Austrian Silesia

History

The western and the eastern part of the area originally formed the south-eastern part of the Medieval Duchy of Silesia. The middle part was a part of Moravia. During the 14th century the Dukes of Silesia became vassals of the King of Bohemia. As part of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, Silesia was inherited by the Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria in 1526, after King Louis II of Bohemia had died at the Battle of Mohács. With the female succession of the Habsburg empress Maria Theresa to the throne in 1740, the Prussian king Frederick the Great laid claim to the Silesian province and, without waiting for any reply, on 16 December started the First Silesian War, thereby opening the larger War of the Austrian Succession. His campaign was concluded in 1742 with the Prussian victory at the Battle of Chotusitz leading to the treaties of Breslau and Berlin, in which Silesia was divided.

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 Opava. In 1766 the title of a Duke of Teschen was granted to Prince Albert of Saxony, son-in-law of Maria Theresa, while the title of a Duke of Troppau and Jägerndorf remained with the House of Liechtenstein. The Nysa territory was held by the Bishops of Wrocław with their residence at Castle Jánský Vrch (Johannisberg).

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 Dual Monarchy was abolished. The major part of Austrian Silesia was ceded to the newly created state of Czechoslovakia by the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, with the exception of Cieszyn Silesia (the former Duchy of Teschen), which after the Polish–Czechoslovak War was split in 1920 along the Olza river with its eastern part falling to the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. Smaller parts of the duchy also became a part of Poland, while the adjacent Hlučín Region of Prussian Silesia fell to Czechoslovakia.

Demographics

According to an Austrian census, Austrian Silesia in 1910 was home to 756,949 people, speaking the following languages:

• 43% - German
• 31% - Polish
• 24% - Czech

Major towns

Towns with more than 5,000 people in 1880:

Linguistic distribution (1851–1910)

Linguistic distribution by district (1910)

Administration

The Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was originally divided into the two districts/'circles' (Kreise, Czech: kraje) of Teschen (Kreis Teschen/Teschner Kreis, Těšínský kraj, pop. 213,040 in 1847) and Troppau (Kreis Troppau/Troppauer Kreis, Opavský kraj, pop. 260,199) with its seat at Krnov. In eastern Teschen, the autonomous Duchy of Bielsko was established in 1754. From 1784 it was administered with Moravia (Moravia-Silesia), with its Kreise subordinate to the Moravo-Silesian Gubernium in Brünn. Following the Revolutions of 1848, Austrian Silesia was separated administratively from Moravia, its Kreise and the Duchy of Bielsko were disbanded and it was re-organised into political districts (Bezirke or Bezirkshauptmannschaften). The first division consisted of seven districts – Troppau, Freiwaldau, Jägerndorf, Freudenthal, Teschen, Friedek and Bielitz – which were each constituted from several judicial districts (Gerichtsbezirke).

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:

1. Jauernig (Javorník)
2. Weidenau (Vidnava)
3. Freiwaldau (Frývaldov)
4. Zuckmantel (Cukmantl)
5. Hotzenplotz (Osoblaha)
6. Olbersdorf (Město Albrechtice)
7. Jägerndorf (Krnov)
8. Freudenthal (Bruntál)
9. Benisch (Horní Benešov)
10. Troppau (Opava)
11. Wigstadtl (Vítkov)
12. Odrau (Odry)
13. Wagstadt (Bílovec)
14. Königsberg (Klimkovice)
15. Oderberg (Bohumín)
16. Friedeck (Frýdek)
17. Freistadt (Fryštát)
18. Teschen (Cieszyn/Těšín)
19. Jablunkau (Jablunkov)
20. Schwarzwasser (Černá Voda)
21. Skotschau (Skoczów/Skočov)
22. Bielitz (Bielsko).

These districts were grouped into five Bezirksämter ('district offices'):

• 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.

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.

Following the compromise of 1867 the political districts were re-established and continued in some form until Austria-Hungary's dissolution, with the following districts used at various times:

• 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).