| Twardocice | |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Total Type: | |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Voivodeship |
| Subdivision Name1: | Lower Silesian |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Złotoryja |
| Subdivision Type3: | Gmina |
| Subdivision Name3: | Pielgrzymka |
| Coordinates: | 51.1°N 61°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Poland |
Twardocice, German Harpersdorf,[1] [2] [3] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Pielgrzymka, within Złotoryja County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland.[4]
It lies approximately 5km (03miles) south-west of Pielgrzymka, 12km (07miles) west of Złotoryja, and 89km (55miles) west of the regional capital Wrocław.
From 1521 on Harpersdorf, since 1945 Twardocice, was part of the Habsburg province of Silesia, becoming a Prussian province in 1742, and a province in the German Empire from 1871 on.
Twardocice was mentioned for the first time in 1206. From the 16th to the early 18th century, it was the home of the Schwenkfelder religious sect, which opposed the dominant lutheran local government. The Viehweg Monument, built in 1863 and rededicated after 2003 after restoration, commemorates Schwenkfelders who were buried in the cattle paths (a sign of disgrace) in the area.[3] [5] and the surrounding villages.[6]
In 1826, the last Silesian Schwenkfelder in Harpersdorf died, the farmer Melchior Dorn.[6]
After the Second World War the whole, German speaking and religious Lutheran, population was expelled from the village and replaced by Catholic Poles.