|BOHUMIN: Karvina, Silesia| town image, town web site in Czech,
and web site : "Historical documents regarding the first
centuries of the town are scarce. King Louis II granted the town
and château of Bohumín to George, Margrave of Brandenburg-
Ansbach in 1523. The town began to develop during rule by the
House of Hohenzollern, although further development of Bogumin
was halted by frequent epidemics of bubonic plague and floodings
of the Olza. It was officially known in German as Oderberg, and
by the end of the 16th century the majority of citizens followed
Protestantism. The successor after the Hohenzollerns in 1620 was
Lazar Henckel, whose family of bankers and entrepreneurs hailed
from Habsburg-ruled Hungary. In 1624 only 138 permanent
residents lived in the town. After defeating Maria Theresa of
Austria during the Silesian Wars, King Frederick II of Prussia
annexed most of Silesia, although Oderberg remained in Austrian
Silesia. The town successively became part of the Austrian
Empire (1804) and Austria-Hu