Památník odboje slezského lidu

Památník odboje slezského lidu (Monument to the Resistance of the Silesian People) stands on the Ostrá hůrka hill near Háj ve Slezsku, within the cadastral area of Chabičov ve Slezsku, in the Opava District of Czech Silesia. It commemorates three large gatherings of the Silesian population at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when thousands of local residents demonstrated for national and linguistic equality within the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

What events does the monument commemorate?

The monument was erected in 1929 to honor three mass assemblies held on this hill: on 12 September 1869, 11 September 1898, and 22 September 1918. Thousands of people from the Opava Silesia region, then under Austrian administration, gathered here on each occasion to openly voice demands for national and linguistic equality. The date of the last gathering, just before the collapse of Austria-Hungary in the autumn of 1918, gives it particular weight as a turning point in the region's history.

What happened to the monument during the Second World War?

The original 1929 monument did not survive the Nazi occupation — it was destroyed in 1938, when the Opava Silesia region came under German control following the Munich Agreement. Memorials tied to the Silesian national movement and to Czech statehood were among the sites systematically removed by the new administration at the time, and the fate of the monument on Ostrá hůrka fits that broader pattern.

When and by whom was it rebuilt?

Reconstruction did not happen until thirty years later, in 1969. The design of the new monument was prepared by Jindřich Czeniek, with the sculptural work carried out by Vladimír Kýn and Jaroslava Lukešová. The postwar form seen today is therefore the result of this later reconstruction, not the original structure from before 1938.

What is kept inside the monument?

A sarcophagus forming part of the monument's structure holds soil brought from the battlefields of both the First and Second World Wars, as well as from sites of executions and concentration camps. This symbolic gesture links the memory of the 19th-century Silesian gatherings with the later tragedies of both world wars, turning the monument into a memorial to several layers of the region's history rather than a single event.

Where exactly is the monument located?

The monument stands on the Ostrá hůrka hill, within the cadastral territory of Chabičov ve Slezsku, part of the municipality of Háj ve Slezsku in the Opava District. The hill's elevated, visible position made it a natural gathering place for residents of the surrounding villages of Opava Silesia.

Frequently asked questions

When was the monument built? The original monument was erected in 1929 to commemorate the Silesian gatherings of 1869, 1898, and 1918.

Why did the monument need to be rebuilt? Because the original was destroyed in 1938, during the Nazi occupation of Opava Silesia.

Who designed the postwar monument? The 1969 design was by Jindřich Czeniek, with sculptural work by Vladimír Kýn and Jaroslava Lukešová.

What is stored in the monument's sarcophagus? Soil from the battlefields of the First and Second World Wars, and from sites of executions and concentration camps.

Where exactly is the monument located? On the Ostrá hůrka hill, in the cadastral area of Chabičov ve Slezsku, municipality of Háj ve Slezsku, Opava District, in Czech Silesia.