Pszczyna

Pszczyna developed around a market square in Upper Silesia and was first mentioned in 1303. In 1407 Duke John II separated the surrounding lands as a provision for his wife Helena of Lithuania. Hussite forces attacked the town and besieged its castle in 1433 but were repulsed.

The lordship was sold to the Hungarian noble Elek Thurzo in 1517 and later passed to the Promnitz family. Pszczyna was plundered during the Thirty Years' War. In the eighteenth century the Silesian wars brought the town under Prussian rule; ownership of the estate subsequently passed to the Anhalt family.