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60-452: The settlement of "Wratislawicz" was established, it is thought, in the 13th century by Bohemian colonists on the left bank of the river Nisa. The very first written document mentioning this place comes from the 1460s which by this stage had a stone church. The right bank of the Nisa was settled (as an independent village) during the 16th century by German speaking people from Silesia , and called

120-446: A tram project that had been proposed since 1900. In 1970, services on the tramway had been periodically discontinued due to the poor condition of the tracks. Nowadays, the streetcar route is operated by the local transportation company Dopravní podnik města Liberce . Vratislavice was promoted to the status of town again in 1956, but in 1980 it became an administrative part of Liberec. Since 1989 there have been several attempts to renew

180-467: A company that later developed into a familiar name in butcher's equipment. Eduard Stiassny founded porcelain production in the town in 1896. After the discovery of a spring in 1862, the village on the left bank became involved in the spa business. In 1913, the owner of the spa, Rudolf, joined with Weber, the owner of a mineral water source discovered in 1866. Afterwards in 1918, the spa in Maffersdorf

240-791: A constituent part of the Bohemian Crown Lands under the Holy Roman Empire , which passed to the Austrian Habsburg monarchy in 1526; however, a number of duchies remained under the rule of Polish dukes from the houses of Piast, Jagiellon and Sobieski as formal Bohemian fiefdoms, some until the 17th–18th centuries. As a result of the Silesian Wars , the region was annexed by the German state of Prussia from Austria in 1742. After World War I , when

300-594: A majority ethnic Polish population, was awarded to Poland, becoming the Silesian Voivodeship . The Prussian Province of Silesia within Germany was then divided into the provinces of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia . Meanwhile, Austrian Silesia , the small portion of Silesia retained by Austria after the Silesian Wars , was mostly awarded to the new Czechoslovakia (becoming known as Czech Silesia and Trans-Olza ), although most of Cieszyn and territory to

360-576: A network of forced labour camps solely for Poles ( Polenlager ), subcamps of prisons, POW camps and of the Gross-Rosen and Auschwitz concentration camps. The Potsdam Conference of 1945 defined the Oder-Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland, pending a final peace conference with Germany which eventually never took place. At the end of WWII, Germans in Silesia fled from

420-549: A new parish church was finished, designed by a Prague architect Marco Antonio Canavelli . In the second half of the 19th century industrial activity arrived to both villages. A carpet-making factory founded by Ignaz Ginzkey (and developed by his son Willy) achieved world renown. In 1924, Ginzkey equipped the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City with the world's largest carpet. In 1871 Franz Peukert established

480-667: A part of the Sudetenland , the town was occupied and incorporated into Nazi Germany , according to the Munich Agreement , followed in 1945 by the transfer of nearly all of the almost exclusively German-speaking inhabitants of the town by the Czechoslovak government to Germany, as agreed upon by the Allies as a definite solution to the existing ethnic strife. In 1951, the town became connected to Liberec and Jablonec by

540-483: A part of the Liberec-Jablonec-Tanvald railway route, leading to the building of two stations - Mattersdorf and Dörfel. In 1901 both villages were merged into one market town (population 6,234 by 1934), and Czech inhabitants started to use currently known name Vratislavice. In 1903 it obtained full status as a town, and 1918 saw the area become part of the newly founded state of Czechoslovakia . As

600-604: A period of intense immigration from Silesia to the United States), considered Silesian as a geographical (not ethnic) term, denoting the inhabitants of Silesia. It is also mentioned the existence of both Polish Silesian and German Silesian dialects in that region. Modern Silesia is inhabited by Poles , Silesians , Germans , and Czechs . Germans first came to Silesia during the Late Medieval Ostsiedlung . The last Polish census of 2011 showed that

660-644: A result of immigration from German-speaking states of the Holy Roman Empire . The first granting of municipal privileges in Poland took place in the region, with the granting of rights for Złotoryja by Henry the Bearded. Medieval municipal rights modeled after Lwówek Śląski and Środa Śląska , both established by Henry the Bearded, became the basis of municipal form of government for several cities and towns in Poland, and two of five local Polish variants of medieval town rights. The Book of Henryków , which contains

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720-443: A thriving agricultural sector, which produces cereals (wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn), potatoes, rapeseed, sugar beets and others. Milk production is well developed. The Opole Silesia has for decades occupied the top spot in Poland for their indices of effectiveness of agricultural land use. Mountainous parts of southern Silesia feature many significant and attractive tourism destinations (e.g., Karpacz , Szczyrk , Wisła ). Silesia

780-564: Is different from Upper Silesia in many respects as its population was predominantly German-speaking from around the mid 19th century until 1945–48. In the fourth century BC from the south, through the Kłodzko Valley , the Celts entered Silesia, and settled around Mount Ślęża near modern Wrocław , Oława and Strzelin . Germanic Lugii tribes were first recorded within Silesia in the 1st century BC. West Slavs and Lechites arrived in

840-466: Is generally well forested. This is because greenness is generally highly desirable by the local population, particularly in the highly industrialized parts of Silesia. Silesia has been historically diverse in every aspect. Nowadays, the largest part of Silesia is located in Poland; it is often cited as one of the most diverse regions in that country. The United States Immigration Commission, in its Dictionary of Races or Peoples (published in 1911, during

900-495: Is held by the Czech Republic , is both a recognized part of the country as well as a historical region. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing social development of period -specific cultures without any reference to contemporary political, economic or social organisations. The fundamental principle underlying this view is that older political and mental structures exist which exercise greater influence on

960-653: Is nearing extinction due to its speakers' expulsion. The names of Silesia in different languages most likely share their etymology— Polish : Śląsk [ɕlɔ̃sk] ; German : Schlesien [ˈʃleːzi̯ən] ; Czech : Slezsko [ˈslɛsko] ; Lower Silesian : Schläsing ; Silesian : Ślōnsk [ɕlonsk] ; Lower Sorbian : Šlazyńska [ˈʃlazɨnʲska] ; Upper Sorbian : Šleska [ˈʃlɛska] ; Slovak : Sliezsko ; Kashubian : Sląsk ; Latin , Spanish and English: Silesia ; French: Silésie ; Dutch : Silezië ; Italian : Slesia . The names all relate to

1020-730: Is now part of the Czech Republic, forming part of the Moravian-Silesian Region and the northern part of the Olomouc Region . Germany retains the Silesia-Lusatia region ( Niederschlesien-Oberlausitz or Schlesische Oberlausitz ) west of the Neisse , which is part of the federal state of Saxony . The region was affected by the 1997 , 2010 and 2024 Central European floods. Most of Silesia

1080-680: Is relatively flat, although its southern border is generally mountainous. It is primarily located in a swath running along both banks of the upper and middle Oder (Odra) River, but it extends eastwards to the upper Vistula River. The region also includes many tributaries of the Oder, including the Bóbr (and its tributary the Kwisa ), the Barycz and the Nysa Kłodzka . The Sudeten Mountains run along most of

1140-647: The Bohemian Crown which was part of the Holy Roman Empire; however, a number of duchies remained under the rule of the Polish dukes from the houses of Piast, Jagiellon and Sobieski as formal Bohemian fiefdoms , some until the 17th–18th centuries. In 1469, sovereignty over the region passed to Hungary , and in 1490, it returned to Bohemia. In 1526 Silesia passed with the Bohemian Crown to

1200-683: The Brynica River, which separates it from Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in the Lesser Poland region. However, to many Poles today, Silesia ( Śląsk ) is understood to cover all of the area around Katowice, including Zagłębie. This interpretation is given official sanction in the use of the name Silesian Voivodeship ( województwo śląskie ) for the province covering this area. In fact, the word Śląsk in Polish (when used without qualification) now commonly refers exclusively to this area (also called Górny Śląsk or Upper Silesia). As well as

1260-657: The Diocese of Kraków . The Duchy of Krosno Odrzańskie ( Crossen ) was inherited by the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1476 and with the renunciation of King Ferdinand I and the estates of Bohemia in 1538, became an integral part of Brandenburg. From 1645 until 1666, the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz was held in pawn by the Polish House of Vasa as dowry of the Polish queen Cecylia Renata . In 1742, most of Silesia

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1320-577: The Habsburg monarchy . In the 15th century, several changes were made to Silesia's borders. Parts of the territories that had been transferred to the Silesian Piasts in 1178 were bought by the Polish kings in the second half of the 15th century (the Duchy of Oświęcim in 1457; the Duchy of Zator in 1494). The Bytom area remained in the possession of the Silesian Piasts, though it was a part of

1380-544: The Province of Silesia in 1815, in Germany Görlitz , Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis and neighbouring areas are considered parts of historical Silesia. Those districts, along with Poland's Lower Silesian Voivodeship and parts of Lubusz Voivodeship, make up the geographic region of Lower Silesia. Silesia has undergone a similar notional extension at its eastern extreme. Historically, it extended only as far as

1440-795: The 1970s under the People's Republic of Poland . During this period, Silesia became one of the world's largest producers of coal, with a record tonnage in 1979. Coal mining declined during the next two decades, but has increased again following the end of Communist rule. The 41 coal mines in Silesia are mostly part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin , which lies in the Silesian Upland. The coalfield has an area of about 4,500 km (1,700 sq mi). Deposits in Lower Silesia have proven to be difficult to exploit and

1500-585: The 19th century and the early 20th century can be found in Table 2.: (67.2%) (62.0%) (62.6%) (62.1%) (58.6%) (58.1%) (58.1%) (58.6%) (58.7%) (57.3%) (59.1%) Historical region Historical regions (or historical areas ) are geographical regions which, at some point in history, had a cultural , ethnic , linguistic or political basis, regardless of latter-day borders. There are some historical regions that can be considered as "active", for example: Moravia , which

1560-549: The Czech city of Ostrava and the German city of Görlitz are within Silesia's borders. Silesia's borders and national affiliation have changed over time, both when it was a hereditary possession of noble houses and after the rise of modern nation-states , resulting in an abundance of castles , especially in the Jelenia Góra valley . The first known states to hold power in Silesia were probably those of Greater Moravia at

1620-914: The Holocaust and had returned to Silesia. The newly formed Polish United Workers' Party created a Ministry of the Recovered Territories that claimed half of the available arable land for state-run collectivized farms. Many of the new Polish Silesians who resented the Germans for their invasion in 1939 and brutality in occupation now resented the newly formed Polish communist government for their population shifting and interference in agricultural and industrial affairs. The administrative division of Silesia within Poland has changed several times since 1945. Since 1999, it has been divided between Lubusz Voivodeship , Lower Silesian Voivodeship , Opole Voivodeship , and Silesian Voivodeship . Czech Silesia

1680-597: The Katowice area, historical Upper Silesia also includes the Opole region (Poland's Opole Voivodeship) and Czech Silesia. Czech Silesia consists of a part of the Moravian-Silesian Region and the Jeseník District in the Olomouc Region . Silesia is a resource-rich and populous region. Since the middle of the 18th century, coal has been mined. The industry had grown while Silesia was part of Germany, and peaked in

1740-539: The Old Polish words ślęg [ɕlɛŋk] or śląg [ɕlɔŋk] , which means dampness, moisture, or humidity. They disagree with the hypothesis of an origin for the name Śląsk from the name of the Silings tribe, an etymology preferred by some German authors. In Polish common usage, "Śląsk" refers to traditionally Polish Upper Silesia and today's Silesian Voivodeship , but less to Lower Silesia, which

1800-721: The Pious at the Battle of Legnica , which took place at Legnickie Pole near the city of Legnica . Upon the death of Orda Khan , the Mongols chose not to press forward further into Europe, but returned east to participate in the election of a new Grand Khan (leader). Between 1289 and 1292, Bohemian king Wenceslaus II became suzerain of some of the Upper Silesian duchies. Polish monarchs had not renounced their hereditary rights to Silesia until 1335. The province became part of

1860-517: The Poles and Czechs regained their independence, the easternmost part of Upper Silesia became again part of Poland by the decision of the Entente Powers after insurrections by Poles and the Upper Silesian plebiscite , while the remaining former Austrian parts of Silesia were divided between Czechoslovakia and Poland. During World War II , as a result of German occupation the entire region

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1920-594: The Second World War, Silesia was inhabited mostly by Germans, with Poles a large minority, forming a majority in Upper Silesia . Silesia was also the home of Czech and Jewish minorities. The German population tended to be based in the urban centres and in the rural areas to the north and west, whilst the Polish population was mostly rural and could be found in the east and in the south. Ethnic structure of Prussian Upper Silesia ( Opole regency) during

1980-514: The Silesian Piasts, although their population was primarily Vistulan and not of Silesian descent. Walloons came to Silesia as one of the first foreign immigrant groups in Poland , probably settling in Wrocław since the 12th century, with further Walloon immigrants invited by Duke Henry the Bearded in the early 13th century. Since the 13th century, German cultural and ethnic influence increased as

2040-521: The Silesian mountain region (Hirschberg, Schneekoppe). After World War I, a part of Silesia, Upper Silesia , was contested by Germany and the newly independent Second Polish Republic . The League of Nations organized a plebiscite to decide the issue in 1921. It resulted in 60% of votes being cast for Germany and 40% for Poland. Following the third Silesian uprising (1921), however, the easternmost portion of Upper Silesia (including Katowice), with

2100-669: The Silesians are the largest ethnic or national minority in Poland, Germans being the second; both groups are located mostly in Upper Silesia. The Czech part of Silesia is inhabited by Czechs, Moravians , Silesians, and Poles . In the early 19th century the population of the Prussian part of Silesia was between 2/3 and 3/4 German-speaking, between 1/5 and 1/3 Polish-speaking, with Sorbs , Czechs , Moravians and Jews forming other smaller minorities (see Table 1. below). Before

2160-400: The area's unprofitable mines were closed in 2000. In 2008, an estimated 35 billion tonnes of lignite reserves were found near Legnica, making them some of the largest in the world. From the fourth century BC, iron ore has been mined in the upland areas of Silesia. The same period had lead, copper, silver, and gold mining. Zinc, cadmium, arsenic, and uranium have also been mined in

2220-593: The battle ground, assuming they would be able to return when the war was over. However, they could not return, and those who had stayed were expelled and a new Polish population, including people displaced from former Eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union and from Central Poland, joined the surviving native Polish inhabitants of the region. After 1945 and in 1946, nearly all of the 4.5 million Silesians of German descent fled, or were interned in camps and expelled, including some thousand German Jews who survived

2280-514: The brewery and carpet factory are the most important industries in Vratislavice. 50°44′36″N 15°05′33″E  /  50.74333°N 15.09250°E  / 50.74333; 15.09250 Silesia Silesia (see names below ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland , with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany . Its area is approximately 40,000 km (15,400 sq mi), and

2340-520: The brewery was put back into operation in summer of 2004, trading under the name of Konrad . In 2003, the Hols brewery produced 6,500,000 litres. In October 2004, a new classic car museum was opened in the grounds of the brewery. Vratislavice is not only notable in drinks industry as a producer of beer; Vratislavická kyselka s.r.o., owned by UNIPO a.s. of Pardubice, produce mineral water ( Vratislavická kyselka ) and other alcohol-free beverages. To this day,

2400-530: The earliest known sentence written in the Polish language, as well as a document which contains the oldest printed text in Polish, were created in Henryków and Wrocław in Silesia, respectively. In 1241, the Mongols conducted their first invasion of Poland , causing widespread panic and mass flight. They looted much of the region and defeated the combined Polish, Moravian and German forces led by Duke Henry II

2460-404: The east of it went to Poland. Polish Silesia was among the first regions invaded during Germany's 1939 attack on Poland , which started World War II . One of the claimed goals of Nazi German occupation , particularly in Upper Silesia, was the extermination of those whom Nazis viewed as " subhuman ", namely Jews and ethnic Poles. The Polish and Jewish population of the then Polish part of Silesia

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2520-612: The emergence of a regional identity . In Europe, regional identities are often derived from the Migration Period but for the contemporary era are also often related to the territorial transformations that followed World War I and those that followed the Cold War . Some regions are entirely invented, such as the Middle East , which was popularised in 1902 by a military strategist , Alfred Thayer Mahan , to refer to

2580-479: The end of the 9th century and Bohemia early in the 10th century. In the 10th century, Silesia was incorporated into the early Polish state, and after its fragmentation in the 12th century it formed the Duchy of Silesia , a provincial duchy of Poland. As a result of further fragmentation, Silesia was divided into many duchies , ruled by various lines of the Polish Piast dynasty . In the 14th century, it became

2640-408: The name of a river (now Ślęza ) and mountain ( Mount Ślęża ) in mid-southern Silesia, which served as a place of cult for pagans before Christianization . Ślęża is listed as one of the numerous Pre-Indo-European topographic names in the region (see old European hydronymy ). According to some Polonists , the name Ślęża [ˈɕlɛ̃ʐa] or Ślęż [ɕlɛ̃ʂ] is directly related to

2700-674: The population is estimated at 8,000,000. Silesia is split into two main subregions, Lower Silesia in the west and Upper Silesia in the east. Silesia has a diverse culture, including architecture , costumes , cuisine , traditions, and the Silesian language (minority in Upper Silesia). The largest city of the region is Wrocław . Silesia is situated along the Oder River, with the Sudeten Mountains extending across

2760-669: The region around the 7th century, and by the early ninth century, their settlements had stabilized. Local West Slavs started to erect boundary structures like the Silesian Przesieka and the Silesia Walls . The eastern border of Silesian settlement was situated to the west of the Bytom , and east from Racibórz and Cieszyn . East of this line dwelt a closely related Lechitic tribe, the Vistulans . Their northern border

2820-606: The region, and one of the oldest dioceses in Poland, subjugated to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno . Poland repulsed German invasions of Silesia in 1017 at Niemcza and in 1109 at Głogów . During the Fragmentation of Poland , Silesia and the rest of the country were divided into many smaller duchies ruled by various Silesian dukes . In 1178, parts of the Duchy of Kraków around Bytom, Oświęcim , Chrzanów , and Siewierz were transferred to

2880-524: The region. Lower Silesia features large copper mining and processing between the cities of Legnica , Głogów , Lubin , and Polkowice . In the Middle Ages, gold (Polish: złoto ) and silver (Polish: srebro ) were mined in the region, which is reflected in the names of the former mining towns of Złotoryja , Złoty Stok and Srebrna Góra . The region is known for stone quarrying to produce limestone, marl , marble, and basalt. The region also has

2940-443: The result of the forced population shifts of 1945–48, today's inhabitants of Silesia speak the national languages of their respective countries. Previously German-speaking Lower Silesia had developed a new mixed Polish dialect and novel costumes . There is ongoing debate about whether the Silesian language , common in Upper Silesia, should be considered a dialect of Polish or a separate language. The Lower Silesian German dialect

3000-420: The southern border. The region contains many historical landmarks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites . It is also rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. The largest city and Lower Silesia's capital is Wrocław ; the historic capital of Upper Silesia is Opole . The biggest metropolitan area is the Katowice metropolitan area , the centre of which is Katowice . Parts of

3060-403: The southern edge of the region, though at its south-eastern extreme it reaches the Silesian Beskids and Moravian-Silesian Beskids , which belong to the Carpathian Mountains range. Historically, Silesia was bounded to the west by the Kwisa and Bóbr Rivers, while the territory west of the Kwisa was in Upper Lusatia (earlier Milsko ). However, because part of Upper Lusatia was included in

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3120-407: The spatial-social identity of individuals than is understood by the contemporary world, bound to and often blinded by its own worldview - e.g. the focus on the nation-state. Definitions of regions vary, and regions can include macroregions such as Europe , territories of traditional sovereign states or smaller microregional areas . Geographic proximity is generally the required precondition for

3180-430: The status of an independent town of Vratislavice. After the dissolution of the Communist Party rule during the Velvet Revolution , some companies found the transition into the free-market economy very difficult. The well-known brewery, Vratislav was so run down that it was forced into closure in 1998. During a two-year dormancy the company was bought by the Hols firm, and with help of many friends of Maffersdorfer beer

3240-458: The two main wartime centers where medical experiments were conducted on kidnapped Polish children by Nazis. Czech Silesia was occupied by Germany as part of so-called Sudetenland . In Silesia, Nazi Germany operated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp , several prisoner-of-war camps for Allied POWs (incl. the major Stalag VIII-A , Stalag VIII-B , Stalag VIII-C camps), numerous Nazi prisons and thousands of forced labour camps, including

3300-435: The village Meffersdorf after the settlers' home village. These two villages possessed not only different names, but even belonged to different governances (Liberec and Český Dub ). After the Thirty Years' War the German name, mangled to Maffersdorf, became used for both places - the name Wratislawicz faded into obscurity. Maffersdorf on the right bank (Liberec side) of Nisa continued to grow steadily. In 1701, construction of

3360-399: Was bought by the owner of the resort in Lázně Libverda to promote competition. In 1872, Reichenberger founded a public-owned brewery and maltworks in Maffersdorf, which became famous for its beer. The two settlements that belonged to the Bohemian governance of Liberec ( Reichenberg ) had 4,910 inhabitants between them. A local railway branch line was inaugurated on the 12th of July as

3420-414: Was in the valley of the Barycz River, north of which lived the Western Polans tribe who gave Poland its name . The first known states in Silesia were Greater Moravia and Bohemia . In the 10th century, the Polish ruler Mieszko I of the Piast dynasty incorporated Silesia into the newly established Polish state . In 1000, the Diocese of Wrocław was established as the oldest Catholic diocese in

3480-491: Was seized by King Frederick II of Prussia in the War of the Austrian Succession , eventually becoming the Prussian Province of Silesia in 1815; consequently, Silesia became part of the German Empire when it was proclaimed in 1871. The Silesian capital Breslau became at that time one of the big cities in Germany. Breslau was a center of Jewish life in Germany and an important place of science (university) and industry (manufacturing of locomotives). German mass tourism started in

3540-401: Was subjected to genocide involving expulsions , mass murder and deportation to Nazi concentration camps and forced labour camps, while Germans were settled in pursuit of Lebensraum . Two thousand Polish intellectuals, politicians, and businessmen were murdered in the Intelligenzaktion Schlesien in 1940 as part of a Poland-wide Germanization program . Silesia also housed one of

3600-422: Was under control of Nazi Germany . In 1945, after World War II , most of the German-held Silesia was transferred to Polish jurisdiction by the Potsdam Agreement between the victorious Allies and became again part of Poland, although with a Soviet -installed communist regime . The small Lusatian strip west of the Oder–Neisse line , which had belonged to Silesia since 1815, became part of East Germany . As

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