Dąbrowa Górnicza (population 2023: 113,460) is a city in the Silesian Voivodeship, in the east of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region. Historically, it belongs to Lesser Poland. The later town of Dąbrowa was founded around 1652 and was first known as Koniecpolska Wola (Koniecwola). Its rise began when black coal was discovered in this area during the Prussian occupation (1795-1807) after the third partition of Poland. From 1807-1813, Dąbrowa belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw, and after the occupation by Russia, the town was part of the initially autonomous Kingdom of Poland from 1815. In the 19th century, Dąbrowa established itself as one of the largest industrial areas in the entire Russian Empire. It was only during the Austrian occupation during the First World War that Dąbrowa was granted city rights in 1916. In 1918, already in free Poland, the town's name was adopted in its current form, although this had already been used in the 19th century after Dąbrowa was chosen as the capital of the Gorna commune (,mining commune’). The name Redenberg, which was planned after the German invasion of Poland in 1939, was not officially introduced until the restoration of the Polish state in 1945. In 1972-1976, the largest steelworks in Europe at the time, “Huta Katowice”, was built in Dąbrowa Górnicza. During the transformation period in Poland from 1989, the city, which was heavily dependent on the structurally obsolete heavy industry, lost gradually its importance.
Krakow is the second largest city in Poland and is located in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in the south of the country. The city on the Vistula River is home to approximately 775,000 people. The city is well known for the Main Market Square with the Cloth Halls and the Wawel castle, which form part of Krakow's Old Town, a UNESO World Heritage Site since 1978. Krakow is home to the oldest university in Poland, the Jagiellonian University.
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.
Upper Silesia (Polish Górny Śląsk, Czech Horní Slezsko) is the southeastern part of Silesia in modern Poland and the Czech Republic. The area lies on the Odra River and a part of the eastern Sudeten Mountains. Opole (Polish: Oppeln) is regarded as the historical capital of Upper Silesia.
Congress Poland is the name given to the Kingdom of Poland, which was under Russian suzerainty from 1815 to 1916. After the three partitions and the final dissolution of the old noble Republic of Poland-Lithuania (1772, 1793, 1795), no Polish state had existed until the Napoleonic satellite state of the Duchy of Warsaw was established in 1807-1815. During the Congress of Vienna (1815) a Polish kingdom was reestablished. However, the Polish king was the Russian tsar and emperor in personal union.
Subsequently, there were several unsuccessful uprisings of the Polish population and elite against the Russian overlordship (e.g. November Uprising 1830/1831, January Uprising 1863/1864), which, however, only led to increasing repression, massive waves of emigration and flight (Great Emigration/Wielka Emigracja) and finally to the also administrative incorporation into the Russian state.
The picture shows a map from a school atlas published in Brunswick in 1871. Highlighted are the Prussian province of Prussia and (pale red) Congress Poland (CC 1.0).
The Russian Empire (also Russian Empire or Empire of Russia) was a state that existed from 1721 to 1917 in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and North America. The country was the largest contiguous empire in modern history in the mid-19th century. It was dissolved after the February Revolution in 1917. The state was regarded as autocratically ruled and was inhabited by about 181 million people.
Cieszyn ist eine Stadt im Süden Polens an der Grenze zu Tschechien (Bevölkerungszahl 2022: 33.251). Sie liegt im Schlesischen Vorgebirge am Fluss Olsa (poln. Olza) und wurde erstmals 1155 erwähnt. Sie ist heute Teil der polnisch-tschechischen Doppelstadt Cieszyn/Český Těšín.
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.
Będzin (population 2022: 54,322) is located in the north-east of the Katowice Metropolitan Region, in the Dombrowa Coal Basin. Although it is located in the Silesian Voivodeship, Będzin is one of the oldest towns in Małopolska, to which it historically belongs. The original settlement was destroyed by the Tartars in the 12th century and the rebuilt town was granted city rights in the 13th century. A large Jewish community was already established here in the 16th century.
As part of the Third Partition of Poland-Lithuania in 1795, Będzin and the surrounding area were incorporated into Prussia as New Silesia. From 1807 to 1815, the town belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw and after the Congress of Vienna, it was part of the Russian-dependent Kingdom of Poland.
The discovery of hard coal in the region at the end of the 18th century gave the city a strong boost to its development, which was slowed down by the destruction of the First World War. In the restored Polish state, however, Będzin resumed its earlier development from 1918.
During the Second World War, the city, over 40% of whose population was Jewish, was incorporated into the newly created Eastern Upper Silesia. The Jewish population from the surrounding area was also interned in the Będzin ghetto and later deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
In the post-war period, several large housing estates and new factories were built in Będzin, but the economic decline of the town, which was heavily dependent on mining, was already apparent in the 1970s.
