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Skoczów commune (Poland)

Cieszyn county, Slaskie vojvodship

image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 6 Nov 2008
adopted 26 Apr 2007

Skoczów city and commune
Skoczów Coat of Arms

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Skoczów city and commune

Skoczów - urban-rural commune, Cieszyn County, Śląskie Voivodship - German name: Skotschau; Czech name: Skočov.
Skoczów is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,783 inhabitants (2004). It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.
Skoczów is the oldest town in the area of the upper Vistula river. The very first settlement had been established in a place called grodzisko about 2 km south-east of the town centre. Grodzisko was set up around the 5th century, and was inhabited until the 9th century. Settlement was situated at first on a naturally defensive hill over the valley of the river Bładnica. Later on the settlement was surrounded by an earth bank and moat. The settlement was destroyed in the end of the 9th century by Prince Świętopełek II and wasn't rebuilt again.

The current location of the town was set during the reign of Mieszko (1290-1315) because of his effort in the newly established Duchy of Cieszyn. The first written record of the town's name dates back to 1327 when prince of Cieszyn became a vassal of Czech king. At that time the wooden castle had been built. In the beginning Skoczów had been mainly an agricultural, craft and trade settlement. In 1470 Skoczów had been destroyed by the fire, which destroyed all chartered privileges and other documents. The same year the prince of Cieszyn renewed and extended all civic privileges. There was a school and hospital with a chapel recorded in a document from 1482.

According to the Austrian census of 1910 the town had 3,744 inhabitants, 3,705 of whom had permanent residence there.
Census asked people for their native language, 1,803 (48.6%) were German-speaking and 1,794 (48.4%) were Polish-speaking.
Jews were not allowed to declare Yiddish, most of them thus declared the German language as their native.
Most populous religious groups were Roman Catholics with 2,443 (65.2%), followed by Protestants with 1,042 (27.8%) and the Jews with 247 (6.6%).

The hill that overlooks the town is dominated by a chapel and a large cross. Pope John Paul II visited Skoczów in 1995, holding a mass on said hill and generating a great deal of excitement. The town has a market on Thursdays, situated next to the Vistula river. Polish saint Jan Sarkander was born in Skoczów. (wiki)

Arms and flag adopted on April 26, 2007 (resolution # VIII/78/2007).
"Arms: on rhe blue shield there is a big tower between two jumpers (clowns) with small towers on their heads and holding a shield with the Silesian eagle.
Flag: Wide, blue middle band with the Arms and two narrow yellow bands on top and at the bottom of the wide one."
There is a photo of the flag taken in 2008, where the narrow yellow stripes look narrower yet.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 6 Nov 2008

Skoczów Coat of Arms

image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 6 Nov 2008
adopted 26 Apr 2007