History of Jedlina-Zdrój

The health resort developed at the turn of the 18th century, after the discovery of mineral springs at the feet of Kobiela. Prior to that, in the lower parts of the today’s town – in the Bystrzyca valley and along natural routes leading to Kłodzko, Świdnica and Wałbrzych – farmsteads were built by loggers, carpenters, hunters, cattle and swine farmers as well as people of other farming and crafting professions.

Most probably, in the middle of the 13th century, the village of Tannhausen was founded (today’s Jedlinka), which spread over the Bystrzyca valley among extensive forests. First written references to the village come from the turn of the 14th century. It remained part of the Grodno estate, however, with the exception of a custom house that belonged to the Bohemian Crown. In 1503, the King of Bohemia Władysław Jagiellończyk granted the custom house to the Grodno’s owner Friedrich von Czettritz. The lessees of the custom house kept changing over consecutive decades and centuries. In the second half of the 16th century, it was managed by the von Hochbergs from Książ.

 In the 17th century, Jedlinka was already a large village, embracing the area that today is known as Jedlina-Zdrój. Heinrich von Kuhl became the owner of Jedlinka in 1619, while in 1648 the ownership was transferred to the already mentioned von Seherr-Thoss family.

In the late 15th century, Jedlinka was an important settlement of craftsmen and loggers. In 1535, a copper ore started to operate, but the deposits were exhausted by the first half of the 17th century, thus forcing the abandonment of the unprofitable ores. The early 18th century witnessed the transformation of the village into both an important weaving centre and a health resort. At the end of the 17th century, Kasper Schäl, the owner of land in the upper part of Jedlinka, put the mineral springs to appropriate use, while in 1723 they were passed to Baron Johann Christoph von Seherr-Thoss, whose wife Charlotta had the health resort built on the springs, which became known as Charlottenbrunn.

 Jedlinka experienced a period of lively development in the 18th century. In 1748, it was populated by 26 peasants and 66 villeins and serfs, with as many as 70 weaving workshops operating within the village. Forty years later, the village along with the health resort consisted of two churches, two clergy houses, two schools as well as an estate manor, two folwarks, and four watermills. The overall number of residents included 26 peasants, 23 villeins and 139 serfs, 42 of which were weavers. It is worth noticing how Jedlinka was gradually losing its original village nature and concurrently becoming focused on craftsmanship or even industry, to some extent. In 1740, Jedlina-Zdrój obtained a permit to sell linen, which sparked the regularly held markets. In 1742, the hard coal mine ‘Joseph’ was opened, followed shortly by another one named ‘Trost’, in Glinica. Despite their low efficiency, the mines provided coal to the residents of neighbouring towns and villages, including the ones that belonged to Count von Hochberg from Książ. Baron Johann Christoph von Seherr-Thoss, then an owner of Jedlinka, who earned the rank of a field marshal of the Habsburg Imperial Army in 1739, purchased land up to Nowa Ruda, established first hard coal mines in the region and passed as a pioneer of the coal industry in Lower Silesia. His son, Baron Johann August von Seherr-Thoss, opened mines in Suliszów, which would later become a district of Jedlina-Zdrój.

 In 1840, the estate became the property of H. A. C. Menzel. In the middle of the 19th century, Jedlinka began to lose its significance and turn into the economic and service back-up facilities of the health resort in Jedlina-Zdrój. Such state has lasted until today.

 The important parts in the development of Jedlinka were played by the palace and the folwark – the residence of consecutive owners – both located on a small hill in the central part of the village.

 Jedlinka was cut through by the popular tourist trails that lead to the Góry Sowie and Góry Suche Mountains. The Jedlinka’s favorable location at the junction of roads leading in three different directions – Kłodzko, Świdnica and Wałbrzych – was conducive to the growth of a thriving village, which diminished in importance in the 20th century as the health resort in Jedlina and the industry in Głuszyca developed.

 In the years of independence after World War I, Jedlinka was part of Głuszyca. During World War II, a labour camp, structurally a branch of the Gross Rosen Camp, was located in Jedlinka for the purpose of constructing the ‘Riese’ complex. The camp infirmary treated the exhausted prisoners, who were forced to work at the construction of underground tunnels. The palace was turned into the military headquarters.

 Once the war was over, Jedlinka was included within the administrative boundaries of the local authority in Jedlina-Zdrój. The Agricultural Cooperative Association, which resided in the palace at that time, tried to preserve the agricultural tradition of the region. However, it eventually did more harm than good and proved detrimental to the palace itself. In 1954, Jedlinka Górna was incorporated into Głuszyca. The village of Jedlinka Dolna became independent and changed its name to Olszyniec. Jedlinka Średnia, on the other hand, lost its agricultural and industrial nature as well as its autonomy, thus becoming an inseparable part of the town of Jedlina-Zdrój.

Autor: Katarzyna Matuła