imports of timber, tar, pitch, lime, iron, and other metals, followed by fish, train oil (whale oil), fats, and colonial goods (wine, spices, cane sugar).

During the Swedish era, Hither Pomerania remained a center for the development of culture and science despite the crises caused by the Thirty Years’ War and the Great Northern War (1700–1720). The primary hub for this was the University of Greifswald. In 1634, the university received the entire domain of Eldena (approx. 15,000 hectares) as an endowment from the last Griffin, Bogislaus XIV. These estates allowed the institution to survive difficult periods. Swedish monarchs also supported the university through grants and foundations. In 1750, King Frederick endowed a new main building for the university in the Northern Baroque style, featuring a magnificent assembly hall (Aula). The university educated between 50 and 100 students annually across the faculties of medicine, theology, and law. Among them, in the 17th and 18th centuries, as many as 1,500 were students originating from Sweden. Studies in Greifswald often served as the first stage of the academic ‘grand tour’ (peregrinatio academica) for Scandinavian youth traveling to European universities. Despite various crises, the university maintained a high standard of education and research. Notable fields of study included astronomy, natural sciences, medicine, as well as constitutional law and history. In 1742, the first scientific society in Pomerania, Societas collectorum historiae et juris patrii, was established at the university. Distinguished professors included David Mevius, Augustin Balthasar, Georg Adolf Caroc, Christian Nettelbladt, Hermann Heinrich Engelbrecht, Johann Carl Dähnert, Thomas Gadebusch, and Johann Karl Schildener. Especially in the 18th century, the University of Greifswald served as a vital bridge for scientific and cultural exchange between the German lands and Scandinavia, with some Greifswald scholars attaining positions in the central offices of the Swedish state (e.g., Th. Gadebusch, J.K. Schildener).

Swedish rule in Pomerania concluded in October 1815 when the Prussian state took over Hither Pomerania. During the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden sided with the anti-French coalition. Consequently, the country was occupied by the French army between 1807–1810 and 1812–1813. In the final years of the conflict with Napoleon, a series of treaties (1814–1815) were negotiated between Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia. Charles XIV John Bernadotte—then the Crown Prince and Regent, and later King of Sweden from 1818 to 1844—ceded Hither Pomerania to the Hohenzollerns. In exchange, Sweden received Norway from Denmark and 4.6 million thalers in compensation from Berlin.

More:

Historia Pomorza, tom II, część III: Pomorze Zachodnie (1648-1815), red. Gerard Labuda, Poznań: Wydawnictwo Poznańskie 2003.

Pomorze Zachodnie poprzez wieki, red. J.M. Piskorski, Szczecin: Zamek Książąt Pomorskich 1999.

Paweł Gut