 The village has a population of 1,400.During the Second World War the village, then known as Althaus, was the base for a working party (E74) of British and Commonwealth prisoners of war, under the administration of Stalag VIIIB/344 at Łambinowice (then known as Lamsdorf) in Poland.In January 1945, as the Soviet armies resumed their offensive and advanced into Germany, the prisoners were marched westward in the so-called Long March or Death March.