History of Silesia

Since the ceasefire of the Minsk agreement (Minsk II), media, politics and scholars debate EU-diplomacy concerning the concessions Minks II made towards Russia.

Reflecting EU-Russia-relations, the Ukraine-crisis was not a surprise (see Mearsheimer 2014, Dias 2013). In a long-term perspective, a contradiction appears between Russia’s confirmations of EU-norms and values as mutually shared principles on one hand, and a “fundamental ideological difference” on the other hand (Faw 2010:40, see Monaghan 2013:5pp). Regarding academic research, the problem is not new but still relevant (see Timmermann 2005, The Council of the European Union 2010, Poyraz 2011, Maliukevičius 2013). The Ukraine-crisis challenges relations between EU and Russia. What path will EU and Russia tread?

Picking up on the hint at ideological differences, the thesis questions:

Why does the Ukraine-crisis challenge EU-Russian-relations? Where do the challenges originate? What are their underlying reasons?

The recent crisis in Ukraine can be seen as a challenge of EU-standards in EU-Russian-relations, regarding their implications for EU-diplomacy concerning power and balance of interests in a globalized world. The Ukraine-crisis underlines the role of the Ukraine as a buffer zone at the peak of mutual misunderstanding between EU and Russia.

In the theoretical framework of power/knowledge and discourse after Michel Foucault (1972, 1980), the Master Thesis analyses key concepts of official discourse in EU-Russian relations. With Foucault’s notion of power and picking up on the hint at ideological differences, core concepts of EU-standards, such as democracy, multipolarity, rule of law and modernization, can be “unpacked” in the logic of ‘truth of power’, comparatively or contrasting to the Russian ‘truth of power’.

The research design of qualitative discourse analysis focuses on official resources of EU- and Russian policies in the timeframe of Vladimir Putin’s first presidency in 2000 up to today, concentrating on values and norms as given EU-standard. The Ukraine will be considered in the context of analysis, while the role of the U.S. is given marginal attention, in order to keep the frame of a master thesis.

Michel Foucault himself gave methodological precautions, but not a methodology to put discourse analysis into practice (see ibid. 1980, see Jørgensen/Phillips 2002). Consequently, the methodology of this discourse analysis refers to Laclau and Mouffee’s conception of nodal points and floating signifiers in the framework of their discourse theory, which follows core aspects of Foucault’s approach (see Laclau and Mouffee 1985).1 In order to examine the core assumption, EU-standards, challenged in EU-Russian-relations in the course of the Ukraine-crisis, will be analysed.

EU-standard concepts chosen for analysis are: democracy, multipolarity, rule of law and modernization.

These will be analysed with Laclau and Mouffee’s conception of nodal points and floating signifiers. Data will be collected (official resources), the comprehension of the respective EU- standard concept by each side, Russia and EU, will be examined and verified by examples.

The outcome will be discussed against the theoretical background of a “truth of power”, regarding implications for EU-diplomacy towards Russia and Ukraine’s role as a buffer zone concerning power and balance in a globalized world. Future perspectives of academic research will be envisaged.

Review concerns the joint publication of authors led by Dominik Nowakowski from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wroclaw. It should be seen as the final result of queries and research as well as of the field verification, devoted to the medieval rural settlements within the limits of today’s Lubin County (northern part of Lower Silesia). The project involved historians, archaeologists, geographers (specializing themselves in anthropogenic changes of landscape and in historical cartography). The reviewed book, published as the interdisciplinary compendium, delivers all the most important data for further studies. Due to the fact that it is the first volume of the Dictionary of Silesian villages in the Middle Ages, the authors had also to challenge to establish the adequate methodology, that could be followed in subsequent parts of the Dictionary. In my opinion they succeeded in this field as well.

The starting point of this article is an attempt to answer the following question: why did some peasants in Cieszyn Silesia choose to convert to Catholicism during the Counter-Reformation (1654–1781), while others remained Protestant? This article analyzes the denominational choices of one ordinary peasant family living in Cieszyn Silesia at the time – the Suchanek family, who resided in the village of Brzezówka (now in the Cieszyn district), belonged to the Teschener Kammer (Komora Cieszyńska, Těšínská komora), a princely state owned by the Habsburg family. Contrary to claims made in existing literature, there is no evidence linking an individual's affluence to their choice of denomination. The decisive factor was in fact the individual's wife's denomination – to put it in simple terms, some put emphasis on which church to go to, while others put emphasis on who they go to church with.

Report on tourist trips to Wroclaw in the 1990s and 2000s by elderly German expellees from Silesia. Uses participant observation, field notes, oral history interviews, private documents. Discusses how trips to Wroclaw turned into annual pilgrimages and Wroclaw became a space where German visitors of different generations seemed to be able to communicate more productively than in Germany.

The subject of the study is the analysis of the manuscript with genealogical notes on the family of Podiebrad dukes, the descendants of king George of Poděbrady. The manuscript is held in the National Archive in Třeboň and contains the only known Czech translation of the notes, which, in subject literature, go by the name of Elenchus. The Czech version is also complimented by the Latin one. The study deals with three primary areas. Firstly, the relation between the Codex of Třeboň and other edits of family notes. Thesis formulated by Wojciech Mrozowicz, who did not consider Elenchus to be a part of the chronicle of the Žďár monastery, known as Cronica Sarensis minor, was supported. The second area deals with the role of Elenchus in the strategies of shaping and presenting family records of Podiebrad dukes. The introduction of information regarding the baptism of Charles’ I daughter in Wrocław, with participation of the Bohemian king, suggests that Elenchus was intended to present the Podiebrad dukes as Christian rulers, who were wrongly associated with reputation of heretics.
The third area concerns the circumstances accompanying the creation
of the Codex of Třeboň. The Latin version, although recorded as the second one, was undoubtedly the basis for the Czech translation. Said translation however, contains numerous discrepancies. As a conclusion, a thesis was formulated, that the Codex of Třeboň was created as a result of the genealogical study of the Holicki house from Šternberk from which descended the first wife of George of Poděbrady. The original Podiebrad family records were re-used by this house.

Heslo v Encyklopedii českých právních dějin, X. svazek (R-Říš). Plzeň-Ostrava, 2017, s. 683
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Rudolf  II's Letter of Majesty for Silesia (1609)
Majestätsbrief für Schlesien (1609) von Rudolf II.
List majestatyczny Rudolfa II dla  Śląska (1609)

Monografie rzeźbiarzy w Polsce (włączając w to niezwykle bogaty Śląsk oraz inne tereny poniemieckie) można policzyć na palcach jednej ręki. Tym nasza historia sztuki różni się od innych, iż powstaje u nas mnóstwo drobnych artykułów, przyczynki, fragmenty badań, publikowane są nawet teksty o trzeciorzędnym znaczeniu – brak natomiast konkretnych monografii artystów, takich, jakich wiele powstaje m.in. w Czechach, czy w Niemczech. Rozpoczynając serię dotyczącą rzeźbiarzy na Dolnym Śląsku chcielibyśmy ten stan rzeczy zmienić i zawrzeć dotychczasowe badania oraz nowe propozycje w niewielkich publikacjach o najwybitniejszych artystach różnych regionów.
Należy do nich z pewnością Johann Pol z Głogowa – którego twórczość, choć artysta może nie osiągnął ideału w sposobie przedstawiania ludzkich postaci, wyróżnia się na tle rzeźby nie tylko śląskiej, lecz także europejskiej. Pol stworzył szereg manierystycznych portali (świeckich i sakralnych) o wyjątkowej dekoracyjności i mnogości form ornamentalnych, przewyższającej niemalże wszystkie portale ówczesnej Europy, może poza Portugalią i Hiszpanią. Niezwykła znajomość aktualnych form dekoracyjnych, motywów groteskowych, zwierzęcych i roślinnych, powoduje, iż twórczość Johanna Pola należy traktować jako unikatowe w skali europejskiej zjawisko.

Due to the scarcity of archive sources related to Wodzisław Śląski, archeology plays a unique role in the investigation of the town's origins and subsequent development in the Middle Ages and modem times. The first research of Wodzisław area was carried out in the 19th century (G. Stóckel). When the town was being rebuilt after World War 2, basically no research was carried out, apart from archeological interventions of J. Szydłowski in the 1960's related to accidental findings in the
Franciscan cloister. The situation changed in 1971 upon the formation of Wodzisław Museum, which delegated Mr. Werner Pierzyna to carry out rescue research in the town area. Major scale works were launched in the 2ndpart of the 1990's, since when land development investments have been supervised
by archeologists. However, the nature of these works results from the need to protect the town's heritage and is not focused on solution of specific research problems.
The issue of settlements prior to the chartered foundation remains unexplained. Its alleged relation to the nearby "Grodzisko" should be excluded at this stage of research. So far, the oldest materials from the area of the chartered town were discovered near the Franciscan cloister. The issues related to the architecture of this facility need to be researched, just like the issue of the origins and architectural development of the parish church. Preliminary excavations showed another religious facility: the wooden Holy Cross Church, not existing anymore and originally situated outside the chartered town and accompanied by a cemetery (where most probably an Asian woman is buried in one of the graves). The castle is another item erected together with the town. Based on the research held in the 1970's and
in 1998 one can claim that originally the castle incorporated a wooden tower-like structure situated on a mound, which subsequently evolved into a stone building. In the 18th century the castle was demolished and replaced with the existing palace. Most information about the medieval residential precinct was gathered during the research of the area of today's presbytery and Zamkowa street, which also resulted in a large number of artifacts related to day-to-day existence, and gave much information about consumption and natural environment of medieval Wodzisław (archeological research by R. Abłamowicz, paleobotanical analysis by L. Trząski and dendrochronological analysis by M. Krąpiec). Numerous investments in municipal infrastructure made it possible to discover the remains of medieval and modern-time surfaces of roads and squares together with the accompanying infrastructure, such as sewage pipes, gutters, water ducts, etc.

The present book is devoted to a cultural phenomenon in the form of a collection of musical manuscripts written with a specific instrument in mind in a monastic milieu, but one which contains no liturgical compositions. The collection in question comprises handwritten lute tablatures from the Cistercian Abbey of Krzeszów (German: Grüssau). The author presents the Baroque lute in a humanistic perspective, a perspective of selected social phenomena in European culture of the
second half of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century, as well as selected questions relating to performance practice. This concerns the functioning of the lute particularly in the musical culture of Silesia, the context of musical life in the Cistercian Abbey of Krzeszów and questions relating to musical source studies, questions like concordance based on European sources.
The book draws on a doctoral dissertation, written under the guidance of Professor Remigiusz Pośpiech at the Institute of Musicology, University of Wrocław, which in 2017 brought Dr G. Joachimiak the first prize in the Professor H. Feicht Competition, awarded by the Musicological Section of the Polish Composers’ Union.
The manuscripts of lute tablatures from the Krzeszów Abbey have never before been the subject of holistic research, which has required a number of detailed studies over many years. The author has used both the method of a music historian and a perspective based on experiences in music performance. Readers will find here the results of the author’s research, with details of the research process to be found in the doctoral dissertation. Given the limited publication possibilities, the material presented in the book has had to be reduced, which has affected largely ensemble music.
The analysed collection comprises fifteen manuscripts, which are currently dispersed. It contains over 2000 individual works, which makes the collection one of the largest of this kind in the world. The surviving sources contain only pieces for the lute in a popular eighteenth-century tuning. These are solo and ensemble pieces in which missing instrument parts are sometimes filled by concordances. The results of the research into the reconstruction of selected compositions make it possible to prepare the material for performance and to explore selected elements of monastic life in the eighteenth century, especially the music performed by the monks. This concerns, for example, the Tafelmusik
practice as well as limitations relating to the performance of this kind of music at the monastery or the way in which the Cistercians used the lute and secular compositions to develop monastic piety.
The book also contains information originating in the correspondence of monks from the Krzeszów abbey, including lute-playing monks like Father Hermann Kniebandl. In the last stage of his life he was associated with the Cistercian provostship in Cieplice Śląskie (German: Bad Warmbrunn), where his duties included, in addition to pastoral work, the running of the thermal springs which the monastery had received from the Schaffgotsch family. However, the relations between the family and the Krzeszów Cistercians are limited here to the context of musical patronage and support of musical activities associated with the analysed lute collection.
The lute tablature manuscripts also contain information which is significant from the perspective of the history of music theory — information in the form lute playing instructions, strictly practical
elements like marking of fingering for both hands in the various pieces, examples of playing exercises or explanation of the notation and embellishments in lute playing. This makes the whole material
twice as valuable, because every such “didactic source” is the best source in modern historically informed performance, providing scholars with an insight into reception of the repertoire and styles of playing. On the other hand it sheds light on the Krzeszów Cistercians’ actual participation in the cultivation and development of secular Baroque lute repertoire, popular at royal courts and among townsmen, irrespective of their confessional affiliation.
Compositions from the analysed collection include pieces which show that the Krzeszów Cistercians were stylistically well-versed in the solo or ensemble repertoire as well as pieces which are unique in Europe. This is undoubtedly linked to the great popularity of the lute in the first half of
the eighteenth century in Central Europe, where Silesia served as one of the most important European centres of lute music. This was the place from which came and where were educated the most sought-after lutenists in royal and courtly ensembles, lutenists like Esaias Reusner the Younger, Silvius Leopold Weiss, Ernst Gottlieb Baron and many others. This situation undoubtedly had a huge impact on the interest in the lute among the Krzeszów Cistercians. That is why the author of the book takes into account compositions not only by well-known composers and patrons of their music, but also pieces by local composers, including those from among the Krzeszów Cistercians. In the last chapter the author devotes some attention to the use of the lute in work associated with Cistercian spirituality, taking into account the specificity of the Krzeszów Cistercians — to be more precise, in spiritual exercises. The Krzeszów Cistercians took over the Exercitia spiritualis from the Silesian Jesuits and carried them out in accordance with St. Ignatius Loyola’s method.
All these elements provoke questions of why the Cistercian Abbey of Krzeszów became a friendly place for the making of lute tablature manuscripts and interest in the lute, an instrument used mostly
in court circles. How to describe the phenomenon of the Baroque lute in the monastery in the context of the musical culture of Silesia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries? Is the Cistercian Abbey in Krzeszów the only such example of musical activity in the history of music? Answers to these and other questions can be found in the four chapters of the present book supported by an extensive introduction and three appendices.

Książka poświęcona jest kolekcji 15 rękopisów muzycznych z pierwszej połowy XVIII w., zapisanych specyficzną notacją muzyczną tabulatury lutniowej w odmianie francuskiej (literowej). Jest to jeden z największych zbiorów tego typu. Dlaczego zatem powstał na Śląsku i w środowisku opactwa cystersów w Krzeszowie? To pytanie towarzyszyło autorowi tej książki przez cały okres jej przygotowania. Odpowiedź jest złożona, dlatego w książce pojawiają się informacje wskazujące na specyfikę kultury muzycznej Śląska XVII i XVIII wieku, potwierdzające wyjątkowość tego regionu dla kultywowania muzyki lutniowej. W omawianych źródłach nie ma przykładów muzyki liturgicznej. Większość tego repertuaru wykonywano na dworach królewskich niemalże całej ówczesnej Europy, ale są też przykłady utworów kompozytorów działających wyłącznie lokalnie, w tym również z grona cystersów. W książce znaleźć można informacje o muzyce lutniowej przedstawione w perspektywie humanistycznej, z uwzględnieniem metodyki gry, wybranego repertuaru i zagadnień źródłoznawczych. Jak zatem scharakteryzować określenie zjawiska „fenomenu lutni barokowej w klasztorze”? Odpowiedzi na te i inne pytania znajdują się w czterech rozdziałach niniejszej książki, wspartych rozbudowanym wstępem i trzema aneksami.

In his study, the author focuses on the activity of the Hussite military garrisons in the Silesian duchies in 1428–1435. After a synopsis of the basic stages of the Hussite raids in Silesia, he pays attention to the presence of garrisons deep in the enemy territory and repeatedly returns to the issue of supplying them with military equipment and provisions. In Silesia, the priest Bedřich of Strážnice helped to transform the system operating among the garrisons in Central and South Moravia, including the collection of food in the form of tributes, obtaining the spoils of war, supplying through the convoys sent from the Hussite domain, and the cooperation with local elites. At the same time, securing supplies determined the main features of military operations.

Zgodnie z rozporządzeniami polskiego Ministerstwa Edukacji i Nauki od 1 stycznia 2022 roku obowiązuje niższa subwencja na naukę języka niemieckiego dla uczniów mniejszości niemieckiej. Dlatego, począwszy od kolejnego roku szkolnego, czyli od 1 września 2022 roku zostanie zmniejszona liczba godzin szkolnych (45 minut) przeznaczonych na te zajęcia z obecnych trzech do jednej w tygodniu.

Oczywiście to jawna dyskryminacja, bowiem takiego obniżenia subwencji oraz liczby godzin nauki języka mniejszościowego nie zastosowano względem innych uznanych w Polsce mniejszości narodowych czy etnicznych. Dlaczego wzięto właśnie mniejszość niemiecką „na celownik”? Po pierwsze, to numerycznie największa uznana mniejszość we współczesnej Polsce. Po drugie, przez ostatnie trzy dekady po upadku komunizmu, przywódcy i parlamentarzyści mniejszości niemieckiej lojalnie wspierali działania wszystkich polskich rządów (w tym i PiSu), nawet jeśli skutkowało to naruszeniem najważniejszych interesów kulturowo-etnicznych polskich Niemców. Po trzecie, w pełnej zgodzie z polskim interesem narodowo-etnicznym, liderzy mniejszości niemieckiej wspierali i wciąż wspierają nieuznawanie największej mniejszości, czyli Ślązaków. I to pomimo ścisłych związków rodzinno-społecznych pomiędzy górnośląskimi Niemcami a Ślązakami. Paradoksalnie, nie niemiecki, a właśnie śląszczyzna stanowi język dnia codziennego Niemców w Górnym Śląsku.

Jednobrzmiące protesty obecnych liderów mniejszości niemieckiej,[2] jak i ich poprzedników[3] oraz przedstawicieli RFN[4] są spóźnione o co najmniej 30 lat. Jak jest tak źle, to dlaczego wcześniej nikt nie reagował? Przecież elity mniejszości niemieckiej oraz władze RFN powinny sobie jasno zdawać sprawę, iż na poziomie ideologii rządy postkomunistycznej Polski kierują się zasadami polskiego nacjonalizmu etnicznojęzykowego wypracowanego przez Romana Dmowskiego na przełomie XIX i XX stulecia. To właśnie jego zwolennicy w międzywojennej Polsce przeprowadzili przymusową asymilację mniejszości na niwie edukacji.

Cieszyn Silesia in the “long nineteenth century” is widely regarded as an excellent laboratory for research on the formation of nations. The region was inhabited by three language/national groups (Poles, Czechs, Germans) and denominational groups (Catholics, Protestants, Jews). Basing my re-search on an analysis of a group of village mayors (vogts) in the period 1864–1918, which included 1,332 such officials, I attempt to determine whether there was a relationship between linguistic (ethnic) affiliation, religion and political views (supported national movement) in Cieszyn Silesia.

The article brings about three topics related to Jiří Třanovský - his life, his literary work and his legacy in to his native Teschen Silesia.
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Příspěvek přibližuje tři témata týkající se Jiřího Třanovského – jeho život, jeho literární dílo a jeho odkaz na rodném Těšínsku. Třanovský působil převážně v době třicetileté války, kvůli níž byl nucen často se stěhovat. Působil v Čechách, na Moravě, ve Slezsku a na Slovensku, kde roku 1637 ve věku 45 let zemřel. Z jeho díla je nejvýznamnější český kancionál Cithara sanctorum, pozornosti si zaslouží i jeho česká modlitební kniha Phiala odoramentorum a sbírka latinské poezie Odarum sacrarum… libri tres. Třanovského odkaz na rodném Těšínsku spočíval zpočátku v užívání jeho kancionálu v bohoslužebném životě luterské církve. V 1. polovině 20. století byl Třanovský prezentován jako symbol československé vzájemnosti, a zároveň byl jeho odkaz předmětem česko-polských národních sporů. V dobách nacistické a komunistické diktatury byl jeho životní osud a dílo útěchou pro ty, kdo nacházeli paralely mezi svým a Třanovského životem. Po pádu komunismu se mohly stát velkolepé oslavy 400. výročí narození Jiřího Třanovského příležitostí k jeho přijetí jako symbolu, spoluvytvářejícího identitu celého regionu Těšínského Slezska.