Teschener Kammer or Teschen Chamber (, ) is a name of a latifundium owned directly by the

Dukes of Teschen Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

in the years 1653–1918 and a name of the institution managing it on their behalf.

History

It was instituted after the death of Elizabeth Lucretia in 1653, which ended the Cieszyn Piast's rule in the duchy. The duchy lapsed directly to the Bohemian monarchs, at that time the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

. As opposed to the local Piast dukes they lived away from the duchy and this necessitated the deployment of administrators presided over by a

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

. Kaspar Tłuk became the first regent in September 1653. Initially the Teschener Kammer encompassed 4 towns ( Cieszyn,

Skoczów Skoczów (pronounced , german: Skotschau, cs, Skočov) is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,385 inhabitants (2019). The town lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia ...

Strumień Strumień (german: Schwarzwasser, cs, Strumeň) is a town and the seat of Gmina Strumień, in Cieszyn County, in the Silesian Voivodeship (province) of southern Poland, on the Vistula River. It is located in the north-eastern part of the hist ...

and Jablunkov) and 31 villages organised into two circles (Cieszyn-Jablunkov and Skoczów-Strumień). In 1737 it had 4 towns, 49 villages and 21 folwarks. A rapid development of the Teschener Kammer came after the First Partition of Poland in 1772. The abolition of socage facilitated industrial development. A steel mill was opened in 1772 in Ustroń. In 1791 Albert Casimir, Duke of Teschen, began to purchase numerous villages within Cieszyn Silesia. In 1797 he bought the independent territory of Friedeck.J. Spyra, 2012, p. 18 In the 19th century it grew considerably, with mines, sawmills, breweries etc. being launched by the Kammer. In 1838

Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen (german: link=no, Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Josef Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field-marshal, the third s ...

, purchased Żywiec latifundium and included it in the Teschener Kammer. In 1839 steel mill in Třinec began operating. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the fall of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

the Kammer was liquidated: its properties were nationalised in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Footnotes

References

* {{commons category, Teschen Chamber Cieszyn Silesia