Cieszyn (/ˈtʃɛʃɪn/ CHESH-in, Polish: [ˈt͡ɕɛʂɨn] ⓘ; Czech: Těšín [ˈcɛʃiːn] ⓘ; German: Teschen; Latin: Tessin; Silesian: Ćeszyn) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship.

The town has 33,500 inhabitants (as of December 2021),[update][1] and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Republic.

[citation needed] Cieszyn is the southern terminus of the Polish National road 1 leading to Gdańsk on the Baltic coast.

Because of several major fires and subsequent reconstructions (the last one in the late 18th century), the picturesque old town is sometimes called Little Vienna.

In the 19th century Teschen was known for its ethnic, religious and cultural diversity, containing mostly German, Polish, Jewish and Czech communities.

[7] The town was divided in July 1920, by the Spa Conference, a body formed by the Versailles Treaty, leaving a Polish minority on the Czechoslovak side.

Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Cieszyn was occupied by Germany until 1945.

In 1939–1940, the Germans carried out mass arrests of local Poles during the genocidal Intelligenzaktion campaign, and then imprisoned them in a newly established Nazi prison in the town.

[13] On 19 July 1970, five firefighters from Cieszyn died when a bridge they were on fell into the Olza River, due to heavy flooding.

It is also the site of the Olza Cieszyn sweets factory (where the famous Prince Polo wafers are made) and the Brackie Browar, where Żywiec Porter is brewed.