Tyrolean houses in Mysłakowice

Driving through the village of Mysłakowice, you will get the strange impression that you are in… the Alps. The characteristic houses with gable roofs and decorative wooden balconies hide a fascinating, yet completely forgotten history. Have you heard about the refugees of the Ziller Valley? Here it is!

The religious policy of the Catholic Habsburgs was ruthless to minorities for a long time. One of its victims turned out to be Protestants from the Ziller Valley in Tirol. According to an 1837 order, they were given two weeks to decide whether to convert to Catholicism or stay with their faith – and leave Austria forever. 440 Tyroleans refused to convert and began looking around for a new place to live. King Frederick III of Prussia came to their aid and allowed them to settle in Lower Silesia, in the foothills of the Karkonosze Mountains.

Protestant Tyroleans settled on the site of today’s village of Mysłakowice, calling it Zillerthal and erecting houses there identical to those in their homeland. A total of about 60 Alpine cottages were built, a good number of which have survived to this day. Until World War II and forced displacement, they retained their costumes, customs and Tyrolean dialect, distinctly different from the German spoken in Lower Silesia.

Some of the original Tyrolean houses have today become atmospheric agritourism houses, with fanciful floral decorations in wood on many balconies. In the village, next to the former palace of the rullers of Prussia, there is also a monument to the leader of the Tyrolean Protestants, Johann Fleidel.