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The Czech Corner ( cs, Český koutek, pl, Czeski kątek, german: Böhmischer Winkel) is a territory found in the western end of Klodzko land, close to the current Czech-Polish border. This area consisted of eleven villages which were inhabited by Bohemian Czechs.


List of settlements in the Czech Corner

In the Czech corner of one of the following municipalities: * Slané (Polish Słone) *Březová (Polish Brzozowie) * Velká Čermná (Polish Czermna) *Žakš (Polish Zakrze) * Lázně Chudoba (Polish Kudowa-Zdrój) *
Blažejov Blažejov (german: Blauenschlag) is a municipality and village in Jindřichův Hradec District Jindřichův Hradec District ( cs, okres Jindřichův Hradec) is a district ('' okres'') within South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capita ...
(Polish Błażejów) *Jakubovice (Polish Jakubowice) *Stroužné (Polish Pstrążna) *Bukovina (Polish Bukowina (Kłodzka)) *Nouzín (Polish Ostra Góra) *Ostra Hora (Polish Ostra Góra (partially))


History


Beginnings

The area was likely under the rule of
Great Moravia Great Moravia ( la, Regnum Marahensium; el, Μεγάλη Μοραβία, ''Meghálī Moravía''; cz, Velká Morava ; sk, Veľká Morava ; pl, Wielkie Morawy), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavs, Wes ...
under King Svatopluk I by the late 9th century, though the precise extent of his realm is disputed. According to the ''Chronica Boëmorum'' from 1191 by Cosmas of Prague, the castle 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 Kłodzk ...
on the road from
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
to
Wrocław Wrocław (; , . german: Breslau, , also known by other names) is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, roughly ...
in 981 was a possession of the Bohemian nobleman Slavník, the father of
Saint Adalbert of Prague Adalbert of Prague ( la, Sanctus Adalbertus, cs, svatý Vojtěch, sk, svätý Vojtech, pl, święty Wojciech, hu, Szent Adalbert (Béla); 95623 April 997), known in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia by his birth name Vojtěch ( la, Vo ...
. During the rivalry between the Přemyslid dukes Boleslaus III and
Jaromir Jaromír, Jaromir, Jaroměr is a Slavic male given name. Origin and meaning Jaromír is a West Slavic given name composed of two stems ''jaro'' and ''mír''. The meaning is not definite: *Polish ''jary'' (archaic) = „spry, young, strong“; ''m ...
in 1003, the
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
king Bolesław I Chrobry invaded Bohemia, but had to pull back the next year, facing the forces of King
Henry II of Germany Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler ...
. In turn the Bohemian duke
Bretislaus I Bretislav I ( cs, Břetislav I.; 1002/1005 – 10 January 1055), known as the "Bohemian Achilles", of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1034 until his death. Youth Bretislav was the son of Duke Oldřich and his low-born concubine ...
campaigned the adjacent northern territory of
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is spli ...
after Bolesław's death in 1025. An armistice mediated by Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor since 1014, demarcated the spheres of influence, leaving the area around Kłodzko with Bohemia. When about 1080 the Polish Piast duke
Władysław I Herman Władysław I Herman ( 1044 – 4 June 1102) was the duke of Poland from 1079 until his death. Accession Władysław was the second son of the Polish duke Casimir the Restorer and Maria Dobroniega of Kiev. As the second son, Władysław was no ...
married Judith Přemyslovna, daughter of Duke
Vratislaus II of Bohemia Vratislaus II (or Wratislaus II) ( cs, Vratislav II.) (c. 1032 – 14 January 1092), the son of Bretislaus I and Judith of Schweinfurt, was the first King of Bohemia as of 15 June 1085, his royal title granted as a lifetime honorific from Holy R ...
, he received Kłodzko as a Bohemian
fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...
, which upon his death in 1102 was claimed by his son Duke
Bolesław III Wrymouth Bolesław III Wrymouth ( pl, Bolesław III Krzywousty; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland betwee ...
of Poland. However, as Bolesław became entangled in a fierce inheritance conflict with Duke Svatopluk of Bohemia and his cousin Borivoj II and campaigned in the Bohemian lands several times, he finally had to renounce Kłodzko in favour of Duke Soběslav I of Bohemia in a peace treaty signed in 1137 under pressure from Emperor Lothair III.


County of Kladsko

In 1458 under Bohemian rule the area around Kłodzko became a
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
. In 1742 it was conquered 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 1816 the county was abolished, and the territory was reformed into the ''Landkreis Glatz'' of
Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an officia ...


Claim by Czechoslovakia

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, ...
the new Czechoslovak state laid claim to the County of Kladsko. Each one of the proposals put forth by the Czechoslovak delegation included annexing the Czech Corner to Czechoslovakia. These claims were however ultimately rejected by the 1919
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...
. Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
" heights="185px" widths="260px"> image:Kladsko 1919 A.jpg, The maximalist variant image:Kladsko 1919 B.jpg, The intermediate variant image:Kladsko 1919 C.jpg, The minimalist variant


Incorporation into Poland

With the implementation of the Oder-Neisse line at the
Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Pe ...
in 1945, most of the territory of
Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an officia ...
including both
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 Kłodzk ...
, referred to as "Little
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
" (german: Klein-Prag) and the Czech Corner became part of the
Republic of Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
.
Kłodzko land Kłodzko Land ( pl, Ziemia kłodzka; cs, Kladsko; german: Glatzer Land) is a historical region in southwestern Poland. The subject of Czech-Polish rivalry in the High Middle Ages, it became a Bohemian domain since the 12th century, although wit ...
again became the focus of an attempt to reincorporate the area into
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
, one of several
Polish–Czechoslovak border conflicts Border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia began in 1918 between the Second Polish Republic and First Czechoslovak Republic, both freshly created states. The conflicts centered on the disputed areas of Cieszyn Silesia, Orava Territo ...
when in May 1945
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
tried to annex the area on behalf of the Czech minority present in the Czech Corner. Pressure brought on by the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
ultimately led to a ceasing of military operations. The Czech population quickly began to decline as a result of emigration to the Czechoslovakia and the
Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south ...
. While just after World War II the Czech population of the Czech Corner was approximately 5,100 persons, in 1957 estimates were of about 500 Czechs remaining. The vast majority of inhabitants of the Czech corner today are ethnic Poles. According to
canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
, the area was part of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague (Praha) ( cs, Arcidiecéze pražská, la, Archidioecesis Pragensis) is a Metropolitan Catholic archdiocese of the Latin Rite in Bohemia, in the Czech Republic. The cathedral archiepiscopal see is St. V ...
until 1972. Capitalizing on interest regarding Czech Corner and the Kladsko area in the Czech national psyche, a special tourist area in the Náchod District has been designated as the ''Kladsko Borderland Tourist Area'' (tourism district; cs, turistická oblast Kladské pomezí). This area, entirely within the
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. Th ...
, was formerly known as the '' Jirásek's Region'' ( cs, Jiráskův kraj), ''
Adršpach rocks Adršpach (german: Adersbach) is a municipality in Náchod District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. It is known for the Adršpach-Teplice Rocks. Administrative parts The municipality is made up o ...
'' ( cs, Adršpašské skály, italic=yes).


References


External links

* {{Authority control Geography of Lower Silesian Voivodeship Bohemia Territorial disputes of Czechoslovakia Territorial disputes of Poland Czech Republic–Poland border History of Silesia