Product Code Database
Cieszyn ( , ; ; ) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitants ( and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Republic. Both towns belong to the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia, and formerly constituted the capital of the Duchy of Cieszyn as a single town.
In 1920 Cieszyn Silesia was divided between the two newly created states of Poland and Czechoslovakia, with the smaller western suburbs of Cieszyn becoming part of Czechoslovakia as a new town called Český Těšín. The larger part of the town joined Poland as Cieszyn. Three bridges connect the twin towns. After Poland and the Czech Republic joined the European Union and its passport-free Schengen zone, border controls were abolished and residents of both the Polish and Czech part could move freely across the border. The combined population of Polish and Czech parts of the city is 61,201 inhabitants. Cieszyn is the southern terminus of the Polish National road 1 leading to Gdańsk on the Baltic Sea coast.
The town combines both Polish and Austria-Hungary peculiarities in the style of its buildings. Because of several major fires and subsequent reconstructions (the last one in the late 18th century), the picturesque old town is sometimes called Little Vienna. The only relic of the ancient castle is a square tower, dating from the 14th century and 11th century romanesque chapel.
The area became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century. The town was the capital of the Duchy of Cieszyn, established during the fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies, since 1290, which was ruled by Piast dynasty until 1653 and by the Habsburg Dynasty of Austria until 1918. It was in Teschen that Maria Theresa and Frederick II in May 1779 signed the Teschen Peace Treaty, which put an end to the War of the Bavarian Succession. In the 19th century Teschen was known for its ethnic, religious and cultural diversity, containing mostly German, Polish, Jewish and Czech communities.Wawreczka et al. 1999, 13. There was also a small Vlach community and a Hungarian people community in the town consisting mostly of officers and clerks.Wawreczka et al. 1999, 10.
The town was divided in July 1920, by the Spa Conference, a body formed by the Versailles Treaty, leaving a Polish minority on the Czechoslovak side. Its smaller western suburbs became what is now the town of Český Těšín in the Czech Republic. During the interwar period two villages were merged into Cieszyn: Błogocice in 1923 and Bobrek in 1932. After 1920 many ethnic Germans left the town, while many Poles from the Czechoslovak part of the region moved in. According to the Polish census of 1921, Cieszyn had 15,268 inhabitants, of whom 9,241 (60.5%) were Poles, 4,777 (31.2%) were Germans, 1014 (6.6%) were Jews, and 195 (1.3%) were Czechs. The census from 1931 indicated 14,707 inhabitants, of whom 12,145 (82.7%) were Poles, while the rest consisted mostly of Germans and Jews (in 1937 estimated to be 12 and 8% respectively).Dzieje Cieszyna..., 2010, t. III, p. 323
Cieszyn and Český Těšín were merged again in October 1938 when Poland annexed the Trans-Olza area together with Český Těšín. Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Cieszyn was occupied by Germany until 1945. In 1939–1940, the Germans carried out mass arrests of local Poles during the genocidal Intelligenzaktion campaign, and then imprisoned them in a newly established Nazi prison in the town. Many Polish teachers, school principals, priests and activists were deported to concentration camps and murdered there.Wardzyńska, pp. 137–141 The Nazi prison had two forced labour subcamps in the town, and two more in nearby Karviná and Konská. The Germans also established a camp for children up to the age of 2-3, where they were beaten, tortured and subjected to medical experiments. Almost the entire Jewish community was murdered by the Nazis.
After World War II, the border between Poland and Czechoslovakia was restored to that of 1920. Most Germans fled or were expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement and were replaced with Poles expelled from the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union. Signs of the former German presence in the town were removed by a special committee.Dzieje Cieszyna..., 2010, t. III, p. 439–440
On 19 July 1970, five firefighters from Cieszyn died when a bridge they were on fell into the Olza River, due to heavy flooding. In 1977, Boguszowice, Gułdowy, Kalembice, Krasna, Mnisztwo, Pastwiska were amalgamated with Cieszyn and Marklowice.
==Gallery==
|
|
