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
Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...
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 populou ...
, by the towns
Szprotawa and
Kożuchów
Kożuchów (; german: Freystadt in Schlesien) is a town in Lubusz Voivodeship, Poland.
History
The town was founded in the 12th century, when it was part of the Kingdom of Poland. It was granted town rights in 1273 in the process of Ostdieslung. ...
. 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 of the
Muzeum Ziemi Szprotawskiej 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 ca ...
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.
Histor ...
and built in 1413–1467. It is possible that rather than being military in nature the walls were designed as a type of ''
landwehr'' 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