The former rural municipality, one of Silesia's largest, joined the city of Ostrava in 1976. Since 1991 Polanka has been one of Ostrava's 23 districts. Polanka's roots reach back to the l4th century even though the oldest written record dates back only to 1424, the era of the Lords of Kravaře. Split into two domains, the Upper and Lower Polankas changed owners many times. Let us name a few: the Mönnichs and the Larischs in the l8th and l9th centuries and, last but not least, the Blüchers of Wahlstatt. The Renaissance fortress was converted into a baroque château with the St Michael's Chapel. Following the last vast repair of 1895, the mansion was given up to slow but steady decay, having been reduced to mere barn by now. In 1850, both parts of Polanka reunited into one political municipality. In 1847 Polanka found itself situated next to the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway (Cracovia-Vienna): In terms of cultural sights Polanka offers the Cross of Conciliation (probably the lóth century) and the 1747 baroque statue of John of Pomuk. Both are registered monuments. Polanka's architecture is dominated by the St Ann's Catholic Church built in the neo-Gothic style and decorated with figural and mosaic windows and the Way-of- the-Cross relief in 1893. Other building objects worth mentioning include the public chapel (1829); the former school, now Community House (1873), occupied by the magistrate and the post office; Frank's Chapel (1877), now funeral house; the parish (1898); the old school (1905); the Worker's House (1930); the Hus Congregation (1933) with the bell (1733) transferred here from the old château chapel; the new basic school (1952) with Helena Salichová's tablet; the cinema, etc. Polanka nad Odrou is the birthplace of Jiří Král (15 March, 1910), founder and commander of the first Czechoslovak military unit abroad (Cracovia, 1939) who lost his life as military pilot in France in 1940. His portrait was found on post-war Czechoslovak stamps of 1945 and his memorial tablet was placed on the house in Janová where he was born. Since 1929, Helena Salichová (born in 1895 at Kyjovice) had lived in Polanka. She was painter, author and was dedicated to collecting folk songs and other ethnographic material, especially national costumes. Leoš Janáček and Petr Bezruč were her friends, especially Bezruč, who visited Polanka many times. Having died in 1975, she was buried in the cemetery of Polanka under the tombstone made by Miroslav Rybička. A tablet in memory of her was placed on the house no. 732. Polanka is situated on the Oder which copies the line of the natural reserve called Polanská Niva. A part of it belongs to the adjacent National Reserve of Poodří. Beside the specific flora and fauna of the beautiful inundation forests, many ponds and tiny streams, there are four pump stations in the area which supply the nearby spa of Klimkovice-Hýlov with iodine and bromium containing water. Another attraction are the two erratic boulders discovered in the close sand pit. They were incorporated into two local memorials.