The Opole Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo Opolskie) is located in
south-western Poland and borders on the Lower Silesian Voivodeship to
the west, the Greater Poland and Łódź Voivodeships to the north, the
Silesian Voivodeship to the east and the Czech Republic to the south.
Opole is characterized by the Silesian lowlands on the Oder and by the
mountains and hills of the Sudetes in the south and the
Kraków-Częstochowa Jura and the Silesian plateau in the north and east.
The capital and largest city is Opole in the center of the voivodeship.
Except for the capital, there are no other major cities.
In this
region you will find numerous brick Gothic churches, fortified towers
and castles and beautiful lake districts. There are good water sports
opportunities (kayaks, swimming, sailing, diving) at the four large
reservoirs and the rivers. The kayak route along the Glatzer Neisse is
very varied. Hikers and winter sports enthusiasts get their money's
worth in the Reichenstein Mountains, which reach a height of up to
approx. 900 meters in the voivodeship area with the Bischofskoppe. The
Jura and the Silesian plateau, which reaches a height of over 400 meters
above sea level on the Sankt Annaberg, are also interesting hiking
areas. The hilly foothills of the Sudeten, for example the Leobschützer
Loess Hügelland, has its own charm. In particular, the provincial
capital of Opole offers an interesting cultural program.
The area
came under Mieszko I together with all of Silesia before 990 to the
emerging Polish state. After the fragmentation of Poland in 1138, Opole
belonged to the Principality of Silesia with its capital in Wrocław, but
soon after the partition of Silesia it became a principality with its
capital in Opole. It belonged to Upper Silesia, which split into other
principalities, some of which came to Bohemia and some remained with
Poland in the 14th century. The Bohemian part came to the Habsburgs in
1526 and to Prussia in 1742. After the First World War, Upper Silesia
was divided after a referendum and Oppeln remained with the German
Reich, while the eastern part around Katowice went to Poland. In 1939
the eastern part of Upper Silesia was occupied by the Wehrmacht and in
1945 by the Red Army. In the course of Poland's westward shift after the
Potsdam Agreement, the eastern part of Upper Silesia, which had
previously been divided, also came to Poland. Since 1945, Opole has been
a separate voivodeship in Poland, and in 1999 it received its current
form.
Today, the Opole Voivodeship is the center of the
German-speaking minority in Poland. In the 2011 census, more than 78,000
people stated that they were (also) German, which corresponds to approx.
e.g. identify as both German and Pole). In around 20 communities,
Germans make up more than 20% of the population, where German is the
second official language and bilingual place-name signs have been put
up. The German cultural traditions are maintained by the Social-Cultural
Society of Germans in Opole Silesia. Another 100,000 citizens indicated
their ethnicity as (also) "Silesian" (either only Silesian or Silesian
and Polish).
The official language of the Opole Voivodeship is Polish, in the
communities with a larger German minority also German.
The
colloquial language of some residents is Silesian, a Polish dialect of
Upper Silesia. Many Poles also speak good or very good English or
German. Some also speak other foreign languages such as Russian,
Spanish, French or Italian, which are mainly spoken and understood in
the large and tourist-relevant cities.
The name comes from the capital Opole. The Opole region historically
belongs to Upper Silesia, of which Opole originally was the capital. In
the west, small parts of Lower Silesia also belong to the Opole
Voivodeship, which make up about 20% of its area, which in the Middle
Ages belonged to the Principality of Neisse. Parts of the north are in
historical Wielkopolska (Weluner Land), parts of the south are in
historical Moravia.
In the north-east, the voivodeship has a
share in the Kraków-Częstochowa Jura with its chalk cliffs:
A small
part of the Woischnik-Welun Plateau is located in the Voivodeship.
In
the east, the voivodeship has a share of the Silesian plateau with its
highest elevation, the Sankt Annaberg.
The Oder Valley runs through
the Silesian Plain in the Voivodeship from the south-east to the
north-west. Here, with the Falkenberg Heath, is also the largest forest
area in the voivodeship.
Southwest of the Oder Valley is the hilly
foothills of the Sudeten, which extends to Lower Silesia.
The
voivodeship has a share in the East Sudetes in the south-west.
The
Reichenstein Mountains are located in the border triangle of Lower
Silesia and Moravia south of the Glatzer Neisse.
The Zuckmanteler
Bergland has the highest mountains in the region. On the territory of
the voivodeship they reach up to about 900 meters in altitude. On the
Moravian side they are over 1,100 meters above sea level.
Until 1945 this region was part of the Prussian province of Upper
Silesia. After World War II in 1946, the area became part of the
Silesian Voivodeship (1945–1950). An Opole Voivodeship was created for
the first time in 1950 by division of the Silesian Voivodeship
(1945–1950), in which the districts of Brzeg and Namysłów were annexed
to the new voivodeship.
Administrative reforms in 1975 and 1998
led to border corrections and the exchange of territories, see Opole
Voivodeship (1975–1998)
In the third territorial reform of 1975,
the Racibórz District was included in the Katowice Voivodeship and a
part of the Olesno District in the Częstochowa Voivodeship, thus
including a part of the historically non-Silesian Weluner Land landscape
on the right bank of the Prosna.
In a fourth territorial reform
in 1999, which initially had the aim of forming 12 large voivodeships
based on the model of the German states, the Opole voivodeship was to be
dissolved according to plans by the Polish government. The western part
with the districts of Brzeg and Namysłów was to be ceded to the Lower
Silesian Voivodeship and most of the voivodeship was to form the
Silesian Voivodeship together with the Katowice Voivodeship and parts of
the Częstochowa and Bielsko-Biała Voivodeships. However, the population
of the Opole Voivodeship put up enormous resistance to these government
plans, since the formation of the Silesian Voivodeship would eliminate
the influence of the German minority in the regional government. The
resistance was supported not only by the German minority from the
region, but also by the Polish Silesians and Poles, who feel connected
to their province.
With the dissolution of the Częstochowa
Voivodeship in 1999, the Olesno County was finally re-affiliated to the
Opole Voivodeship after 24 years. In 2006, Radlau became the first
officially bilingual municipality in the voivodeship and introduced
German as the second official language.
Today's Opole Voivodeship
arose from the Opole Voivodeship that existed from 1975 to 1998.