If one were to summarise the most characteristic feature of First World War memorials on the Czech side of Cieszyn Silesia, it would be this:
they 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 towards them as if trying to hold the departing man back.
In Doubrava, the scene is similar but more compact, carved in the softly modelled mass of sandstone.
In Horní Suchá, the same gesture returns: faces touch in a brief farewell; hands search for support.
In these sculptural condensations lies the 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.
There are, to be sure, monumental forms on the regional map: 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. This act of vigilance is key to the entire landscape of remembrance on this side of the River Olza.

Shapes of Memory

On the Czech side of Cieszyn Silesia, the landscape of remembrance of the Great War is shaped by silence, simplicity and tenderness.
Soldiers bid farewell to their wives, women hold urns, and crosses solicit prayer.
Three motifs recur most often ‒ farewell, mourning woman and cross ‒ forming a coherent regional iconography, a triad of remembrance: a shared language of grief and endurance that has lost none of its force over the past century.

After 1918, small Silesian communities faced a question: how should they commemorate a war that had not been their choice?
They lacked funds for grand designs and had little access to professional sculptors.
They turned instead to what they had: local stonemasons, catalogue models and their own experience of loss.
Out of this came a visual language richer in emotion than ideology, in which every gesture carved in stone bears something of everyday life.

The most common motif is the farewell scene.
In Karviná‒Łąki, Doubrava, Horní Suchá and many other places, a similar composition appears: 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 enabled local craftsmen to tell a story on a single plane.
There is no heroism here: only the simplicity of a gesture that anyone can understand.
Seen today, these figures suggest something that transcends the epoch: not victory but an 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 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, an image of endurance and feminine care that persists beyond death.
Such a representation is universally comprehensible.
In a region where the Czechs, the Poles and the Germans 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, as early as 1917, there arose perhaps the simplest and most moving of all monuments: a tall black pedestal surmounted by a metal Crucifix.
Nothing is 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 speaks of triumph or accusation; rather, they attempt to reconcile with fate, to understand it and to transform pain into a communal ritual.
Here, memory is not monumental but everyday: woven into the rhythm of walks, services and family visits to the cemetery.

Many of these monuments stand in cemeteries.
Their characteristic feature is scale: they are present in public space, yet they do not dominate it.
There are exceptions, such as the large Třinec monument, which accords with 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; yet they may also effect erasure when names are written in a language other than that of the deceased.
These monuments can unite, but they can also divide.

Tone and Form

What distinguishes these monuments is their emotional register.
In Galicia and Moravia, patriotic rhetoric predominated: 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 speaking of war without pathos, with empathy and simplicity.

In Petrovice near Karviná, the monument resembles a four-sided book.
Each face 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.
One may come, stand quietly and find one’s 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 Legionaries’ Memorial in Jablunkov, discussed elsewhere.

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 2nd Brigade of the Polish Legions.
They were seen off by crowds from both banks of the Olza.
The modern granite stele, bearing an inscription and a legionary emblem, was unveiled in 2014, a hundred years later.
It does not reconstruct old forms; it is restrained, oriented towards remembrance rather than glorification.
In its simplicity lies the endurance of memory. This memory needs no pathos, only a place to pause and reflect that history never truly begins anew: it returns through those who remember.

The Language of Memory

One further 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, by contrast, 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 matter.

Equally significant 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
(“To the fallen in the First World War / The citizens”).

Below, the lists begin ‒ Baczek, Pawlas, Żurek, 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” daily (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 Bohemisation 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 that peculiar “chord of three languages” on a single tablet.

Catalogue

World War One Memorial

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 contains a bronze figure of a soldier in full uniform (frontal pose, hands resting on a rifle; lower section decorated with a flag/wave motif). The stone faces are bush-hammered, with finely chamfered edges.

On all four sides of the shaft are modern memorial plaques with names of the fallen (dark grey stone; stainless-steel spacers). At the front base is a rectangular inscription field and entrance steps. The whole forms an architecturally integrated composition, surrounded by a low wall that also serves as a bench and by 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 (alphabetical order, featuring German, Polish and Czech forms). No glorifying slogans: the emphasis lies on individual commemoration.

A representative municipal memorial to the First World War, dedicated to the multinational community of historic Cieszyn and 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 One 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 depicts the “farewell” motif: a soldier embracing a woman, a child at their feet. The front face bears a black stone plaque (granite/lava block) listing the victims of the First World War; the lettering is painted white. The whole rests on a massive stepped plinth.

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

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

World War One 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-length female figure in a long robe, holding a wreath ‒ a personification of mourning and remembrance. The shaft has two zones: upper, with an inscription and an 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 present; 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 Legionaries’ Memorial at the Parish Cemetery

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

Tall light-granite pedestal surmounted by a monumental crowned white eagle, a stylised Polish national emblem. The front bears a Latin cross and a large plaque in Polish listing the legionaries’ names. Situated near the cemetery wall on a small platform; the composition is 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”
(“In memory of the Polish Legionaries / Fighters for the independence of the Homeland / [From] their compatriots”).
Below: list of names (e.g. Wiktor Wagner, Zygmunt Skora, Wilhelm Zachara, Jan Talarczyk, Franciszek Siengory).

A symbolic monument containing the ashes of legionaries who died in local hospitals during 1914–1918. With its crowned eagle and Polish-language inscriptions, it expresses a clear Polish national identity and commemorates legionaries connected with Jablunkov and its surroundings.
The combination of a classic plinth and heraldic eagle 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 One Memorial
Karviná‒Doly (Karviná‒Kopalnie), 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 aedicule with three plaque fields, flanked by pilasters.
Above, a sandstone group depicts an angel with a laurel wreath, a standing soldier with a rifle and a fallen comrade at their feet. Side and rear faces carry black-granite plaques with the names of 272 fallen residents (added in 2017). Benches and a paved approach 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”
(“In memory of the fallen 1914–1918”).
Historic frieze (archival photo):
“1914 – PAMÁTCE PADLÝCH PAMIĘCI POLEGŁYCH – ERINNERUNG AN DIE GEFALLENEN – 1918”
(“1914 – In memory of the fallen [Czech] In memory of the fallen [Polish] – In memory of the fallen [German] – 1918”).

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

First and Second World War Memorial

Karviná–Darkov (Karviná III–Darkov), near St Anne’s Chapel
After 1918; Second World War 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 in flowing robes ‒ an allegory of protection and remembrance ‒ shields a putto holding a laurel wreath; at left, a kneeling woman prays. Above is a small sun-cross motif. A later black-granite plaque with a bilingual inscription and an emblem (wreath with the 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” (“In memory of the fallen”);
below: “KARVINÁ III–DARKOV”.

An intimate Czech-Polish memorial with strong maternal/protective iconography and laurel-wreath symbolism. Originally a First World War monument, it was later adapted to include the Second World War. The relief and rustic base typify interwar local stonework.

World War OneMemorial with “Farewell” Relief

Karviná–Louky (Karviná–Łąki), near the church
Signed F. Malina (stonemason)
After 1918 (early twentieth century)
Coordinates: 49.799387, 18.584279

Tall, slender sandstone stele on a two-part base.
The front carries a large shallow “farewell” relief: a soldier in a cap with a rifle embraces a woman, while a child below reaches towards them. Beneath the relief: “1914–1918”.
Two vertical name plaques with engraved lettering are set on the base; the mason’s signature “F. MALINA” appears on the right side.

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

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

World War One Memorial Cross

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

Freestanding cross with a metal Crucifix on a tall black polished-stone pedestal, with a lantern above. Inscriptions appear on inset panels; the upper section is 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 wording): “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 a Polish inscription, erected in 1917 by the Dolní Lomná community. A simple, classic composition combining religious symbolism (Crucifix, prayer) with civic remembrance (laurel wreath). A testament to the Polish-language tradition of the local community in Cieszyn Silesia.

World War One 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 the four faces bears gilded inscriptions: one for each constituent parish (Piotrowice, Zawada, Piersna). The main face carries the 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 the gilding.

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

World War One Memorial with Mourning Woman and Urn

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

Axially composed, terraced monument: a tall figure of a mourning woman in a long robe holding an urn, set on a pedestal adorned with garlands. Below are 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 and minor biological patina.

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

A typical mourning-woman 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 One Memorial

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

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

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

Dedication (bilingual): “PADLÝM V 1. SVĚTOVÉ VÁLCE / OBČANÉ” “POLEGŁYM W I. WOJNIE ŚWIATOWEJ / OBYWATELE”
(“To the fallen in the First World War / The citizens”).

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 One 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 listing the names; the base carries simply engraved dates “1914–1918”. 

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

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