TESCHEN (

See also:

• CZECH (in Bohemian, Cech)

Czech, Tesin;

See also:

• POLISH

Polish, Cieszyn)  , a town of Austria, in Silesia, 50 M . S.E. of Troppau by rail . Pop . (1900) 19,142, of which over half is German, 43 per cent . Polish and the remainder Czech . It is situated on the Olsa, a tributary of the Oder, and combines both Polish and German peculiarities in the style of its buildings . The only relic of the ancient castle is a square tower, dating from the 12th century . There are several furniture factories and large saw-mills . Teschen is an old town and was the capital of the duchy of Teschen . It was at Teschen that Maria Theresa and Frederick II. signed, in May 1779, the Peace, which put an end to the war of Bavarian succession . The duchy of Teschen belonged to the dukes of Upper Silesia, and since 1298 it stood under the suzerainty of Bohemia . It became a direct apanage of the Bohemian crown in 1625 at the extinction of the male line of its dukes, and since 1766 it bore the name of Saxe-Teschen, owing to the fact that Prince Albert of Saxony, who married a daughter of Maria Theresa, received it as part of his wife's dowry .

In 1822, it was bestowed on the

Archduke Charles, the victor of Aspern; it was inherited by his eldest son, and, at his death, in 1895 it passed into the hands of his nephew, the Archduke Frederick .