East Elbia
East Elbia was an informal denotation for those parts of the German Reich until World War II that lay east of the river Elbe.
The region comprised the Prussian provinces of Brandenburg, the eastern parts of Saxony and the Kingdom of Saxony, Pomerania, Silesia, East Prussia, West Prussia and Posen as well as the states of Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The urban area of Berlin was not included.
East Elbia was noted for its historic manorialism and serfdom, as well as for political conservatism, combined with the predominantly Protestant confession of the local population. "East Elbian Junker" was a politically charged term used by leftist parties especially during the Weimar Republic, denoting especially the rich functionaries of the conservative, right-wing German National People's Party that fit the stereotype. Already during the time of the German Empire, these East Elbian Junkers had formed the monarchy's reactionary backbone.
