Gościce

Gościce
Village
Saint Nicholas church in Gościce
Gościce
Coordinates: 50°26′8″N 16°58′59″E
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Opole
County	Nysa
Gmina	Paczków
First mentioned	ca. 1295
Population	470
Vehicle registration	ONY
Voivodeship roads

Gościce (Polish: [ɡɔɕˈt͡ɕit͡sɛ]) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Paczków, within Nysa County, Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, close to the Czech border, where neighboring Horní Hoštice is located. It lies approximately 3 kilometres (2 mi) south-west of Paczków, 26 km (16 mi) west of Nysa, and 72 km (45 mi) west of the regional capital Opole.

History

The village was first mentioned in the Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis from around 1295, when it was part of the Duchy of Nysa within fragmented Piast-ruled Poland. Later on, the duchy passed under Bohemian (Czech) suzerainty. After the 18th-century Silesian Wars, the newly drawn border divided the village in two. The present-day Polish village Gościce fell to Prussia, while the present-day Czech village Horní Hoštice remained within the Duchy of Nysa under Bohemian suzerainty. Gościce was also part of Germany from 1871 to 1945. In 1936, during a massive Nazi campaign of renaming of placenames, the village was renamed to Gostal to erase traces of Polish origin. After the defeat of Germany in the war, in 1945, the village became again part of Poland and its historic name was restored. The division between Gościce and Horní Hoštice continued through the Communist era of 1945–1990, and the border was not easily crossed until the Poland and Czechia joined the Schengen Area in 2007.