Bielawa (german: Langenbielau; szl, Bielawa) is a town in southwestern Poland. Since 1999, it has been situated in Dzierżoniów County,

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województwo wałbrzyskie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.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 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 trails of varying difficulty in an park, as well as cycling trails and ski lifts.

History

The oldest known mention of Bielawa dates back to 1288, when it was part of fragmented Piast-ruled Poland. 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. In 1805 Christian Dierig founded a weaving company (''Christian Dierig AG''). During the Napoleonic Wars, the village was occupied by France. 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–Bielawa railway line opened. In 1924 Bielawa obtained town rights. During World War II the Germans established the ''FAL Langenbielau II'' subcamp of the

Gross-Rosen concentration camp , known for = , location = , built by = , operated by = , commandant = , original use = , construction = , in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945 , gas cham ...

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, 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

ImageSize = width:630 height:300 PlotArea = left:50 right:20 top:25 bottom:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late Colors = id:linegrey2 value:gray(0.9) id:linegrey value:gray(0.7) id:cobar value:rgb(0.0,0.7,0.8) id:cobar2 value:rgb(0.6,0.9,0.6) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:35000 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1000 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey2 PlotData = color:cobar width:19 align:left bar:1870 from:0 till:12000 bar:1939 from:0 till:20116 bar:1946 from:0 till:17269 bar:1950 from:0 till:22367 bar:1955 from:0 till:25520 bar:1960 from:0 till:28090 bar:1965 from:0 till:30869 bar:1970 from:0 till:31051 bar:1975 from:0 till:32328 bar:1980 from:0 till:32309 bar:1985 from:0 till:33983 bar:1990 from:0 till:34344 bar:1992 color:cobar2 from:0 till:34851 bar:1997 from:0 till:34008 bar:2002 from:0 till:31787 bar:2007 from:0 till:31106 bar:2012 from:0 till:31480 bar:2017 from:0 till:30207 bar:2021 from:0 till:29232 PlotData= textcolor:black fontsize:S bar:1870 at: 12000 text: 12000 shift:(-14,5) bar:1939 at: 20116 text: 20116 shift:(-14,5) bar:1946 at: 17269 text: 17269 shift:(-14,5) bar:1950 at: 22367 text: 22367 shift:(-14,5) bar:1955 at: 25520 text: 25520 shift:(-14,5) bar:1960 at: 28090 text: 28090 shift:(-14,5) bar:1965 at: 30869 text: 30869 shift:(-14,5) bar:1970 at: 31051 text: 31051 shift:(-14,5) bar:1975 at: 32328 text: 32328 shift:(-14,5) bar:1980 at: 32309 text: 32309 shift:(-14,5) bar:1985 at: 33983 text: 33983 shift:(-14,5) bar:1990 at: 34344 text: 34344 shift:(-14,5) bar:1992 at: 34851 text: 34851 shift:(-14,5) bar:1997 at: 34008 text: 34008 shift:(-14,5) bar:2002 at: 31787 text: 31787 shift:(-14,5) bar:2007 at: 31106 text: 31106 shift:(-14,5) bar:2012 at: 31480 text: 31480 shift:(-14,5) bar:2017 at: 30207 text: 30207 shift:(-14,5) bar:2021 at: 29232 text: 29232 shift:(-14,5)

Main sights

There are numerous historical buildings in Bielawa. At its center is the 19th-century Neo-Gothic Church of the Assumption with a 101 m tall tower, the third tallest in Poland. Other buildings include a late- Renaissance palace originally built as a fortified manor house; 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 penitential crosses.

International relations

Twin towns - sister cities

Bielawa is twinned with: *

Chatham-Kent Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 104,316)Ciechanów, 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, Velk ...

, 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, Germany

Surroundings

* Gola Dzierżoniowska Castle * Medieval town of Niemcza * Cistercian monastery at Henryków

Notable people

JRKRUK 20130304 ELENI TZOKA BUSKO IMG 8451A

* Jeremiah Dencke (1725−1795), composer * Ferdinand Gottlieb Flechtner (1811–1867), German industrialist *

Adolph Franz Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in var ...

(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 Georg Muschner (12 June 1885 – 17 May 1971) was a German cinematographer. He worked on over sixty productions during his career in the Weimar Republic, Austria, and Nazi Germany. Muschner originally worked as a portrait photographer, before en ...

(1885–1971), German cinematographer * Walter Möse (1920–1944), Wehrmacht Oberfeldwebel * Waltraut Engelberg (born 1929), author and wife of

Ernst Engelberg Ernst Engelberg (5 April 1909 – 18 December 2010) was a German university professor and Marxist historian. He made a particularly noteworthy contribution with his two-volume biography of Otto von Bismarck which in the view of at least one commen ...

Johann Alexander Wisniewsky Johann, typically a male given name, is the German language, German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin language, Latin form of the Greek language, Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew language, Hebrew name ''Johanan (name ...

(1929–2012), German industrialist *

Horst Weigang Horst Weigang (born 30 September 1940) is a German former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In the Oberliga, Weigang appeared in 234 matches for SC Lokomotive Leipzig, SC Turbine/FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt, and SC Rotation/SC/1. FC Lokomotiv ...

(born 1940), German athlete * Eleni Tzoka (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 Jarosław Kuźniar (born 29 January 1978) is a Polish television and radio presenter. Connected with TVN and TVN24 from 2010 to 2016 c. He has been the host of TV show ''X Factor'' in 2011 and 2012. Biography He graduated from High School no. 1 ...

(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 Artur "Art" Binkowski (; born February 19, 1975) is a Polish-born Canadian heavyweight boxer who competed for his adoptive country Canada at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Background Binkowski came to Canada from Poland at th ...

(born 1975), Polish-Canadian boxer *

Jarosław Jach Jarosław Przemysław Jach (born 17 February 1994) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Ekstraklasa club Zagłębie Lubin. Club career Early career Although his mother Lucyna originally wanted him to be a swimmer, y ...

(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 in Bielawa File:Bielawa zbiornik Sudety.jpg, Lake in Bielawa

References

External links

Official website

Jewish Community of Bielawa
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Dzierżoniów County Cities in Silesia