Bielawa (german: Langenbielau; szl, Bielawa) is a town in southwestern
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. Since 1999, it has been situated in
Dzierżoniów County
__NOTOC__
Dzierżoniów County ( pl, powiat dzierżoniowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish ...
,
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province, in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałbrz ...
. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of the
Wałbrzych Voivodeship
Walbrzych Voivodeship ( pl, województwo wałbrzyskie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
Major cities and towns (population in 1995)
...
. As of December 2021, it has a population of 29,232.
Bielawa lies in the central part of Lower Silesia, along the Bielawica stream in the
Owl Mountains
The Owl Mountains ( pl, Góry Sowie, cs, Soví hory, german: Eulengebirge) are a mountain range of the Central Sudetes in southwestern Poland. It includes a protected area called Owl Mountains Landscape Park.
Geography
The Owl Mountains cover ...
region. The town covers an area in excess of .
Bielawa lies at an altitude range of 280 and 964 m above sea level, in the Owl Mountains. The town is a year-round tourist destination; its outdoor attractions include four major
hiking
Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...
trails of varying difficulty in an park, as well as
cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
trails and
ski lift
A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald.
Types
* Aerial l ...
s.
History
The oldest known mention of Bielawa dates back to 1288, when it was part of fragmented
Piast
The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great.
Branche ...
-ruled
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
.
Its name is of Polish origin and is derived from the word ''biela'', ''bila'', current Polish ''biała'' ("white").
[
In 1720 the first brick house was built in the village and in 1741 it was captured and afterwards annexed by ]Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
. In 1805 Christian Dierig founded a weaving company (''Christian Dierig AG''). During the Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, the village was occupied by France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. In 1844 it was the site of the Weavers' Uprising
Silesian weavers' uprising of 1844 (German: Schlesischer Weberaufstand) was a revolt against contractors who supplied the weavers of Silesia with raw material and gave them orders for finished textiles but drastically reduced their payments.
Sil ...
, brutally crushed by the Prussians.[ From 1871 to 1945 it was part of Germany. In 1891 the ]Dzierżoniów
Dzierżoniów (; szl, Rychbach; german: Reichenbach im Eulengebirge ) is a town located at the foot of the Owl Mountains in southwestern Poland, within the Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975 to 1998 in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship). It is ...
–Bielawa railway line opened. In 1924 Bielawa obtained town rights
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
.[ During ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the Germans established the ''FAL Langenbielau II'' subcamp
Subcamps (german: KZ-Außenlager), also translated as satellite camps, were outlying detention centres (''Haftstätten'') that came under the command of a main concentration camp run by the SS in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The Nazi ...
of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in the town. In 1945 it was captured by the Soviets
Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union.
Nationality policy in th ...
and eventually reintegrated with Poland. Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
, refugees of the Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
, settled in Bielawa in the 1950s.
Demographics
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Main sights
There are numerous historical buildings in Bielawa. At its center is the 19th-century Neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
Church of the Assumption with a 101 m tall tower, the third tallest in Poland. Other buildings include a late-Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
palace originally built as a fortified manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
; the Church of the Corpus Christi, erected in 1743; and numerous 18th-century Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
houses that were restored in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also a home to a number of medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
penitential crosses.
International relations
Twin towns - sister cities
Bielawa is twinned with:
* Chatham-Kent
Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 104,316)[Ciechanów
Ciechanów is a city in north-central Poland. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Ciechanów Voivodeship. Since 1999, it has been situated in the Masovian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, it has a population of 43,495.
History
The ...]
, Poland
* Hronov
Hronov () is a town in Náchod District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,000 inhabitants. It is known as the birthplace of writer Alois Jirásek.
Administrative parts
Villages of Malá Čermná, Rokytník, Ve ...
, Czech Republic
* Kostelec nad Orlicí
Kostelec nad Orlicí (; german: Adlerkosteletz) is a town in Rychnov nad Kněžnou District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,100 inhabitants.
Administrative parts
Villages of Koryta, Kostelecká Lhota and Kozodr ...
, Czech Republic
* Lingen
Lingen (), officially Lingen (Ems), is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 2008, its population was 52,353, and in addition there were about 5,000 people who registered the city as their secondary residence. Lingen, specifically "Lingen (Ems)" is ...
, Germany
Surroundings
* Gola Dzierżoniowska Castle
The Gola Castle (german: Schloss Guhlau) erected in the second half of the 16th century is situated in the village of Gola Dzierżoniowska, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It is located 4 km north-west of Niemcza, 18&nbs ...
* Medieval town of Niemcza
Niemcza (german: Nimptsch) is a town in Dzierżoniów County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Niemcza.
The town lies on the Ślęza River, approximately eas ...
* Cistercian monastery at Henryków
Notable people
* Jeremiah Dencke (1725−1795), composer
* Ferdinand Gottlieb Flechtner (1811–1867), German industrialist
* Adolph Franz (1842–1916), German politician
* Friedrich Dierig (1845–1931), German industrialist
* Arthur Philipp Flechtner (1858–1936), Prussian General
* Karl Franz Karl may refer to:
People
* Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
* Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne
* Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer
* Karl of Austria, last Austria ...
(1881–1967), German politician
* Georg Muschner (1885–1971), German cinematographer
* Walter Möse (1920–1944), Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
Oberfeldwebel
* Waltraut Engelberg (born 1929), author and wife of Ernst Engelberg
* Johann Alexander Wisniewsky (1929–2012), German industrialist
* Horst Weigang (born 1940), German athlete
* Eleni Tzoka
Eleni Tzoka (née Milopoulou; 27 April 1956, Bielawa) is a Polish singer of Greek descent.
Biography
Tzoka was born to a Greek family which emigrated to Poland in the 1950s.Papiernik, Joanna"Eleni - wielkie greckie serce" ludzie.senior.pl; acce ...
(born 1956), Polish singer
* Aleksandra Kwasniewska (born 1978), Polish singer
* Robert Skibniewski
Robert Skibniewski (born 19 July 1983) is a Polish professional basketball player for GTK Gliwice of the Polish League. He is a 182 cm (6 ft 0 in) tall point guard.
Professional career
Skibniewski was the Polish Cup MVP, in 2011.
Nat ...
(born 1983), Polish basketball player
* Jarosław Kuźniar (born 1979), Polish journalist and TV presenter
* Janusz Góra
Janusz Góra (born 8 July 1963) is a Polish professional football manager and former player who played for Górnik Wałbrzych, Śląsk Wrocław, Stuttgarter Kickers, SSV Ulm 1846 and FC Augsburg. He is the director of Śląsk Wrocław's academy a ...
(born 1963), Polish footballer
* Art Binkowski (born 1975), Polish-Canadian boxer
* Jarosław Jach (born 1994), Polish footballer
Gallery
File:Zbiornik Sudety w Bielawie.jpg, Parkowa Hill and Bielawa Lake in Bielawa
File:8126viki Kościół pw. Wniebowzięcia NMP w Bielawie. Foto Barbara Maliszewska.jpg, Church of the Assumption of Mary
File:Pensjonat Leśny Dworek d. willa Dieriga Waldhaus w Bielawie.jpg, Pension Leśny Dworek
File:Hotel Spa in Bielawa, summer 2014 (1).JPG, Palace
File:Market Square in Bielawa (2).jpg, Town hall
File:Park Miejski w Bielawie.jpg, City Park in Bielawa
File:Bielawa Aquarius.jpg, swimming pool "Aquarius" in Bielawa
File:Bielawa - pomnik papieża.JPG, Monument of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
in Bielawa
File:Bielawa zbiornik Sudety.jpg, Lake in Bielawa
References
External links
Official website
Jewish Community of Bielawa
on Virtual Shtetl
The Virtual Shtetl ( pl, Wirtualny Sztetl) is a bilingual Polish-English portal of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, devoted to the Jewish history of Poland.
History
The Virtual Shtetl website was officially launched on June ...
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Dzierżoniów County
Cities in Silesia