(Reprinted from a quarterly magazine. In the introduction, the Editorial Board notes that this is the beginning of a series of articles on the history of the municipality, prepared by Mr. Bazyli Mulek. It is a kind of chronicle of the history of the lands we inhabit. Two parts of this chronicle received awards: in 1948, the second national prize in the Central Union of GS "SCH" competition entitled "The Contribution of Combatants to the Development of Rural Cooperatives"; in 1950, a county prize for "The Development of Education." It brings a tear to one's eye: in the former county town of Bolesławiec, the titled "scholarly experts on the subject" place "party warfare at the grassroots" above documenting local history, and so Bolesławiec is still waiting for a monograph by its own Tacituses and Długoszes...).
The Osiecznica Municipality is located within the Lower Silesian Forests complex, more precisely in the western part of this complex, that is, in the Bolesławiec–Zgorzelec Forest. Although this area is currently sparsely populated, it has an exceptionally long history of settlement.
The first written sources concerning localities now situated within the present-day boundaries of the Osiecznica Municipality resulted from nineteenth-century studies by German historians and date back to the thirteenth century. At that time, localities such as Ołobik, Osaieczow, Ławszowa, Kliczków and Parowa already existed. It is characteristic that, owing to their strategic location, these localities had been fortified from the very beginning,
The native population inhabiting these lands at the beginning of our millennium was the Slavic tribe of the Bobrzans, which, like all the peoples of this region, based its distinctiveness on animistic beliefs that varied among individual tribes. The population inhabiting the area of the present-day Osiecznica Municipality maintained direct trade and cultural contacts with other Slavic communities inhabiting what is now Lower Silesia, namely the Ślężans, Trzebowians, Dziadoszans and Lubuszans, who now inhabit the Lubusz Land.
During the early medieval period, the first settlement in the municipality already existed near the present-day village of Ołobok. As later chronicles indicate, around the year 800 AD a pagan temple of a god called Milibog stood in Ołobok. The names Mola Pocca and Mulibog were also used, but these appear to be names distorted by German historians. Thus, several centuries ago, Ołobok was a place of worship for the Slavs inhabiting the area around present-day Bolesławiec. This undoubtedly had enormous significance for the development of this and neighboring settlements, such as Parowa and Kliczków.
During the period when the first Slavic states were taking shape, the area of the present-day Osiecznica Municipality probably fell within the sphere of influence of the Moravian State, although it does not appear to have been under its direct authority because of the inaccessibility of the region: impenetrable forest and wetlands. Of course, it should be emphasized that road routes already existed in this area at that time, but they were few and relatively easy to defend against potential unwanted newcomers who wished to enter it.
During the initial period of the formation of Polish statehood, the Bolesławiec region—including the area of the Osiecznica Municipality—became part of the state of Mieszko I. It must nevertheless be remembered that these were the outer reaches of Mieszko's state, and thus life here generally continued without interference from princely authority. On the other hand, however, the inhabitants of these areas were exposed to constant raids by hostile tribes from the west and by German magnates who sought to seize these lands and bring them under their rule.
The settlement centers in what is now the Osiecznica Municipality lay almost directly on the Polish–Polabian border and belonged to the Bolesławiec castellany. This castellany was one of the main defensive points in the region. Around the individual settlements, the population built a system of wooden-and-earth embankments, whose remains, in the form of continuous ridges, can be observed near some of the municipality's villages, including Ławszowa.
During the early feudal period, a strong system of fortifications was established along the western border of the Polish state, running along the Oder; a series of auxiliary defensive points was created, including fortifications along the Lusatian Neisse, the Bóbr and the Kwisa. The remains of these fortifications survive in the Kliczków area and are called "Chrobry's Embankments" by local residents. As later records indicate, the fortification embankments in the Kliczków area were built on the orders of Mieszko I and later reinforced by Bolesław Chrobry. The fate of the Polish state at the dawn of its existence depended on the effectiveness of this defense system."