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Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of . It is a centre of the Bielsko Urban Agglomeration with 325,000 inhabitants and is an administrative, automotive, education, transport, and tourism hub of Podbeskiedzie Region as well as the Bielsko Industrial Region. It serves as the seat of the
Bielsko County __NOTOC__ Bielsko County ( pl, powiat bielski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reform ...
, Euroregion Beskydy, Roman Catholic Diocese of Bielsko–Żywiec and the Evangelical Church Diocese of Cieszyn. Situated north of the
Beskid Mountains The Beskids or Beskid Mountains ( pl, Beskidy, cs, Beskydy, sk, Beskydy, rue, Бескиды (''Beskydŷ''), ua, Бескиди (''Beskydy'')) are a series of mountain ranges in the Carpathian Mountains, Carpathians, stretching from the Czech ...
, Bielsko-Biała is composed of two former towns which merged in 1951 – ''Bielsko'' in the west and ''Biała'' in the east – on opposite banks of the Biała River that once divided Silesia and Lesser Poland. Between 1975 and 1998, the city was the seat of Bielsko Voivodeship and currently lies within the Silesian Voivodeship. The city is currently subdivided into 12 districts and is a member of the Association of Polish Cities (''Związek Miast Polskich'').


History

Both city names, Bielsko and Biała refer to the Biała River, with etymology stemming from either ''biel'' or ''biała'', which means "white" in Polish.


Bielsko

The remnants of a fortified settlement in what is now the Stare Bielsko (Old Bielsko) district of the city were discovered between 1933 and 1938 by a Polish archaeological team. The settlement was dated to the 12th – 14th centuries. Its dwellers manufactured iron from ore and specialized in
smithery A metalsmith or simply smith is a craftsperson fashioning useful items (for example, tools, kitchenware, tableware, jewelry, armor and weapons) out of various metals. Smithing is one of the oldest metalworking occupations. Shaping metal with a ...
. The current centre of the town was probably developed as early as the first half of the 13th century. At that time a castle (which still survives today) was built on a hill. In the second half of the 13th century, the Piast dukes of
Opole Opole (; german: Oppeln ; szl, Ôpole) ; * Silesian: ** Silesian PLS alphabet: ''Ôpole'' ** Steuer's Silesian alphabet: ''Uopole'' * Silesian German: ''Uppeln'' * Czech: ''Opolí'' * Latin: ''Oppelia'', ''Oppolia'', ''Opulia'' is a city loc ...
invited German settlers to colonize the Silesian Foothills. As the dukes then also ruled over the Lesser Poland lands east of the Biała River, settlements arose on both banks like ''Bielitz'' (now Stare Bielsko), ''Nickelsdorf'' ( Mikuszowice Śląskie), ''Kamitz'' ( Kamienica), ''Batzdorf'' ( Komorowice Śląskie) and '' Kurzwald'' in the west as well as ''Kunzendorf'' ( Lipnik), ''Alzen'' (
Hałcnów Hałcnów is an osiedle (district) of Bielsko-Biała, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It is located in the north-east part of the city. It was a separate municipality, but was merged into Bielsko-Biała in 1977. The osiedle has an area of 13 ...
) and ''Wilmesau'' ( Wilamowice) in the east. Nearby settlements in the mountains were ''Lobnitz'' ( Wapienica) and ''Bistrai'' ( Bystra). After the partition of the Duchy of Opole in 1281, Bielsko passed to the Dukes of Cieszyn within fragmented Poland. The town was first documented in 1312 when Duke Mieszko I of Cieszyn granted a town charter. The Biała again became a border river, when in 1315 the eastern
Duchy of Oświęcim The Duchy of Oświęcim ( pl, Księstwo Oświęcimskie), or the Duchy of Auschwitz (german: Herzogtum Auschwitz), was one of many Duchies of Silesia, formed in the aftermath of the fragmentation of Poland. It was established about 1315 on the Le ...
split off from Cieszyn as a separate under Mieszko's son Władysław. After the Dukes of Cieszyn had become vassals of the Bohemian kings in 1327 and the Duchy of Oświęcim was sold to the Polish Crown in 1457, returning to Lesser Poland after three centuries, the Biała River for next centuries marked the border between the Bohemian crown land of Silesia within the Holy Roman Empire and the Lesser Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. With Bohemia and the Upper Silesian Duchy of Cieszyn, Bielsko in 1526 was inherited by the Austrian House of Habsburg and incorporated into the
Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
. From 1560 Bielsko was held by Frederick Casimir of Cieszyn, son of Duke Wenceslaus III Adam, who due to the enormous debts his son left upon his death in 1571, had to sell it to the Promnitz noble family at
Pless Pleß or Pless may refer to: Places *Pleß, a municipality in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria, Germany * Pszczyna (German: Pleß), a town in southern Poland ** Duchy of Pless, a historic territory in Silesia * Pleß (mountain), a mounta ...
. With the consent of Emperor Maximilian II, the Promnitz dynasty and their
Schaffgotsch The House of Schaffgotsch is the name of an old and influential Silesian noble family which dates back to the thirteenth century. History Around 1240, the first Schaffgotsch appears in a Silesian document as "Sibotho de nobili Familia Ovium" ("o ...
successors ruled the
Duchy of Bielsko The Duchy of Bielsko (german: freie Standesherrschaft Bielitz, Fürstentum Bielitz, Herzogtum Bielitz, la, status minores Bilicensis, status maiores Bilicensis, ducatus Bilicensis, pl, księstwo bielskie, cs, Bílské knížectví ) was one of th ...
as a Bohemian
state country State country (german: Freie Standesherrschaft; cs, stavovské panství; pl, państwo stanowe) was a unit of administrative and territorial division in the Bohemian crown lands of Silesia and Upper Lusatia, existing from 15th to 18th centuries. T ...
; acquired by the Austrian chancellor
Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Haugwitz (german: Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Haugwitz), cs, Fridrich Vilém Haugwitz; 11 December 1702, Electorate of Saxony, Saxony – 30 August 1765, Miroslavské Knínice, Deutsch Knönitz ( cs, Miroslavské Kní ...
in 1743, and afterwards by Polish aristocrat
Aleksander Józef Sułkowski Aleksander Józef Sułkowski (15 March 1695 – 21 May 1762) was a Polish general and the progenitor of the Sułkowski noble line. He was politically active in Poland, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and in the Electorate of Saxony. Born i ...
in 1752, the ducal status was finally confirmed by Empress
Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
in 1754. It remained in possession of the Polish
Sułkowski family The House of Sułkowski (Polish plural: ''Sułkowscy'') is a Polish princely family and gentry who owned palaces in Rydzyna and Bielsko. Coat of arms and motto Family motto: ''All for the Fatherland''. image:POL_COA_Sułkowski_hrabia.svg, Coat ...
until the dissolution of the duchy in 1849, while the castle was still owned by the Sułkowskis until World War II. After the Prussian king Frederick the Great had invaded Silesia, Bielsko remained with the Habsburg monarchy as part of Austrian Silesia according to the 1742
Treaty of Breslau The Treaty of Breslau was a preliminary peace agreement signed on 11 June 1742 following long negotiations at the Silesian capital Wrocław (german: Breslau) by emissaries of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria and King Frederick II of Prussia ...
. In late 1849 Bielsko became a seat of political district. In 1870 it became a statutory city.


Biała

The opposite bank of the Biała River, again Polish since 1454, had been sparsely settled since the mid-16th century. A locality was first mentioned in a 1564 deed, it received the name Biała in 1584, and belonged at that time to
Kraków Voivodeship Kraków Voivodeship may also refer to: *Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) * Kraków Voivodeship (1816–1837) *Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) *Kraków Voivodeship (1945–1975) *Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998) The Kraków Voivodeshi ...
. Its population increased during the
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
in the Habsburg lands, when many Protestant artisans from Bielsko moved across the river. Though already named a town in the 17th century, Biała officially was granted city rights by the Polish king Augustus II the Strong in 1723. In the course of the First Partition of Poland in 1772, Biała was annexed by the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy and incorporated into the crownland of
Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...
. The Protestant citizens received the right to establish parishes according to the 1781 Patent of Toleration by Emperor Joseph II. ''Biala'' was head of the district with the same name, one of the 78 ''Bezirkshauptmannschaften'' in the
Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...
crownland.


Modern times

Although separate, the two cities effectively functioned as one urban area known as Bielsko-Biała since the 19th century. With the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918 according to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, both cities became part of the reconstituted Polish state, although the majority of the population was German, forming a German language island. Some ethnic German citizens formed an
anti-Polish Polonophobia, also referred to as anti-Polonism, ( pl, Antypolonizm), and anti-Polish sentiment are terms for negative attitudes, prejudices, and actions against Poles as an ethnic group, Poland as their country, and their culture. These incl ...
, anti-Jewish ''
Jungdeutsche Partei ''Jungdeutsche Partei in Polen'' (JDP), or the Young German Party in Poland ( pl, Partia Młodoniemiecka w Polsce), was a Nazi German extreme right-wing political party founded in 1931 by members of the ethnic German minority residing in the Seco ...
'', supported financially by the Foreign Ministry of Nazi Germany. Its members smuggled weapons and waged a campaign of intimidating other German residents to leave for Germany. A considerable number of young Germans joined this Party during the mid-1930s. During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II, the '' Einsatzgruppe I'' entered Bielsko-Biała in the first half of September 1939 to torture, plunder, and murder Jews. During the war Bielsko-Biała was annexed and
occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...
by Nazi Germany. In 1939 Germans arrested several Polish teachers and principals who were then deported to Nazi concentration camps and murdered there. A prison for Poles was operated by the Germans in Bielsko-Biała. Many of its Jewish residents were murdered at the nearby
Auschwitz extermination camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
. Less than 1000 of Bielsko-Biała's Jewish community of nearly 8000 survived the war. After the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the remaining German population fled westward or were expelled. The town was polonized and gradually repopulated by Polish settlers. Several widely known Holocaust survivors from Bielsko-Biała were Roman Frister,
Gerda Weissmann Klein Gerda Weissmann Klein (May 8, 1924 – April 3, 2022) was a Polish-born American writer and human rights activist. Her autobiographical account of the Holocaust, ''All but My Life'' (1957), was adapted for the 1995 short film, ''One Survivor Re ...
and Kitty Hart-Moxon, all of whom wrote accounts of their experiences during World War II. The combined city of Bielsko-Biała was created administratively on 1 January 1951 when the two cities of Bielsko, and Biała (known until 1951 as Biała Krakowska), were unified.


Geography

The city is situated on the border of historic Upper Silesia and Lesser Poland at the eastern rim of the smaller Cieszyn Silesia region, about south of
Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...
. Administrated within Silesian Voivodeship since 1999, the city was previously
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of
Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of . It is a ...
(1975–1998). Bielsko-Biała is one of the most important cities of the Beskidy Euroregion and the main city of the Bielsko Industrial Region ( pl, ), part of the
Upper Silesian metropolitan area The Upper Silesian metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in southern Poland and northeastern Czech Republic, centered on the cities of Katowice and Ostrava in Silesia and has around 5 million inhabitants. Located in the three administrative ...
.


Climate

Bielsko-Biała has an
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
( Köppen :''Cfb'') with cold, damp winters and warm, wet summers. However, using the 0 °C isotherm, the climate is a Dfb-type called of humid continental climate, which explains its considerable thermal amplitude for Central Europe. The extremes may still be moderated by the western patterns and winds of this direction, which still maintains hybrid characteristics in the city's climate. Foëhn winds help maintain a milder winter in Bielsko-Biała and average about 4 °C lower than the surrounding mountains each year. The sunniest days are between late summer and early fall, with a few months reaching 9 sunny days. In the 1960s 55 cm of snow cover was recorded.


Economy and industry

Bielsko-Biała is one of the most business friendly medium size cities in Poland. In the 2014 ranking of the 'Most Attractive Cities for Business' published yearly by '' Forbes'' the city was ranked 3rd in the category of cities with 150,000–300,000 inhabitants.WP.PL
Ranking miast najlepszych do inwestowania.
Finanse.wp.pl: "Forbes" i Centralny Ośrodek Informacji Gospodarczych (COIG).
About 2% of people are unemployed (compared to 5.8% for Poland). Bielsko-Biała is known for its textile, machine-building, and especially automotive industry.
FCA Poland Stellantis Poland (formerly, FCA Poland S.A., until April 1, 2015 "Fiat Auto Poland SA") is an automobile factory belonging to Stellantis formed on May 28, 1992, after Fiat acquired Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych (FSM) in Bielsko-Biała and ...
, a subsidiary of
Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50–50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group. The comp ...
, has a car factory based in the city. Four areas in the city belong to the Katowice Special Economic Zone. The city region is a home for several manufacturers of high-performance gliders and aircraft including
Margański & Mysłowski Margański & Mysłowski Zakłady Lotnicze (''Margański & Mysłowski Aviation Works'') is a Polish aircraft and glider manufacturer, located in Bielsko-Biała. It designs and manufactures unlimited category aerobatic gliders and powered aircraft, ...
, a local producer and designer of business long range small aircraft. The labor market in the city shows deficits in the workforce in such professions as: construction workers, operators of construction machines, electricians, electromechanics, dressmakers, couriers.


Transport


Road transport

Bielsko-Biała is located within a short distance to Czech and Slovakian borders on the crossroads of two Expressways (S1 and S52) connecting Poland with Southern Europe: * Expressway S1 connects the city with Slovakia via the border town Zwardoń. * Expressway S52 connects the city with the Czech Republic via the border town Cieszyn. Bielsko-Biała is connected with the rest of Poland by the
dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
DK1 road running to Tychy where it intersects the Expressway S1 and further to Katowice where it intersects the Motorway A4. It is planned to extend S1 north along the existing dual carriageway DK1 from Bielsko-Biała to Tychy and
Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...
, thus building an expressway connection of the city with the national motorway network of Poland. National Road DK52 connects Bielsko-Biała with Kraków in the east. The most important interchange in the area is the cloverleaf north of Bielsko-Biała where S1, DK1 and S52 meet. Voivodeship roads nr. 940 and 942 pass through the city.


Rail transport

Bielsko-Biała is connected by direct train services with the following large Polish cities (November 2014):
Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...
,
Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
, Gdynia,
Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...
, Kraków, Łódź, Olsztyn,
Opole Opole (; german: Oppeln ; szl, Ôpole) ; * Silesian: ** Silesian PLS alphabet: ''Ôpole'' ** Steuer's Silesian alphabet: ''Uopole'' * Silesian German: ''Uppeln'' * Czech: ''Opolí'' * Latin: ''Oppelia'', ''Oppolia'', ''Opulia'' is a city loc ...
, Poznań,
Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...
, Toruń, Warszawa (Warsaw), Wrocław.


Airports

There are 3 international airports within the 90 km distance from Bielsko-Biała, all serving connections with major European cities: Katowice International Airport,
Kraków John Paul II International Airport Kraków John Paul II International Airport ( pl, Kraków Airport im. Jana Pawła II since 4 September 2007; earlier in pl, Międzynarodowy Port Lotniczy im. Jana Pawła II Kraków–Balice) is an international airport located near Kraków, in t ...
, Ostrava Leoš Janáček Airport.


Sights

Bielsko-Biała is known for its
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
architecture and is often referred to as Little Vienna . Sights include: * The
Bielsko-Biała Museum Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, making it the List of cities and towns in Poland#Largest cities and ...
, housed in the castle of the Dukes of Cieszyn from 15th century, later Castle of the
Sułkowski Sułkowski (feminine: Sułkowska) is a Polish-language surname associated with the Polish noble Sułkowski family. Russified version: Sulkovsky. Notable people with this surname include: * Alexander Joseph Sulkowski (1695–1762), a Saxon-Polish ...
princes * built in 1897 * ''Ulica 11 Listopada'' ("November 11 Street"), the main pedestrian zone of the city center * ''Plac Bolesława Chrobrego'' (" Bolesław the Brave Square"), the main square in the city center * Frog House (''Kamienica Pod Żabami''), an Art Nouveau mansion * The only statue of Martin Luther in Poland. * built in 1888 * BWA Bielsko-Biała Gallery of Art * St. Nicholas Cathedral built in 1447 and rebuilt in 1909–1910 * built in 1890 * , the city's oldest church, built in the Middle Ages in
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
style * Jewish Cemetery, founded in 1849 * Weaver's House Museum, Dom Tkacza, reconstructed workshop of a draper * Museum of Technology and Textile Industry * mountain located within the city borders and the * Dębowiec ski slope Apart from being an attractive destination itself the city is a convenient base for hiking in Silesian Beskids and
Żywiec Beskids The Żywiec Beskids ( pl, Beskid Żywiecki) is a mountain range in the Outer Western Carpathians in southern Poland. It is the second highest range in Poland, after the Tatra Mountains. The highest peak is Babia Góra (1,725 m) and Pilsko Pi ...
as well as for skiing in one of the most popular Polish ski resorts
Szczyrk Szczyrk (german: Schirk) is a town in the Beskid Śląski mountains of southern Poland, situated in the valley of the Żylica river. It is part of the Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously being part of the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship (19 ...
(located from the city centre) and in a couple of smaller nearby ski resorts.


Districts

* Aleksandrowice * Biała *
Hałcnów Hałcnów is an osiedle (district) of Bielsko-Biała, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It is located in the north-east part of the city. It was a separate municipality, but was merged into Bielsko-Biała in 1977. The osiedle has an area of 13 ...
* Kamienica * Komorowice Śląskie i Komorowice Krakowskie * Leszczyny * Lipnik * Mikuszowice Śląskie and Mikuszowice Krakowskie * Olszówka Dolna and Olszówka Górna * Stare Bielsko * Straconka * Wapienica


Education

*
University of Bielsko-Biała The University of Bielsko-Biała ( Polish ''Akademia Techniczno-Humanistyczna w Bielsku-Białej'' (ATH in the logo and website) is a university in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, established in 2001. It was previously part of the Technical University o ...
* * * * * Wyższa Szkoła Ekonomiczno-Humanistyczna * Teacher Training College of Bielsko-Biała


Politics

The executive body of the
gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...
is the President (Mayor) of the City of Bielsko-Biała. This office was created in 1951 when Bielsko and Biała became one city. Previously the city of Bielsko was governed by a President while the city of Biała was governed by a burmistrz. The city is divided into five constituencies during the
local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...
.


Bielsko-Biała constituency

Senators from Bielsko-Biała constituency: *
Agnieszka Gorgoń-Komor Agnieszka Aleksandra Gorgoń-Komor (born 10 June 1970) is a Polish politician. She was elected to the Senate of Poland The Senate ( pl, Senat) is the upper house of the Parliament of Poland, Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm o ...
( Civic Platform) Members of Sejm from Bielsko-Biała constituency: * Przemysław Drabek (
Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...
) * Grzegorz Gaża (
Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...
) * Kazimierz Matuszny (
Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...
) * Grzegorz Puda (
Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...
) *
Stanisław Szwed Stanisław Szwed (born 12 April 1955 in Bielsko-Biała) is a Polish politician. He was elected to the Sejm on 13 October 2019, getting 65,315 votes in 27 Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko ...
(
Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...
) * Mirosława Nykiel ( Civic Platform) *
Małgorzata Pępek Małgorzata Pępek (born 1961) is a Polish politician, in 2002–2011 the head of Gmina Ślemień. Elected to the Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej ...
( Civic Platform) * Mirosław Suchoń (
Poland 2050 Szymon Hołownia's Poland 2050 ( pl, Polska 2050 Szymona Hołowni, PL2050) is a centrist political party in Poland. It was founded as a social movement in 2020, shortly after the presidential election. It was officially registered as a politica ...
) * Przemysław Koperski (
New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, g ...
)


Municipal politics


Mayor

* Mayor – Jarosław Klimaszewski ( PO) * Deputy Mayor – Przemysław Kamiński * Deputy Mayor – Adam Ruśniak * Deputy Mayor – Piotr Kucia


City council

* President of the council – Dorota Piegzik-Izydorczyk ( PO) * Deputy Chairman – Piotr Ryszka (
PiS Pis ( oc, Pis) is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. Geography Localisation Hydrography The river Auroue forms most of the commune's eastern border. Population See also *Communes of the Gers department The fol ...
) * Deputy Chairman – Jacek Krywult (KWW JK)


Sports

The city co-hosted the
1978 UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-18 Championship 1978 Final Tournament was held in Poland. It also served as the European qualification for the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. Qualification Group 1 Group 4 Other groups Teams The ...
and
2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 22nd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 ...
.


Major teams and athletes

* TS Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała – men's
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team playing in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. * BTS Rekord Bielsko-Biała – men's futsal team playing in Polish Futsal Ekstraklasa, Polish Champions 2013/2014, Polish Cup and Supercup winners 2012/2013. *
BKS Stal Bielsko-Biała BKS Stal Bielsko-Biała is a Polish sports club, with two departments: the men's football team and the women's volleyball team. The club is based in Bielsko-Biała. The football team plays in the Polish lower divisions, whereas the volleyball t ...
– women's volleyball team playing in Polish , Polish Champions 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2003, 2004, 2010; Polish Cup winners 1955, 1979, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2004, 2006, 2009. * BBTS Siatkarz Original Bielsko-Biała – men's volleyball team playing in Polish Plus Liga. * KS Sprint – a track and field club based in Bielsko-Biała which organized the international athletics meeting ''Beskidianathletic''. * Podbeskidzie Kuloodporni Bielsko-Biała – an amputee football club that plays in the Polish Amp Futbol Ekstraklasa. * Bielsko-Biała Aeroclub – a flying club founded in 1945 based in Bielsko-Biała. *
Sebastian Kawa Sebastian Kawa (born 15 November 1972, Zabrze) is a Polish glider pilot, sixteen-time World Champion, world ( FAI) leading glider competition pilot (as of 2015, number one in the world rankings of the FAI Gliding Commission) and the current Worl ...
, member of the local aeroclub, is the eight times World Champion, World's most accomplished glider competition pilot in history, World's ( FAI) leading glider competition pilot (currently number two in the world rankings of the FAI Gliding Commission) and the current World Champion in
Standard Class Competition classes in gliding, as in other sports, mainly exist to ensure fairness in competition. However the classes have not been targeted at fostering technological development as in other sports. Instead classes have arisen because of: * t ...
and
15m Class Competition classes in gliding, as in other sports, mainly exist to ensure fairness in competition. However the classes have not been targeted at fostering technological development as in other sports. Instead classes have arisen because of: * t ...
.


Notable people

*
Adam Broż Adam Broż (born 27 January 1935) is a Polish Art history, art historian and journalist, who has been living in Rome since 1965. He was the secretary of Emeryk August Hutten-Czapski, Emeryk Hutten-Czapski (1969–1979) and Karol Popiel (1970–19 ...
(born 1935), art historian and journalist *
Heinrich Conried Heinrich Conried (September 3, 1855 – April 27, 1909) was an Austrian and naturalized American theatrical manager and director. Beginning his career as an actor in Vienna, he took his first post as theater director at the Stadttheater Bremen i ...
(1855–1909), Austrian theatre director *
Marek Dopierała Marek Franciszek Dopierała (born July 30, 1960 in Bielsko-Biała) is a Polish sprint canoeist who competed during the 1980s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won two medals with Marek Łbik at Seoul in 1988 with a silver in the C-2 500 m e ...
(born 1960), sprint canoeist, Olympic medallist * Piotr Fijas (born 1958), ski jumper * Alfred Hetschko (1898–1967), music educator *
Adolf Hyła Adolf Hyła (2 May 1897 – 24 December 1965)Słownik Artystów Polskich i Obcych w Polsce działających Wrocław. 1979. (In Polish). Accessed from August 10, 2012. was a Polish people, Polish painter and art teacher.''Faustina: The Apostle of D ...
(1897–1965), painter and art teacher * Jolanta Januchta (born 1955), middle-distance runner *
Małgorzata Klimek Małgorzata Klimek (born 1957) is a Polish mathematical analyst and mathematical physicist known for her research on the fractional calculus and fractional differential equations. She is a professor in the Institute of Mathematics and Dean of th ...
(born 1957), mathematical physicist * Jacek Koman (born 1956), actor and singer *
Maria Koterbska Maria Koterbska (13 July 1924 – 18 January 2021) was a Polish singer who was particularly popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Her biggest hits include ''Augustowskie noce'', ''Brzydula i rudzielec'', ''Karuzela'', ''Parasolki'', ''Serduszko puka w ...
(born 1924), singer *
Przemysław Lechowski Przemysław Lechowski (born 10 April 1977) is a Polish people, Polish classical pianist. Biography Przemysław Lechowski graduated from the University of Music in Katowice, Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, then mastered his piano sk ...
(born 1977), classical pianist * Tadeusz Pietrzykowski (1917–1991), boxer and soldier, known as the "boxing champion of Auschwitz" * Grzegorz Pilarz (born 1980), volleyball player *
Radosław Piwowarski Radosław Piwowarski (born 20 February 1948, Bielsko-Biała) is a Polish film director, screenwriter and actor. Life and career He was born on 20 February 1948 in Olszówka Dolna, a district of Bielsko-Biała in southern Poland. In 1971, he gradu ...
(born 1948), film director, screenwriter and actor *
Jerzy Porębski Jerzy Roman Porębski (born 28 February 1956 in Bielsko-Biała, Poland) is a Polish documentary film producer, scriptwriter, screenwriter, writer and co-writer, director and agent for mountaineering books. Mountain culture consultant. His films mai ...
(born 1957), film producer and screenwriter * Zbigniew Preisner (born 1955), film score composer *
Renata Przemyk Renata Janina Przemyk (born February 10, 1966, in Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, ...
(born 1966), singer and songwriter *
Aneta Sablik Aneta Sablik (born 12 January 1989) is a Polish pop singer. She gained popularity in Europe after winning the eleventh season of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany Seeks the Superstar") which was broadcast on RTL. Sab ...
(born 1989), singer-songwriter * Franz Sauer (1894–1962), organist * Oswald Seeliger (1858–1908), German zoologist * Kriss Sheridan (born 1989), Polish-American singer, songwriter, actor, model and traveler * Josef Strzygowski (1862–1941), Polish-Austrian art historian * Jan Szarek (1936–2020), bishop of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland * Sabina Wojtala (born 1981), figure skater * Jakub Wolny (born 1995), ski jumper *
Aleksander Zawadzki Aleksander Zawadzki, alias Kazik, Wacek, Bronek, One (; 16 December 1899 – 7 August 1964) was a Polish communist politician, first Chairman of the Council of State of the People's Republic of Poland, divisional general of the Polish Army ...
(1798–1868), Polish naturalist *
Emil Zegadłowicz Emil Zegadłowicz (20 July 1888 – 24 February 1941) was a Polish poet, prose, prose writer, novelist, playwright, translation, translator, expert of art; co-originator of Polish expressionism, member of expressionists' group ''Zdrój'', co-found ...
(1888–1941), poet, prose writer, novelist, playwright and translator *
Sigmund Zeisler Sigmund Zeisler (1860-1931) was a German-Jewish U.S. attorney born in Austria and known for his defense of radicals in Chicago in the 1880s. His wife was the famed concert pianist Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler. Childhood, marriage and legal educa ...
(1860–1931), German-Jewish lawyer *
Wojciech Zurek Wojciech Hubert Zurek ( pl, Żurek; born 1951) is a theoretical physicist and a leading authority on quantum theory, especially decoherence and non-equilibrium dynamics of symmetry breaking and resulting defect generation (known as the Kibble–Zu ...
(born 1951), theoretical physicist


International relations


Twin towns – sister cities

Bielsko-Biała is twinned with: *
Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...
, Israel * Baia Mare, Romania * Besançon, France * Berdyansk, Ukraine *
Frýdek-Místek Frýdek-Místek (, pl, Frydek-Mistek; german: Friede(c)k-Mistek) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 54,000 inhabitants. The historic centres of both Frýdek and Místek are well preserved and are protecte ...
, Czech Republic *
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
, United States * Kirklees, United Kingdom *
Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Serbia, and is situated on ...
, Serbia * Nyíregyháza, Hungary * Szolnok, Hungary * Tienen, Belgium *
Třinec Třinec (; pl, Trzyniec ; german: Trzynietz) is a city in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants and is the least populated statutory city in the country. The city is an ...
, Czech Republic * Ustka, Poland * Wolfsburg, Germany * Žilina, Slovakia


See also

*
Bielsko-Biała Museum Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, making it the List of cities and towns in Poland#Largest cities and ...
* Bolek and Lolek * Jews in Bielsko-Biała * Sfera shopping mall *
Upper Silesian metropolitan area The Upper Silesian metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in southern Poland and northeastern Czech Republic, centered on the cities of Katowice and Ostrava in Silesia and has around 5 million inhabitants. Located in the three administrative ...


References


External links


Official website

Bielsko - Aerial photos

Bielsko-Biała Museum

Jewish Community of Bielsko-Biała
on Virtual Shtetl {{DEFAULTSORT:Bielsko-Biala City counties of Poland Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship 1312 establishments in Europe Populated places established in 1951 Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) Populated places in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939) Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) Shtetls Holocaust locations in Poland 14th-century establishments in Poland Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust