Lower Silesia Province (Prussia)

This article is about the historical Prussian province. For the present-day province of Poland, see Lower Silesian Voivodeship.

Niederschlesien Lower Silesia Province of Prussia ← 1919 — 1938 1941 — 1945 →   →   →   →   → Flag Coat of arms Lower Silesia province (red), within the Free State of Prussia Capital Breslau History  - Established 1919  - Merged into    Silesia Province 1938 - 1941  - Disestablished 1945 Area  - 1925 26,616 km2 (10,276 sq mi) Population  - 1925 3,132,135       Density 117.7 /km2  (304.8 /sq mi)

The Province of Lower Silesia (German: Provinz Niederschlesien) was a province of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Between 1938 and 1941 it was reunited with Upper Silesia as the Silesia Province. The capital of Lower Silesia was Breslau (now Wrocław in Poland). The province was further divided into two administrative regions (Regierungsbezirke), Breslau and Liegnitz.

The province was not congruent with the historical region of Lower Silesia, which now lies mainly in Poland. It additionally comprised the Upper Lusatian districts of Görlitz, Rothenburg and Hoyerswerda in the west, that until 1815 had belonged to the Kingdom of Saxony, as well as the former County of Kladsko in the southeast.

The province was disestablished at the end of World War II and with the implementation of the Oder-Neisse line in 1945, the area east of the Neisse river fell to the Republic of Poland. The smaller western part was incorporated into the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg.

Administrative regions

Regierungsbezirk Breslau

Urban districts / Stadtkreise

1. City of Breslau
2. City of Brieg
3. City of Schweidnitz
4. City of Waldenburg

Rural districts / Landkreise

1. Landkreis Breslau
2. Landkreis Brieg
3. Landkreis Frankenstein
4. Landkreis Glatz
5. Landkreis Groß Wartenberg
6. Landkreis Guhrau
7. Landkreis Habelschwerdt
8. Landkreis Militsch
9. Landkreis Namslau
10. Landkreis Neumarkt
11. Landkreis Oels
12. Landkreis Ohlau
13. Landkreis Reichenbach (im Eulengebirge)
14. Landkreis Schweidnitz
15. Landkreis Strehlen
16. Landkreis Trebnitz
17. Landkreis Waldenburg
18. Landkreis Wohlau

Regierungsbezirk Liegnitz

Map of Silesia, showing the historical location of Lower Silesia (Liegnitz), Middle Silesia (Breslau), and Upper Silesia (Oppeln)

1905 administrative map of Silesia, showing Lower Silesia in green, Middle Silesia in yellow, and Upper Silesia in pink

Urban districts / Stadtkreise

1. City of Glogau
2. City of Görlitz
3. City of Hirschberg im Riesengebirge
4. City of Liegnitz

Rural districts / Landkreise

1. Landkreis Bunzlau
2. Landkreis Fraustadt
3. Landkreis Freystadt i. Niederschles.
4. Landkreis Glogau
5. Landkreis Görlitz
6. Landkreis Goldberg
7. Landkreis Grünberg
8. Landkreis Hirschberg
9. Landkreis Hoyerswerda
10. Landkreis Jauer
11. Landkreis Landeshut
12. Landkreis Lauban
13. Landkreis Liegnitz
14. Landkreis Löwenberg
15. Landkreis Lüben
16. Landkreis Rothenburg (Ob. Laus.)
17. Landkreis Sprottau

See also

• Lower Silesian Voivodeship
• Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis
• Territorial Association of Silesia