Zabrze (; German: 1915–1945: ''Hindenburg O.S.'', full form: ''Hindenburg in Oberschlesien'', Silesian: ''Zŏbrze'', yi, זאַבזשע, Zabzhe) is an industrial city in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

in southern

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 ...

, near

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 ...

. The west district of the Silesian Metropolis, a metropolis with a population of around 2 million. It is in the

Silesian Highlands Silesian Upland or Silesian Highland ( pl, Wyżyna Śląska) is a highland located in Silesia and Lesser Poland, Poland. Its highest point is the St. Anne Mountain (406 m). See also *Silesian Lowlands *Silesian-Lusatian Lowlands *Silesian ...

, on the Bytomka River, a tributary of the

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...

. Zabrze is located in the Silesian Voivodeship, which was reformulated in 1999. Before 1999 it was in Katowice Voivodeship. It is one of the cities composing the 2.7 million inhabitant conurbation referred to as the

Katowice urban area The Katowice urban area ( pl, Konurbacja katowicka, ), also known as the Upper Silesian urban area ( pl, Konurbacja górnośląska, ), is an urban area/ conurbation in southern Poland, centered on Katowice. It is located in the Silesian Voivo ...

, itself a major centre in the greater

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 administrati ...

which is populated by just over five million people. The population of Zabrze as of December 2021 was 168,946, down from June 2009 when the population was 188,122. Zabrze is bordered by three other cities of the metropolitan area: Gliwice,

Bytom Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', german: Beuthen O.S.) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital ...

and

Ruda Śląska Ruda Śląska (formerly ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is a district in the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of two million. It is in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica River (t ...

History

Early history

Biskupice, which is now a subdivision of Zabrze, was first mentioned in 1243 as ''Biscupici dicitur cirka Bitom''. Zabrze (or ''Old'' Zabrze) was mentioned in 1295–1305 as ''Sadbre sive Cunczindorf'' (German for '' Konrad/Kunze's village''; ''sive'' = "or"). According to historical sources, mining in Zabrze dates back to the 13th century. The present-day districts of Mikulczyce and Rokitnica were locations of motte-and-bailey castles from the 13th-15th century, which are now archaeological sites. In the 1970s, archaeologists discovered an

Epipalaeolithic In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are someti ...

flintwork and

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

tools from the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

at the Mikulczyce archaeological site. In the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

, the local

n Piast dukes invited German settlers into the territory, resulting in increasing German settlement. The settlement was part of the

n duchies of fragmented Poland. Zabrze became part of 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 ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1526, and was later annexed by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

during the Silesian Wars. In 1774, the Dorotheendorf settlement was founded. In 1791, a

coking coal Metallurgical coal or coking coal is a grade of coal that can be used to produce good-quality coke. Coke is an essential fuel and reactant in the blast furnace process for primary steelmaking. The demand for metallurgical coal is highly coupled ...

seam was discovered in Zabrze, and then its first coking coal mine was opened. In the 19th century, new coal mines, steelworks, factories and a power plant were created. A road connecting Gliwice and

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; german: link=no, Königshütte ; szl, Chorzōw) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population ...

and a railway connecting

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 ...

and

Świętochłowice Świętochłowice (; german: Schwientochlowitz; szl, Świyntochłowice) is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is also the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union metropolis, with a population of 2 million, a ...

were led through Zabrze.

Early 20th century

In 1905, the Zabrze commune was formed by the former communes Alt-Zabrze, Klein-Zabrze and Dorotheendorf. The Zabrze commune was renamed ''Hindenburg'' in 1915 in honour of Generalfeldmarschall

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...

. The name change was approved by Emperor

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

on 21 February 1915.Historia – Hindenburg
at the official website of Zabrze Up until then, it was one of the few cities whose Polish name was retained during German rule. In 1904 the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society in Zabrze was established, which was also a Polish patriotic and pro-independence organization. As a result of the Prussian harassment it was liquidated in 1911, but it was reactivated twice, in 1913 and 1918. Its members took an active part in the post-war plebiscite campaign and the

Silesian uprisings The Silesian Uprisings (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...

Interwar period

Wolności 296 Building, Zabrze, Poland, September 2018

During the plebiscite held after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 21,333 inhabitants (59%) of the Hindenburg commune voted to remain in Germany, while 14,873 (41%) voted for incorporation to Poland, which just regained its independence. In May 1921 the Third

Silesian Uprising The Silesian Uprisings (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...

broke out and Hindenburg was captured by Polish insurgents, who held it until the end of the uprising. When Upper Silesia was divided between Poland and Germany in 1921, the Hindenburg commune remained in Germany, while the present-day districts of Kończyce, Makoszowy and Pawłów were reintegrated with Poland. It received its

city charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charter ...

in 1922. Just five years after receiving city rights Hindenburg became the biggest city in German-ruled western Upper Silesia and the second biggest city in German-ruled Silesia after

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

(then ''Breslau''). Nevertheless, various Polish organizations still operated in the city in the interbellum, including a local branch of the

Union of Poles in Germany Union of Poles in Germany ( pl, Związek Polaków w Niemczech, german: Bund der Polen in Deutschland e.V.) is an organisation of the Polish minority in Germany, founded in 1922. In 1924, the union initiated collaboration between other minorities, ...

, Polish libraries, sports clubs,

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...

s, choirs,

scout troop A Scout troop is a term adopted into use with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Scout Movement to describe their basic units. The term troop echoes a group of mounted scouts in the military or an expedition and follows the terms cavalry, mounted infa ...

s and an amateur theater. Polish newspaper ''Głos Ludu'' was published in the city. In a secret '' Sicherheitsdienst'' report from 1934, Zabrze was named one of the main centers of the Polish movement in western Upper Silesia. In terms of religion, most of the city's population adhered to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. In the 1920s, the communists,

Christian democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

and nationalists enjoyed the greatest support among the German population, while Poles supported Polish parties. In 1928, among the largest cities in western Upper Silesia, Polish parties received the most votes in Zabrze. In the March 1933 elections, most of the citizens voted for the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

, followed by

Zentrum Zentrum is German for centre. Zentrum is also a brand name for the amino acid Arginine 1200 mg. Zentrum may also refer to: * BMW Zentrum, a BMW museum in Spartanburg, South Carolina * Center (group theory), the centre of a group, denoted Z(G ...

and the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

. Nazi politician Max Fillusch became the city's mayor and remained in the position until 1945.Stadtkreis Zabrze
at Geschichte on Demand website Pomnik Makoszowy

The anti-Polish organization

Bund Deutscher Osten The Bund Deutscher Osten (BDO; English: "Federation of the German East") was an anti-Polish German Nazi organisation founded on 26 May 1933. The organisation was supported by the Nazi Party. The BDO was a national socialist version of the German Ea ...

was very active in the city, it dealt with

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

, indoctrination and espionage of the Polish community, as well as denouncing Poles to local authorities. When, the Barbórka (traditional holiday of miners) church services were organized separately for Poles and Germans in 1936, the Polish service enjoyed a greater attendance, however, due to Nazi oppression and propaganda, the attendance at Polish services in the 1930s gradually decreased, according to Bund Deutscher Osten. Polish activists were increasingly persecuted since 1937. People were urged to

Germanise Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In ling ...

their names, Polish inscriptions were removed from tombstones. Some Polish priests were expelled from the city, both before and 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 ...

. As a result of German persecution the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community dropped from 1,154 people in 1933 to 551 in 1939, and its remainder was deported to concentration camps in 1942. The town's synagogue, that had stood since 1872, was destroyed in the '' Kristallnacht'' pogroms of November 1938.

World War Two

During World War II, in 1941 the German administration requisitioned church property, in which it removed Polish symbols and memorabilia. Church bells were confiscated for war purposes in 1942. The Germans established three

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

subcamps of the Stalag VIII-B/344

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

in the city, two of which operated in the local coal mines, and also a subcamp of

Auschwitz III Monowitz (also known as Monowitz-Buna, Buna and Auschwitz III) was a Nazi concentration camp and labor camp (''Arbeitslager'') run by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland from 1942–1945, during World War II and t ...

was located there. Another subcamp of Stalag VIII-B/344 (E51) was operated at a coal mine in the present-day Mikulczyce district. In January 1945, the Soviets captured the city and afterwards deported some inhabitants to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, while most of the German inhabitants were expelled west in accordance to the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement (german: Potsdamer Abkommen) was the agreement between three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union on 1 August 1945. A product of the Potsdam Conference, it concerned th ...

Contemporary history

Following

, according to the

the city was handed over to Poland in 1945 and the town's name was changed to the historic ''Zabrze'' on 19 May 1945. The first post-war mayor of Zabrze was Paweł Dubiel, pre-war Polish activist and journalist in Upper Silesia, prisoner of the

Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

and

Mauthausen Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern German ...

concentration camps during the war. The pre-war Polish inhabitants of the region, who formed the majority of the city's population in 1948, were joined by Poles expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union. The city limits were largely expanded in 1951, by including Mikulczyce, Rokitnica, Grzybowice, Makoszowy, Kończyce and Pawłów as new districts. New neighbourhoods were built from the 1950s to 1990s. In 1948, Górnik Zabrze football club was founded, which won its first Polish championship in 1957, and soon became the pride of the city as one of the most successful clubs in Poland.

Administrative division

On 17 September 2012, the Zabrze city council decided on a new administrative division of the city. Zabrze was subsequently divided into 15 districts and 3 housing estates. * 1. Helenka * 2. Grzybowice * 3. Rokitnica * 4. Mikulczyce * 5. Młody Górnik estate * 6. Mikołaj Kopernik estate * 7. Biskupice * 8. Maciejów * 9. Tadeusz Kotarbiński estate * 10. Centrum Północ * 11. Centrum Południe * 12. Guido * 13. Zaborze Północ * 14. Zaborze Południe * 15. Pawłów * 16. Kończyce * 17. Makoszowy * 18. Zandka

Infrastructure

The Polish north–south A1 and east–west A4 motorways, which are parts of the European routes E75 and E40, respectively, run through Zabrze, and their junction is located just outside the city limits. In addition the Polish National roads 78, 88 and 94 also run through the city. The Drogowa Trasa Srednicowa leads through the town.

Culture and sights

Among the cultural institutions of the town are the and ''Teatr Nowy'' ("New Theatre"). ''Dom Muzyki i Tańca'' ("House of Music and Dance")

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

is located in Zabrze. The local museums are the , the Municipal Museum and the Military Technology Museum. The Maciej

mine shaft Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly in execution method from ...

and the Main Key Adit (''Główna Kluczowa Sztolnia Dziedziczna''), one of the longest such structures in Europe, are open for tourists. Among the historical architecture there are many industrial facilities, as well as various churches, houses, public buildings, etc. There are also numerous monuments referring to the history of the city, especially the

fought here and

. There is also a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

and several parks in Zabrze. Muzeum Górnictwa Węglowego w Zabrzu.jpg, Coal Mining Museum Zabrze - Teatr Nowy.JPG, New Theatre Zabrze, budynek nadszybia z wieżą wyciągową Szybu Maciej 34.JPG, Maciej mine shaft GKSD - chodnik wodny.jpg, Main Key Adit Zabrze Aleja Bohaterów Monte Cassino pomnik 23 04 2011 P4238110.jpg, Monument to the Heroes of Monte Cassino Botanical garden in Zabrze kz2.jpg, Botanical garden Zabrze browar P9193641.jpg, Upper Silesia Brewery Zabrze straz pozarna 3.jpg, Fire Station Zabrze_Admiralspalast_1.jpg, Admiralspalast Hotel Main post office in Zabrze, Poland, June 2019.jpg, Main post office Zabrze, ul. 3 Maja 21 - Budynek Sądu Rejonowego A 354 11 z 14.11.2011 KS.JPG, Regional Court in Zabrze

Politics

Members of Parliament (

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

) elected from Bytom/Gliwice/Zabrze constituency * Chojnacki Jan, SLD-UP * Dulias Stanisław, Samoobrona * Gałażewski Andrzej, PO * Janik Ewa, SLD-UP * Kubica Józef, SLD-UP * Martyniuk Wacław, SLD-UP * Okoński Wiesław, SLD-UP * Szarama Wojciech, PiS * Szumilas Krystyna, PO * Widuch Marek, SLD-UP

Sports

The city's most renown sports team is Górnik Zabrze, one of the most accomplished Polish football clubs, 14 times Polish champions, 6 times Polish Cup winners, and

1969–70 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1969–70 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Manchester City in a final victory against Górnik Zabrze. Preliminary round First round First leg Second leg ''Rangers won 2–0 o ...

runners-up, as the only Polish team to reach the final stage of a major European football competition. Other popular team is

NMC Górnik Zabrze NMC may refer to: * NMC Health * NMC Recordings, a record label and music company in the United Kingdom * NMC Records, an Israeli record label and music company * NUT midline carcinoma, a cancer * Nagpur Municipal Corporation, Nagpur, India * N ...

, two times Polish men's handball champions and three times Polish Cup winners. Both teams compete in the national top leagues, the Ekstraklasa and Superliga respectively. Many sportspeople were born in Zabrze, including footballers

Jerzy Gorgoń Jerzy Paweł Gorgoń (born 18 July 1949 in Zabrze) is a Polish former football player who is remembered for his participation in the 1972 Summer Olympics. He was a 6'4" tall central defender, who became well known in 1967 while playing for Górn ...

, Łukasz Skorupski and Adam Bodzek, and pro

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Wojtek Wolski Wojciech "Wojtek" Wolski (; born February 24, 1986) is a Polish-Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Colorado Avalanche, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Rangers, Florid ...

Economy

Like other towns in this populous region, it is an important manufacturing centre, having

coal-mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...

s, iron,

wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

, glass, chemical and oil works, and local Upper Silesia Brewery, etc.

Notable people

* James Kleist (1873–1949), German-American Jesuit scholar * Heinz Fiebig (1897–1964),

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 ...

general *

(born 1949), Polish former football player *

Fritz Katz Fritz Katz (born in 1898 in near Hindenburg, Prussian Silesia; died in 1969 in Athens) was a pioneer in organ transplant techniques, performing one of the first successful grafts of adrenal glands. After appointments at the medical faculties at ...

(1898–1969), pioneer of adrenal transplants * Wolfgang Jörchel (1907–1945),

Standartenführer __NOTOC__ ''Standartenführer'' (short: ''Staf'', , ) was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of ...

in the Waffen SS * Władysław Turowicz (1908–1980), Polish-Pakistani military scientist *

Fritz Laband Fritz Laband (1 November 1925 – 3 January 1982) was a German association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), defender. He was part of the Germany national football team, West Germany national team that won the ...

(1925–1982), German footballer * Werner Heiduczek (1926–2019), German author *

Friedrich Nowottny Friedrich Nowottny (born 16 May 1929) is a German television journalist. Life Nowottny worked as director of German broadcaster WDR. He lives in Swisttal-Buschhoven near Bonn. Awards *1973: Goldene Kamera in category ''Politischer Journali ...

(born 1929), German television journalist *

Janosch Janosch (, born as Horst Eckert on 11 March 1931) is a German children's author and illustrator. Biography Janosch was born as Horst Eckert in what was then Hindenburg (now Zabrze, Poland) in Upper Silesia to a family of mixed German and Poli ...

(born 1931), German author *

Joachim Kroll Joachim Georg Kroll (17 April 1933 – 1 July 1991) was a German serial killer, child molester, necrophile and cannibal who murdered a minimum of 8 women and young girls in the Ruhr metropolitan region from 1955 until his arrest on 3 July ...

(1933–1991), German serial killer *

Joachim Kerzel Joachim Kerzel (born 10 December 1941) is a German actor and voice actor. He has also collaborated with the German trance/techno-band E Nomine on a number of their albums. Roles *Pierre Arditi *Alan Bates *Bruno Cremer *Richard Harris *Du ...

(born 1941), German actor *

Jan Sawka Jan Sawka (December 10, 1946 – August 9, 2012) was a Polish-born American artist and architect. Early life In 1946, Sawka was born to an architect father and linguist mother, Jan and Maria Sawka, in the Silesian city of Zabrze. His father was im ...

(1946–2012), Polish-American artist, architect * Krystian Zimerman (born 1956), Polish classical pianist *

Waldemar Sorychta Waldemar Sorychta (born 1967) is a Polish heavy metal record producer and musician who has lived in Germany since 1982. Career He initially worked with German thrash metal band Despair, founded in 1986. In 1994 he took part in the recording ...

(born 1967), Polish heavy metal musician and producer *

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 ...

(born 1972), Polish glider pilot, thirteen-time World Champion *

Czesław Śpiewa Czesław Mozil (born April 12, 1979), known under the alias Czesław Śpiewa (), is a Polish-Danish singer and musician (mostly using the accordion), and graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Life Mozil moved to Denmark when he was ...

, (born 1979), Polish singer *

(born 1986), Polish-Canadian ice-hockey player. * Margarete Stokowski (born 1986), Polish-German writer * Bartosz Bednorz (born 1994), Polish volleyball player * Noemi Sabat, Polish ballet choreographer

Twin towns – sister cities

Zabrze is twinned with: *

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

, Germany *

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

, Sweden *

Rivne Rivne (; uk, Рівне ),) also known as Rovno (Russian: Ровно; Polish: Równe; Yiddish: ראָוונע), is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the surrounding Rivne Raio ...

, Ukraine *

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, England, United Kingdom * Sangerhausen, Germany * Seclin, France *

Trnava Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' (Trnava Region) and of an '' okres'' (Trna ...

, Slovakia * Zahlé, Lebanon

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Municipal website

Zabrze Community

Portal Zabrze.com.pl

Encyclopædia Britannica Zabrze

Jewish Community in Zabrze
on Virtual Shtetl

* http://www.zabrze.aplus.pl/ {{Authority control Cities in Silesia

Zabrze Zabrze (; German: 1915–1945: ''Hindenburg O.S.'', full form: ''Hindenburg in Oberschlesien'', Silesian: ''Zŏbrze'', yi, זאַבזשע, Zabzhe) is an industrial city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The west district of the Sil ...

Archaeological sites in Poland Prehistoric sites in Poland