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Kattowitz (district)
 
 
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Landkreis Kattowitz was a rural district of the German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
-state of Prussia
Prussia

Prussia was, most recently, a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. This state had for centuries substantial influence on Germany and European history....
 from 1873–1922 and 1939–45. Its capital was the city of Kattowitz (Katowice)
Katowice

Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Klodnica and Rawa river rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about 50 km from the Silesian Beskids and about 100 km from Sudetes....
.

History
The district was created in 1873 as Kreis Kattowitz (District Kattowitz) out of parts of the older Kreis Beuthen within the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a Germany monarchy from 1701 to 1918 and, from 1871, was the leading state of the German Empire, comprising almost two-thirds of the area of the empire....
.






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Schlesien Region Kattowitz
Landkreis Kattowitz was a rural district of the German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
-state of Prussia
Prussia

Prussia was, most recently, a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. This state had for centuries substantial influence on Germany and European history....
 from 1873–1922 and 1939–45. Its capital was the city of Kattowitz (Katowice)
Katowice

Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Klodnica and Rawa river rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about 50 km from the Silesian Beskids and about 100 km from Sudetes....
.

History


The district was created in 1873 as Kreis Kattowitz (District Kattowitz) out of parts of the older Kreis Beuthen within the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a Germany monarchy from 1701 to 1918 and, from 1871, was the leading state of the German Empire, comprising almost two-thirds of the area of the empire....
. The new district was administered within Regierungsbezirk Oppeln in the Prussian Province of Silesia
Province of Silesia

The Province of Silesia was a Provinces of Prussia of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919; the territory had been conquered from Habsburg Monarchy during the 18th century Silesian Wars....
.

On 1 April 1899, the city of Kattowitz was separated from the district, becoming an independent city
Independent city

An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity.Independent cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other nation-state....
. Kreis Kattowitz was thus renamed Landkreis (Rural District Kattowitz).

In 1922 after the Silesian Uprisings
Silesian Uprisings

The Silesian Uprisings were a series of three armed Rebellion of the Poles and Polish Silesians of Upper Silesia, from 1919?1921, against Weimar Republic rule; the resistance hoped to break away from Germany in order to join the Second Polish Republic, which had been established in the wake of World War I....
, Kattowitz and its surrounding district were ceded to the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic

The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland is the Republic of Poland between World War I and World War II....
. The former German district was subsequently administered as Katowice County within the Polish Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship
Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship

The Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship was an Autonomy region of the Second Polish Republic created as the result of the popular Upper Silesia plebiscite in 1921, the Geneva Conventions in Geneva, three Silesian Uprisings, and the partition of Upper Silesia between Second Polish Republic, Germany and then-Czechoslovakia....
.

In September 1939 at the beginning of World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, Katowice County was annexed to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
 after the invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)

The Invasion of Poland in 1939 precipitated World War II. It was carried out by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak invasion of Poland contingent....
. In October the territory was rejoined to German Silesia. On 20 November the communities Panewnik and Petrowitz were transferred from Landkreis Pleß to the Kattowitz rural district. On 26 November the city and district were made part of the new Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz within the Province of Silesia. Many placenames of Slavic origin were eradicated in favour of German names as part of Germanisation
Germanisation

Germanisation is either the spread of the German language, German people and German culture either by force or assimilation, or the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanization of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet....
. One of them was Auschwitz. On 18 January 1941, the Province of Silesia was dissolved, with Landkreis Kattowitz becoming part of the Province of Upper Silesia
Province of Upper Silesia

The Province of Upper Silesia was a Provinces of Prussia of the Free State of Prussia created in the aftermath of World War I. It composed much of the region of Upper Silesia and was eventually divided into two administrative regions , Kattowitz and Oppeln ....
.

On 1 January 1945, Landkreis Kattowitz consisted of two cities and twenty-six communities. In Spring 1945 the territory was occupied by the Soviet
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 Red Army
Red Army

The Red Army was the armed force first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and, in 1922, became the army of the Soviet Union....
. The district was dissolved when the land was restored to Polish control.