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Kostrza, Lower Silesian Voivodeship

Coordinates: 50°59′06″N 16°15′59″E / 50.98500°N 16.26639°E / 50.98500; 16.26639
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Kostrza
Village
Kostrza is located in Poland
Kostrza
Kostrza
Coordinates: 50°59′06″N 16°15′59″E / 50.98500°N 16.26639°E / 50.98500; 16.26639
Country Poland
VoivodeshipLower Silesian
CountyŚwidnica
GminaStrzegom
First mentioned1290
Population
 • Total785
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Vehicle registrationDSW

Kostrza [ˈkɔstʂa] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Strzegom, within Świdnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland.[1]

It lies approximately 7 kilometres (4 mi) north-west of Strzegom, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-west of Świdnica, and 57 kilometres (35 mi) west of the regional capital Wrocław.

History

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Exaltation of the Holy Cross church

The village was founded by Slavic Lechitic tribes in the Early Middle Ages, and there is an archaeological site from that period in Kostrza.[2] The territory became part of the emerging Polish state in the 10th century. The oldest known written mention of the village comes from a medieval document of Duke Bolko I the Strict from 1290, when it passed from the Duchy of Wrocław to the Duchy of Świdnica and Jawor within fragmented Piast-ruled Poland. It developed as a linear settlement. It is possible that Duke Bernard of Świdnica granted the village to the knight Tyczko in 1318.[3] A church in the village was mentioned in the 1370s.[3] The church contains Renaissance and Baroque furnishings. There was a medieval tower castle, which was rebuilt into a Renaissance water castle in the 16th century, later rebuilt in Baroque style.

During World War II, in 1940, a forced labour subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp was established by Nazi Germany at a granite quarry north of the village, which in the following year was converted into the Gross-Rosen concentration camp.[4] Its prisoners were mostly Jews, Poles and Soviet citizens.[4] It is now a museum. There was also a forced labour subcamp of the Stalag VIII-A prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs in Kostrza.[5]

Economy

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Kostrza, along with the nearby town of Strzegom and several other villages, is an important center for granite mining and stonemasonry in Poland, with several quarries in Kostrza itself.[6]

Sports

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There is a local association football club Sokół Kostrza, which plays in the lower divisions.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Central Statistical Office (GUS) – TERYT (National Register of Territorial Land Apportionment Journal)" (in Polish). 2008-06-01.
  2. ^ Atlas historyczny miast polskich. Tom IV: Śląsk. Zeszyt 6: Strzegom (in Polish and English). Wrocław: Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk. 2015. pp. 5, 36. ISBN 978-83-63760-57-1.
  3. ^ a b Atlas historyczny miast polskich. Tom IV: Śląsk. Zeszyt 6: Strzegom. pp. 11, 42.
  4. ^ a b "History of KL Gross-Rosen". Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  5. ^ "Jenieckie komanda robocze Stalagu VIII A Görlitz na terenie powiatu świdnickiego w latach 1940-1945" (in Polish). Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  6. ^ Andrzej Korzekwa. "Współczesność wydobycia granitu". Strzegom.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  7. ^ "Skarb - Sokół Kostrza". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 6 November 2024.