The Historical Cultural Landscape of the Western Sudetes. an Introduction to the Research

Home , Breslau (region), Chojnik Castle, Jizera Mountains, Kaczawskie Mountains, Kwisa, Sudetes

Summary The historical cultural landscape of the western Sudetes. An introduction to the research

I. Introduction

The authors of the book attempted to describe the cultural landscape created over the course of several hundred years in the specific mountain and foothills conditions in the southwest of Lower Silesia in Poland. The pressure of environmental features had an overwhelming effect on the nature of settlements. In conditions of the widespread predominance of the agrarian economy over other categories of production, the foothills and mountains were settled later and less intensively than those well-suited for lowland agriculture. This tendency is confirmed by the relatively rare settlement of the Sudetes in the early Middle Ages. The planned colonisation, conducted in Silesia in the 13th century, did not have such an intensive course in mountainous areas as in the lowland zone. The western part of Lower Silesia and the neighbouring areas of Lusatia were colonised by in a planned programme, bringing settlers from the German language area and using German legal models. The success of this programme is considered one of the significant economic and organisational achievements of Prince Henry I the Bearded. The testimony to the implementation of his plan was the creation of the foundations of mining and the first locations in Silesia of the cities of Złotoryja (probably 1211) and Lwówek (1217), perhaps also Wleń (1214?). The mountain areas further south remained outside the zone of intensive colonisation. This was undertaken several dozen years later, at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, and mainly in the 14th century, adapting settlement and economy to the special conditions of the natural environment. The intensification of settlement and density of the village network took place in modern times, after the end of the 30-years war (1618-1648).

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Within a few centuries of development, an original sub-region was formed, distant from central political and economic centres. Its cultural features were shaped by permanent adaptation to the environmental conditions of the foothills and mountains. Other turning points that change the image of the sub-region are industrialisation and the outflow of people to the towns from the mid-19th century, emigration across the Atlantic, and then the almost complete population exchanges after the Second World War. The remains of the former cultural landscape are, however, largely legible and attractive to new residents. In a way, they create a place of collective memory in the sense given by sociologist Pierre Nora – a place of “second-order history”, the story of an ordinary man including a house, village, small town, and sub-region. The main aim of the research was focused on the reconstruction of the individual features of the cultural landscape of the Western Sudetes and its development from the settlement of the area in the Middle Ages and modern times, up to the 20th century. The subject of detailed analysis was the area of four former districts centred around local central centres – Wleń, Lwówek Śląski, Jelenia Góra, and Gryfów Śląski. The final result was to describe a mountain sub-region formed of complementary func- tional elements – defensive works, towns, villages, mining centres and relics of law enforcement. The conducted research falls within the scope of broadly-defined historical archaeology, or more precisely within the framework of settlement archaeology, taking into account that currently referred to as landscape archaeology. In order to achieve this goal, however, it was fundamental to conduct the research instrumentally, which can be completed only when adopting interdisciplinary conventions. Therefore, the analysis was conducted from the position of methods appropriate mainly for archaeology, ge- ography, and history, but using the opportunities offered by the history of architecture and urban planning, ethnology and petrography. The digital terrain model (Digital Elevation Model, DEM) made with the use of air scanning was then compared with historical cartographic sources and written sources. An invaluable analytical tool was the Geographic Information System (GIS) software.

II. Natural conditions of the Western Sudetes ‒ valorisation in terms of settlement and economic usefulness

The research area includes two macro-regions according to the physico-geographical division of Poland: the Western Sudetes and Western Sudetes Foothills. Due to the considerable diversity of natural conditions (relief, lithology, hydrographic network), seven mesoregions stand out within them: the Izerskie Mountains, Karkonosze, Jeleni- ogórska Valley, Rudawy Janowickie, Kaczawskie Mountains, Jizera Foothills and part of the Kaczawskie Foothills.

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The Western Sudetes and the Western Sudetes Foothills have been blessed with an abundance of mineral and rock raw materials of economic importance since the Middle Ages. The richness and diversity of these resources is conditioned by a varied geological structure, including the widespread occurrence of various metamorphic rocks, within which numerous vein rocks with polymetallic crumbs have formed. The exploitation of gold, silver, copper, arsenic, lead, zinc, tin, cobalt, as well as various rock materials (including granites, sandstones, gneisses) and precious and semi-precious and ornamental minerals and stones have been of particular importance. The relief in the surveyed area is characterised by a great variety and spatial diversity, which is mainly due to tectonic and lithological conditions. A gradual increase in altitude is observed in the research area above sea level from north to south (the exception is a dip in the Jelenia Góra Valley). At the same time, this area should be considered strongly fragmented due to the dense river network and the numerous occurrence of dry denudation valleys. Within the foothills, the topography is relatively mild, undu- lating and hilly, while in the mountainous areas there are large contrasts in the topography, greater height differences and slopes. The foothill relief was more conducive to the development of a dense settlement network, evenly distributed throughout the entire area, while areas with greater contrasts in relief caused the concentration of settlement networks in depressions, which led to the creation of a characteristic, linear arrangement of chain villages in mountainous areas. The dense network of river valleys at the same time allowed for relatively easy accessibility even deeper into the mountain massifs and the development of settlement and communication networks also in the surroundings of higher and steep parts of the area. Especially the valleys of the region’s main rivers, the Bóbr and Kwisa, and some of their larger tributaries, creating wide valley depressions locally, favoured the settlement and development of transport routes. In turn, the presence of many isolated hills and ravined sections of valleys favoured the location of defensive structures in these places. In the surveyed area, the share of areas below 350 metres above sea level is around 45%. This is the height accepted in Poland as the border between lowland areas with better farming conditions and mountainous areas, where this activity is difficult – about 55% of the research area is above this limit. At the same time, the vast majority of the research area (76%) falls below the so-called profitability limit for the Sudetes set at approx. 500 metres above sea level. About one-third of the research area has the best conditions for agricultural development, including slopes (below 3°). For the entire region, the gradient of the slopes should be considered to be predominantly good and very good for agricultural activities. However, there are large spatial differences, visible especially between mountain areas, with much greater slopes, and foothills, with smaller slopes. However, the slopes with northern and north-eastern exposure prevail, which is less conducive to agricultural activity. In turn, the suitability of the slope terrain in terms of construction is much less favourable. There is a clear difference between the north-west part of the research area, where the best conditions for

663 Summary construction prevail, and the mountain relief in the south-western part of the research area, with the worst conditions. Slopes most favourable to construction (less than 2%) occupy only 12% of the research area. The spatial dependence of the settlement network density on the slope is clearly visible. In mountainous areas, the settlement network is much less abundant and restricted mainly to the bottom of river valleys. A characteristic feature of the topography of the surveyed area is the presence of extensive and flattened mountain tops and ridge parts of the mountains, while the lower-lying slopes are much steeper. So, despite the higher altitude, and thus more difficult climatic conditions (lower temperatures, higher humidity), the ridges of the Western Sudetes were often used for agriculture, mainly as pasture, while the lower areas with better climatic conditions, but with greater slopes, remained in use as com- pact forest complexes. Agricultural land currently occupies around 57% in the area of analysis, and forests 37%. In the past, this division varied – in the period from the Middle Ages to the second half of the 19th century, there was a gradual increase in agricultural land and built-up areas at the expense of the loss of forest area, but the reverse trend has been observed since the second half of the 19th century. The largest spatial share within agricultural land is podzol and pseudo-podzolic (fawn) soils (36%), leached and acidic brown soils (33%) and specific brown soils (20%). Depending on topographic and climatic conditions, different soil usefulness complexes have formed on them. Medium-sized grassland complex dominates (34% of agricultural land), followed by good fertile wheat complex (19%). In the northern part of the research area, complexes with the best suitability of land for agricultural activities (wheat complexes) predominate. In the central part of the area, mountain complexes (wheat and cereal), which are more difficult to grow and return lower yields, are also grown, and the average grassland area increases. On the southern outskirts of the research area, in the higher parts of the slopes, the weakest complex of weak and very weak grasslands predominates. In general, the natural conditions for the development of agriculture in the research area should be considered good – about 50% of the area are agricultural areas with high and medium agricultural usefulness, and low-useful agricultural areas make up only 6% of the total area. The best arable land is concentrated in the northern parts of the Jizera and Kaczawskie Foothills (over 60% of all arable land). On the other hand, lands with medium and low utility dominate in the central part of the area, while those that are average are concentrated in the southern part of the Jizera Foothills and Jelenia Góra Valley, and the weakest predominate in the Kaczawskie Mountains. In terms of agricultural usefulness of grassland in the research area, middle class (over 80%), dominates in most of the area. Low quality grasslands (16% of the total grassland) are associated with higher parts slopes and larger gradient as well as weak soil and more difficult climatic conditions, hence their occurrence is concentrated in the

664 Summary southern part of the research area – in mountainous areas and in the upper sections of river valleys. The research area is located in the transition zone of temperate climate and is ex- posed to various air masses. The varied terrain and large differences in height have a very significant impact on the climate. These local features of the sculpture significantly modify the global conditions of radiation and atmospheric circulation, which leads to a significant diversity of climatic conditions in the research area. Referring to the layout of the main forms of land relief, the phenomena of the research area are: foehn wind, thermal inversion, rain shadow, fog and rime frost. Generally speaking, there is a clear zoning of climate features with the warmest lands in the northern part. To the south, there is a gradual decrease in the average annual air temperature and an increase in the amount of precipitation, which is due to the increase in altitude and levelling terrain (the exception to this is the relatively warmer and drier Jeleniogórska Valley). The growing season and the duration of the thermal summer are also systematically shortening in this direction. A feature of the research area is the relatively frequent occurrence of various natural disasters, mainly floods and storms, which are directly related to the climatic and topographic conditions of the region. They are usually concentrated in the southern part of the studied area. The results of the modelling of the hydrographic network, observations of the modern and historical river network presented in old cartographic sources, and the forms of sculpture associated with fluvial processes, lead us to conclude that the hydrographic network of the research area in historical times was characterised by high density and an extensive system of watercourses of various sizes and numerous natural and man-made water reservoirs. This means that the availability of water resources and water energy was widespread in the research area and should be considered as a factor conducive to the development of settlements and economic activity. At the same time, however, the layout and mountain nature of the dense river network contributed to natural disasters and major damage caused by floods. Both as an impulse for development and a destructive element, the rich water resources of the Western Sudetes and their foothills should be considered as an important factor shaping settlement and economic processes throughout the historical period. The main changes that the hydrographic network of the research area covered in the analysed period concerned: transformation of the channel system within valleys, gradual loss of small water reservoirs, mainly ponds, and – intensified in the 19th and early 20th centuries – reg- ulating works within watercourses. The latter included, amongst others, the erection of several large hydrotechnical facilities – water dams and water-retaining reservoirs.

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III. Determinants of the location of medieval and early modern settlement sites

The purpose of the analysis undertaken in this chapter was to determine the factors that determine the location of villages and other settlement structures. The research was conducted for two types of settlement information: data from surface archaeological research previously carried out under the Polish Archaeological Record (AZP) programme and from written records. The analyses of both types of settlement information included, as socio-economic factors, information on the location of the following: ducal and knightly defensive positions, churches, district centres, trade routes and mining establishments. On the basis of DEM, maps were created representing basic morphometric parameters and socio-economic aspects relevant to the location of the settlement. From the wide spectrum of possibilities offered by GIS software, especially those that are useful for analysing point systems, analysing settlement density, and analysing preferences and conditions of settlement location have been used. Research based on this instrumentation is aimed at developing a settlement model, taking into account the following: height above sea level, relative height from the level of the nearest watercourse, distance from the watercourse, direction and slope (degree of sunlight) and humidity index. Also important were cultural or socioeconomic factors revealed during the construction of the settlement network, such as the distance from the centre, from the church, market, or important trade routes. In the analysis of the preferences and conditions of settlement location, a matrix of Pearson correlation coefficients was used. It allows us to assess the level and direction of correlation and indicate which of the variables should be removed due to too strong correlation with another variable (e.g. correlation coefficient > 0.8). The ‘r.covar’ module available in GRASS GIS, version 6.4.4 was used. It was demonstrated in this way that the most important for the location of the settlements were: relative height and slope, absolute height and distance from permanent watercourses. Test results indicate that among cultural factors, the greatest degree of correlation with the settlement network is the distance from trade routes. In this case, however, we do not know whether these roads are primary to the settlements or vice versa. The weak, or almost zero state of excavation research of Western Sudetes villages means that inference about the dynamics of the development of the settlement network of the full and late Middle Ages is possible mainly on the basis of written records. There are no premises that would indicate the existence in the higher parts of the foothills and in the mountains of numerous villages preceding the colonisation campaign organised by the Silesian prince Henry I the Bearded (ruling in the years 1201-1238) or his father Bolesław the Tall (1163-1201). The few exceptions may be: the settlement at Wleń castle, near Bystrzyca (Biztric, today the New Church; not to

666 Summary be confused with Bystrzyca/Wiesenthal located directly by the town of Wleń), or Nie- lestno (Nelezino), Strzyżowiec (Ztrisoua), Pilchowice (Pilhouic). They were replaced in 2017 with the endowment of the church in Bystrzyca/Neukirch. Their continued functioning according to the rules of the old law is confirmed by the fact that as early as 1227 their residents could pay tithes in skins or honey, and not in grain or money, like new settlers. However, they also did not enter areas above 300-350 metres above sea level. Settlements extending further south, into a higher area could be at most incidental. The intensification of settlements encompassed by mountain areas was not required by demographic factors, and on the other hand was not possible with an extensive agricultural model. One can venture to say that in “pre-colonisation” conditions the studied areas were extremely marginal. Their settlement was conditioned by the introduction of a different economic model. Both barriers were overcome by bringing colonists from outside, from the German-speaking West, which had the appropriate demographic surplus, a higher level of agricultural techniques, but also mining and glassmaking competences. The colonisation process was extended over time. It was organised consciously, and treated as an economic investment. It was based on patterns previously formed by German and Czech feudal lords in eastern Germany, mainly in Upper Lusatia and Saxony. Further Silesian princes were involved in the colonization, ranging from Bolesław the Tall, through Henry the Bearded, Bolesław Rogatka, to later rulers of the Jawor principality. The areas were occupied latitudinally, starting from the north and moving gradually towards foothill and mountainous areas in the south. The former, south of Bolesławiec, in the Złotoryja and Lwówek zones, up to Wleń, were occupied from the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. The planned settlement of the Izerskie, Kaczawskie and Karkonosze Foothills stretched until the early 14th century. In organising the entire undertaking, knights originating mainly from Lusatia were used, initially as representatives of the prince, and later as territorial lords - the future noble elite of this part of Silesia. These include the Spiller, Zedliz, Redern, Liebental, Kamenz, Schaff (later Schaffgotsch) families and others.

IV. Analysis of the historical boundaries of the Jelenia Góra, Wleń, Lwówek and Gryfów districts together with the reconstruction of their transformations

Reconstruction of the shape of the borders and ranges of the areas of former administrative and political units in the absence of cartographic sources, the scarcity of preserved written records, is extremely difficult. Recreating territorial divisions, including castellany, castle districts and duchies very often causes discussions and controversy. The attempt made here concerns the reconstruction of the boundaries and ranges of the territories of the Jeleniogórski, Wleń, Lwówek and Gryfów medieval district, as well as the transformations they underwent from the Middle Ages to the mid-20th

667 Summary century. The territories of these districts, also known as weichbilds, were shaped in the 13th century as a result of socio-cultural and political processes. In written sources from the second half of the 13th century, terms related to new organisational units began to appear, such as districtus, pertinentia, territorium or terra. In turn, in the 14th century, these names were replaced by their German-language counterparts: Weich- bild, Zugehörung, Herrschaft, and Land. The new organisation of the territorial board formed in this way, which replaced the previous division based on castellany, was associated with the evolution of the feudal system, and above all with the increasing land grants for church institutions and knights. Another factor determining the reforms of territorial organisation was colonisation under German law. The administrative-political division into weichbilds (identical to districts) had a primarily economic and judicial background. Districts were cities or castles. Analysis of district ranges with several well-chosen methods gives an image approx- imate to that existing in the past reality. Written sources inform indirectly, sometimes ambiguously, about villages belonging to individual districts. Data from the beginning of the 14th century do not differ in content, but they are not totally contradictory. The differences document the occurrence of villages between districts during this shift. Some of them may also result from the fact that belonging to districts did not have much significance for the main content of documents regarding tax and property issues. The villages mentioned in medieval written records can be identified on topographic maps from the 18th century. Information from written and cartographic sources was supported by the analysis of the theoretical range of the village using the Thiessen polygon method. As a result, a picture of the district boundaries was obtained, in some sections at least similar to those of 20th century communes, recorded on Messtischblätter’s maps. The ranges of the Lwówek and Jelenia Góra districts are quite clear, with their centres located in cities, and the lesser Lwówek and Gryfowski ‘’castle’’ districts. The latter were liquidated over time to expand districts/weichbilds based in towns. The reason may be a gradual reduction of the administrative, but also social and military importance of castles in favour of defensive towns. The analysis of written records brings a general conclusion about the high instability of administrative and court divisions, as well as the tendency to create new, small weichbilds, which disappear after some time.

V. The development of medieval settlements in the former Lwówek, Gryfów and Jelenia Góra districts in the light of written records

The course of the High Road and early recognition of gold-bearing attributes of the area are key factors for the record and intensity of colonisation of the area in the central Bóbr valley. Lwówek Śląski – considered one of the oldest towns based on

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Magdeburg Law (1217) – served as the administrative centre of the area. Such early colonisation was probably part of a planned action initiated by Henry the Bearded (died 1238) on the wooded borders of Silesia. In the mid-13th century, taking advantage of the weakness of Prince Bolesław Rogatka (died 1268), many goods came here from Upper Lusatia Liebenthal. The knights erected a castle (in the area of Milęcice), founded a Benedictine monastery in Lubomierz and established several villages, including the neighbouring settlement to the monastery. In the 14th century, the estate was reorganised by the nuns in the town of Lubomierz. Henry the Bearded is also credited with colonising the area around Nowogrodziec on the Kwisa River, but the area located a bit further south – this is the area around Gryfów Śląski – has grown over the forest for longer. The beginning of development of the area can be associated with the activities of the Kamenzs, who came from Upper Lusatia. The wealthy – taking advantage of a loophole in the ducal settlement network and weakness of the Piasts – created around 1250 an estate complex, from which they gave their vassals and clients. They probably built Gryfów castle and perhaps located the nearby town of Gryfów. Administratively, the area was subordinated to the Lwówek district, a breach in which constituted a small and ephemeral castle district around Gryfów with a Burgrave higher court. The functioning of the castle was associated with the separation of a fief in the form of income from several villages, farm facilities and the originally Upper Sorbian town of Mirsk. The fief also included the alleged Fünfhausen Castle near Proszowa, together with its facilities. The area located further south, i.e. above the upper section of the Bóbr, in the shadow of the Karkonosze Mountains, due to the difficult natural conditions and the border location of the region, was colonised in the second half of the 13th century. The first traces of colonisation one may accept as the plan of Bolesław Rogatka ‒ founder of the Augustinian monastery in Cieplice and initiator of the creation of the market settlement (1261). The prince’s uncompleted action was preceded by the location of nearby Malinnik (located on a walking route through the Karkonosze Mountains), and perhaps also the establishment of several unidentified settlements in the Kamien- na Valley. It wasn’t until 1288 that Jelenia Góra, a town in the vicinity of the castle, was located. The original centre can be seen in this building, from where the area was colonised (the so-called colonisation castle). A trace of the younger town records was, among others, the range of the provincial district, which towards older Lwówek Śląski included only individual estates. The main stage of the adaptation of the area is the end of the 13th-beginning of the 14th century, and the catalyst for progress was, among others, the discovery of natural resources. Awareness of the terrain’s attributes was also behind the adaptation of areas located higher in the mountains.

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VI. Castles in the cultural landscape

In the studied area, occur a large group of residential-defensive structures from the early Middle Ages to the late modern period. In the present study, an analysis of 44 defensive quarters created in the period from the 13th to the 16th century was conducted. Research on the preferences of the location of these works and their impact on the surrounding area, model ranges of exploited territories were determined, and the range and sizes of areas visible from the location of individual castles was recon- structed. The methodical basis for such focused research has become spatial and geosta- tistical analyses available in GIS software. From a fairly wide range of possibilities, mainly tests of the Pearson correlation coefficient matrix, Kolmogorov-Smirnov sta- tistical test, predictive modelling, including modelling of the coverage of exploited areas, were undertaken. The digital terrain model was used to reconstruct environmental factors relevant to the location of castles and fortified manor houses. With the help of this tool, basic natural factors were determined: altitude, height above the level of local watercourses, degree of terrain inclination, humidity index, cost of distance to the nearest watercourse and usefulness of surrounding soils for agricultural purposes. Among the cultural (socio-economic) factors, the costs of distance to the nearest church, district centre, trade route, local road, bridge/river crossing, places of ore (mine) exploitation, distance to the nearest town and to the borders of the principality were considered significant. The field of visibility from the -cas tle and mutual visibility between defensive works were also taken into account. As a result of the analyses, the significance of the distance to the borders of the Duchy of Jawor and other political borders was determined, thus excluding the important role of castles for the defence of those borders. The field of view from the castle at a distance of 1 km was important, while eye contact with other defensive works was less important, hindered by the conditions of the foothills and mountains, although a certain range of correlation was also confirmed here. Distances between castles rarely exceeded 10 km. They were usually built above other elements of the cultural landscape. It was found that in the studied area they were most often at altitudes of 200- 450 metres above sea level. Only a few were situated below the threshold of 200 metres above sea level, and several castles exceeded the upper limit, placing themselves in the range of 500-600 metres above sea level. Despite this, the level of correlations between the absolute height of castles and the distance to transport routes, watercourses, the market, church, tavern, bridge or crossing was quite high. The difference in relative height was more important in such cases, although this was not always significant. It seems, therefore, that the social relations and possibilities of the castle’s contact with other components of the cultural landscape, including impact on the nearest area were no less important than natural defences. Or to put it another way, a defensive place was chosen for the construction of the castle, but with the possibility of contact with

670 Summary other elements of settlement and infrastructure. It was a kind of compromise between natural and socio-economic factors. Some of the castles played an important role in the organisation of settlement, as well as in shaping the structure of ownership and the resulting social relations. These mainly included the castles of Wleń, Liebental/Milęcice, Gryfów and Chojnik. The first of these used the position of the former seat of the castellany, the most important ducal centre in this part of Silesia, concentrating around the oldest, probably also pre-colonisation villages. In turn, Liebental presents a new phenomenon ‒ a wooden-earth knight’s castle of the motte-and-bailey type, probably built against a ducal regalia, conferring upon the ruler the exclusive decision to build fortifications. Its owners, newcomers from Upper Lusatia, developed a new settlement in the cleared forest in the second half of the 13th century. Gryfów and Chojnik were particularly important in the construction of landed property and the rule of the eminent Schoff family, written in modern times as Schaffgotsch. The aforementioned duke regalia remained in southern Silesia, in the Duchy of Jawor and Świdnica until the death of Prince Bolek II of Świdnica-Jawor in 1369. After this fact, by virtue of an earlier agreement with Charles IV of Luxembourg, the principality became part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, but until 1392 belonged to the princess-widow Agnieszka Habsburg. It was only she who passed most of the castles of the former principality to the knights of her court. In this way, families such as Schoff became an important part of the new social layer – the nobility understood as a new type of family distinguished by landed property, residing in their own fortified residences. The transformation of the Kynast/Chojnik castle at the end of the 14th century, undertaken by its new owner, the knight GotscheSchoff, the protoplast of the eminent Silesian noble family, testified to these changes. Gotsche and his descendants gathered impressive landed estates in the western Sudetes. From the 14th to the 20th century, they occupied several residences, changed along with the transformation of their own expectations and possibilities, the development of military techniques and legal conditions. When the model of medieval castles survived, they built a Renais- sance palace in Cieplice (Warmbrunn, today part of Jelenia Góra). Its monumental character transformed into the baroque phase exists to this day.

VII. Reconstruction of the original space of towns and suburban zones and their development until the 19th century – Gryfów, Jelenia Góra, Lwówek Śląski, Lubomierz, Mirsk

The state of archaeological research of the towns of the western Sudetes is modest. Residential construction older than the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has not survived. The only relic of the Middle Ages and early modernity is usually a church. On the other hand, a significant spatial structure has survived – the town square, street

671 Summary network and building quarters. This study presents the results of research on these structures, made using a measurement method using cartographic sources. The main focus of analysis was the reconstruction of the original urban space. It showed the occurrence of various types of works, which was influenced by several factors – the origin of the locality, the time of its founding, its connection with the local unobstructed network and topography of the area. The first factor made the city map dependent on whether the located centre was in its beginnings a village or market settlement, or a town founded in cruda radice (on previously undeveloped sites). Among the surveyed towns, as many as three seem to have an older record than the town one ‒ Lwówek, Lubomierz and Mirsk. In the first two cases, towns were created with a very similar spatial arrangement, despite the fact that the late medieval Lwówek developed into one of the five most important and richest urban centres in Silesia, while Lubomierz remained a small, private town, one of the smallest in this district. The location of Lwówek filled a rectangle measuring 13 × 7 ropes and probably the first market settlement of a similar size. This assumption was early enough that no rope was used to measure it. The arrangement of the plan and modularity of the plots came down to the fact that all the plots were given the same width of 60 Rhine feet, while the lengths were uneven and resulted from some previous conditions. In its beginnings, Lubomierz was a village with a field, 11 × 5 ropes. When in the 14th century it was located as a town, it took only 2/3 of the length of the field, and the rest remained outside the town boundaries. Each of the habitats in the urban part was divided into three identical 50-foot wide plots. Their lengths were close to one rope, or 150 Rhine feet. The third of the market towns – Mirsk – obtained a distinct plan, which was the result of the different sequence in shaping it. The town was founded on the extension of the market settlement with an elongated, triangular square, and thus de facto in a ‘cruda radice’. This settlement, with an irregular, elongated plan, can be dated to around the middle of the 13th century at the earliest, while the city, founded before 1337, showed considerable regularity and a market square close to a square. Establishment of some villages in the form of elongated streets is a consequence of the communication routes through the Sudetes. The oldest escape the Czech Path and the Silesian Road, which cross the ridge of the Giant Mountains and reach Jelenia Góra, however their route was peripheral in relation to the location of the analysed towns. The oldest “city on the trail” was Lwówek, located on the most important unobstructed route in this part of Europe, namely the Via Regia. The Lwówek plan is also the most archaic of the analysed towns, because it was not subject to a coherent planning concept with the measuring tools used at the time, but was laid out along the route by the “plot by plot” method or filled out the domestic field of some older market-type linear settlement. As mentioned above, Mirsk’s regular plan is secondary in relation to the village on the route connecting Czech Frydland with Gryfów Śląski. It is very likely that the functioning of the village should be combined with the private initiative of lords from

672 Summary nearby Gryfów (Wittegon de Kamenc), as well as the establishment of the street village of Lubomierz with Libenthal’s initiative. This would be a manifestation of the settlement activity of newcomers from Lusatia who were trying to build their territorial powers in the high-lying forest areas in the north-west borders of the Legnica principality. In the case of the Libenthals, these activities were successful, i.e. the foundation of the monastery and the location of the town, and in the case of the Kamenec’s, the fiasco and takeover of the settlement initiative by the Piast dukes. Regardless of the finale of the private actions undertaken by knights after the mid-13th century, it seems that merely confirming the fact that such undertakings took place is an argument in favour of Gryfów’s early records. The presence of the settlement on the route leading to Gryfów justifies the existence of a town or other form of settlement already around the mid-13th century.

VIII. Changes in the traditional construction of the Western Sudetes

Rural settlement in the Western Sudetes was mostly shaped as a result of colonisation from the beginning of the 13th to the 14th century. For most of the area under discussion are chain villages, so-called linear forest villages (Waldhufendorf), typical for the colonisation of wooded areas, including those with diverse terrain. New settlements appeared after the 30-years war in the higher parts of the Jizera and Sudeten Mountains in connection with the reception of religious refugees from the Czech lands, and in the early 19th century also from Tyrol. Their buildings are dispersed, which corresponds to another type of economy, adapted to adverse mountain conditions, based on the exploitation of forest resources and flock-tending. Significant transformations of rural layouts are associated with the development of tourism in the foothill zone from the end of the 19th century and the contemporary urbanisation of rural areas. Traditional rural construction in the Western Sudetes region was the result of a compilation of influences primarily from the area of Lusatia, the Czech lands and lowland parts of Silesia. The lack of research on medieval rural buildings is compensat- ed by studies on surviving relics of traditional construction from the 17th-18th centuries. The characteristic feature of the studied region is the presence of mixed-structure buildings. The buildings were usually wide-fronted, with a centrally located hallway, on one side of which a living room was located, and on the other a livestock part. The foundations and the livestock part were erected in a brick technique from local broken stone (in the mountain part granites predominate, while in the foothills sandstones). The living room may have been made in a logging technique, as wood gave better thermal insulation in mountain conditions. In the case of storied buildings, which are more common in the foothills, a half-timbered structure was then filled with wattle

673 Summary and daub. It not only had relatively good thermal properties, but was relatively light. The structure of the floor and roof was based on pillars attached to the external walls of buildings. Adaptation to difficult climatic conditions was to be served by relatively small building volumes, which were easy to heat with a centrally located fireplace, small window openings and materials with good insulating properties. There are also cases of seasonal external insulation of buildings (so-called “winterising”). In the modern period, due to a natural increase, came a density of buildings in the villages of forest fiefs. The property division of inhabitants into rich peasants with farms with an area exceeding a dozen hectares and small-scale or landless cottage work- ers and farms is also clear. The most interesting examples of traditional construction in the region include the buildings of inns and taverns, in which the aforementioned types of constructions were used on an increased scale. From the mid-19th century, traditional construction was replaced by brick and stone brick, in particular in developing tourist resorts. The 20th century introduced technological facilities in the form of more effective methods of heating and improving infrastructure, including country houses. Built from the 20th century, country houses ceased to bear regional features, introducing a supra-regional model of a single-family house.

IX. Reconstruction of property and field borders

In some zones of the studied area, stone embankments are clear traces of former field divisions. The fact that they were also the limits of ownership is demonstrated by cadastral maps from the 19th century. The purpose of this study is to present the first comprehensive characteristics of stone embankments, taking into account not only their form and morphometry, but also attempting to determine their genesis, function, age and construction technique, and their significance for the cultural landscape of the northern zone of the Jizera Mountains. Forms occurring here differentiate significantly from others recognised in other regions of the Sudetes. Their uniqueness results from both the largest stone embankments in the Sudetes and the presence of niche/niche forms not found in other areas. Stone embankments in the Karkono- sze-Jizera region are also the only example in the Sudetes, and rarely occurring in the mountains of Central Europe is the full fencing of fields, while in most other areas the embankments run either perpendicular or parallel to the slope. In order to identify stone embankments, special attention was paid to the area of the southern and northern slopes of the Kamienicki Ridge in the Jizera Mountains, located above the villages of Kopaniec, Chromiec, Antoniów, and Górzyniec. This is where the most spectacular examples of stone field fences occur, with the highest density in the entire Karkonosze-Jizera region, as well as numerous other stone forms (piles, individual embankments) associated with the former economy. This area covers a total of about 30 km2.

674 Summary

As a result of the research, it was established that the main reason for the construction of embankments at field borders was the overpopulation of villages in late modern times. Areas previously considered unsuitable for agricultural purposes were cultivated at that time. It became necessary to clean new fields and meadows from rock debris and boulders. The researched embankments fulfilled various, generally overlapping functions: they delimited field boundaries and property divisions, pro- tected agricultural land against erosion, and above all were the result of work related to the removal of rock debris and boulders from areas intended for agricultural activities. The basic problem that appeared during fieldwork was more accurate dating of the constructions described. Probably in many cases the process of their creation was gradual and extended over time. The large weight and considerable size of some rock blocks had to cause logistical problems related to transport and proper placement along the course of the field boundary, hence it was common to break the blocks into smaller fragments. Such work was certainly time consuming. However, it can be stated that the arrangement of stone embankments remaining in the zone adjacent to the south from the villages of Antoniów, Chromiec, Kopaniec, Kopanina and north of Górzyniec, reflects the topography of organised fields during the period of demographic growth and the need to enlarge arable land. The time of intensive adaptation of unused areas for agricultural purposes can be dated to the time after the Thirty Years’ War, i.e. after the mid-17th century, lasting until the stage of industrialisation, opening up alternative employment opportunities for the local population. The phenomenon of abandoning the hard-won, highly-located fields began in the second half of the 19th century, due to the development of industry in nearby cities and the outflow of people from mountainous areas. Emigration across the Atlantic was also important. The trend of leaving the fields intensified after the change of state borders after the end of the Second World War and the population exchanges. Many farms in the area of research have not been resettled. Others were successively abandoned in subsequent decades, with improved cultivation techniques and the inability to use me- chanical equipment in difficult mountain conditions. Only a few former agricultural areas are used today, mainly as meadows. No modern crops were found on any of the plots located in the higher parts of the villages. At present, on many former agricultural lands, secondary plant succession is noticeable, which partly obscures the readability of field and plot divisions. Generally, however, vegetation develops within the embankments other than in the surroundings, which allows them to be easily identified, even despite overgrowing. It is particularly noticeable in the forest area – embankments and piles of stones are mainly covered with deciduous trees, while coniferous forests predominate in the surroundings. Currently, stone forms can be considered as valuable elements of the cultural landscape, which are evidence of a different land development from today, including a much larger range of agricultural land in the past. These structures, laid with great effort in the past, are original monuments worth protecting and propagating knowl-

675 Summary edge about them, especially since fenced fields with stone embankments is very rare in the mountainous areas of Central Europe. Some homesteads around the village were also surrounded by stone embankments. An archeologically recognised example is an abandoned farm in the highest, southern part of the village of Kopaniec. It lies on a hill on the slope of the Ziegenhals/ Kozia Szyja. Based on the analysis of the cadastral map from 1868, it is possible to reconstruct the then appearance of the plot and the homestead area. Its area was then 93.56 ares, and the former shape was determined by ALS data analysis. It is marked by well-preserved relics of stone border embankments. The embankment system co- incides almost perfectly with the cadastral borders. Based on the aforementioned cartographic data and materials as well as field measurements, basic analyses were made in the GIS software regarding the most important features of the homestead’s location in terms of natural features. The homestead was established on a slope rising from northwest to southeast, at an altitude of 675-693.75 metres above sea level, which is a height difference of almost 20 metres. The mountain character of the homestead is also reflected by considerable fluctuations in the slope incline from 10° to 13°, with the house on a slope with an inclination of 10.6° ‒ 11.6°, and the central part of the homestead has an inclination of up to 13°. The slope of the mountain is mostly northeast. This means that sunlight gets there directly in the morning, while for the rest of the day it receives diffused sunlight. The orientation of the house relative to the North-South axis with a slight westward deviation suggests that efforts were made to maximise sunlight to heat the house from the front elevation. The geological base consists of gneisses with feldspars and biotite clusters. Soils, despite the rocky ground, can be considered as good quality and fertile. The field work carried out, analysis of the details shaping the terrain obtained thanks to airborne laser scanning and comparison with archival cartographic materials, pro- vided information on the forms of homestead development, its internal communication and relation to the main rural roads. The structures of stone embankments surrounding and delineating the boundaries of the homestead are clearly emphasised. The form of the embankments varies in terms of both length and width. They do not form one continuous sequence, which suggests that they could have been formed at different times. Another clear form is the platform stabilised by a dry wall, levelling the area for the construction of a residential house. The house probably had a half-timbered construction (Umgebindehaus), connecting the stone ground floor with a wooden, ground floor and probably a skeletal gable supported on pillars. Houses of this construction are still preserved in Kopaniec, also on plots adjacent to the farmstead examined by us. Dating structures standing until today can generally be placed in the 17th-19th centuries. Preserved relics inform us that the house was built on a rectangular plan with dimensions of about 18 × 10.5 metres. Its longer axis was oriented in a north-south direction. The perimeter walls,

676 Summary preserved to a maximum height of 2.79 m, were built of local granite gneiss in the form of irregular, broken slabs of various sizes. They were laid horizontally, in irregular layers interlaced with smaller stones and bonded with clay mortar. The thickness of the walls ranged from 52-65 cm. The entrance was placed in the eastern wall. There are six rooms inside. The main entrance led to a hall covering the entire width of the house. In the southern wall of the hall was the entrance to the room. Behind this, at a distance of 5.26 m from the corner, a smokehouse opening was found, associated with a chimney located in the centre of the house. The room occupied the south-eastern part of the house. Its surface closed in a 5.30 × 6.40 m rectangle. A tiled stove was located near the chimney in the north-west. In the western part of the hall an entrance to the kitchen was found, 1.82 × 2.83 m behind which a small chamber was located. The northern part of the house was occupied by two utility rooms. The forms of economic life of the homestead inhabitants can be confirmed by Li- DAR results of at least two small, relatively regular fields of the backyard garden, which are located east of the house and a path leading towards them. The interpretation of the function of this part of the homestead was based not only on the regularity of these fields, but also on still plotted traces of ploughing. The next identified elements of the homestead are traces of paths and roads used by its inhabitants.

X. Relics of mining and ore pre-treatment

The aim of the study was to obtain the characteristics of obtaining mineral resources in the areas of the Western Sudetes in the Middle Ages and modern times, and to determine the role of the remains of former mining in shaping the historical cultural landscape. The starting point was the knowledge previously obtained by researchers who previously discussed the issues of historical mining in Lower Silesia, both natu- ralists and humanists. Currently available written and cartographic sources, as well as the archaeological achievements to date have been used for the analysis. The new value is the results obtained by air scanning analysis. They constitute a significant breakthrough, because they bring previously unavailable research potential and new interpretative perspectives, sometimes changing the perception of previously-known phenomena. In this way, already known mining fields, mines, ore washers, spoil heaps, relics of equipment were verified and a number of others were discovered. The objects discovered in this way were verified with archival maps from the 18th- 19th centuries. Younger topographic maps and orthophotomaps were also used. Indis- pensable for the analysis was also the cartographic material from the files of the former (until 1945) Higher Mining Office (Oberbergamt zu Breslau), currently stored in the State Archives in Katowice. The maps contained in it, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries, are comparative and complementary material for other source materials.

677 Summary

DEM data from former the Jelenia Góra, Wleń, Gryfów and Lwówek districts were analysed for historical exploitation of mineral resources, in particular non-ferrous metal ores ‒ gold, silver, lead, copper, tin, and cobalt. These activities aimed to determine the state of knowledge about the remains of objects related to the exploitation and use of natural resources of the studied area. The collected information allowed for precise location of individual objects in the field. The vast majority of identified objects arose in the late Middle Ages or in modern times, but some may be older, dating from the early Middle Ages or even prehistory. The next stage of the research was verification of selected sites in the field. The presented materials from these activities come not only from field work undertaken in 2017-2018, but also from earlier years. In the description of issues related to the history of ore mining and the exploitation of other raw materials in the studied area, source texts concerning mining and metallurgical works from the 13th-18th centuries were also used. The analysis confirmed that the studied area has been an important reservoir of various raw materials necessary for economic development since the 13th century. It seems symptomatic that the planned colonisation of historic Silesia began just from areas related to mining. The first towns founded – Złotoryja, Lwówek Śląski and perhaps Wleń can combine their origin with the exploitation of gold-bearing sands and gravels found in the Kaczawa and Bóbr basins. The results of the analysis of DEM data indicate that these areas were intensively exploited, and the traces of activities of former miners preserved in the landscape, despite the passage of several hundred years, testify to the large scale of interference in the natural environment of the inhabited areas. Mining activities became established in the local nomenclature. Colonisation of the studied area, carried out over the following centuries, was closely related to the exploitation of raw material deposits, including metal deposits. Almost all mining centres present there appear in sources from the 14th-16th centuries. The most important of these include: Miedzianka, Ciechanowice, Gierczyn, Przecznica, and Radzimowice. Next to them were numerous smaller ones. The comparison of historical sources with DEM data allowed is to draw a number of conclusions regarding the current cultural landscape. Objects associated with mining are an important element of the cultural landscape of the western Sudetes, and their further exploration is a serious challenge for archaeologists.

XI. Relics of law enforcement and their place in the cultural landscape

Among the facilities of the penal system, gallows had an important place in shaping the cultural landscape. We have information about them from the 15th to the 19th century. They were constructed next to towns and some villages. They were usually

678 Summary characteristic stone buildings in the form of a cylinder with three or four pillars raising its height. Beams were mounted on the pillars on which the convicts were hung on a chain or rope. In addition to the basic function of the execution site, the gallows played a preventative, deterrent role, raising the prestige of the centre where it was built and its owner. The condition for the proper fulfilment of tasks, especially symbolic ones, was an appropriate location ensuring visibility in public places. The role of the gallows as a landmark in the field became a side effect. In order to verify the concept of the special significance of gallows location, spatial analyses of objects from the former districts of Lwówek, Wleń, Gryfów and Jelenia Góra were carried out using GIS software. The main problem was the issue of precise location of the gallows. We know them mainly from non-cartometric maps from the 18th-19th century. Only some of them have been verified by field research. Therefore, some of the results obtained should be treated with caution. Visibility analyses and basic distance measurements were carried out. It was found that almost all the gallows considered were on hills clearly visible from nearby roads. They were also seen from nearby towns. The average distance of the gallows from the nearest town was about 1160 m, and from the nearest road about 270 m. The average distance from the nearest municipal border was about 460 m. The obtained results confirmed that good visibility from the gallows had a great impact on the location of the gallows. Preference was given to places distant from the town centres but located near the surrounding roads. This last factor acted as a warning to visitors.

XII. Reconstruction of the historical road network of the western Sudetes

Studies of historical roads were carried out using data from the Digital Terrain Mod- el, 18th-19th century cartographic mediums and selected GIS elements. Among the latter, the Cost Distance Analysis, which was combined with the shortest path calcu- lation technique (Least Cost Path), was of fundamental importance. Considering the sometimes significant differences in height between individual settlement points, the Waldo Tobler climbing function formula was also taken into account. It distinguished trade routes of supralocal significance and roads connecting local towns, villages and fortifications. The obtained results were used in the analysis of the location conditions of individual settlement elements and their mutual spatial relations. The main problem in their interpretation were the limited possibilities of dating determined road routes and their chronological relation to individual towns and villages. The simu- lation showed that a significant part of the roads led through valleys of watercourses – the Bóbr River and its tributaries. In the valleys of smaller streams, most of the colonisation of forest villages with a characteristic chain form were created. The main

679 Summary communication axis of the village was usually a section of the local road. Therefore, it can be assumed with high probability that local roads, like villages, had colonisation origins. We reconstruct the supralocal road network, including the via regia route passing through Lwówek, by using older literature. Most of the old roads, especially local ones, have only been fragmented, mainly in wooded areas. Formally, they fall into two main types. The first of these presents roads in shallow gorges created during use. They are usually referred to as holweg. The second is roads with multiplicate tracks, especially in wet seasons, when crossing the original trail was difficult or impossible.

XIII. The importance of historical changes through the eyes of the current inhabitants of the sub-region

The Western Sudetes sub-region belongs to areas which after the Second World War underwent a total population exchange. The population of German origin, having lived here since the Middle Ages, was forced to leave its houses, and was replaced in the main by Poles who were themselves displaced from today’s Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Romania, but migrations from central and eastern Poland were also possible. The reorganisation of settlements was to be carried out systemically, farm allocations were assumed to compensate for the property left and lost in the Kresy (Poland’s former eastern borderlands), taking into account regional groups and similar climatic conditions. The scale and short duration of this undertaking prevented its full control and implementation of the original assumptions. Poviats located in the Western Sudetes, due to their border location and relatively slight war damage, were allocated in large part for military settlement for families of soldiers fighting on the front. Simultaneously with the admission of new settlers, displacement of the German population was underway. It often happened that both groups of the population func- tioned together for several months. As a result of repatriation and migration in the poviats of the Western Sudetes sub-region, a kind of cultural melting pot was created, in which dialects and traditions were mixed. Successive generations of Lower Silesians have had to re-build their identity based on the relationships of their ancestors and new cultural patterns, while at the same time encountering the legacy left by the displaced Germans. Contemporary processes affecting foothill villages operate in two ways. On the one hand, migrations towards large cities related to the education process and the search for employment are observed. As a result of economic changes, a significant percent- age of the rural population is no longer employed in agriculture. On the other hand, the direction of migration from cities to the countryside is visible. However, the scale of this process is smaller and applies to villages located outside the city, which have

680 Summary thus become commuter towns. Migrations affect villages with outstanding landscape values, where tourism is developing. The historical processes and contemporary cultural and social changes in the villages of the Western Sudetes sub-region were reflected in the accounts of the inhabitants presented later in this chapter. The statements quoted in it relate to family stories, often unusual and personal, which took place against the backdrop of great historical events. In statements, we often find different views of the history and present of this complex area, which allows for a better understanding.

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