After the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire a modern municipal division was introduced in the re-established Austrian Silesia. The village as a municipality was subscribed at first to the political district of Teschen and the legal district of Freistadt, which in 1868 became an independent political district. According to the censuses from 1880–1910 the population of the municipality grew from 614 in 1880 to 2,305 in 1910 with a majority being native Polish-speakers (dropping from 97.4% in 1880 to 94.8% in 1900, then growing to 96.5% in 1910) accompanied by German-speaking (between 1.8% and 3.9%) and Czech-speaking people (between 0.3% and 1.3%). In terms of religion in 1910 the majority were Roman Catholics (2,042 or 88.6%), followed by Protestants (223 or 9.7%) and Jews (39 or 1.7%).[9][10] The village was also traditionally inhabited by Silesian Lachs, speaking Cieszyn Silesian dialect.
The village is well known for its Darkov Spa facilities, established in 1866 which treats various diseases, mostly diseases of locomotive organs, conditions after accidents and operations etc. It has one of the best iodine-bromine waters in Central Europe.
Darkov together with neighboring villages suffered of under-mining caused by nearby coal mines. This affected the character of the village as many inhabitants relocated to nearby villages and towns, thus seriously depopulating the village.
Sights
Prominent landmark is the Karviná-Darkov bridge on the Olza built in 1922–1925, located just near the spa. In 1991 it was inscribed on the state register of technical monuments. It was renovated in the 2000s.
^This leaves the question what happened to Bertholdi villa, as it indeed lay somewhere in the vicinity but is now considered lost. It was probably absorbed by another nearby village, but not necessarily by Darkov.[6]
^ abcMrózek, Robert (1984). Nazwy miejscowe dawnego Śląska Cieszyńskiego [Local names of former Cieszyn Silesia] (in Polish). Katowice: Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach. p. 57. ISSN0208-6336.
^ abPanic, Idzi (2010). Śląsk Cieszyński w średniowieczu (do 1528) [Cieszyn Silesia in Middle Ages (until 1528)] (in Polish). Cieszyn: Starostwo Powiatowe w Cieszynie. p. 299. ISBN978-83-926929-3-5.
^Hosák, Ladislav; Rudolf Šrámek (1970). Místní jména na Moravě a ve Slezsku I, A-L. Prague: Academia. p. 171.
^Panic, Idzi (2011). Śląsk Cieszyński w początkach czasów nowożytnych (1528-1653) [Cieszyn Silesia in the beginnings of Modern Era (1528-1653)] (in Polish). Cieszyn: Starostwo Powiatowe w Cieszynie. pp. 226–227. ISBN978-83-926929-5-9.