Austrian Silesia
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Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia | |||||||||||||
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1742–1918 | |||||||||||||
Status | Crown land of the Kingdom of Bohemia and:
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Capital | Lutheranism | ||||||||||||
Government | Principality | ||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||
1742 | |||||||||||||
• Part of Austrian Empire | 1804 | ||||||||||||
1867 | |||||||||||||
1918 | |||||||||||||
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Today part of |
Austrian Silesia,
Geography
Austrian Silesia consisted of two territories, separated by the Moravian land strip of Moravská Ostrava between the Ostravice and Oder rivers.
The area east of the Ostravice around Cieszyn reached from the heights of the Western Carpathians (Silesian Beskids) in the south, where it bordered with the Kingdom of Hungary, along the Olza and upper Vistula rivers to the border with Prussian Silesia in the north. In the east the Biała river at Bielsko separated it from the Lesser Polish lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, incorporated into the Austrian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria upon the First Partition of Poland in 1772.
The territory west of the Oder river stretching from the town of Opava up to Bílá Voda was confined by the Jeseníky mountain range of the eastern Sudetes in the south, separating it from Moravia, and the Opava river in the north. In the west the Golden Mountains formed the border with the County of Kladsko.
History
The area originally formed the south-eastern part of the Medieval
Under the terms of the treaty, the Kingdom of Prussia received most of the territory including the Bohemian County of Kladsko, while only a small part of southeastern Silesia remained with the Habsburg monarchy, consisting of:
- the Upper Silesian duchy of Teschen (Cieszyn)
- parts of the former Moravian Duchy of Opava with Duchy of Krnov south of the Opava River, comprising several Moravian enclaves.
- the southern part of the Lower Silesian Duchy of Nysa around Jeseník
forming the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, which remained a Bohemian crown land with its capital in the city of
When in 1804 the Habsburg emperor Francis II established the Austrian Empire, his title would include the "Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia". Austrian Silesia was connected by rail with the Austrian capital Vienna, when the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway line was extended to Bohumín station in 1847. In the course of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia became a crown land of Cisleithanian Austria.
In November 1918 the
Demographics
According to an Austrian census, Austrian Silesia in 1910 was home to 756,949 people, speaking the following languages:
Major towns
Towns with more than 5,000 people in 1880:
Cities | German name | Population |
---|---|---|
Opava | Troppau | 20,563 |
Bielsko | Bielitz | 13,060 |
Cieszyn/Těšín | Teschen | 13,004 |
Krnov | Jägerndorf | 11,792 |
Bruntál | Freudenthal | 7,595 |
Frýdek | Friedek | 7,374 (1890) |
Linguistic distribution (1851–1910)
Year | Total | German | % | Polish | % | Czech | % | Other | % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1851 | 438,569 | 209,512 | 47.8% | 138,243 | 31.5% | 88,068 | 20.1% | 2,746 | 0.6% |
1880 | 565,475 | 269,338 | 47.6% | 154,887 | 27.4% | 126,385 | 22.4% | 14,865 | 2.6% |
1890 | 605,649 | 281,555 | 46.5% | 178,114 | 29.4% | 129,814 | 21.4% | 16,166 | 2.7% |
1900 | 680,422 | 296,571 | 43.6% | 220,472 | 32.4% | 146,265 | 21.5% | 17,114 | 2.5% |
1910 | 756,949 | 325,530 | 43.0% | 235,224 | 31.1% | 180,341 | 23.8% | 15,854 | 2.1% |
Linguistic distribution by district (1910)
District (Bezirk) | Polish name | Czech name | Area
(km2) |
Population | German | % | Polish | % | Czech | % | Other | % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bielitz (Land) | Bielsko | Bílsko | 758.13 | 82,835 | 17,631 | 21.3% | 63,580 | 76.8% | 663 | 0.8% | 961 | 1.2% |
Bielitz (Stadt) | Bielsko | Bílsko | 4.97 | 18,568 | 15,144 | 81.6% | 2,568 | 13.8% | 136 | 0.7% | 720 | 3.9% |
Freistadt | Frysztat | Fryštát | 316.89 | 122,030 | 15,159 | 12.4% | 75,462 | 61.8% | 28,103 | 23.0% | 3,306 | 2.7% |
Freiwaldau | Frywałdów | Frývaldov | 736.38 | 68,823 | 66,855 | 97.1% | 66 | 0.1% | 62 | 0.1% | 1,840 | 2.7% |
Freudenthal | Bruntal | Bruntál | 591.65 | 49,306 | 48,852 | 99.1% | 41 | 0.1% | 49 | 0.1% | 364 | 0.7% |
Friedek (Land) | Frydek | Frýdek | 461.71 | 98,957 | 6,821 | 6.9% | 14,519 | 14.7% | 76,458 | 77.3% | 1,159 | 1.2% |
Friedek (Stadt) | Frydek | Frýdek | 10.23 | 9,879 | 5,123 | 51.9% | 574 | 5.8% | 4,033 | 40.8% | 149 | 1.5% |
Jägerndorf | Karniów | Krnov | 532.20 | 60,785 | 58,133 | 95.6% | 22 | 0.0% | 275 | 0.5% | 2,355 | 3.9% |
Teschen | Cieszyn | Těšín | 730.38 | 102,552 | 17,045 | 16.6% | 77,147 | 75.2% | 6,204 | 6.0% | 2,156 | 2.1% |
Troppau (Land) | Opawa | Opava | 642.10 | 66,990 | 33,200 | 49.6% | 560 | 0.8% | 32,006 | 47.8% | 1,224 | 1.8% |
Troppau (Stadt) | Opawa | Opava | 10.93 | 30,762 | 27,240 | 88.6% | 274 | 0.9% | 2,039 | 6.6% | 1,209 | 3.9% |
Wagstadt | Biełowiec | Bílovec | 351.44 | 45,462 | 14,327 | 31.5% | 411 | 0.9% | 30,313 | 66.7% | 411 | 0.9% |
Total | 5147.01 | 756,949 | 325,530 | 43.0% | 235,224 | 31.1% | 180,341 | 23.8% | 15,854 | 2.1% |
Administration
The Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was originally divided into the two districts/'
In Bach's reforms of 1854 it was reorganised into 22 districts or Amtsbezirke (distinct from the political districts listed above, rather corresponding to the judicial districts (Gerichtsbezirke)) plus the statutory city of Troppau:[2]
- Jauernig (Javorník)
- Weidenau (Vidnava)
- Freiwaldau (Frývaldov)
- Zuckmantel (Cukmantl)
- Hotzenplotz (Osoblaha)
- Olbersdorf (Město Albrechtice)
- Jägerndorf (Krnov)
- Freudenthal (Bruntál)
- Benisch (Horní Benešov)
- Troppau (Opava)
- Wigstadtl (Vítkov)
- Odrau (Odry)
- Wagstadt (Bílovec)
- Königsberg (Klimkovice)
- Oderberg (Bohumín)
- Friedeck (Frýdek)
- Freistadt (Fryštát)
- Teschen (Cieszyn/Těšín)
- Jablunkau (Jablunkov)
- Schwarzwasser (Černá Voda)
- Skotschau (Skoczów/Skočov)
- Bielitz (Bielsko).
These districts were grouped into five Bezirksämter ('district offices'):[2]
- The Landesgericht in Troppau, covering the city and district of Troppau and the districts of Wigstadtl, Odrau, Wagstadt and Königsberg
- Jauernig: Jauernig, Weidenau, Freiwaldau and Zuckmantel districts
- Jägerndorf: Jägerndorf, Hotzeplotz, Olbersdorf, Benisch and Freudenthal districts
- Teschen: Teschen, Oderberg, Friedek, Freistadt and Jablunkau districts
- Bielitz: Bielitz, Schwarzwasser and Skotschau districts
Judicially the Landesgericht in Troppau and Kreisgericht in Teschen remained separate, each covering one of the two disconnected parts of the crown land.[2]
In 1860 administrative responsibility for Silesia returned to the Moravian Statthalterei in Brünn/Brno; however, it remained a formally separate crown land and its administrative divisions remained unchanged.[3]
Following the
- Bielitz (Bielsko)
- Freistadt (Fryštát)
- Freiwaldau (Frývaldov)
- Freudenthal (Bruntál)
- Friedek (Frýdek)
- Jägerndorf (Krnov)
- Teschen (Cieszyn/Těšín)
- Troppau (Opava)
- Wagstadt (Bílovec).
For example, in 1900, there were 8 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Austrian Silesia (in comparison to above list without Frydek).[4]
Notes
- ^ German: Österreichisch-Schlesien (historically also Oesterreichisch-Schlesien, Oesterreichisch Schlesien, österreichisch Schlesien); Czech: Rakouské Slezsko; Polish: Śląsk Austriacki
- ^ German: Herzogtum Ober- und Niederschlesien (historically Herzogthum Ober- und Niederschlesien); Czech: Vévodství Horní a Dolní Slezsko; Polish: Księstwo Górnego i Dolnego Śląska
References
- ^ Gesetz vom 9. August 1849, RGBl. 355/1849: "Erlaß der Ministeriums des Innern vom 9. August 1849, womit die in Folge Allerhöchster Entschliesung vom 4. August 1849 genehmigte Organisirung der politischen Verwaltungsbehörden für die Kronländer Mähren und Schlesien kundgemacht wird, und sie Maßregeln zu deren Durchführung festgesetzt werden". Reichs-Gesetz-Blatt für das Kaiserthum Österreich (in German). 1849-08-09. Retrieved 2023-07-05 – via ÖNB-ALEX - Historische Rechts- und Gesetztexte Online.
- ^ a b c Gesetz vom 21. April 1854, RGBl. 104/1854: "Verordnung der Minister des Innern, der Justiz und der Finanzen vom 21. April 1854, betreffend die politische und gerichtliche Organisirung des Herzogthumes Ober- und Nieder-Schlesien". Reichs-Gesetz-Blatt für das Kaiserthum Österreich (in German). 1854-04-21. Retrieved 2023-07-05 – via ÖNB-ALEX - Historische Rechts- und Gesetztexte Online.
- ^ Gesetz vom 5. Juni 1860, RGBl. 142/1860: "Verordnung des Ministers des Innern vom 5. Juni 1860, giltig für den ganzen Umfang des Reiches, betreffend die Auflösung der Kreisbehörden in Mähren, der Landesregierung und Landes-Baudirection in Schlesien und die administrative Unterordnung dieses Herzogthumes unter die Statthalterei zu Brünn". Reichs-Gesetz-Blatt für das Kaiserthum Österreich (in German). 1860-06-05. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via ÖNB-ALEX - Historische Rechts- und Gesetztexte Online.
- ^ Die postalischen Abstempelungen auf den österreichischen Postwertzeichen-Ausgaben 1867, 1883 und 1890, Wilhelm KLEIN, 1967