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Lithuania District
Administrative division of the German Empire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lithuania District (German: Verwaltungsbezirk Litauen) was an administrative subdivision of German-controlled territory of Ober-Ost, from 1915 to 1918, during World War I. It was bordered by the Bialystok-Grodno District to the south and the Courland District to the north.[1][2]
| Lithuania District Verwaltungsbezirk Litauen | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military occupation authority of the German Empire | |||||||||||
| 1915–1918 | |||||||||||
 Provinces of Ober Ost in March 1917 | |||||||||||
| Capital | Vilnius | ||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||
| • Coordinates | 54°41′N 25°17′E | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | 1915 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1918 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
History
The area was formed roughly from parts of the occupied governorates of Kovno, Vilna and Suvalki of the Russian Empire.
Initially, in 1915, the entire territory of the newly established Ober Ost administration was divided into six provinces, headed by German provincial administrators (governors), including: Franz-Joseph zu Isenburg-Birstein in northwestern Lithuania (Kovno), von Beckerath in Vilna, and Rüdiger von Haugwitz in Suvalki (the others were: Alfred von Gossler in Courland, Theodor von Heppe in Grodno, and von Bockelberg in Bialystok).[3]
In March 1917, regional administration was reorganized, dividing the entire Ober Ost into three provinces: Courland, Lithuania, and Bialystok-Grodno.[4]
Franz-Joseph zu Isenburg-Birstein continued to govern as the provincial administrator in Lithuania until January 1918, when he was replaced by Theodor von Heppe.[5]
In August 1918, the Bialystok-Grodno region was also included into the Lithuanian province.[6]
