Leśnik ', German Leschnig is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in the administrative district of Gmina Głogówek (Gemeinde Oberglogau), within Prudnik County

Prudnik County

Prudnik County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Opole Voivodeship, south-western Poland, on the Czech border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is...

, Opole Voivodeship

Opole Voivodeship

- Administrative division :Opole Voivodeship is divided into 12 counties : 1 city county and 11 land counties. These are further divided into 71 gminas.The counties are listed in the following table .- Economy :...

, in south-western Poland, close to the Czech

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 border. It lies approximately 4 kilometres (2 mi) north-west of Głogówek (Oberglogau), 20 km (12 mi) east of Prudnik

Prudnik

Prudnik is a town in Poland, located in the southern part of Opole Voivodeship. Its population numbers 26,400 inhabitants . It is the capital of Prudnik County.- Education :* * * II Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Prudniku...

, and 34 km (21 mi) south of the regional capital Opole

Opole

Opole is a city in southern Poland on the Oder River . It has a population of 125,992 and is the capital of the Upper Silesia, Opole Voivodeship and, also the seat of Opole County...

.

Before 1945 the area was part of Germany (see Territorial changes of Poland after World War II

Territorial changes of Poland after World War II

The territorial changes of Poland after World War II were very extensive. In 1945, following the Second World War, Poland's borders were redrawn following the decisions made at the Potsdam Conference of 1945 at the insistence of the Soviet Union...

). Since 2009, the village, like much of the area, has been officially bilingual in German and Polish.

History

The first mention of the town dates back to 1217, when its name was Lesnie. The town is next mentioned in 1388, when Prince Wladislaw of Oppeln founded a Pauline monastery in the nearby village of Mochau

Mochów

Mochów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Głogówek, within Prudnik County, Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, close to the Czech border...

. The area eventually came under the control of Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, but was taken by the kingdom of Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

 in the 18th century. In 1850 the village was assigned to the parish of Mochau.
Until 1900 the village operated a distillery, and a watermill was functional until it was destroyed in a flood in 1903. In the village there are two chapels; one dedicated to Saint Urban I

Pope Urban I

Pope Saint Urban I was Pope from 14 October 222 to 230. He was born in Rome, Roman Empire and succeeded St. Callixtus I who had been martyred. For centuries it was believed that Urban too was martyred...

and another built to commemorate the plague of 1649. There are also four crosses in the village, erected in 1899, 1906, 1913, and 1954.