1895 - Macierz Szkolna for the Duchy of Cieszyn launches a Polish secondary school

On the initiative of Paweł Stalmach, the leader of the Polish national movement in Cieszyn Silesia, in 1885, an educational association Macierz Szkolna dla Księstwa Cieszyńskiego was established with the task of supporting education in Polish, raising funds for its development, and above all the founding of a Polish secondary school to create a Polish intelligentsia. The Macierz Szkolna association's main goal was realized only after Stalmach's death. On October 10, 1895, the first Polish secondary school in Cieszyn started its activity. The school, existing initially as a private school, had its headquarters in a rented tenement house at today's Stalmacha street. After eight years, in 1903, the school was completed by the first year of 19 graduates. That year, the school was nationalized, thanks to which Macierz could focus on other tasks.