A typology of associations in Austrian Silesia in the second half of the 19 th century is an attempt to reinterpret the function of an association in the region within its political, social and mental realities: the type of association, expressed by its name, is vital for understanding its function and for creating links between different types of associations within a complex national political and cultural representation.
The study examines the inception and realisation of the local train service between Svinov and Klimkovice, starting with initial considerations, and ending with its sale. The main focus is on the approach and activities of local authorities of the interested municipalities, and the part played by regional and state authorities in the realisation of the rail service. Funding sources and risks arising for the individual project participants and rail service realisation are also studied. Post-war development of the firm is also explored, namely the economic operations associated with the sale of the rail service to the Association of Moravian Local Rail Services, and the subsequent financial settlement between the local authorities and other participants in the company.
This paper introduces the agricultural interest structures of Germans in Austrian Silesia in the latter half of the 19th century as an element of modernisation of the countryside which significantly contributed to its economic, class and political emancipation, from the point of view of their gradual organisational construction and the principles of peasant association. It can be surmised that the milieu of agricultural associations, which were connected with other agricultural-economic structures in terms of their membership and interest, had the potential to advance the ideological elements of the nascent German agrarian movement at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The paper focuses on the key agricultural non-political associations along with their developmental trends which created this base in the region of Austrian Silesia. The author primarily relies on printed sources, because although the archive material devoted to agricultural associations in the region may seem very rich, it does not provide the necessary amount of relevant data. Given the current state of research, when the interest structures of associations are not given attention considering their role in the development of rural areas, this article seeks to enrich the professional discourse surrounding the issue.