Glatz (district)

After conquering most of Silesia, King Frederick the Great introduced Prussian administrative structures in Lower Silesia by cabinet order on November 25, 1741.[1] This included the establishment of two war and domain chambers in Breslau and Glogau as well as their subdivision into districts and the appointment of district administrators on January 1, 1742.[2]

The Glatz district initially belonged to the Breslau War and Domain Chamber until it was assigned to Regierungsbezirk Reichenbach of the Province of Silesia in the course of the Stein-Hardenberg reforms of 1815.[3] On January 1, 1818, the new Habelschwerdt district was formed from parts of the Glatz district.  After Regierungsbezirk Reichenbach was dissolved, the districts of Glatz and Habelschwerdt were assigned to Regierungsbezirk Breslau on May 1, 1820. On August 2, 1855, the new Neurode district was created from the northern parts of the Glatz district with its capital in the city of Neurode.

On November 8, 1919, the Province of Silesia was divided into two parts and the Glatz district became part of the new Province of Lower Silesia, which was formed from Regierungsbezirk Breslau and Regierungsbezirk Liegnitz. On October 1, 1932, the Neurode district was merged back into the Glatz district. On April 1, 1938, the Prussian provinces of Lower Silesia and Province of Upper Silesia were merged again to form the Province of Silesia, but this was reversed on January 18, 1941. In the spring of 1945 the district was occupied by the Red Army and in the summer of 1945, it was placed under Polish administration in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. In the following years the German population was largely expelled and replaced by Poles.

According to the census of 1861, the Glatz district had a population of 56,584, of which 52,968 (93.6%) were Germans and 3,616 (6.4%) were Czechs.[4]