Racibórz
Encyclopedia
Racibórz r is a town in southern Poland
with 60,218 inhabitants (2006) situated in the Silesian Voivodeship
(since 1999), previously in Katowice Voivodeship
(1975–1998). It is the capital of Racibórz County
.
The name Racibórz is of Slavic
origin and comes from the name of Duke Racibor, the city's founder.
Silinger
tribes.
Racibórz was one of five strongholds of the Slavic Golezyce (Golenshitse, Holasici in Czech
), a proto-Polish tribe. Racibórz, as a stronghold, was mentioned in a work of the "Bavarian Geographer
" in 845. It was the first historical capital of Upper Silesia
. The Duchy of Racibórz
was established by Duke Mieszko Plątonogi in 1172. The city was granted municipal privileges in 1217. From 1299 Racibórz was ruled by its own city council. The last duke of the Piast dynasty
died in 1336 and from that time until 1521 the duchy and the city were ruled by the cadet branch of the Přemyslid dynasty
. Racibórz was also ruled by the duke of Opole. The first coin with the Polish description "MILOST" was issued in Racibórz, in 1211 as well the first Polish national anthem "Gaude mater Polonia
" which was written ca. 1260–70 in Latin
by a brother from the Dominican
monastery in Racibórz.
After the medieval Eastward settlement
of German settlers, farmers and traders, which was stimulated by the Polish and Czech rulers, princes and officials of Upper Silesia
, from the 13th century onward Racibórz became known as Ratibor and was heavily Germanized
linguistically and culturally. In 1521 Ratibor came under rule of the Opole (Oppeln) dukes, vassals of Bohemian kings; later succeeded by Hohenzollerns and Habsburg
s. In 1742/48 it was ceded to Prussia
(with most of the Silesian territory). Prussia
n policy increased the Germanification.
The famous German poet Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff
, a Roman Catholic Silesian nobleman, was born at Schloss Lubowitz in Ratibor
in the 18th century. Until 1945 Ratibor remained German
, and the majority of its inhabitants were Germans or Germanized Upper Silesians.
After end of World War II
, in June 1945, army of Czechoslovakia
briefly entered into the then-German Ratibor and Czechoslovakia officially claimed the area of Racibórz and Głubczyce (Ratibořsko and Hlubčicko) because of having a substantial Czech minority. (See border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia
.) At the same time the expulsion of Germans
by both Czech and Polish militias started and the region was virtually ethnically cleansed from Germans, as the town, came to lie far into the territory of the post-war Republic of Poland
as defined at the Potsdam Conference
. The German
CDU
politician Herbert Hupka
at the end of his life promoted reconciliation between the former German inhabitants, including himself, and the new Polish settlers and administration of Racibórz (Ratibor).
with:
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
with 60,218 inhabitants (2006) situated in the Silesian Voivodeship
Silesian Voivodeship
Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province , is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centering on the historic region known as Upper Silesia...
(since 1999), previously in Katowice Voivodeship
Katowice Voivodeship
Katowice Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by the Silesian Voivodeship...
(1975–1998). It is the capital of Racibórz County
Racibórz County
Racibórz County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Silesian Voivodeship, southern 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...
.
The name Racibórz is of Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
origin and comes from the name of Duke Racibor, the city's founder.
History
Until the end of the 5th century AD, the lands of the later Racibórz settlement were inhabited by East GermanicEast Germanic tribes
The Germanic tribes referred to as East Germanic constitute a wave of migrants who may have moved from Scandinavia into the area between the Oder and Vistula rivers between the years 600 and 300 BC. Later they went to the south...
Silinger
Silingi
The Silings or Silingi supposedly were an East Germanic tribe, probably part of the larger Vandal group. According to most scholars, examples Jerzy Strzelczyk, Norman Davies, Jerzy Krasuski, Andrzej Kokowski, Henryk Łowmiański, the Silingi may have lived in Silesia...
tribes.
Racibórz was one of five strongholds of the Slavic Golezyce (Golenshitse, Holasici in Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
), a proto-Polish tribe. Racibórz, as a stronghold, was mentioned in a work of the "Bavarian Geographer
Bavarian Geographer
The Bavarian Geographer is a conventional name given by Jan Potocki in 1796 to the author of an anonymous medieval document Descriptio civitatum et regionum ad septentrionalem plagam Danubii ....
" in 845. It was the first historical capital of Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
. The Duchy of Racibórz
Duchy of Racibórz
Duchy of Racibórz was one of the duchies of Silesia. Its capital was Racibórz in Upper Silesia.-History:After Bolesław I the Tall and his younger brother Mieszko I Tanglefoot backed by Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa had retained their Silesian heritage in 1163, the Duchy of Racibórz was formed in...
was established by Duke Mieszko Plątonogi in 1172. The city was granted municipal privileges in 1217. From 1299 Racibórz was ruled by its own city council. The last duke of the Piast dynasty
Piast dynasty
The Piast dynasty was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. It began with the semi-legendary Piast Kołodziej . The first historical ruler was Duke Mieszko I . The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir the Great...
died in 1336 and from that time until 1521 the duchy and the city were ruled by the cadet branch of the Přemyslid dynasty
Premyslid dynasty
The Přemyslids , were a Czech royal dynasty which reigned in Bohemia and Moravia , and partly also in Hungary, Silesia, Austria and Poland.-Legendary rulers:...
. Racibórz was also ruled by the duke of Opole. The first coin with the Polish description "MILOST" was issued in Racibórz, in 1211 as well the first Polish national anthem "Gaude mater Polonia
Gaude mater Polonia
Gaude Mater Polonia was probably the most popular medieval Polish anthem, written in the 13th-14th century in memory of saint Stanisław Szczepanowski, bishop of Kraków...
" which was written ca. 1260–70 in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
by a brother from the Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
monastery in Racibórz.
After the medieval Eastward settlement
Drang nach Osten
Drang nach Osten was a term coined in the 19th century to designate German expansion into Slavic lands. The term became a motto of the German nationalist movement in the late nineteenth century...
of German settlers, farmers and traders, which was stimulated by the Polish and Czech rulers, princes and officials of Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
, from the 13th century onward Racibórz became known as Ratibor and was heavily Germanized
Germanisation
Germanisation is both the spread of the German language, people and culture either by force or assimilation, and the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanisation of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet...
linguistically and culturally. In 1521 Ratibor came under rule of the Opole (Oppeln) dukes, vassals of Bohemian kings; later succeeded by Hohenzollerns and Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
s. In 1742/48 it was ceded to 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...
(with most of the Silesian territory). 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...
n policy increased the Germanification.
The famous German poet Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff
Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff
Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff was a German poet and novelist of the later German romantic school.Eichendorff is regarded as one of the most important German Romantics and his works have sustained high popularity in Germany from production to the present day.-Life:Eichendorff was born at Schloß...
, a Roman Catholic Silesian nobleman, was born at Schloss Lubowitz in Ratibor
Ratibor
Ratibor is a Slavic origin male name containing words: "raci/rati" - "war, fight" and "bor" - "fight, warrior" and may refer to:*The German name of Racibórz, Poland*Ratibor...
in the 18th century. Until 1945 Ratibor remained German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and the majority of its inhabitants were Germans or Germanized Upper Silesians.
After end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in June 1945, army of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
briefly entered into the then-German Ratibor and Czechoslovakia officially claimed the area of Racibórz and Głubczyce (Ratibořsko and Hlubčicko) because of having a substantial Czech minority. (See border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia
Border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia
Border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia began in 1918 between the Second Polish Republic and First Czechoslovak Republic, both freshly created states. The conflicts centered on the disputed areas of Cieszyn Silesia, Orava Territory and Spiš...
.) At the same time the expulsion of Germans
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
by both Czech and Polish militias started and the region was virtually ethnically cleansed from Germans, as the town, came to lie far into the territory of the post-war Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
as defined at the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
. The German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
politician Herbert Hupka
Herbert Hupka
Herbert Hupka was a German journalist and politician .Hupka was born in Diyatalawa, Sri Lanka, to a Silesian German Catholic professor Erich Hupka and a Jewish-German Lutheran mother Sara Rosenthal. Herbert Hupka raised in Ratibor, Upper Silesia...
at the end of his life promoted reconciliation between the former German inhabitants, including himself, and the new Polish settlers and administration of Racibórz (Ratibor).
Twin towns — Sister cities
Racibórz is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with:
| Kaliningrad Kaliningrad Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea... , Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... Kędzierzyn-Koźle Kedzierzyn-Kozle Kędzierzyn-Koźle is the capital city of Kędzierzyn-Koźle County, Silesia, Poland. Kędzierzyn-Koźle is a place of a major river port, has rail connections with all major cities of Poland and serves western outskirts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union.... , Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... Leverkusen Leverkusen Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the South, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne and to the North is the state capital Düsseldorf.... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... Opava Opava Opava is a city in the northern Czech Republic on the river Opava, located to the north-west of Ostrava. The historical capital of Czech Silesia, Opava is now in the Moravian-Silesian Region and has a population of 59,843 as of January 1, 2005.... , Czech Republic 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.... |
Roth bei Nürnberg Roth bei Nürnberg Roth is a town in Bavaria, Germany, the capital of the district Roth. It is located about 25 km south of Nuremberg.-History:... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... Tysmenytsia Tysmenytsia Tysmenytsia is a city, the administrative center of the Tysmenytsia Raion in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast of western Ukraine. In 1900 as part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Tysmenytsia was in Tłumacz powiat.-Overview:... , Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia... Wrexham Wrexham Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England... , United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
External links
- Official website
- http://www.ratibor.de/Partnership with German city LeverkusenLeverkusenLeverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the South, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne and to the North is the state capital Düsseldorf....
] - Photographs of Racibórz and environs
- Customs House in Ratibor