Gorzanów (german: Grafenort) is a village in the administrative district of

Gmina Bystrzyca Kłodzka __NOTOC__ Gmina Bystrzyca Kłodzka is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Kłodzko County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the town of Bystrzyca Kłodzka, which lies approximately south of Kłodzko, a ...

, within

Kłodzko County __NOTOC__ Kłodzko County ( pl, powiat kłodzki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local govern ...

, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. There is a large

Gorzanów Castle Grafenort Castle ('' Ger.'', Schloß Grafenort (''or'' Schloss Grafenort); '' Pol.'', Pałac Gorzanów) is a (former) stately residence in the Kłodzko Land of the Lower Silesia. A sixteenth-century German foundation, it has been in the hand ...

in the village. It lies approximately north of Bystrzyca Kłodzka, south of

Kłodzko Kłodzko (; cz, Kladsko; german: Glatz; la, Glacio) is a historic town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Eastern Neisse river. Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzko ...

, and south of the regional capital

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

. The village has a population of 921.

Name and history

The earliest name of the locality seems to have been the German appellation ''Arnoldsdorf'' (or ''Arnsdorf''), derived from the personal name ''Arnold'' (+''dorf''), probably the name of the

Lokator The ''lokator'' (lat. ''locator'': landlord, land allocator, from Latin to allocate, rent, establish, settle or locate; also ''magister incolarum''; in Mecklenburg and Pomerania also or , similar to the ''Reutemeister'' in South Germany) was a m ...

who brought German farmers to the village. The later German name of ''Grafenort'' derives from the noble title ''

Graf (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

'' (+''ort'', "locality"). In the seventeenth century the owner of the village was Johann Gundacker ''Graf'' von Heberstein. The name "Gorzanów" was introduced officially only ''after'' 1945. The name "Gorzanów" appears in the standard gazetteer of Polish place-names, the ''

Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego The Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic Countries ( pl, Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich) is a monumental Polish gazetteer, published 1880–1902 in Warsaw Warsaw ( pl ...

'' (vol. 7, p. 239, col. 1), only with reference to a Polish village in the

Podolia Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...

, a different geographical region. The village discussed in the present article is listed under the name ''Grafenort'' (''Słownik geograficzny'', vol. 2, p. 791, col. 1), without a corresponding Polish

toponymic Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

. The history of the village dates back to the 12th century, when a defensive stronghold existed at the site.Waldemar Brygier, Tomasz Dudziak, '' et al.'', ''Ziemia Kłodzka: przewodnik dla prawdziwego turysty'',

Piastów Piastów is a town in central Poland, near Warsaw, with 23,331 inhabitants (2006 est). It is situated in the Masovian Voivodship (since 1999); previously, it was in Warszawa Voivodship (1975–1998). With 3963 persons/km², it is the second mo ...

, Oficyna Wydawnicza Rewasz, 2010, p. 328. . In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

at various times it was part of

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 ...

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 ...

. Probably in the 14th century a royal castle was built, which was destroyed in 1470, and the remains were dismantled around 1804. It was annexed by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

in the 18th century and from 1871 to 1945 it was also part of Germany. The ''

'' states that, historically, theatrical performances were staged at "the beautiful castle of the Hebersteins" three times a week for eight months of the year, and that the place was known for its "steam baths". The village had a Catholic church, and a chapel dedicated to St. Anthony surmounting a hill of the same name, which rises to the height of 1,053 feet above sea level. The location is described as "utterly exquisite" (''prześliczne położenie''). During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

established a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

on the premises of the palace, a satellite camp of Gross-Rosen concentration camp. A present-day guidebook describes the "palace of Gorzanów" as being in a complete state of dilapidation, unfit to accommodate sightseers.Waldemar Brygier, Tomasz Dudziak, '' et al.'', ''Ziemia Kłodzka: przewodnik dla prawdziwego turysty'',

, Oficyna Wydawnicza Rewasz, 2010, p. 219. .

Gallery

2014 Zamek w Gorzanowie 5.jpg, Castle 2015 Wiejski Ośrodek Kultury w Gorzanowie.JPG, Culture centre 2014 Gorzanów, figura św. Jana Nepomucena 03.JPG, Statue of Saint

John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) ( cs, Jan Nepomucký; german: Johannes Nepomuk; la, Ioannes Nepomucenus) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus ...

2015 Kaplica św. Barbary w Gorzanowie 02.JPG, Saint Barbara chapel

Bibliography

*Waldemar Brygier, Tomasz Dudziak, '' et al.'', ''Ziemia Kłodzka: przewodnik dla prawdziwego turysty'',

, Oficyna Wydawnicza Rewasz, 2010, pages 328330. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorzanow Villages in Kłodzko County