Louky (Karviná)

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Old Saint Barbara church

 Louky nad Olší (help·info) (Polish: Łąki nad Olzą (info), German: Lonkau) (literally, "meadows upon Olza") is a village in the Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic, since 1975 administratively a part of the city of Karviná as Louky, formerly a separate municipality. It lies on the left bank of the Olza River, in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. It has a population of 453 (2001).[1]

The village is first mentioned in a written document from 1450. It is not clear when the first church was built; the oldest record mentions a wooden church in 1654. Because the Olza frequently flooded the church, a new Saint Barbara Church was built in 1818. The last church service was held in 1995.

Historically, the village owed its prosperity to its fortunate position between the important towns of Frysztat and Cieszyn. Its inhabitants engaged mostly in fish farming in the complex of ponds near the village.

According to the Austrian census of 1910 the village had 1,792 inhabitants, 1,786 of whom had permanent residence there. The census asked people for their native language, 1,749 (98%) were Polish-speaking. The most populous religious group were Roman Catholics with 1,687 (94%).[2]

After the division of Cieszyn Silesia in 1920, the village became part of Czechoslovakia. Following the Munich Agreement, in October 1938, Louky and the whole Zaolzie region was annexed by Poland. The village was then annexed by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II. After the war it was restored to Czechoslovakia.

Louky is a classic example of the devastation wrought by heavy industry, in this case, coal mining. The centre of the village was originally located north of today's settlement. During the Communist era, extensive mining activities irrevocably damaged the original village. Surface waters were polluted, farmland was degraded, the whole area was undermined, new ponds appeared, the water level rose, and mine tailings accumulated. All this sealed the fate of the old village; almost all the houses sank into the ground, and the village was demolished. Today only the Saint Barbara Church remains. It is structurally unstable, and it is only a matter of time before it too is gone.

Today's village lies south of original location and is much smaller. It is served by a small railway station. New Catholic church has been constructed there.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869 - 2005 - 1. díl". Praha: Czech Statistical Office. 2006. pp. 718–719. 
  2. ↑ Ludwig Patryn (ed): Die Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 in Schlesien, Troppau 1912.

References

  • Cicha, Irena; Kazimierz Jaworski, Bronisław Ondraszek, Barbara Stalmach and Jan Stalmach (2000). Olza od pramene po ujście. Český Těšín: Region Silesia. ISBN 80-238-6081-X. 

External links

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Coordinates: 49°48′30″N 18°34′10″E / 49.80833°N 18.56944°E / 49.80833; 18.56944

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