Srebrna Góra ' is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Stoszowice

Gmina Stoszowice

Gmina Stoszowice is a rural gmina in Ząbkowice Śląskie County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its seat is the village of Stoszowice, which lies approximately west of Ząbkowice Śląskie, and south of the regional capital Wrocław.The gmina covers an area of , and as of 2006...

, within Ząbkowice Śląskie County

Zabkowice Slaskie County

Ząbkowice Śląskie County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. The county covers an area of...

, Lower Silesian Voivodeship

Lower Silesian Voivodeship

Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province , is one of the 16 voivodeships into which Poland is currently divided. It lies in southwestern Poland...

, in south-western Poland. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

It lies on the northern slope of the Owl Mountains

Owl Mountains

The Owl Mountains is a mountain range in the Central Sudetes in south-west Poland. It runs between the historic Lower Silesian region and Kłodzko Land. The range includes a protected area called Owl Mountains Landscape Park....

 range, approximately 6 kilometres (4 mi) south-west of Stoszowice

Stoszowice

Stoszowice is a village in Ząbkowice Śląskie County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Stoszowice. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany....

, 11 kilometres (7 mi) west of Ząbkowice Śląskie

Zabkowice Slaskie

Ząbkowice Śląskie is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Ząbkowice Śląskie County, and of the smaller administrative district called Gmina Ząbkowice Śląskie....

, and 67 kilometres (42 mi) south-west of the regional capital Wrocław. The village has an approximate population of 1,500.

The silver mining

Silver mining

Silver mining refers to the resource extraction of the precious metal element silver by mining.-History:Silver has been known since ancient times. It is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, and slag heaps found in Asia Minor and on the islands of the Aegean Sea indicate that silver was being separated...

 area was mentioned in a 1331 deed issued by the Silesian

Silesian Piasts

The Silesian Piasts were the oldest line of the Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile, son of Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Poland...

 duke Bolko II of Ziębice

Bolko II of Ziębice

Bolko II of Ziębice was a Duke of Jawor-Lwówek-Świdnica-Ziębice in Poland from 1301 to 1312 , of Świdnica-Ziębice from 1312 to 1322 , and sole Duke of Ziębice from 1322 until his death.He was the fourth son of Bolko I the Strict, Duke of Jawor-Lwówek-Świdnica-Ziębice, by his wife Beatrix,...

 in 1331, a Bohemian

Kingdom of Bohemia

The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...

 vassal from 1336, the settlement itself in 1417. Located near the border of the Duchy of Ziębice (Münsterberg) with the Bohemian County of Kladsko

County of Kladsko

The County of Kladsko was a historical administrative unit in the Kingdom of Bohemia and later in the Kingdom of Prussia with its capital at Kłodzko on the Nysa river...

 on the mountain pass road to Nowa Ruda

Nowa Ruda

Nowa Ruda is a town in south-western Poland near the Czech border, lying on the Włodzica river in the central Sudetes mountains. As of 2007 it has 25,240 inhabitants. The town is located in Kłodzko County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship...

, Silberberg was often hit by military confrontations, at first by the Hussite Wars

Hussite Wars

The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars involved the military actions against and amongst the followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia in the period 1419 to circa 1434. The Hussite Wars were notable for the extensive use of early hand-held gunpowder weapons such as hand cannons...

, later also by the Thirty Years' War

Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....

, which left the area devastated.

In 1536 Silberberg received city rights

German town law

German town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...

 and mining privileges, and after the Duchy of Ziębice as a reverted fief had fallen to the Bohemian Crown

Lands of the Bohemian Crown

The Lands of the Bohemian Crown , also called the Lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas or simply the Bohemian Crown or Czech Crown lands , refers to the area connected by feudal relations under the joint rule of the Bohemian kings...

, the area was purchased by the noble House of Rosenberg

House of Rosenberg

The Rosenberg family was the most significant and influential Bohemian noble family playing important role in Czech medieval history from 13th century till 1611...

 in 1581. It passed to Duke Joachim Frederick of Legnica

Joachim Frederick of Brieg

Joachim Frederick of Brieg Joachim Frederick of Brieg Joachim Frederick of Brieg , , was a Duke of Oława and Wołów and Brzeg and Legnica ....

 in 1599 and finally fell back to Bohemia upon the death of the last Piast duke George William of Legnica

George William, Duke of Liegnitz

George William of Legnica was the last Duke of Legnica and Brieg since 1672 until his death.He was the eldest but only surviving son of Christian, Duke of Legnica-Brzeg-Wołów-Oława by his wife Louise, daughter of John Casimir, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau.-Life:Duke Christian, who spent many years in...

 in 1675. With most of Silesia

Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

, it was annexed by King Frederick II of Prussia

Frederick II of Prussia

Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...

 after the First Silesian War

Silesian Wars

The Silesian Wars were a series of wars between Prussia and Austria for control of Silesia. They formed parts of the larger War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War. They eventually ended with Silesia being incorporated into Prussia, and Austrian recognition of this...

 in 1742.

Frederick II had a border fortress of the Prussian Army

Prussian Army

The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...

 built at Silberberg, finished in 1778, which after the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 served as a prison in the pre-revolutionary Vormärz

Vormärz

' is the time period leading up to the failed March 1848 revolution in the German Confederation. Also known as the Age of Metternich, it was a period of Austrian and Prussian police states and vast censorship in response to calls for liberalism...

era. Among the inmates was the author Fritz Reuter

Fritz Reuter

Fritz Reuter was a novelist from Northern Germany who was one of the most prominent contributors to Low German literature.-Early life:...

, arrested here from 1834 until 1837, as well as the editor Wilhelm Wolff

Wilhelm Wolff

Wilhelm Friedrich Wolff, nicknamed Lupus was a German schoolmaster from Tarnau , Galicia. In 1831 he became active as a radical student organization member, something he was imprisoned for between 1834 and 1838...

.