If one were to describe in a single sentence the most characteristic feature of the First World War memorials on the Czech side of Cieszyn Silesia, it might read as follows:
these are not only monuments about war – they are monuments about family.

In Karviná–Łąki, a soldier in a cap embraces his wife while a child climbs up to them as if trying to hold the departing man back.
In Doubrava, the scene is similar but more condensed, carved in the soft volume of sandstone.
In Horní Suchá, the same gesture appears once more: faces touch in a brief farewell, hands search for support.
In these sculptural condensations lies the whole truth of 1914–1918 – not triumph, but the disintegration of ordinary life.

That is the essential difference from many “state” monuments of the interwar period.
Yes, there are monumental forms on the regional map – such as the memorial in Třinec or the modernist monument in Český Těšín, where a stone niche shelters a soldier-guardian. Yet even there, heroism is subdued.
The figure does not “measure the world with its gaze”; it does not attack.
It keeps watch. And this act of watchfulness is the key to the entire landscape of remembrance on this side of the Olza River.

Shapes of Memory

On the Czech side of Cieszyn Silesia, the landscape of remembrance of the Great War is built of silence, simplicity, and tenderness.
There are soldiers bidding farewell to their wives, women holding urns, and crosses asking for prayer.
Three motifs recur most frequently — farewell, mourning woman, and cross — forming a coherent iconography of the region, a kind of triad of remembrance: a shared language of grief and endurance that has lost none of its power over the past century.

After 1918, small Silesian communities faced the question: how to commemorate a war that had not been their choice?
They had no funds for grand designs and no access to professional sculptors.
They turned instead to what they had — local stonemasons, catalogue models, and their own experience of loss.
Thus arose a visual language richer in emotion than ideology, in which every gesture carved in stone carries something of everyday life.

The most common motif is the farewell scene.
In Karviná–Łąki, Doubrava, Horní Suchá, and many other places, one can see a similar composition: a soldier in a cap, a woman in a long dress, and a child gazing up at its parents.
Their bodies form a triangle — the gesture of embrace and restraint is both parting and an attempt to hold time still.
It is an image more familial than patriotic, more human than national.
Usually carved in sandstone, in shallow relief and soft chiaroscuro, it allowed local craftsmen to tell a story in a single plane.
There is no heroism here — only the simplicity of a gesture that anyone can understand.
When we look at these figures today, we see in them something that transcends the epoch: not victory, but the effort to preserve meaning at the moment of separation.

Another recurring figure is the mourning woman with an urn, seen in Stonava and Karviná.
Dressed in a long robe, she bows her head, one hand resting on her chest, the other supporting an urn or wreath.
Her form is delicate, almost fragile.
The urn, though small, becomes the centre of the composition — both a concrete object and a symbol, containing ashes and memory alike.
This mourning figure has something of the ancient Nike, yet instead of triumph, she embodies concentration and tenderness — the image of endurance and feminine care that continues even beyond death.
Such a representation of mourning is universally comprehensible.
In a region where Czech, Polish, and German have met for centuries, the gesture of a hand on the heart speaks more clearly than any inscription.

The oldest of these three archetypes is the cross.
In Dolní Lomná, erected as early as 1917, stands perhaps the simplest and most moving of all monuments: a tall black pedestal with a metal Crucifix above.
There is nothing superfluous — no allegories, no military emblems.
Only a Polish inscription:

“This monument was built in memory of the fallen from Dolní Lomná during the World War, 1917.”
And below:
“Passers-by are requested to say a short prayer for our fallen and for the founders of this monument.”

There is not a single word about victory — only a request for prayer, the humblest yet most enduring form of remembrance.
This cross reminds us that before state programmes and official catalogues of monuments appeared, the memory of war was religious and communal, rooted in the soil and close to everyday life.

The Language of Grief

These three motifs — farewell, mourning woman, and cross — form a complete cycle of experience.
War takes, mourning endures, and memory unites.
None of these representations speak of triumph or accusation; rather, they express an attempt to reconcile with fate, to understand it, and to transform pain into a communal ritual.
Memory here is not monumental but everyday — woven into the rhythm of walks, services, and family visits to the cemetery.

Many of these monuments stand indeed on cemeteries.
Their characteristic feature is scale — they are present in public space but do not dominate it.
There are exceptions, such as the large Třinec monument, which fits into the universal, official iconography of heroic memory.

Another notable element is bilingualism.
In Horní Suchá, Petrovice, or Stonava, inscriptions appear in both Czech and Polish, often in parallel lines, one beneath the other.
The lists of names reveal the linguistic mosaic of the region — Czech, German, and Polish surnames side by side.
Bilingual inscriptions are both historical evidence and gestures of reconciliation — but sometimes also of erasure, when names are written in a language other than that of the deceased.
These monuments can unite, yet they can also divide.

Tone and Form

What distinguishes these monuments is their emotional tone.
In Galicia and Moravia, patriotic rhetoric dominated — eagles, banners, laurel wreaths.
On the Czech side of Cieszyn Silesia, the tone is intimate.
These are not monuments of the state, but monuments of the community — more about endurance than about history.
Their strength lies in the ability to speak of war without pathos, with empathy and simplicity.

In Petrovice near Karviná, the monument resembles a four-sided book.
Each side of the obelisk bears the names of a different parish; the gilded letters form registers.
This is not a place for complex symbolism — here, memory takes the form of an index.
Someone could come, stand quietly, and find their own.
There are many such minimalist monuments in the region, marked only by “1914–1918” and a list of names.

In Karviná–Doly, the figural group is more theatrical: an angel with a wreath, a soldier with a rifle, and the fallen at his feet — a scene with clearly defined roles.
An exception is the Legionnaires’ Monument in Jablunkov, discussed in a separate article.

In Adam Sikora Park in Český Těšín, a contemporary monument commemorates the departure of the Silesian Legion on 21 September 1914, when about four hundred volunteers — teachers, workers, students, and farmers — marched from Cieszyn towards Mszana Dolna to join the Second Brigade of the Polish Legions.
They were seen off by crowds from both banks of the Olza River.
The modern granite stele, with an inscription and a legionary emblem, was unveiled in 2014, a hundred years later.
It does not reconstruct old forms; it is restrained, focused on remembrance rather than glorification.
In its simplicity lies the endurance of memory — memory that needs no pathos, only a place where one can pause for a moment and reflect that history never truly begins anew; it returns through those who remember.

The Language of Memory

One more aspect deserves attention — how material shapes meaning.
Sandstone, the dominant material of these sculptures, is warm and soft, holding light well in shallow relief.
Its rough texture, moss-green patina, and velvety shadows at dusk give it a human, earthly character.
From sandstone come the family scenes and mourning figures.
Granite, on the other hand, is chosen by donors who seek monumentality — the obelisk in Třinec, the massive pedestals in Český Těšín, and the legionary eagle in Jablunkov.
Here, smoothness and official gravity are what matter.

Equally significant, however, is the language of inscriptions.
Czech Cieszyn Silesia is an archive of bilingualism.
Often, Czech and Polish coexist on the same monument, and in older layers, even German appears.
In Horní Suchá, for example:

PADLÝM V 1. SVĚTOVÉ VÁLCE / OBČANÉ
POLEGŁYM W I. WOJNIE ŚWIATOWEJ / OBYWATELE

Below begin the lists: Baczek, Pawlas, Żurek alongside Rajchenbach and Rozbroj — proof that memory does not belong to one language alone.

Not all cases are so harmonious.
As reported in the Dziennik Polski (Český Těšín, 1939, no. 187, p. 3):

“The Czech commissioner ordered that the names of fallen Poles be engraved in Czech spelling.
This clear document of the Czechization of an entirely Polish parish has now, thanks to the initiative of the current government commissioner, Mr. Łukosz, been corrected.
Through the efforts of the parish, a new monument with Polish inscriptions has been erected, to be unveiled solemnly on Sunday the 16th at 10 a.m.”

A similar situation is said to have occurred at the cemetery in Karviná–Raj, though in that case the inscriptions were never changed; according to oral tradition, they commemorate Poles, yet remain in Czech.

Polish identity here has two layers: one customary (church, family, cemetery) and one civic (name lists, local community memory).
At times it is clear and unambiguous (as in Jablunkov), at others it blends with Czech and German, creating on a single tablet that peculiar “chord of three languages.”

Catalogue

World War I Monument

Český Těšín (Cieszyn, Czech Republic), Masaryk Park (Masarykovy sady)
Sculptor: Helena Scholz-Železný
Year: 1930 (official unveiling: 14 September 1930)
Coordinates: 49.737388, 18.626400

A central, axially arranged monument of modernist–Art Deco character: a vertical, step-profiled granite stele set on a wide, multi-level base with semicircular projections and short frontal steps. In the shaft — a deep niche containing a bronze figure of a soldier in full uniform (frontal pose, hands resting on a rifle; lower part decorated with a flag/wave motif). The stone faces are bush-hammered, with finely chamfered edges.

On all four sides of the shaft, modern memorial plaques with names of the fallen are mounted (dark grey stone; stainless-steel spacers). At the front base — a rectangular inscription field and entrance steps. The whole forms an architecturally integrated monument composition surrounded by a low wall/bench and a raised circular plaza.

Front (upper section): “1914–1918” (applied metal numerals).
Around the shaft: long lists of about 400 names of fallen and missing city residents (alphabetically ordered, featuring German, Polish, and Czech forms). No glorifying slogans — the emphasis lies on individual commemoration.

A representative, municipal memorial to World War I dedicated to the multinational community of historic Cieszyn, designed by the distinguished sculptor Helena Scholz-Železný. The composition combines a synthetic, geometric form with a monumental soldier figure in a niche — an iconography of vigil and remembrance rather than heroisation.
After 1945, the monument was altered (metal elements and plaques removed or replaced). In 2020–2021, it underwent restoration, reinstating the name plaques.
A key site in the region’s memory landscape (for the number of names, central location, and high sculptural quality); well preserved and clearly legible within the park setting.

World War I Memorial

Doubrava (Dąbrowa), in front of the Municipal Office (Obecní úřad)
Year: 1929
Coordinates: 49.8590779, 18.4801309

Tall rectangular pedestal with a profiled cornice. On the base — a sandstone sculptural group depicting the “farewell” motif: a soldier embracing a woman, a child standing at their feet. The front shaft bears a black stone plaque (granite/lava block) with the list of victims of World War I — white-painted lettering. The whole rests on a massive stepped plinth.

Condition (2025): good; visible biological deposits and runoff on the sculpture and plaque base.

Inscription on the cornice below the figures (original spelling):
“PADLÝM OBĚTEM OBCE DOUBRAVY / VE SVĚTOVÉ VÁLCE 1914–1918”
Below: name plaque — vertical list of local victims (white letters on black ground).

World War I Memorial with Female Figure and Roll of the Fallen

Karviná–Staré Město (Old Town)
After 1918 (typologically 1920s; undated)
Coordinates: 49.8614882, 18.5108470

Tall sandstone pedestal enclosed by a low metal fence on a rectangular plan. On top stands a full-figure female statue in a long robe, holding a wreath — a personification of mourning and remembrance. The shaft has two zones: upper — with inscription and engraved roll of names (letters filled with paint), lower — a smooth rectangular field (likely once bearing an additional plaque).

Materials: sandstone (figure and pedestal), steel/cast iron (fence).
Condition (2025): fair to good; biological growth and edge losses; lettering worn but legible.

Inscription (upper zone):
“PAMÁTCE PADLÝCH VOJÍNŮ / ZE ST. MĚSTA / VE SVĚT. VÁLCE 1914–18”
(“To the memory of the fallen soldiers of the Old Town in the World War 1914–1918”)

Two vertical name columns follow (partial reading on site).

A municipal memorial commemorating the inhabitants of Old Karviná who died in 1914–1918. The iconography draws on the mourning woman motif, common in interwar Silesian commemorative sculpture. A simple design with an “encyclopaedic” character (long roll of names), harmoniously integrated into the small-town landscape. Recommended conservation: gentle biological cleaning, repointing, surface protection, and repainting of the lettering for clarity.

Polish Legionnaires’ Monument at the Parish Cemetery

Jablunkov (Jabłonków)
1931 (unveiled 1 November 1931); restoration 1997, 2024–2025
Coordinates: 49.573215, 18.762564

Tall light-granite pedestal surmounted by a monumental white eagle with a crown — a stylised Polish national emblem. The front bears a Latin cross and a large inscribed plaque in Polish with a list of legionnaires’ names. Situated near the cemetery wall on a small platform; composition austere and vertically oriented.

Materials: light granite (base and plaque), fine-grained stone/sandstone (eagle).
Condition (2025): good after restoration; natural patina visible.

Front plaque:
“PAMIĘCI LEGIONISTÓW POLSKICH / BOJOWNIKÓW O NIEPODLEGŁOŚĆ OJCZYZNY / RODACY”
Below: list of names (e.g. Wiktor Wagner, Zygmunt Skora, Wilhelm Zachara, Jan Talarczyk, Franciszek Siengory, etc.).

Symbolic monument containing ashes of legionnaires who died in local hospitals during 1914–1918.
With its crowned eagle and Polish-language inscriptions, it expresses clear Polish national identity and commemorates legionnaires connected with Jabłonkov and its surroundings.
The combination of a classic plinth and heraldic eagle sculpture enhances its patriotic meaning.
Restored in 1997 and again in 2024–2025, it remains one of the principal sites of Polish historical memory in the city.

World War I Memorial

Karviná–Doly (Karviná–Mines), Ostrava Road
Sculpture: Jaroslav Bem; Architect: Karel Eichler
1928 (restored 2016; name plaques added 2017)
Coordinates: 49.835929, 18.492238

High polygonal pedestal in the form of an aedicula with three fields for plaques, flanked by pilasters.
Atop — a sandstone sculptural group: an angel with a laurel wreath, a standing soldier with a rifle, and a fallen comrade at their feet. Side and rear walls carry black granite plaques with names of 272 fallen residents (added in 2017). Benches and paved access path complete the composition.

Materials: sandstone (figural group), stone/granite (core and bases), polished granite with gilded letters (plaques).
Condition (2024): good; minor biological deposits.

Central plaque:
“PAMÁTCE PADLÝM 1914–1918 / PAMIĘCI POLEGŁYCH 1914–1918”
Historic frieze (archival photo):
“1914 – PAMÁTCE PADLÝCH PAMIĘCI POLEGŁYCH – ERINNERUNG AN DIE GEFALLENEN – 1918”

One of the most important local Great War monuments, commemorating Karviná’s fallen residents. A high-quality architectural–sculptural design by Jaroslav Bem and Karel Eichler, fully restored in 2016–2017; under the care of the City of Karviná.

World War I and II Memorial

Karviná–Darkov (Karviná III–Darkov), near St. Anne’s Chapel
After 1918; WWII inscription added after 1945
Coordinates: 49.843386, 18.545084

Freestanding vertical sandstone block on a two-step base. The triangular top bears a relief: at right, a seated barefoot woman with flowing robes (allegory of Protection/Remembrance) shields a putto holding a laurel wreath; at left, a kneeling woman in prayer. Above, a small sun-cross motif. A later black granite plaque with a bilingual inscription and emblem (wreath with monogram “SBS”) was added to the front.

Materials: light sandstone (core, relief), dark granite (plaque), metal and glass (details).
Condition (2025): good; minor losses and biological patina.

Inscription:
“1914–1918 1939–1945”
“PAMÁTCE PADLÝM / PAMIĘCI POLEGŁYCH”
Below: “KARVINÁ III–DARKOV”

An intimate, bilingual Czech–Polish monument with strong maternal/protective iconography and laurel-wreath symbolism. Originally a World War I memorial, later adapted to include WWII. The relief composition and rustic base typify interwar local stonework.

World War I Memorial with “Farewell” Relief

Karviná–Louky (Karviná–Łąki), near the Church
Signed F. Malina (stone mason)
After 1918 (early 20th century)
Coordinates: 49.799387, 18.584279

Tall, slender sandstone stele on a two-part base.
The front features a large shallow relief of farewell — a soldier in a cap with a rifle embraces a woman, with a child below reaching toward them. Under the relief: “1914–1918”.
Two vertical name plaques (engraved lettering) on the base; mason’s signature “F. MALINA” on the right side.

Condition: good, with minor surface losses and biological growth; some letters worn.

A characteristic domestic iconography of family farewell, common in interwar Cieszyn Silesia memorials. Clear, simple composition; worthy of conservation cleaning and partial lettering reconstruction.

World War I Memorial Cross

Dolní Lomná (Łomna Dolna), square in front of public building
1917 (from foundation inscription)

Freestanding cross with metal Crucifix on a tall black polished stone pedestal with a lantern on top. Inscriptions on inset panels; upper part decorated with a laurel wreath.

Materials: black granite/polished stone (base, plaques), metal (Crucifix), glass/metal (lantern).
Condition (2025): excellent, well maintained.

Main plaque (original Polish spelling):
“This monument was built in memory of the fallen from Dolní Lomná during the World War, 1917.”
Lower plaque:
“Passers-by are requested to say a short prayer for our fallen and for the founders of this monument.”

A cross-shaped monument with Polish inscription, erected in 1917 by the Dolní Lomná community. A simple, classical composition combining religious symbolism (Crucifix, prayer) with secular remembrance (laurel wreath). Testament to the Polish-language tradition of the local community in Cieszyn Silesia.

World War I Memorial with Flaming Urn

Petrovice u Karviné (Piotrowice near Karviná), parish cemetery
After 1918, probably 1920s
Coordinates: 49.902149, 18.540305

Tall grey-granite obelisk on a multi-step base, topped with a stone urn/flame (reddish tint).
Each of its four sides bears gilded inscriptions — one for each of the constituent parishes (Piotrowice, Zawada, Piersna). The main side: dedication “To the Victims of the War 1914–1918” with a list of names.

Materials: grey granite (obelisk and base), gilded engraving, modern chain posts.
Condition: good; minor modern repainting of gilding.

A communal obelisk uniting four neighbouring parishes in one structure of remembrance, dominated by Polish anthroponyms. Eclectic style with classicising elements (urn-flame, profiles), solid local stonework.

World War I Memorial with Mourning Woman and Urn

Stonava, churchyard near the parish church
Typologically 1920s
Coordinates: 49.815403, 18.536008

Axially composed, terraced monument: a high figure of a mourning woman in a long robe holding an urn on a pedestal adorned with garlands. Below, a central dedication plaque and two side name tablets.

Materials: artificial stone/sandstone (figure, base), marble and darker stone (plaques).
Condition (2025): good; paint losses, minor biological patina.

Central plaque (bilingual):
“OBĚTEM I. SVĚTOVÉ VÁLKY / OFIAROM I. WOJNY ŚWIATOWEJ / 1914–1918”
Below: vertical name lists of local victims (Czech/Polish).

A typical mourning-woman type monument, widespread in interwar Cieszyn Silesia, combining sepulchral symbolism (urn, garland, bowed posture) with bilingual inscriptions. A key historical monument for the Stonava community.

World War I Memorial

Horní Suchá (Sucha Górna), cemetery
After 1918 (typologically 1920s)
Coordinates: 49.796361, 18.481123

Tall sandstone stele with rounded top.
Front relief: soldier embracing a woman, a child between them — the “farewell” motif.
Below: bilingual stone plaque with dedication and two marble tablets with names.

Materials: sandstone (core, relief), marble (name plaques).
Condition (2025): good; biological deposits, minor edge losses; area maintained.

Dedication (bilingual):
“PADLÝM V 1. SVĚTOVÉ VÁLCE / OBČANÉ”
“POLEGŁYM W I. WOJNIE ŚWIATOWEJ / OBYWATELE”

A chapel-like stele featuring the family farewell motif, typical of interwar Cieszyn Silesia. The bilingual dedication underscores the region’s multiethnic character.

World War I Memorial

Třinec (Trzyniec), park
Typologically 1920s
Coordinates: 49.677569, 18.671155

Freestanding granite obelisk on a rectangular base, flanked by two low posts with hemispherical tops. The obelisk bears a small metal wreath motif and a central black plaque with the list of names; simple engraved dates “1914–1918” on the base.

Materials: light granite (core, base), black stone (plaque), metal ornament.
Condition: good; minor weathering.

A classical communal obelisk with restrained funerary symbolism (wreath, plain inscription). Formally simple, devoted to name commemoration.