Wisła (; german: Weichsel; cs, Visla) is a town in

Cieszyn County __NOTOC__ Cieszyn County ( pl, powiat cieszyński) 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 resul ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

, with a population of about 11,132 (2019), near the border with

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

. It is situated in the Silesian Beskids mountain range in 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 ethnic region of the Silesian Gorals. ''Wisła'' is the Polish name for the

Vistula River 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 ...

, which has its source in the mountains near the town. It is the only town in Poland with a majority

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

population (as of 2006 roughly two-thirds of the population were

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, which is a drop from 94,4% in 1900). Wisła is a popular year-round tourist destination, being home to Malinka, a

ski jumping hill A ski jumping hill is a sports venue used for ski jumping. They vary in size from temporary handmade snow structures to permanent competition venues. At the top is an in-run where the jumper runs down to generate sufficient speed, before reaching ...

. It is also known for being the home town of ski jumper

Adam Małysz Adam Henryk Małysz (; born 3 December 1977) is a Polish former ski jumper and rally driver. He competed in ski jumping from 1995 to 2011 and is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport. His many accomplishments include f ...

. Wisła is also the home of the Beskid Museum displaying

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

tools, folk costumes and

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

skin

bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...

s from the surrounding region.

History

The first people to settle in Wisła in the late 16th or early 17th century came from two directions: from

Ustroń Ustroń (german: Ustron) is a health resort town in Cieszyn Silesia, southern Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been in Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship (1975–1998). It lies in the Silesian Beskids ...

up the river

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 ...

and

Gorals The Gorals ( pl, Górale; Goral dialect: ''Górole''; sk, Gorali; Cieszyn Silesia dialect, Cieszyn Silesian: ''Gorole''), also known as the Highlanders (in Poland as the Polish Highlanders) are an indigenous ethnographic or ethnic group primar ...

searching for new pastures in the mountains (see also:

Vlachs "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easte ...

). It was first mentioned in 1615. Politically the village belonged then to the Duchy of Teschen, a fee 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 ...

, which after 1526 became part of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

. It was first recognized as a developed village of the Teschener Kammer, named ''na Wisłach'', in 1643. The majority of its inhabitants were

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

. After issuing the Patent of Toleration in 1781, they 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 were a set of revolutions that took place in the Austrian Empire from March 1848 to November 1849. Much of the revolutionary activity had a nationalist character: the Empire, ruled from Vienna, incl ...

, 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 village as a municipality was subscribed to 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 ...

and the legal district of

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 ...

. In the second half of the 19th century it became increasingly popular as a tourist destination. According to the censuses conducted in 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1910 the population of the municipality grew from 4261 in 1880 to 4685 in 1910 with a majority being native Polish-speakers (98.5%-99%) and a small minority German-speaking (at most 64 or 1.5% in 1880) and at most 4 people Czech-speaking (in 1910), in terms of religion majority were

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

(94.9% in 1910), followed by

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(232 or 5% in 1910) and 6

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 ...

. The village was also traditionally inhabited by a specific subgroup of Silesian Gorals, speaking Cieszyn Silesian dialect. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, 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 and the division of

in 1920, it became a part of

. It was then

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After the war it was restored to

. It gained

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 ...

in 1962.

Tourism

In the winter Wisła is known for its skiing: Malinka, a ski jump hill, is located here and hosts international competitions. In the summer, hiking through its many mountain trails is popular. To support its recent growth in tourism, many hotels have been built, the largest of which is Hotel Gołębiewski. Wisła is also home to Wisła Castle – one of the official residences of the

President of Poland The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Pola ...

. In Wisła a trail starts that leads to the Stożek Wielki, a mountain on the border with the Czech Republic that reaches a height of 978 meters.

Notable residents

Juliusz Bursche Juliusz Bursche (September 19, 1862 in Kalisz – February 20, 1942?) was a bishop of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland. A vocal opponent of Nazi Germany, after the German invasion of Poland in 1939, he was arrested by the Germans, ...

(1862–1942), Lutheran bishop *

(born 1977), ski jumper * Piotr Żyła (born 1987), ski jumper *

Julian Ochorowicz Julian Leopold Ochorowicz (Polish pronunciation: ; outside Poland also known as Julien Ochorowitz; Radzymin, 23 February 1850 – 1 May 1917, Warsaw) was a Polish philosopher, psychologist, inventor (precursor of radio and television), poet, p ...

(1850–1917), philosopher * Jerzy Pilch (1952–2020), writer and columnist

Twin towns – sister cities

Wisła is twinned with: * Bully-les-Mines, France * Čoka, Serbia *

Hukvaldy Hukvaldy (german: Hochwald) is a municipality and village in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,100 inhabitants. It is known for the ruins of the third-largest castle in the Czech Republi ...

, Czech Republic * Nepomuk, Czech Republic * Rheinhausen, Germany * Turčianske Teplice, Slovakia

Gallery

File:Wisla Poland 1939 Henryk Poddebski.jpg, Panorama of Wisła in 1939 File:014 Stok narciarski Nowa Osada, Wisla, Polska.jpg, Nowa Osada skiing station File:Wisła 1102.jpg, Lutheran church of the Apostles Peter and Paul File:Plebania ewangelicka w Wiśle 2.JPG, Lutheran rectory File:Pałacyk Myśliwski Habsburgów w Wiśle 1.JPG, Former Habsburg Hunting Palace File:POL Wisła Hotel Gołębiewski i Wisła 2.JPG, Gołębiewski Hotel

References

External links

Wisła Town Website

Skocznia Malinka Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wisla Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Cieszyn County Silesian Beskids Ski areas and resorts in Poland Cieszyn Silesia