List of heads of state of the Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig (German: Freie Stadt Danzig; Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk) existed between 1920 and 1939.
The City had its own post office, currency and citizenship, but it was not independent: it was administered directly by the League of Nations, represented by a High Commissioner. The city was governed by the Senate. The head of state was the President of the Senate. The Free City was represented abroad by Poland's ambassadors.
League of Nations High Commissioners
League of Nations mandated territories, were run by member countries on behalf of the League. But Danzig and the Saargebiet were run by the League of Nations itself, with representatives of various countries being the High Commissioner:[1]
Name | Period | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Reginald Thomas Tower | 1919-1920 | UK |
2 | Edward Lisle Strutt | 1920 | UK |
3 | Bernardo Attolico | 1920 | Italy |
4 | Richard Cyril Byrne Haking | 1921-1923 | UK |
5 | Mervyn Sorley McDonnell | 1923-1925 | UK |
6 | Joost Adriaan van Hamel | 1925-1929 | Netherlands |
7 | Manfredi di Gravina | 1929-1932 | Italy |
8 | Helmer Rosting | 1932-1934 | Denmark |
9 | Seán Lester | 1934-1936 | Irish Free State |
10 | Carl Jakob Burckhardt | 1937-1939 | Switzerland |
Politics
Heads of State of the Free City of Danzig [1]
Presidents of the Danzig senate |
Took Office | Left Office | Party | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Heinrich Sahm | 6 December 1920 | 10 January 1931 | none |
2 | Ernst Ziehm | 10 January 1931 | 20 June 1933 | DNVP |
3 | Hermann Rauschning | 20 June 1933 | 23 November 1934 | NSDAP |
4 | Arthur Karl Greiser | 23 November 1934 | 23 August 1939 | NSDAP |
State President | ||||
5 | Albert Förster | 23 August 1939 | 1 September 1939 | NSDAP |