The Silesian Walls ( pl, Wały Śląskie, german: Dreigräben) are a line of three (or sometimes fewer) parallel earthen ramparts and ditches that run through Lower Silesia 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 ...

, by the towns

Szprotawa Szprotawa (german: Sprottau) is a town in western Poland, in Żagań County, Lubusz Voivodeship. It has 11,820 inhabitants (2019). History The region was part of Poland after the emergence of the Piast monarchy in the 10th century. The first me ...

and Kożuchów. The walls are about 2.5 metres tall and, at their widest, 47 metres. They run for about 30 kilometres. It is hypothesized by

Maciej Boryna Maciej Boryna (born 28 March 1974 in Szprotawa/ Sprottau) is Polish journalist and scientific researcher, author of many books of Silesian history, founder and director of Regional History Museum F.Matuszkiewicz's in Szprotawa, co-founder and f ...

of the

Muzeum Ziemi Szprotawskiej Muzeum Ziemi Szprotawskiej ( pl, Museum of the Szprotawa Land), established 2000 by Towarzystwo Bory Dolnośląskie ( pl, The Lower Silesia Deep Woods Appreciation Society). It is the local center for historical and archeological research pertaini ...

that the Silesia Walls were the southwest

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

of the

Duchy of Głogów The Duchy of Głogów ( pl, Księstwo głogowskie, cs, Hlohovské knížectví) or Duchy of Glogau (german: Herzogtum Glogau) was one of the Duchies of Silesia ruled by the Silesian Piasts. Its capital was Głogów in Lower Silesia. History In ...

and built in 1413–1467. It is possible that rather than being military in nature the walls were designed as a type of ''

landwehr ''Landwehr'', or ''Landeswehr'', is a German language term used in referring to certain national army, armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large-scale, low-strength fortif ...

'' to reduce smuggling.

References

* M. Boryna: ''Raport z programu badawczego Wały Śląskie 2000–2006''. * W. Schöpke: ''Die Dreigräben'' in: ''Zeitschrift des Vereins für Geschichte Schlesiens'', 36. Band, Breslau, 1902 * M. Boryna: ''Wały Śląskie. Tajemnice dawnych granic.'', Szprotawa, 2011 (). {{coord, 51, 29, 50, N, 15, 37, 08, E, region:PL_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title 15th century in Poland History of Silesia Borders of Poland Ancient dikes Linear earthworks Żagań County