Return to Silesia
Longing for Home – Journeys Back to the “Old Homeland”
Silesia (Polish: Śląsk, Czech: Slezsko) is a historical landscape, which today is mainly located in the extreme southwest of Poland, but in parts also on the territory of Germany and the Czech Republic. By far the most significant river is the Oder. To the south, Silesia is bordered mainly by the Sudeten and Beskid mountain ranges. Today, almost 8 million people live in Silesia. The largest cities in the region are Wrocław, Opole and Katowice. Before 1945, most of the region was part of Prussia for two hundred years, and before the Silesian Wars (from 1740) it was part of the Habsburg Empire for almost as many years. Silesia is classified into Upper and Lower Silesia.
The People's Republic of Poland was a socialist state in the Soviet sphere of influence that existed from 1944 to 1989 (until 1952 as the Republic of Poland). Its borders correspond to those of present-day Poland. The legitimacy of the form of government was based on the 1946 referendum and the 1947 election, the results of which were, however, falsified. In 1948, the parties of the so-called Democratic Bloc were forcibly merged into the Socialist Unity Party of the one-party state. The communist Polish United Workers' Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, PZPR) ruled until the end of the People's Republic.
Travel Accounts: Personal Memories and Historical Documents
The First Journeys Home and Organized Group Trips
“Homesickness Tourism” in the Era of Political Détente
The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was the second German state after World War II. It was proclaimed on October 7, 1949, and comprised the eastern part of present-day Germany. It was established in place of the Soviet occupation zone in response to the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in the territory of the Western Allies' occupation zones on May 24, 1949. Its capital was the eastern part (Soviet sector) of Berlin, which was contrary to the Allies' agreement on the joint administration of Berlin. The GDR increasingly isolated itself, especially from the Western states, which culminated visually in the construction of the Berlin Wall. Despite its name, the GDR was an undemocratically ruled puppet state of the Soviet Union until 1989. The existence of the GDR ended on October 3, 1990, with its unification with the Federal Republic of Germany (“reunification”).
At 1,603 m above sea level, Sněžka (Polish: Śnieżka) is the highest mountain in the Giant Mountains. Since 1945, the Polish-Czech border has run across its summit. The first known ascent of the summit took place in the 16th century. In the 19th century, Sněžka the touristic infrastructure was expanded here, and today Sněžka is a popular destination in Lower Silesia.
Giebułtów (population in 2021: 1,337) is a village in the Lwówek Śląski County in southwestern Poland. It was originally part of Lusatia and served as the seat of the Gebhardsdorf estate from 1592. From 1815, the area belonged to Lower Silesia and was part of the Lauban County until 1945.
Late Return Journeys and Tracing Family Roots
Chocianów (population in 2025: 7,206) is a city in southwestern Poland. It is located in the northwest of Lower Silesia. The town, which has been known since the 13th century, experienced an economic boom thanks to the ironworks founded in the mid-19th century. During World War II, a labor camp was established in the town as a branch of the Groß-Rosen concentration camp. The camp’s inmates were put to work at the aircraft engine factory that was built on the steelworks grounds. The town has been part of Poland since 1945. The metal industry in Chocianów was phased out in the 21st century.
Wrocław (German: Breslau) is one of the largest cities in Poland (population in 2025: 672,601). It is located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in the southwest of the country.
Initially under Bohemian, Piast and at other times Hungarian rule, the Habsburgs took over the Silesian territories in 1526, including Wrocław. Another turning point in the city's history was the occupation of Wroclaw by Prussian troops in 1741 and the subsequent incorporation of a large part of Silesia into the Kingdom of Prussia.
The dramatic increase in population and the fast-growing industrialization led to the rapid urbanization of the suburbs and their incorporation, which was accompanied by the demolition of the city walls at the beginning of the 19th century. By 1840, Breslau had already grown into a large city with 100,000 inhabitants. At the end of the 19th century, the cityscape, which was often still influenced by the Middle Ages, changed into a large city in the Wilhelmine style. The highlight of the city's development before the First World War was the construction of the Exhibition Park as the new center of Wrocław's commercial future with the Centennial Hall from 1913, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2006.
In the 1920s and 30s, 36 villages were incorporated and housing estates were built on the outskirts of the city. In order to meet the great housing shortage after the First World War, housing cooperatives were also commissioned to build housing estates.
Declared a fortress in 1944, Wrocław was almost completely destroyed during the subsequent fightings in the first half of 1945. Reconstruction of the now Polish city lasted until the 1960s.
Of the Jewish population of around 20,000, only 160 people found their way back to the city after the Second World War. Between 1945 and 1947, most of the city's remaining or returning - German - population was forced to emigrate and was replaced by people from the territory of the pre-war Polish state, including the territories lost to the Soviet Union.
After the political upheaval of 1989, Wrocław rose to new, impressive heights. The transformation process and its spatial consequences led to a rapid upswing in the city, supported by Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004. Today, Wrocław is one of the most prosperous cities in Poland.
Katowice (population 2023: 279,190) is the largest city in Upper Silesia and the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. The village of Katowice, first mentioned in 1598, developed around a hammer mill. In addition to the iron ore deposits, hard coal provided the basis for the development of the settlement, but the decisive boost came in 1846 with the construction of the railroad link, which initially connected the Upper Silesian industrial region with Berlin via Katowice and also made it possible to transport coal and steel products from the surrounding area to distant markets. The town's rapid population growth led to it being granted city rights 1865. Due to its location close to the Prussian borders with Russia and Austria-Hungary, Katowice quickly developed into an international transportation hub. After the division of Upper Silesia between Germany and the restored Polish state, Katowice became the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship in 1922. It was regarded as an important center of German culture in Polish East Silesia, and at the same time as a place where a Polish cultural tradition with modern tendencies manifested in architecture. After the German invasion in 1939, Katowice became the capital of the newly founded Gau of Upper Silesia in 1941. In 1945, a significant part of the city center was destroyed, mainly in the course of the liberation campaign by Soviet troops. After the war, the Polish authorities expelled most of the inhabitants to Germany who could not provide proof of their Polish origin. Katowice continued to expand its role as a multifunctional center, with the 1970s being crucial.
Hirschberg valley, a Silesian landscape rich in castles and monuments, became known as the "Silesian Elysium" in the middle of the 19th century and remained a touristic hot spot until the Second World War. Many of its towns and villages date back to the settlement by Germans in the 13th century. As early as 1305, 24 villages in Hirschberg valley were mentioned in documents, Hirschberg itself followed in 1355.
























