Three Emperors' Corner (Polish : Trójkąt Trzech Cesarzy, German : Dreikaisereck, Russian : Угол трёх императоров) is a former tripoint at the confluence of the Black and White Przemsza rivers, near the towns of Mysłowice, Sosnowiec and Jaworzno in the present-day Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. During the Partitions of Poland, from 1871 to 1918, it marked the place at which the borders of three empires that had divided Poland – the Russian Empire, Austria-Hungary and the German Empire – met.
It developed in the aftermath of the Partitions of Poland as a result of the border shifts and regime changes in the 19th century, including the annexation of the Free City of Kraków by the Austrian Empire after the unsuccessful Kraków Uprising in 1846. The left bank of the White Przemsza now belonged to the Austrian Grand Duchy of Cracow (part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy from 1867). While the Upper Silesian right bank of the Black Przemsza had been within the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire since 1335 and passed in 1742 over from Austria to Prussia, the land between the two tributaries was part of Congress Poland, a de facto protectorate of the Russian Empire according to the Final Act of the 1815 Vienna Congress. However, the spot did not become a Three Emperors' Corner until Prussia merged into the newly created German Empire in 1871. It remained as such till the dissolution of all three empires in the aftermath of World War I and the establishment of the Second Polish Republic in 1918.
A less famous tripoint of those three powers had already existed near the village of Niemirów following the 1795 Third Partition of Poland, which ended the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Here the Prussian province of New East Prussia and Austrian West Galicia bordered on Russia. The creation of the Duchy of Warsaw on former Prussian territory by Napoleon I in 1807 erased it, and the Duchy's transformation into Congress Poland and the condominium of Kraków in 1815 led to a more stable tripoint at a new location, which lasted for over a century. The Congress Kingdom of Poland would however lose most of its autonomy after the November Uprising in 1830/31 and the January Uprising in 1863/64, later becoming incorporated as Russian Vistula Land (Privislinsky Krai). Finally, until the creation of the German Empire in 1871, the spot was known as the Three Countries' Corner (German : Dreiländereck).
From 1871 it assumed its most famous name: the Three Emperors' Corner. [1] Until World War I, the tripoint was a popular tourist spot, particularly from the German Empire. Two riverboats toured its vicinity, and in 1907, the German authorities had a 22 m (72 ft)-high Bismarck tower erected on the Przemsza shore according to the standard Götterdämmerung design by Wilhelm Kreis. As reported in contemporary newspapers, between 3,000 and 8,000 people visited the spot every week. [1]
The tripoint was abolished with the establishment of the Polish voivodeships of Kraków and Kielce on the former Austro-Hungarian and Russian territory in 1919. The German territory also fell to the Polish Silesian Voivodeship upon the Upper Silesian plebiscite in 1921. Finally, in the place of the corner, there was a border of three Polish voivodeships in the interwar period: Silesian voivodeship (Mysłowice), Kraków voivodeship (Jaworzno) and Kielce voivodeship (Sosnowiec). The Bismarck tower survived for a little over a decade, and was briefly renamed the Freedom Tower, before Silesian voivode Michał Grażyński had it demolished from 1933 onwards; the stones were used to build the Cathedral of Christ the King in Katowice.
Currently located in an industrial area, the tripoint is a minor tourist attraction in Poland. Since 2004, it was marked by a memorial plaque, which—slightly incorrectly—referred to the spot as where three territories annexed in the Partitions of Poland met. A new plaque was amended in 2012.
Between 1774 and 1877, a similar imperial tripoint existed by the city of Novoselytsia on the Prut River: the one between the Austrian (in Bukovina), Russian (in Bessarabia) and Ottoman (in the United Principalities) empires.
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska, is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate culture featuring diverse architecture, folk costumes, dances, cuisine, traditions and a rare Lesser Polish dialect. The region is rich in historical landmarks, monuments, castles, natural scenery and UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Dąbrowa Górnicza(listen) is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers.
Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Silesian Metropolis municipal association. Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region, Sosnowiec is one of the cities of the Katowice urban area, which is a conurbation with the overall population of 2.7 million people; as well as the greater Upper Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5.3 million people. The population of the city is 197,586 as of December 2020.
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic.
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Its capital was Berlin.
The Province of Silesia was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official province in 1815, then became part of the German Empire in 1871. In 1919, as part of the Free State of Prussia within Weimar Germany, Silesia was divided into the provinces of Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia. Silesia was reunified briefly from 1 April 1938 to 27 January 1941 as a province of Nazi Germany before being divided back into Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia.
Będzin is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza river. Even though part of Silesian Voivodeship, Będzin belongs to historic Lesser Poland, and it is one of the oldest towns of this province. Będzin is regarded as the capital of Zagłębie Dąbrowskie.
Mysłowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The population of the city as of 2018 is 74,586.
Jaworzno is a city in southern Poland, near Katowice. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, on the Przemsza river. Jaworzno belongs to the historic province of Lesser Poland. The city is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999, previously (1975–1999) it was in Katowice Voivodeship. Jaworzno is one of the cities of the 2,7 million conurbation – Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 91,563 (2018).
Chełmek is a town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland. In 1975–1998 it belonged to Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship. It has 9,073 inhabitants. Previously known for the Chełmek Shoe Factory, which until 1947 was part of Bata Shoes.
The Free, Independent, and Strictly Neutral City of Cracow with its Territory, more commonly known as the Free City of Cracow, and the Republic of Cracow, was a city republic created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which included the Polish city of Cracow and its surrounding areas.
Siewierz is a town in southern Poland, in the Będzin County in the Silesian Voivodeship, seat of Gmina Siewierz.
The Dąbrowa Basin or Zagłębie Dąbrowskie is a geographical and historical region in southern Poland. It forms western part of Lesser Poland, though it shares some cultural and historical features with the neighbouring Upper Silesia. The region is sometimes referred to in English as Zaglembie or Zaglembia, especially in Jewish publications written in the English language.
Sławków is a town in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, near Katowice. It borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population of around 2 million. Sławków is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship, previously it was in Katowice Voivodeship. The population of the town is 7,017 (2019). From 1999 to 2001, Sławków was part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship. When it was transferred to Silesian Voivodeship in 2002, it was assigned to Będzin County, despite being separated from the rest of that county by the cities of Dąbrowa Górnicza and Sosnowiec. It is the western terminus of the Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line.
Łazy(listen) is a town in Zawiercie County, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. Until 1947 the town was the seat of the Rokitno Szlacheckie municipality. In the years 1975–1998 the town administratively belonged to the Katowice province. As of 2019, the town has 6,811 inhabitants. During World War II, German occupiers changed the name to Lazy then to Lasern without a legislative decree. Łazy belongs to the province of Lesser Poland, and since its foundation until the Partitions of Poland, it was part of Krakow Voivodeship.
Przemsza is a river in the south of Poland, a tributary of the Vistula. According to one view, it originates at the confluence of the Black Przemsza and White (Biała) Przemsza, between the towns of Mysłowice and Jaworzno. For about 24 km (15 mi) it flows southwards to its Vistula mouth at Czarnuchowice. Another view places its beginning at the source of the Black Przemsza, giving it the length of 88 kilometers.
New Galicia or West Galicia was an administrative region of the Habsburg Monarchy, constituted from the territory annexed in the course of the Third Partition of Poland in 1795.
The Austrian Partition comprise the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired by the Habsburg Monarchy during the Partitions of Poland in the late 18th century. The three partitions were conducted jointly by the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg Austria, resulting in the complete elimination of the Polish Crown. Austria acquired Polish lands during the First Partition of 1772, and Third Partition of Poland in 1795. In the end, the Austrian sector encompassed the second-largest share of the Commonwealth's population after Russia; over 2.65 million people living on 128,900 km2 of land constituting formerly south-central part of the Republic.
Biała Przemsza is a river of Poland, a tributary of the Przemsza near Mysłowice. It has a length of 63.9 km and a catchment area of 876.6 km². The river forms branches, meanders, urea, sometimes joints. Flows and water states are constant.
Brzęczkowice is a neighbourhood and a part of dzielnica (district) Brzęczkowice and Słupna, in Mysłowice, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It was previously an independent village and gmina, that was absorbed by Mysłowice in 1945 and again in 1951.
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Coordinates: 50°13′46.92″N19°09′26.98″E / 50.2297000°N 19.1574944°E