Local heritage book of Myslowitz

History and Geography

The city got its name by a knight named Mysław in the 12^th century. It means “belonging to Mysł(aw)”. However, the city has supposedly already existed for about 200 years. Myslowitz belonged to the duchy Ratibor for a few years. After a few decades, the ruling duke gave their land as tribute to the Bohemian king, hence making it part of the Holy Roman Empire. The city is situated at the confluence of the Black and the White Przesma, the river marking the border to the kingdom of Poland. In the middle of the 18^th century, Silesia and consequently Myslowitz became Prussian. The city used to be called “Dreikaisereck” because the three empires Russia, Prussia and Austro-Hungary adjoined there from the year 1846 until the end of World War I in 1918.

Today, Myslowitz has approximately 75,000 inhabitants and is an independent city 9 km east of Kattowitz, the capital of Silesia. It marks the border to Lesser Poland.

Since 1922, the city is named Mysłowice. It is made of the two parts Stare Miasto (old town) and Śródmieście (downtown). It also includes the settlements Bończyk, Piossek (Piasek), Janow (Janów Miejski), Czmok (Ćmok), Morgen (Morgi), Wessolla (Wesoła), Lawek (Ławki), Heidowisna (Larysz), Krassow (Krasowy), Kosztow (Kosztowy), Birkental (Brzezinka), Brzenskowitz (Brzęczkowice), Slupna (Słupna) and Dzietzkowitz (Dziećkowice).

One-Place Study Myslowiz

The One-Place Study is based on the church records of Myslowitz that are available on Dropbox. The Catholic part spans the years 1800 to 1874, though the marriage records start in 1801 and miss for the year 1865, and the christening records miss for the year 1857. The Protestant records start on the 1^st of August 1857. It includes christening records until 1885, marriage records until 1895 and death records until 1884. The Protestant parish of Myslowitz belonged to the parish of Anhalt before, so records from before the 1^st of August 1857 can be found in the One-Place Study Anhalt (https://ofb.genealogy.net/anhalt/)

Because the Protestant part belonged to Anhalt before 1857, there are a few double mentions in both One-Place Studies. However, the Catholic part of Myslowitz has always been a separate parish, so I decided to make a separate One-Place Study for Myslowiz instead of including all the records in the One-Place Study Anhalt.

The church records include information about i.a. Myslowitz, Czmok, Birkental, Bzenskowitz, Slupna and Janow, as well as Rosdzin and Schoppinitz which belong to Kattowitz today.

State of Progress

The Catholic part is currently not thoroughly processed. As of now, some birth and death records are included in the One-Place Study. A few marriage records are included as well if one of the pair was Protestant and the other Catholic.

The Protestant part of Myslowitz is fully processed from the 1^st of August 1857 to the 31^st of December 1874.