94 PREUSSEN
The Kulturkampf also affected the Poles in that most of them were Roman
Catholics.^9 The Primate of Prussian Poland, Archbishop Mieczyslaw
Ledochowski of Gnesen (Gniezno) and Posen (182.2.—1902), had compromised
with the authorities so long as their demands were confined to trivialities. In
1872, he agreed that Bote cos Polske should not be sung at Mass. But when gov-
ernment inspectors began to interfere with religious instruction in schools and
with the running of theological seminars, he resisted. In 1874, together with his
colleague in the Rhineland, the Archbishop of Cologne, he was arrested and
imprisoned. After two years in gaol, he was exiled in Rome. Ninety Polish
priests shared his fate, and many more were harassed. At a stroke, Bismarck
ensured that Polishness and Catholicity in Prussia should be permanently
identified. In Silesia, he channelled the Polish national movement into the hands
of radical priests such as the Revd Kapitza of Tychy, or the Revd Jozef
Szafranek (1807-74), and of Catholic journalists such as Karol Miarka
(1825-82), editor of the Katolik. On the religious, as on the educational issue,
repression proved counter-productive.
Polish nationality, in fact, revived under such ambiguous policies. Although
Polish deputies complained in the Landtag about anti-Polish measures in the
eastern provinces, German deputies were no less insistent on the growing threat
to German supremacy. In the 1880s, the foreign visitor could have observed no
Polish influence whatsoever in Stettin, and very little in Breslau or Danzig. But
in Posen, as in many of the smaller towns of the east and south-east, the Polish
element though secondary was very definitely still in evidence:
POSEN
Hotels (none of them quite first-class). HOTEL DE DRESDE Wilhelm-Str. 21, B & L 3,
A 1/2, D 2 1/2, B 3/4m; DE ROME, Wilhelm-Platz I, with restaurant... ; DE L'EUROPE,
Wilhelms-Str. I; DE FRANCE, Wilhelm-Str. 15, frequented by Poles;...
Theatres. STADT-THEATER, Wilhelms, Platz, plays and operas; VICTORIA,
Neustadter-Markt, in summer only; POLISH THEATRE, Berliner-Str. Summer only.
Pleasure Resorts. Schilling's on the Warthe, outside the Schillings-Thor; Zoological and
Feldschloss Garten, beyond the Berliner-Thor; Schweizerhof, Victoria-Park, Eichwald
(33M.) ...
POSEN Polish POZNAN, the capital of the province of that name, the H.Q. of the 5th
Corps d'Armee, and a fortress of the first rank, with 68,300 inhab. (More than 1/2 German,
and 1/4 Jews), and a garrison of 7000 men, lies at the confluence of the Cybina and Warthe.
It is one of the most ancient Polish towns, having been the seat of a bishop from the end
of the 10th Cent, and the residence of the Kings of Poland down to 1296. The immigra-
tion of Germans gave it importance as a great depot of trade... and it was a member of
the Hanseatic League in the middle ages. The new part of the town, forming a striking
contrast with the older and poorer quarters, has been erected since it came into the pos-
session of Prussia in 1815, which rescued it from the low estate to which wars and other
misfortunes had reduced it. On Sundays and holidays the streets are enlivened by the gay
and quaint costumes of the peasantry, especially of the so-called Bamberger, distant
descendants of Franconian immigrants though now genuine Poles to all intents and pur-
poses.