Czech Silesia
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Czech Silesia
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Primary airport | Leoš Janáček Airport Ostrava |
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Czech Silesia
Silesia lies in the north-east of the Czech Republic, predominantly in the Moravian-Silesian Region, with a section in the northern Olomouc Region. It is almost identical in extent with Austrian Silesia (also known as the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia), before 1918; between 1938 and 1945, part of the area was also known as Sudeten Silesia (German: Sudetenschlesien; Czech: Sudetské Slezsko; Silesian: Sudecki Ślōnsk; Lower Silesian: Sudetaschläsing; Polish: Śląsk Sudecki).
Geography
Czech Silesia borders
About two thirds of the territory is situated in the Eastern Sudetes. The rest of the territory extends into the Ostrava Basin, Moravian Gate, Moravian-Silesian Foothills and into the western section of the Western Beskids. Its major rivers are the Oder, Opava and Olza (which forms part of the natural border with Poland).
History
In the Middle Ages, Silesia formed part of Piast-ruled Poland, and in the 14th century it gradually passed to the Kingdom of Bohemia. Modern-day Czech Silesia derives primarily from a small part of Silesia that remained within the Bohemian Crown and the Habsburg monarchy at the end of the First Silesian War in 1742, when the rest of Silesia was ceded to Prussia. It was re-organised as the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, with its capital at Opava (German: Troppau, Polish: Opawa). In 1900, the Duchy occupied an area of 5,140 km2 and had a population of 670,000.
In 1918, the former Duchy formed part of the newly created state of Czechoslovakia, except for Cieszyn Silesia, which was split between Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1920, Czechoslovakia gaining its western portion. Hlučín Region (Czech: Hlučínsko, German: Hultschiner Ländchen), formerly part of Prussian Silesia, also became part of Czechoslovakia under the Treaty of Versailles in 1920.
Following the
With the exception of the areas around Cieszyn, Ostrava, and Hlučín, Czech Silesia was predominantly settled by German-speaking populations up until 1945. Following the World War II, Czech Silesia and Hlučín Region were returned to Czechoslovakia and the ethnic Germans were expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement. The border with Poland was once again set along the Olza (although not confirmed by treaty until 1958).
Demographics
The population mainly speaks
Notable people
Notable people from Czech Silesia include (in order of birth):
- Martin of Opava (Martinus Polonus, †1278), chronicler, chaplain of several popes
- Jiří Třanovský (1592–1637), pastor and hymnwriter, the "Luther of the Slavs"
- Jindřich František Boblig of Edelstadt (c. 1612–1698), egregious inquisitor
- Gregor Mendel (1822–1884), biologist, founder of genetics (inheritance laws)
- Hans Kudlich (1823–1917), politician, main figure in the struggle for abolition of serfdom in Austrian Empire
- Vincenc Prasek (1843–1912), historian
- Johann Palisa (1848–1925), astronomer
- Petr Bezruč (1867–1958), poet
- Józef Kożdoń (1873–1949), politician, leader of Silesian autonomists, proponent of the idea of a distinct Silesian nation ("Slonzaks")
- Helen Zelezny-Scholz (1882–1974), architectural sculptor
- Lach dialect
- Joy Adamson (1910–1980), writer
- František Vláčil (1924–1999), film director and screenwriter
- Armin Delong (1925–2017), physicist specializing in electron microscopy
- Věra Chytilová (1929–2014), film director and screenwriter
- Hana Zagorová (1946–2022), pop singer, the best-selling Czech female singer of all time
- Jaromír Nohavica (born 1953), songwriter and poet
- Iva Bittová (born 1958), avant-garde violinist, singer, and composer
- Leon Koudelak (born 1961), classical guitarist
- Petra Kvitová (born 1990), tennis player
- Krystyna Pyszková (born 1999), Miss Czech Republic, Miss World
Notes
References
- ^ "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2023". Czech Statistical Office. 2023-05-23.
- ^ "Silesia". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- ^ "Silesia". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- ^ "Silesia". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-03-11.
- ^ "Silesia". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- ^ Wardzyńska, Maria (2009). Był rok 1939. Operacja niemieckiej policji bezpieczeństwa w Polsce. Intelligenzaktion (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. pp. 138–142.
- ^ "Polenlager Nr. 93 Petersdorf". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ "Polenlager Freistadt". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ "Polenlager Karwin". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ "Polenlager Oderberg". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ "Working Parties". Lamsdorf.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ "Freudenthal". Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ "Lichtewerden". Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-253-06089-1.
- ^ "Czech". Ethnologue. 1999-02-19. Retrieved 18 June 2019.