Archduke Friedrich’s Barracks
On the right hand side of the school there is Pawła Stelmacha street, which we take and go uphill. We pass, on the left hand side, the Evangelical Church of Jesus and we go farther until we reach Plac Księcia Józefa Poniatowskiego (Duke Józef Poniatowski Square). We are facing the Headquarters of the former barracks of Archduke Friedrich. Archduke Friedrich’s Barracks Plac Księcia Józefa Poniatowskiego, ul. Wojska Polskiego
The former barracks, erected in 1895 and named after Archduke Friedrich Habsburg, the Cieszyn Duke of those days and, at the same time, one of the main commanders of the Austro-Hungarian army, comprised 22 structures situated on the slopes of Mały Jaworowy Hill shelving down towards the Olza valley. This impressive complex of buildings replaced the modest barracks that had been situated, to the end of the 18th century, at the location of today’s theatre. That made it possible to place in Cieszyn the following: the 100th infantry regiment named after Duke Starhemberg, the 3rd infantry regiment named after Archduke Charles, the 31st regiment of national defence ‘Teschen’ (Cieszyn), auxiliary services, a recruitment office, a gendarmerie, a hospital and an orchestra. The first and the most important building was the Headquarters. Next to the headquarters there was a guardhouse (today’s Police-Station) and behind them - three battalion headquarters built along the drill-ground lined with chestnut-trees. The remaining buildings are situated on ul. Gen. W. Sikorskiego (General Władysław Sikorski street). The former barracks of the national defence, where today there is a Complex of Secondary Schools, were situated below, on J.I. Kraszewskiego street.
In the barracks 2000 soldiers were stationed under the command of 70 officers. The imperial army brought a specific colour to Cieszyn. The army was visible in the town during solemn marches past and marches and the army orchestra played at the Market square and the town parks in the afternoons of feast-days. Elegant officers from different parts of the monarchy sat in numerous local restaurants and cafés. A lot of them set up their families in Cieszyn and stayed here permanently, thus contributing to the enrichment of its multi-national mosaic. The so-called ‘Emperor’s Manoeuvres’, organized twice (in 1880 and 1906) were great events in the life of Cieszyn and its surroundings. The Emperor’s taking part in them meant the presence of his court, Austro-Hungarian commanding staff, field officers from numerous regiments, foreign military attachés and local notables. These events gave Cieszyn the refinement of a capital city. Archduke Friedrich’s barracks served the Austrian army for only 13 years, i.e. to the end of the First World War. On the night of October 31st 1918 the Polish officers of the Cieszyn garrison, through a bloodless coup d’état took control over the army and the strategic points in the town. They passed the power on to The National Council for the Duchy of Cieszyn. The former Austrian barracks were taken over and used as their quarters by the Polish Army. In the period between the two wars the Fourth Infantry Regiment trained for mountain warfare - Podhale Rifles (Strzelcy Podhalańscy) were stationed there. At present there are private flats in quite a few of these buildings, and besides that – in a few there are schools and other educational institutions, and a squad of the Border Guard occupies some of them.
Photographs: Dominik Dubiel, Paweł Halama, Daniel Hryciuk, Magdalena Jańczuk, Renata Karpińska, Mariusz Makowski, Joanna Rzepka-Dziedzic, Anna Szostok-Fedrizzi, Henryk Tesarczyk
Translation from Polish: Lucyna Krzanowska and John Whitewood
Reproductions of exhibits, documents and photographs from the collections of:
- Museum of Cieszyn Silesia in Cieszyn,
- Cieszyn Historical Library,
- Cieszyn Branch of the State Archive in Katowice,
- Cieszyn Town Council,
- Museum of Beskidy in Frýdek-Mistek,
- private collection of Mariusz Makowski
- H. Wawreczka, J. Spyra, M. Makowski, ‘Cieszyn i Czeski Cieszyn na starych widokówkach i fotografiach’, WART, Nebory 1999