POLSKA | POLAND |
województwo: Opolskie | voivodship: Opole |
powiat: Strzelce Opolskie | county: Strzelce Opolskie |
Góra Świętej Anny (German: Sankt Annaberg; both names mean "Saint Anne's Mountain") is situated at an elevation of 350 m about 10 km south of the district town Strzelce Opolskie and about 25 km southeast of the capital of the voivodeship, Opole. The village is part of the municipality of Leśnica.
The church of St. Anne [background]
was founded in 1480–1485 on the hill overlooking the village. The wooden statue of The Virgin and Child with St. Anne
soon became a popular object of veneration. The village became part of the kingdom of Bohemia in 1327 and in 1635 became part of the Habsburg countries.
In 1655 the church was entrusted to the Franciscans who founded a monastery. When the village in 1742 became part of Prussia, the church already was the most
important pilgrimage site of Upper Silesia. After World War I the majority of the inhabitants of the village voted for remaining with Germany in the plebiscite
of March 1921. In May of the same year a battle between irregular Polish-Silesian units and German free corps arose during which German combattants stormed the hill.
The uprising ended in July after an armistice which was pressed for by the Allieds. Annaberg was renamed Sankt Annaberg in 1934, but in 1941 it was again renamed
to Annaberg, O.S. (Annaberg, Oberschlesien; Annaberg in Upper Silesia). After World War II, Annaberg became part of Poland and was renamed Góra Świętej Anny.
The municipality of Leśnica (German: Leschnitz), which Góra Świętej Anny is part of, made German an official auxilliary language in 2006; bilingual place names
were introduced in 2008.
[Text adapted from https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sankt_Annaberg]