Slezská Harta

The Moravice River, on which was built the Slezská Harta Dam between 1987 and 1997, is historically considered to be the border between Moravia and Silesia. This area was rarely inhabited in prehistoric and medieval times due to adverse natural conditions such as poor soils and a large proportion of forests.

Settlement was mainly due to trade routes, such as Jesenicka´s trail, which later connected with Olomouc and Wroclaw.

From these periods a fraction cast copper boiler was found, which came from the end of the first third of the 5th century.

The first permanent settlements in the area were in the 10th or 11th centuries, when deposits of basaltic tuffs made by volcanic activity in the large and small Roudný were used to extract high-quality building materials from which they made cornerstones, window and door frame, and stairs that were imported into Silesia.

In the 13th century in this region there were many Přemyslovců. The majority of local municipalities, such as Mezina (1258), Leskovec nad Moravicí (1224), and Razová (first mentioned 1288) began to develop at this time.  The first wave of colonists came to the region, mostly of German nationality, but also Jews, Sorbs and Poles.  This colonization significantly affected the ethnic composition of the population. Promising developments ended with the war between the Moravian Margrave, the Hussite wars in 1474 and disaster in the form of the campaign of King Matthias of Hungary Corvina against the Polish king Casimir. Many settlements disappeared forever; others were rebuilt one hundred years later.

The village of Razová by local chronicles was built during the reign of Margrave Georg Friedrich von Ansbach - Brundenburg in 1548 between forests and rocky reefs, and was inhabited by most of the Lower Silesia and Brandenburg. In 1556 the nobility summoned new settlers from Brandenburg and Silesia, to fill the gap in the population in the village of Leskovec and the surrounding villages.

Renaissance culture brought back the sense of calm, peace and development.  The rebels in 1618-20 remained faithful to the Czech and Moravian Estates. The Thirty Years' War was in full force during the years 1643-50, when the region was occupied by Swedish troops. Their departure left the region desolate, depopulated, and impoverished and subjected to a re-catholicization process.

The villages experienced the largest community development in the mid-19th century. The area outside the farming industry saw a flourish of manufacturing. Razová included a brewery, mill, bakery, saw, sandstone quarries, mining and volcanic tuffs. Mezina had a factory for metal goods, an engineering plant, paper mill, flax mill, embroidery, lingerie, and apron production, and a basalt quarry. In Leskovec nad Moravicí there was a spinning mill for hosiery, which employed 500 workers.  In 1988, all subsequent production stopped and buildings were razed to the ground.

An important chapter of the settlement in this area was 1945 when after WWII the Sudeten Germans were displaced. The departure of Germans is documented in the chronicle of Razová:”To the Czech border area came new residents, who occupied the property of the Germans. In 1946 the Germans were pushed into the Impact of English and American zones of Germany, in Razová stayed only 3 of the German families of mixed marriages. The population of Slezská Harta decreased by 50%.”

The last important change in the number and composition of the population was the displacement in the local flood water reservoir of Slezská Harta. In Leskovec nad Moravicí the start of the construction of water works on Slezská Harta in 1987 was described as a”brutal interference in life.“ The whole lower part of the village became flooded areas, and all citizens had to move to prefabricated houses in Bruntál in Leskovec and elsewhere. A total of 301 people from Leskovec fled their homes. On September 25th, 1987 a festive farewell was held in the cultural house.

 

Demographic trends in towns in years

Towns	1869	1900	1930	1950	1961	1970	1980	1991	2001	2007
Leskovec nad Moravicí	2039	1786	1537	810	1010	961	855	512	522	492
Mezina	613	668	551	287	278	316	286	219	250	256
Razová	2173	1966	1670	758	768	722	672	515	530	508
Roudno	1232	996	809	439	463	429	352	223	207	204