Prószków ( [ˈpruʂkuf] , German: Proskau ) is a town in Opole County , Opole Voivodeship in southern Poland . It is the administrative seat of Gmina Prószków , a Polish/German bilingual commune since 2006.
32-497: The town is located in the historic Upper Silesia region, about 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Opole . As of 2019 it has 2,570 inhabitants. On July 29, 1921, a temperature of 40.2 °C (104 °F) was recorded in the city. Since then, it is the highest temperature ever recorded in any city located in present-day Poland (the town was then a part of Germany ). Prószków in the Silesian Duchy of Opole of fragmented Poland
64-510: A secret resistance organization to provide Polish patriotic education to the local population and prevent its Germanization . After World War II only parts of the German population were expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement . Prószków regained a town charter in 2004, it officially adopted its German name Proskau as a second name on 30 April 2010. The coat of arms of the town
96-727: Is a nearly extinct German dialect spoken in Silesia . It is part of the East Central German language area with some West Slavic and Lechitic influences. Silesian German emerged as the result of Late Medieval German migration to Silesia, which had been inhabited by Lechitic or West Slavic peoples in the Early Middle Ages . Until 1945, variations of the dialect were spoken by about seven million people in Silesia and neighboring regions of Bohemia and Moravia. After World War II , when
128-549: Is after that of the Prószkowski family. The Polish A4 motorway and Voivodeship roads 414 and 429 run through Prószków. See twin towns of Gmina Prószków . Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( Polish : Górny Śląsk [ˈɡurnɘ ˈɕlɔw̃sk] ; Silesian : Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk ; Czech : Horní Slezsko ; German : Oberschlesien [ˈoːbɐˌʃleːzi̯ən] ; Silesian German : Oberschläsing ; Latin : Silesia Superior )
160-723: Is currently split into a larger Polish and the smaller Czech Silesian part, which is located within the Czech regions of Moravia-Silesia and Olomouc . The Polish Upper Silesian territory covers most of the Opole Voivodeship , except for the Lower Silesian counties of Brzeg and Namysłów , and the western half of the Silesian Voivodeship (except for the Lesser Polish counties of Będzin , Bielsko-Biała , Częstochowa with
192-617: Is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia , located today mostly in Poland , with small parts in the Czech Republic . The area is predominantly known for its heavy industry (mining and metallurgy). Upper Silesia is situated on the upper Oder River, north of the Eastern Sudetes mountain range and the Moravian Gate , which form the southern border with
224-739: The Bohemian kingdom . During the re-establishment of Poland under King Casimir III the Great , all Silesia was specifically excluded as non-Polish land by the 1335 Treaty of Trentschin becoming a land of the Bohemian Crown and — indirectly — of the Holy Roman Empire. By the mid-14th century, the influx of German settlers into Upper Silesia was stopped by the Black Death pandemic. Unlike in Lower Silesia,
256-618: The Czech Republic . From 1871 to 1945 the town was part of Germany. From 1847 the castle was used as an agronomic college. Many Poles attended the college, and a Polish library and the Literary and Agricultural Society of Polish Students were founded in 1856 and 1860, respectively. The college was relocated to Berlin in 1881. The succeeding institute for pomological research, founded in 1868, including an arboretum and extensive orchards, exists up to today. Polish students of both schools operated
288-622: The Duchy of Opava was established on adjacent Moravian territory, ruled by the Přemyslid duke Nicholas I , whose descendants inherited the Duchy of Racibórz in 1336. As they ruled both duchies in personal union , Opava grew into the Upper Silesian territory. In 1327 the Upper Silesian dukes, like most of their Lower Silesian cousins, had sworn allegiance to King John of Bohemia , thereby becoming vassals of
320-588: The Germanization process was halted; still a majority of the population spoke Polish and Silesian as their native language, often together with German ( Silesian German ) as a second language. In the southernmost areas, also Lach dialects were spoken. While Latin, Czech and German language were used as official languages in towns and cities, only in the 1550s (during the Protestant Reformation ) did records with Polish names start to appear. Upper Silesia
352-585: The Thirty Years' War and had to be rebuilt in their present Baroque style after the war. After the First Silesian War the town passed from Bohemian sovereignty and became part of Prussia in 1742 under the Germanized name Proskau . From 1763 the castle housed a famous faience manufacture, founded by count Leopold Prószkowski. The faience was sold mainly throughout Prussia, Poland and Austria . After
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#1732854883146384-546: The gord of Opole . It is possible that during the times of Prince Svatopluk I (871–894), Silesia was a part of his Great Moravian realm. Upon its dissolution after 906, the region fell under the influence of the Přemyslid rulers of Bohemia , Duke Spytihněv I (894–915) and his brother Vratislaus I (915–921), possibly the founder and name giver of the Silesian capital Wrocław ( Czech : Vratislav ). By 990
416-539: The "Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia", colloquially called Austrian Silesia . Incorporated into the Prussian Silesia Province from 1815, Upper Silesia became an industrial area taking advantage of its plentiful coal and iron ore . Prussian Upper Silesia became a part of the German Empire in 1871. The earliest exact census figures on ethnolinguistic or national structure (Nationalverschiedenheit) of
448-450: The 13th century. By migration over the Sudetes, the language spread to neighboring regions of Bohemia. In the 13th century, German-speaking settlers from Silesia arrived at the region around Trautenau (Trutnov), and the region around Freiwaldau (Jeseník), often founding settlements in previously uninhabited mountainous areas. After World War II , local communist authorities forbade
480-794: The 1620 Battle of White Mountain , the Catholic Emperors of the Habsburg dynasty forcibly re-introduced Catholicism, led by the Jesuits . Lower Silesia and most of Upper Silesia were occupied by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1742 during the First Silesian War and annexed by the terms of the Treaty of Breslau . A small part south of the Opava River remained within the Habsburg-ruled Bohemian Crown as
512-499: The Polish prince Bolesław III Wrymouth (1107–1138) came to terms with Duke Soběslav I of Bohemia , when a peace was made confirming the border along the Sudetes . However, this arrangement fell apart when upon the death of Bolesław III and his testament the fragmentation of Poland began, which decisively enfeebled its central authority. The newly established Duchy of Silesia became
544-485: The Prussian part of Upper Silesia, come from year 1819. The last pre-WW1 general census figures available, are from 1910 (if not including the 1911 census of school children - Sprachzählung unter den Schulkindern - which revealed a higher percent of Polish-speakers among school children than the 1910 census among the general populace). Figures ( Table 1. ) show that large demographic changes took place between 1819 and 1910, with
576-680: The Upper Silesian Duchy of Racibórz as an allodium from the hands of his elder brother Duke Bolesław I the Tall of Silesia. In the struggle around the Polish throne, Mieszko additionally received the former Lesser Polish lands of Bytom , Oświęcim , Zator , Siewierz and Pszczyna from the new Polish High Duke Casimir II the Just in 1177. When in 1202 Mieszko Tanglefoot had annexed the Duchy of Opole of his deceased nephew Jarosław , he ruled over all Upper Silesia as Duke of Opole and Racibórz . In
608-718: The ancestral homeland of the Silesian Piasts , descendants of Bolesław's eldest son Władysław II the Exile , who nevertheless saw themselves barred from the succession to the Polish throne and only were able to regain their Silesian home territory with the aid of the Holy Roman Emperor . The failure of the Agnatic seniority principle of inheritance also led to the split-up of the Silesian province itself: in 1172 Władysław's second son Mieszko IV Tanglefoot claimed his rights and received
640-550: The city of Częstochowa , Kłobuck , Myszków , Zawiercie and Żywiec , as well as the cities of Dąbrowa Górnicza , Jaworzno and Sosnowiec ). Divided Cieszyn Silesia as well as former Austrian Silesia are historical parts of Upper Silesia. According to the 9th century Bavarian Geographer , the West Slavic Opolanie tribe had settled on the upper Oder River since the days of the Migration Period , centered on
672-509: The course of the Ostsiedlung , establishing numerous cities according to German town law . The plans to re-unify Silesia shattered upon the first Mongol invasion of Poland and the death of Duke Henry II the Pious at the 1241 Battle of Legnica . Upper Silesia further fragmented upon the death of Duke Władysław Opolski in 1281 into the duchies of Bytom , Opole, Racibórz and Cieszyn . About 1269
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#1732854883146704-471: The death of Count Leopold von Proskau in 1769 his estate (including the manufacture) passed to Karl Maximilian, Prince of Dietrichstein , which moved its most valuable collections, including the library, treasury and archive, to another location in then Austria in 1782, and eventually sold the estate to the Prussian king Frederick the Great in 1783. Part of the collection was found in 2011 in Brno and Mikulov in
736-633: The early 13th century the ties of the Silesian Piasts with the neighbouring Holy Roman Empire grew stronger as several dukes married scions of German nobility. Promoted by the Lower Silesian Duke Henry I the Bearded , from 1230 also regent over Upper Silesia for the minor sons of his late cousin Duke Casimir I of Opole , large parts of the Silesian lands were settled with German immigrants in
768-557: The historic Moravia region. Within the adjacent Silesian Beskids to the east, the Vistula River rises and turns eastwards, the Biała and Przemsza tributaries mark the eastern border with Lesser Poland . In the north, Upper Silesia borders on Greater Poland , and in the west on the Lower Silesian lands (the adjacent region around Wrocław also referred to as Middle Silesia ). It
800-685: The newly installed Piast duke Mieszko I of the Polans had conquered large parts of Silesia. From the Middle Silesia fortress of Niemcza , his son and successor Bolesław I the Brave (992–1025), having established the Diocese of Wrocław , subdued the Upper Silesian lands of the pagan Opolanie, which for several hundred years were part of Poland , though contested by Bohemian dukes like Bretislaus I , who from 1025 invaded Silesia several times. Finally, in 1137,
832-511: The province of Silesia was incorporated into Poland , with small portions remaining in northeastern Czech Republic and in former central Germany, which henceforth became eastern Germany , the local communist authorities expelled the German-speaking population and forbade the use of the language. Silesian German continued to be spoken only by individual families, only few of them remaining in their home region, but most of them expelled to
864-1162: The region's total population quadrupling, the percent of German-speakers increasing significantly, and that of Polish-speakers declining considerably. Also, the total land area in which Polish language was spoken, as well as the land area in which it was spoken by the majority, declined between 1790 and 1890. Polish authors before 1918 estimated the number of Poles in Prussian Upper Silesia as slightly higher than according to official German censuses. (67.2%) (61.1%) (62.0%) (62.6%) (62.1%) (58.6%) (58.1%) (58.1%) (58.6%) (58.7%) (57.3%) (59.1%) (59.8%) or up to 1,560,000 together with bilinguals (29.0%) (37.3%) (36.1%) (35.6%) (36.3%) (36.8%) (37.4%) (37.2%) (36.5%) (36.5%) (38.1%) (36.3%) (36.8%) (3.8%) (1.6%) (1.9%) (1.8%) (1.6%) (4.6%) (4.5%) (4.7%) (4.9%) (4.8%) Silesian German Silesian (Silesian: Schläsisch, Schläs’sch, Schlä’sch, Schläsch , German : Schlesisch ), Silesian German or Lower Silesian
896-921: The remaining territory of Germany. Most descendants of the Silesian Germans expelled to West and East Germany no longer learned the dialect, and the cultural gatherings were less and less frequented. A remaining German minority in Opole Voivodeship continues use of German in Upper Silesia , but only the older generation speaks the Upper Silesian dialect of Silesian German in today's Poland. In origin, Silesian German appears to derive from 12th-century dialects of Middle High German , including medieval forms of Upper Saxon German , East Franconian German and Thuringian . The German-speaking inhabitants of Silesia are thought to be descendants of settlers from Upper Lusatia , Saxony , Thuringia and Franconia who first arrived in Silesia (back then part of Piast Poland ) in
928-565: The use of the language. After the forcible expulsion of the Germans from Silesia, German Silesian culture and language nearly died out when most of Silesia became part of Poland in 1945. Polish authorities banned the use of the German language. There are still unresolved feelings on the sides of both Poles and Germans, largely because of Nazi Germany's war crimes on Poles and the forced expulsion and ethnic cleansing of native Germans from former German territories that were transferred to Poland in
960-673: The wake of the Potsdam Agreement . The German Silesian dialect is not recognized by the Polish State in any way, although the status of the German minority in Poland has improved much since the 1991 communist collapse and Polish entry into the European Union . Silesian can be grouped like this: A rough division can be made into: Nord- oder Reichsschlesisch and Süd- oder Sudetenschlesisch (influenced by Central Bavarian). Silesian German
992-401: Was first mentioned in a 1250 deed. From the 14th century onwards the estates were held by the Prószkowski (also known as Pruskowski, Pruskovsky, von Proskau) noble family . In fact, the noble family's surname is after the name of the town. Count George von Proskau had the parish church and a Renaissance castle built in the late 16th century, which both were set ablaze by Swedish troops during
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1024-782: Was hit by the Hussite Wars and in 1469 was conquered by King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary , while the Duchies of Oświęcim and Zator fell back to the Polish Crown as a part of Lesser Poland . Upon the death of the Jagiellonian king Louis II in 1526, the Bohemian crown lands were inherited by the Austrian House of Habsburg . In the 16th century, large parts of Silesia had turned Protestant , promoted by reformers like Caspar Schwenckfeld . After
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