# Chudów

Chudów (, German: Chudow, Chutow) is a village in Poland, located in Gliwice County, within the municipality of Gmina Gierałtowice, Silesian Voivodeship, in the historical region of Silesia. It lies approximately 3 kilometres (2 mi) east of Gierałtowice, 12 km (7 mi) south-east of Gliwice, and 16 km (10 mi) west of the regional capital, Katowice.
From 1945 to 1954, Chudów was the seat of the Chudów commune. From 1954 to 1972, the village belonged to and was the seat of the Chudów administrative district. From 1975 to 1998, the village was administratively part of the Katowice Voivodeship.

## History

The village was first mentioned between 1295–1305 as Cudow, attested in the Latin manuscript Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis (Tithe Register of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Breslau). In 1466 it was mentioned as Chudorf. Over the course of history, Chudów, located in the historical and geographical region of Silesia (specifically Upper Silesia), has experienced various changes in political control, sovereignty, and culture.
From its early history, the region was part of the states Great Moravia and the Duchy of Bohemia. It transitioned from Polish rule under Mieszko I and the Duchy of Silesia to the Lands of the Bohemian Crown under the Holy Roman Empire, forming the Duchies of Silesia and later the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia under Habsburg rule. Eventually, it became the Province of Silesia under German Prussian rule. After World War I, the region was divided between Weimar Germany and the newly re-established state of Poland (the Second Polish Republic). Following World War II, most of the region was transferred to Poland.
These changes reflected the region's strategic importance, the shifting political landscape, and the evolving cultural influences of Central Europe throughout history. Over the centuries, the village has been known by various names, including Cudow, Hudow, Chudoba, Khudow, Kudow, Chudow, Chutow, and finally Chudów. At the time, the historical and strategic main route from the city of Breslau to the former capital of Kraków crossed the Chudów dominion.

### 15th century

According to historical sources, the first confirmed owner of Chudów was the nobleman Johannes de Hodow, who appears as one of the judges in a record dated 15 October 1434. He was the representative of Wenceslaus I, Duke of Cieszyn in the dispute between Silesia and Jagiellonian-ruled Poland. Documents from 1459 mention the nobleman Jan Sudiss von Khodow as the owner of the rural village estate when Chudów was part of the Duchy of Bytom. In 1483, the nobleman Mikulasz Chudowsky is recorded as the owner.
Archaeological research indicates that in the 15th century, a wooden, tower-like fortified castle structure was erected on a small, partially artificially enlarged island, elevated and measuring around 30–40 meters in diameter, similar to a wooden motte castle. The island was surrounded by a moat, adding an extra layer of defence. The tower, which served both as a defence and a residence, was surrounded by a palisade and reinforced around the edges of the island with a stockade (a section of the palisade and reinforcements were discovered during prior research). This tower was probably destroyed by fire at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries.

### 16th to 17th century

The domain of Chudów was an allodial estate purchased in 1532 by the Roman-German Silesian House of Saszowski, who bore the Saszor coat of arms and were recognised as one of the most eminent and affluent noble families in Upper Silesia. Among many other manors, they already owned the neighbouring manor of Gierałtowice.
Chudów is famous for its 16th-century Renaissance stone castle residence, which replaced the earlier wooden tower castle. This transformation was initiated by the nobleman and scion Jan Saszowski von Geraltowitz (also known as Jan Geraltowsky in German and Jan Gierałtowski in Polish). The castle was built in at least two phases. Based on research, it was established that the first structure was the tower, to which the so-called manor house was later added on the southeast side. Simultaneously or shortly after its construction, a service building was erected on the northwest side.
Foundations and parts of the ground floor of stone pillars, which formed the basis of the arcades' structure, were also discovered. The manor house had two floors, with the first floor covered by a barrel vault, divided into three rooms on the lower floor. The northeasternmost room was the castle kitchen – parts of the pillars, probably supporting the hood over the stove, and a stone gutter used to drain kitchen waste outside, have been preserved. The northwest wing was divided into two rooms, and its lower floor was also covered by a barrel vault; it is possible that the building had three storeys.
Inside the castle, there was a rectangular courtyard surrounded by covered arcades and a well in the centre. This courtyard was created by building a curtain wall or another building that closed off the space between the manor house and the service building from the northeast.
The lordship remained part of the House of Saszowski estates for over a hundred years and served as a residence for multiple generations of its branch scions, known as Geraltowsky von Geraltowitz (in Polish: Gierałtowski z Gieraltowic). Historical sources say it was one of the most magnificent castle residences in Upper Silesia, hosting many banquets and sport hunting activities attended by the aristocracy. In later times, the estate had its own castle brewery and inn. The original entrance to the castle was via a drawbridge over the moat, which led directly to the second floor of the castle tower.
Following the death in 1633 of Joanna Geraltowska von Geraltowitz (née Sedlnitzka, Sedlnická), who had inherited Chudow in 1622 as the widowed wife of her first husband, Wenzel the Younger Geraltowsky von Geraltowitz, her nephew Johann Skal von Elgot continued to manage the manorial estate Chudow and the brief guardianship of her only child, a young daughter (Beata Elisabeth), born from her second marriage to the late Karl Pražma (†1628), Lord of Wagstadt (Bílkov).
In 1669, the village manorial estate changed owners twice. By 1687, it was listed as the property of Baron Jerzy von Welczek, governor of the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz (Herzogtum Oppeln und Ratibor). Between 1687 and 1704, the manor was owned by the noblewoman Anna Zuzanna von Reuthen, who then transferred the estate to the nobleman Jerzy Franciszek von Holly.

### Area of lordship

The lordship consisted of the manors of Chudow Castle, Chudow village, and the villages of Klein Paniow and Antheil Neudorf, and the farm outworks (Vorwerks): Schlosshof, Dorfhof, Grosshof, Wallhof, Wachhof, Neuhof, and Ballhof. The land area covered 3,965 morgens (approx. 991.25 hectares) and, in total, 7,000 morgens (approx. 1,750 hectares) of dominial, jurisdictional, and hunting territory. This amounted to approximately 27.41 square kilometres (10.58 sq mi).
The area included 2,600 morgens of farmland (approx. 650 hectares), 565 morgens of wetland (approx. 141.25 hectares), 310 morgens of meadow (approx. 77.5 hectares), and 440 morgens of forest, ponds, peatland, and marl pits (approx. 110 hectares).

### 18th century to present-day

In 1706, the new owners of the village manorial estate were the Foglarów family [pl]. After 1768, the estate changed owners quite often, losing in importance. In 1837, the estate's owner, the German jurist and administrator of the Duchy of Racibórz (Herzogtum Ratibor), Alexander von Bally [de], made several alterations to the original design of the castle, irretrievably losing its original Renaissance form. Von Bally lost his assets as a result of bad investments related to the exploration of hard coal deposits, and in 1844 his estates were transferred to auction.
The castle suffered severe fire damage in 1875, and its last owner, Graf Hans Ulrich Gotthardt von Schaffgotsch, left it as a picturesque ruin. Abandoned to ruin since the late 19th century, only parts of the walls, the four-sided tower, and the outline of the moat survived to the present day. Since 1966, the castle ruin has been registered under No. A/568, categorized as of significant cultural value and tracked as an object of cultural heritage in Poland by the National Heritage Board of Poland. Alexander Duncker's illustration of the castle is the only known lithography of the castle between 1859 and 1860. It depicts the castle after several alterations made by Alexander von Bally in the first half of the 19th century, which changed its original Renaissance form.
In 1995, the newly founded Chudów Castle Foundation assumed gradual restoration work. In a restored tower, there is a small museum showcasing one of the most interesting exhibitions of ceramic medieval Gothic cocklestove tiles found in Poland. These tiles were discovered on the castle grounds during restoration works and archaeological excavations.
Since 2000, the Chudów Castle Foundation has organized an annual medieval fair in August, featuring historical reenactments of medieval tournaments and warfare on the Chudów castle grounds.

## Gallery

* Chudów, Wiejska Street - manor granary, from the 18th century, brick construction (monument number A/569/66)
* Church of Our Lady Queen of Angels in Chudów (in Polish: Kościół NMP Królowej Aniołów w Chudowie)