Komorní Lhotka (, ) is a municipality and village in

Frýdek-Místek District Frýdek-Místek District () is a district in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Frýdek-Místek. Administrative division Frýdek-Místek District is divided into four administrative districts of munici ...

in the

Moravian-Silesian Region The Moravian-Silesian Region () is one of the 14 administrative regions of the Czech Republic. Before May 2001, it was called the Ostrava Region (). The region is located in the north-eastern part of its historical region of Moravia and in most ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. It has about 1,500 inhabitants. The municipality has a significant Polish minority. The folk architecture in the village is well preserved and is protected as a village monument zone.

Etymology

Lhotka is a diminutive form of

Lhota Lhota is a Czech geographical name. It is the most common name for villages in the Czech Republic. Geography There are 309 villages that contain Lhota or Lhotka (diminutive form of Lhota) in their name, which makes it the most common name of vil ...

, which is a common name for villages in both Czech Republic and western Poland. The word refers to the medieval custom of village founders being exempt from paying duties to their lords for a period of 5–8 years. Komorní Lhotka was first mentioned as ''Buczkowa Lhota'', meaning "Buczek's Lhota". Later the attribute was replaced or dropped and eventually in the 19th century, it became known as ''Komorní'' (Polish ''Kameralna'' and German ''Cammeral'') as it was belonging to

Teschener Kammer Teschener Kammer or Teschen Chamber (, ) is a name of a latifundium owned directly by the Duchy of Teschen, Dukes of Teschen in the years 1653–1918 and a name of the institution managing it on their behalf. History It was instituted after t ...

Geography

Komorní Lhotka is located about east of

Frýdek-Místek Frýdek-Místek (, ; ) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 54,000 inhabitants. The historic centres of both Frýdek and Místek are well preserved and are protected as two Cultural monument (Czech Republic) ...

and southeast of

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

. It lies in the historical region of

Cieszyn Silesia Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( ; or ; or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided betwe ...

. About three quarters of the municipality lies in the

Moravian-Silesian Beskids The Moravian-Silesian Beskids (Czech: , ) is a mountain range in the Czech Republic with a small part reaching to Slovakia. It lies on the historical division between Moravia and Silesia, hence the name. It is part of the Western Beskids within ...

and within the

Beskydy Protected Landscape Area Beskydy Protected Landscape Area (PLA) (, abbreviated as ''CHKO Beskydy'') is the largest PLA in the Czech Republic. The area is . Geography Beskydy PLA lies in the south-eastern part of the Moravian Silesian and eastern part of Zlín regions, ...

. The northern part of the municipality lies in the

Moravian-Silesian Foothills Moravian-Silesian Foothills () are foothills and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. Geomorphology The Moravian-Silesian Foothills is a mesoregion of the Western Beskidian Foothills macroregion within the Outer Western Carpath ...

. The highest point is the Ropičanka mountain at above sea level. The

Stonávka The Stonávka () is a river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Olza. It flows through the Moravian-Silesian Region. It is long. Etymology The name is derived from the Czech word ''sténat'' ('to groan'), meaning 'murmuring river'. C ...

River originates in the municipal territory and flows across the municipality.

History

The first written mention of Komorní Lhotka is from 1455. Politically the village belonged initially to the

Duchy of Teschen The Duchy of Teschen (), also Duchy of Cieszyn () or Duchy of Těšín (), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn () in Upper Silesia. It was split off the Silesian Duchy of Opole and Racibórz in 1281 during the feudal divisio ...

. In the second half of the 17th century, the village was colonizes by

Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...

. The livelihood of the population was agriculture (especially

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

growing) and pastoralism. in the 19th century, agriculture gradually disappeared. A railway was introduced into the municipality. Residents began working in the surrounding towns, especially in steelworks and mines. After issuing the

Patent of Toleration The Patent of Toleration (, ) was an edict of toleration issued on 13 October 1781 by the Habsburg emperor Joseph II. Part of the Josephinist reforms, the Patent extended religious freedom to non-Catholic Christians living in the crown lands ...

in 1781 the local citizens subsequently organized a local Lutheran parish as one of over ten in the region. After

Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire The revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire took place from March 1848 to November 1849. Much of the revolutionary activity had a nationalism, nationalist character: the Austrian Empire, ruled from Vienna, included ethnic Germans, Hungarians, ...

a modern municipal division was introduced in the re-established

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Habsburg monarchy (from 1804 the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 the Cisleithanian portion of Austria-Hungary). It is la ...

. The village as a municipality was subscribed to the

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

and

legal district A judicial district or legal district denotes the territorial area for which a legal court (usually a district court) has jurisdiction. By continent Europe Austria In texts concerning Austria, "judicial district" () refers to the geographi ...

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; ; ) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitants ( and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Repu ...

. According to the censuses conducted in 1880–1910 the population of the municipality dropped from 1,164 in 1880 to 1,038 in 1910 with a majority being native Polish-speakers (99.2–100%) accompanied by a small German-speaking minority (at most 12 or 1.3% in 1880). In terms of religion in 1910 the majority were

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

(88.2%), followed by

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

(11.2%) and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

(3 people). After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Polish–Czechoslovak War The Czechoslovak-Polish War, widely known in Czech sources as the Seven-Day War () was a military confrontation between Czechoslovakia and Poland over the territory of Cieszyn Silesia in early 1919. Czechoslovak forces invaded the Polish par ...

and the division of

in 1920, the municipality became a part of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. Following the

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–194 ...

, in October 1938 together with the

Trans-Olza Trans-Olza (, ; , ''Záolší''; ), also known as Trans-Olza Silesia (), is a territory in the Czech Republic which was disputed between Poland and Czechoslovakia during the Interwar Period. Its name comes from the Olza River. The history of ...

region it was annexed by

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, administratively adjoined to

Cieszyn County __NOTOC__ Cieszyn County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, on the Czech and Slovak border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local gove ...

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

. It was then annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war it was restored to

Demographics

Polish minority makes up 13.8% of the population.

Economy

Since 1860, Komorní Lhotka has been known for its minor spa, using herbal baths for treating problems with

back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral c ...

and

cervical vertebrae In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In saurop ...

Transport

There are no railways or major roads passing through the municipality.

Sights

There are two church buildings in the municipality. The Lutheran church was built in 1782. The Catholic Church of the Divine Heart of the Lord was built in 1885 for summer visitors. The historic centre of the village is protected as a village monument zone. There are preserved wooden houses from the 19th century in the local folk architecture.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Komorni Lhotka Villages in Frýdek-Místek District Cieszyn Silesia