Second, in a later period (up to the middle of the 19th century), the term Olędrzy (German: Hauländer) was used to describe settlers of different ethnicities (principally Germans and Poles, at times Scots, Czechs, and Hungarians), who benefited from certain privileges resulting from the law established by the Frisian and Dutch peasants (such as personal freedom,[Note 1] long-term or perpetual use of land, and the possibility of transmitting land to heirs).

Rusiński[5] gives examples of such instances in Greater Poland: Wymysłowo (known in some sources as Czarkowskie Olędry) or Burzykowo in the parish of Oborniki (on some German maps called Burzykower Holl.).

The referenced historians argued that on low, wet terrain subject to flooding, settlers were called Holländer (in reference to the settlers from the Netherlands who were specialists in flood control and drainage), while those colonists who settled in thick forests requiring clearing were called Hauländer (from the German hauen – to hew, to chop).

Three chief causes of that colonization can be distinguished: Before Olęder settlers arrived on the soil of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Dutch were already present in Ducal Prussia, a vassal duchy of Poland.

In the middle of the 16th century, the government of Gdańsk, led by Mayor Ferber, decided to populate Żuławy Gdańskie, which had been given the city by King Casimir IV Jagiellon in 1454.

[20][Note 3] The newcomers from the Netherlands easily mastered the unfavorable conditions, and soon thereafter additional Olęder settlements appeared in Pomerania.

Soon colonization spread to the Starostwo of Puck (such as Karwieńskie Błoto and Reda[21]), and – even more importantly – began to progress up the Vistula River.

Settlements appeared in the starostwas of Gniew and Sztum (including Szkaradowo, Benowo, Pułkowice, Szropy and Nowa Wieś).

While at the beginning they were almost entirely of Dutch origin (sometimes arriving directly from the Netherlands, sometimes moving on after an initial stop in Ducal Prussia), later, with increasing frequency, they were descendants of the original Dutch, born on Polish soil, and subsequently from a completely different ethnic group—most often German, sometimes Polish, and occasionally representatives of other groups.

"[25] Chodyła gives a precise figure: descendants of the Dutch in Pomerania accounted for 0.8% of settlers; Evangelical (Lutheran) Germans, for 54%; and Polish Catholics, 38%.

[4] Most studies agree that the Partitions of Poland and subsequent period (up to the mid-19th century) was a turning point signalling the end of Olęder settlement.

For example, many Mennonites abandoned the lands they had occupied in Prussia, because their religious beliefs did not allow them to perform military service, which conflicted with the ethos of such a heavily militaristic state.

In addition, administrative reforms carried out by the partitioning powers eliminated the legal arrangements that constituted the distinguishing characteristic of Olęder settlements.

Everything depended on local conditions (the requirements of the terrain and the character of land cleared for sowing or pasture), and the background of the settlers.

In the case of villages on terrain that had been drained, most often one finds buildings constructed in a straight line, with farms located between the river and a road running parallel.

[24] On the one hand, such placement of the buildings facilitated work and communication, especially in the rainy season or winter, when it was possible to maintain the farm without going outdoors (except to draw water).

On the other hand, there is no way to ignore the terrible sanitary conditions and discomfort (especially the stench) resulting from having livestock living so close by.

Frequently, at the founding of a settlement, the land owner gave the settlers a few years to get established, foregoing collection of rents during that period (the so-called wolnizna).

However, the land owner reserved the right to hear the matter himself in the case of serious crimes (robbery, arson, murder, assault causing bodily harm, etc.

That legal arrangement placed the Olęder settler on a somewhat higher level than an enserfed peasant, who did not have access to community justice.

This is the case both with the first colonists, from the Netherlands and Frisia (most often Anabaptists and Mennonites), and with the later, ethnically different peasants (Lutherans and Roman Catholics).

The great majority of settlement contracts contained the limitation that the settlers were not allowed to prevent Catholic laborers they employed from participating in Holy Mass or other church visits.

Only rarely did a founder interfere with the colonists' freedom to carry out their own religious observances (for example, the Warsaw authorities not only prohibited the Olędrzy from building a Protestant church, but also from holding services, either privately or publicly.

Like other peasants, Olędrzy were also required to pay certain taxes to the state (and only rarely did the land owner take that responsibility upon himself, and in those cases he may have compensated himself through higher rents).

They were directly responsible for ensuring complete and punctual fulfillment of the obligations owed to the manor, such as collecting a delivering payments and rents to the land owner.

The legal content of these had the objective of regulating relations among the peasants, which was especially important in the context of the shared responsibility of the community to fulfill the obligations toward the land owner contained in the contract.

In Rusiński's opinion, the manner of recruiting teachers in Olęder settlements in Greater Poland—from among weavers, innkeepers, shoekeepers or tailors in small towns who could not find work—is proof that the quality cannot have been very high.

In turn, Szałygin indicated that, for the settlers from the Netherlands the schools were a safeguard for their language, culture, traditions and Mennonite faith, which allowed them to keep their own identity and resist Polonization.

[51] Precisely defining the effects of this type of colonisation is even more difficult because so far no studies have appeared that encompass the entire territory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from Ducal Prussia, through Kuyavia, Mazovia and Greater Poland to the area around Lublin.

First, the arrival of the colonists from the Netherlands and Friesland, with their centuries of experience in cultivating difficult floodplains, gave a push to development of Polish agriculture and livestock breeding.