Strumień (german: Schwarzwasser, cs, Strumeň) is a town and the seat of Gmina Strumień, in Cieszyn County, in the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite the Silesian V ...

(

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

) of southern

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 populou ...

, on the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

River. It is located in the north-eastern part of the historical region of

Cieszyn Silesia Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( pl, Śląsk Cieszyński ; cs, Těšínské Slezsko or ; german: Teschener Schlesien or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český T� ...

and is the smallest town in the county.

History

The name is of topographic origin and is derived from a local stream (now non-existent) first mentioned in 1293, known as ''Czarny Strumień'' (lit. ''black stream'', therefore ''Schwarzwasser'' in German). It is not certain if the settlement already existed then as the village was first mentioned later in 1407 as ''Swarczenwassir''. Later the village was also mentioned as ''Swarczenwasser'' (1409), ''Strumienie'' (1450), ''na Strumyeny'' (1470), ''miesto Strumien'' (1491). Politically it belonged then to the

Duchy of Racibórz Duchy of Racibórz (german: Herzogtum Ratibor, cs, Ratibořské knížectví) 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 ...

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in cont ...

of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

. During the political upheaval beginning in the 1470s caused by

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several m ...

the land around

Pszczyna Pszczyna (german: Pleß, cs, Pština) is a town in southern Poland with 25,823 inhabitants (2019), and a seat of a local gmina (commune). It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship, and was a part of the Katowice Voivodeship from 1975 until ad ...

with Strumień was overtaken by Casimir II, Duke of Cieszyn, who bestowed the village to his retainer, Mikołaj (Nicolaus) Brodecki, who quickly managed to procure

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

for it in 1482. Casimir II sold Pszczyna circle in 1517 but the town of Strumień stayed within the Duchy of Teschen. In 1526 the Kingdom of Bohemia became part of the Habsburg monarchy. In 1573–1577 the town together with

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. ...

and their surrounding villages were sold to Gottard von Logau, and formed state country. It was retrieved by Adam Wenceslaus in 1594. Since 1653 it belonged to

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

. After Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire a modern municipal division was introduced in the re-established

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, (historically also ''Oesterreichisch-Schlesien, Oesterreichisch Schlesien, österreichisch Schlesien''); cs, Rakouské Slezsko; pl, Śląsk Austriacki officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, (historically ''Herzogth ...

. The town became a seat of a

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

in the

political district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Bielsko Bielsko (german: Bielitz, cs, Bílsko) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that to ...

. According to the censuses conducted in 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1910 the population of the town dropped from 1731 in 1880 to 1579 in 1910. In 1880 the majority of its inhabitants were native Polish-speakers (83.6%) followed by German-speakers (15.4%) and Czech-speakers (16 or 1%). In the next years the Polish-speaking population dropped down to 45% in 1910, whereas German-speaking citizens grew in number up to 54.5% in 1910, Czech-speaking persons dwindled to 8 or 0.5%. In terms of religion in 1910 majority were Roman Catholics (1484 or 94%), followed by

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

(67 or 4.2%) and Protestants (28 or 1.8%). The town and especially its southern surroundings were also traditionally the northernmost area inhabited by

Cieszyn Vlachs The Cieszyn Vlachs ( pl, Wałasi cieszyńscy, cs, Těšínští Valaši) are a Polish ethnographic group (subgroup of Silesians) living around the towns of Cieszyn and Skoczów, one of the four major ethnographic groups in Cieszyn Silesia, the on ...

, speaking

Cieszyn Silesian dialect The Cieszyn Silesian dialect or Teschen Silesian dialect (Cieszyn Silesian: ''cieszyńsko rzecz''; pl, gwara cieszyńska or '; cs, těšínské nářečí; Silesian: ''ćeszyński djalekt'') is one of the Silesian dialects. It has its roots ...

. The growth of German language, then prestigious language of the state, can be partially attributed to various reasons, including

cultural cringe Cultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is an internalized inferiority complex that causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries. It is closely related to the conc ...

of indigenous Slavic denizens. 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 ...

, 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 ...

Polish–Czechoslovak War The Poland–Czechoslovakia War, also known mostly in Czech sources as the Seven-day war ( cs, Sedmidenní válka) was a military confrontation between Czechoslovakia and Poland over the territory of Cieszyn Silesia in early 1919. After a vai ...

and the division of

in 1920, it became a part of

. Following the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

by the German army it was annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(as Schwarzwasser again). After the war it was restored to

. In 1975–1998 it was a part of the

Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of . It is a ...

and since 1999 it belongs to Silesian Voivodeship.

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Strumień.

Notes

References

External links

*
Gmina Strumień Official website

Jewish Community in Strumień
on Virtual Shtetl {{DEFAULTSORT:Strumien Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Cieszyn County Cieszyn Silesia