Istebna is a large village and the seat of Gmina Istebna,

Cieszyn County __NOTOC__ Cieszyn County () 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 result of the Polish local gove ...

in the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

, southern Poland. The village is situated in the

Silesian Beskids Silesian Beskids (, , ) is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in the Outer Western Carpathians in southern Silesian Voivodeship, Poland and the eastern Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. Most of the range lies in Poland. It is separa ...

mountain range, near the borders with the

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

and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, in the historical region of

Cieszyn Silesia Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( ; or ; or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided betwe ...

. The

Olza River The Olza (, ) is a river in the Czech Republic and Poland, a right tributary of the Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and it ...

flows through the village.

Etymology

The name is cultural in origin, derived from the word , meaning a room in a (especially rural) house (see also

izba An izba ( rus, изба́, p=ɪzˈba, a=Ru-изба.ogg) is a traditional Russian countryside dwelling. Often a log house, it forms the living quarters of a conventional Russian farmstead. It is generally built close to the road and inside a Y ...

). It is conjectured that the name was conveyed by settlers from Istebné who supposedly established the village. Historically, it was also known as ''Gistebna'' (1621, 1629) or ''Istebne'' (1724; the name in plural form, meaning ''rooms'').

History

The village was first mentioned in a 1592 document, which retrospectively mentioned a village called ''Jistebne'' which was around As early as 1583. It belonged then to the

Duchy of Teschen The Duchy of Teschen (), also Duchy of Cieszyn () or Duchy of Těšín (), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn () in Upper Silesia. It was split off the Silesian Duchy of Opole and Racibórz in 1281 during the feudal divisio ...

, a

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 contrad ...

of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

and a part of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

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

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Habsburg monarchy (from 1804 the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 the Cisleithanian portion of Austria-Hungary). It is la ...

. The village as a municipality was subscribed to the

political district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; ; ) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitants ( and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Repu ...

and the

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

Jablunkov Jablunkov (; , ) is a town in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,300 inhabitants. The town has a significant Polish minority in the Czech Republic, Polish minority. It is inhabited by a la ...

. According to censuses conducted in 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1910, the population of the municipality grew from 2,112 in 1880 to 2,245 in 1910, with the majority being native Polish-speakers (between 98.2% and 99.5%), accompanied by German-speaking (at most 33 or 1.5% in 1890) and Czech-speaking people (at most 15 or 0.7% in 1880). In terms of religion, in 1910, the majority were

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

(93.9%), followed by

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

(5.9%) and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

(6 people). The village was also traditionally inhabited by Silesian Gorals, speaking Jablunkov dialect. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the fall of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, the

Polish–Czechoslovak War The Czechoslovak-Polish War, widely known in Czech sources as the Seven-Day War () was a military confrontation between Czechoslovakia and Poland over the territory of Cieszyn Silesia in early 1919. Czechoslovak forces invaded the Polish par ...

and the division of

in 1920, it became a part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and was transferred to Cieszyn County. It was then

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, it was restored to

. Istebna - Widok ogolny. ante 1937 (69710807) (cropped).jpg, General view before 1937 Istebna, chaty goralskie w zimie ca 1937 (66235534) (cropped).jpg, Highlander cottages, circa 1937 Istebna. Kosciol katol. i fara - Kat. 1899-1931 (69710803) (cropped).jpg, Church of the Good Shepherd, before 1931 Istebna - Pensjonat "Bucznik". 1926-1936 (69710942) (cropped).jpg, "Bucznik" guesthouse, before 1936 Beskidy Slaskie, sanatorium na Kubalonce ante 1939 (66235483) (cropped).jpg, Sanatorium on Kubalonka, before 1939 Grupa gorali z Istebnej od zrodel Wisly i Olzy. post 1906 (79089431) (cropped).jpg, A group of highlanders, after 1906

Landmarks

There is a Catholic church in the village known as the Good Shepherd Church, built in 1794 from the previous wooden one.

Notable people

* Emanuel Grim, Catholic priest and writer, worked here and is buried at local cemetery * Ludwik Konarzewski-junior, Polish painter, sculptor and also artistic educator of children (son of senior) * Ludwik Konarzewski-senior, Polish painter, sculptor and also educator of fine arts to young people in Istebna * Janusz Krężelok, cross-country skier *

Jerzy Kukuczka Józef Jerzy Kukuczka (; 24 March 1948 – 24 October 1989) was a Polish mountaineer, regarded as one of the greatest high-altitude climbers in history. In 1987, he became the second man (after Reinhold Messner) to climb all 14 eight-thousand ...

, high altitude mountaineer, and the second person to climb all of the 8,000 metre peaks (a memorial chamber dedicated to him is located in its own mountain cottage in Istebna) * Jan Wałach, drawer, engraver (woodcuts), also sculptor and painter

Twin towns

Iława Iława (; ) is a town in northern Poland with 32,276 inhabitants (2010). It is the capital of Iława County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. The town is located in the Iławskie Lake District, on the longest lake in Poland – Jeziorak.

* Trzebiatów

Gallery

File:Kościół Dobrego Pasterza w Istebnej 3.JPG, Good Shepherd parish church File:Istebna 07.jpg, Interior of the Good Shepherd church File:WPKiW - Skansen.JPG, Building in Upper Silesian Ethnographic Park File:Henryk Jastrzembski akwarela Górale z Istebnej 1846.png, ''Para góralska z Istebnej'', by Henryk Jastrzembski, (1846) File:Istebna 1091.jpg, Memorial plaque

in Istebna

Footnotes

References

External links

*
Official website of Gmina Istebna
{{Authority control Villages in Cieszyn County Cieszyn Silesia