Stare Bielsko (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
: ''Alt Bielitz'', both literally meaning "Old Bielsko/Bielitz") is an
osiedle
Osiedle (Polish plural: ''osiedla'', from German ''Ansiedlung'' meaning ''settlement'') is a term used in Poland to denote a designated subdivision or neighbourhood of a city or its dzielnica, or of a town, with its own council and executive. Li ...
(district) of
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, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of . It is a ...
,
Silesian Voivodeship
Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital.
Despite the Silesian V ...
, 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 ...
. It is located in the west-north part of the city, in
Silesian Foothills
Silesian Foothills ( pl, Pogórze Śląskie, cs, Slezské podhůří, szl, Pogōrze Ślōnske) are foothills located in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland.
It has an area of 545 km2. Its western border is Olza river, eastern Skawa. Other main r ...
. Osiedle has an area of 11.118 km
2 and on December 31, 2006 had 5,817 inhabitants.
History
The first settlement in the area arose in 12th century and was destroyed around the year 1400. In parallel evolved a village ''Bielsko'', that later was a ground for the foundation of town
Bielsko
Bielsko (german: Bielitz, cs, Bílsko) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that to ...
by the first prince of the
Duchy of Teschen
The Duchy of Teschen (german: Herzogtum Teschen), also Duchy of Cieszyn ( pl, Księstwo Cieszyńskie) or Duchy of Těšín ( cs, Těšínské knížectví), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn () in Upper Silesia. It was split o ...
,
Mieszko
Mieszko is a Slavic given name of uncertain origin.
Onomastics
There are three major theories concerning the origin and meaning of the name of Duke Mieszko I of Poland. The most popular theory, proposed by Jan Długosz, explains that Mieszko is ...
. The village was later first mentioned in a written document as ''Alte Belicz'' (pl. ''Stare Bielsko'') in 1452. In 1572 it was sold together with Bielsko and dozen surrounding villages by dukes of Cieszyn and split from their duchy to form
Bielsko state country (since 1754 Duchy of Bielsko).
After the 1540s
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
prevailed in the Duchy of Teschen and a local Catholic church was taken over by
Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
. It was taken from them, as one from around fifty buildings in the region, by a special commission and given back to the
Roman 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 ...
on 16 April 1654.
In 1848 in the south-west part of Stare Bielsko a new village was extracted:
Aleksandrowice.
After the
Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire a modern
municipal division was introduced in the re-established
Austrian Silesia
Austrian Silesia, (historically also ''Oesterreichisch-Schlesien, Oesterreichisch Schlesien, österreichisch Schlesien''); cs, Rakouské Slezsko; pl, Śląsk Austriacki officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, (historically ''Herzogth ...
. The village as a municipality was subscribed to the
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
and
legal district
A judicial district or legal district denotes the territorial area for which a legal court (usually a district court) has jurisdiction.
By region Europe Austria
In texts concerning Austria, "judicial district" (german: Gerichtsbezirk) refers ...
of
Bielsko
Bielsko (german: Bielitz, cs, Bílsko) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that to ...
. According to the censuses conducted in 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1910 the population of the municipality grew from 2310 in 1880 to 2899 in 1910 with a majority being native German-speakers (between 84.7% and 91.9%) accompanied by a Polish-speaking minority (at most 15.3% in 1900) and a few Czech-speaking people (at most 5 or 0.2% in 1900 and 1910), in terms of religion in 1910 majority were
Protestants (64.2%), followed by
Roman Catholics
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 ...
(34.1%),
Jews
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 ...
(42 or 1.4%) and 8 persons adhering to yet another religion.
[Ludwig Patryn (ed): ]
Die Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 in Schlesien
', Troppau 1912. It was then considered to be a part of a German
language island
A language island (a calque of German ''Sprachinsel''; also language enclave, language pocket) is an enclave of a language that is surrounded by one or more different languages. The term was introduced in 1847. Peter Auer, Frans Hinskens, Paul Ker ...
around
Bielsko
Bielsko (german: Bielitz, cs, Bílsko) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that to ...
(German: ''Bielitz-Bialaer Sprachinsel'').
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 ...
, fall of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
,
Polish–Czechoslovak War
The Poland–Czechoslovakia War, also known mostly in Czech sources as the Seven-day war ( cs, Sedmidenní válka) was a military confrontation between Czechoslovakia and Poland over the territory of Cieszyn Silesia in early 1919.
After a vai ...
and the division of
Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( pl, Śląsk Cieszyński ; cs, Těšínské Slezsko or ; german: Teschener Schlesien or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český T ...
in 1920, it became a part of
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 ...
. It was then
annexed by
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
at the beginning of
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 ...
. After the war it was restored to
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 ...
. The local German-speaking population
fled or was expelled.
Stare Bielsko became administratively a part of Bielsko-Biała in 1977.
Sights
There is a gothic
Saint Stanislaus church in the district, dating from the 12th century, the oldest sacral building in the city. The second temple in Stare Bielsko is the Lutheran
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
church from 1818.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stare Bielsko
Bielsko-Biała
Neighbourhoods in Silesian Voivodeship
Cieszyn Silesia