Sławków is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, located in the Zagłębie Dąbrowskie (part of historic province of

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

), near

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

. Outer town of the

Metropolis GZM The Metropolis GZM (, formally in Polish (Upper Silesian-Dąbrowa Basin Metropolis)) is a metropolitan association () composed of 41 contiguous gminas, with a total population of over 2 million, covering most of the Katowice metropolitan area i ...

– a metropolis with a population of around 2 million. The population of the town is 7,017 (2019). It is the western terminus of the Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line.

Location

Sławków is located in western

, from

, and from

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, in ''Kraków-Silesia Upland'' (part of Lesser Poland Upland), on the Biała Przemsza river. The town borders

Dąbrowa Górnicza Dąbrowa Górnicza () is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula Rive ...

, Sosnowiec, Jaworzno and

Bukowno Bukowno is a town in Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. Before 1975 it belonged to the Kraków Voivodeship (1945–1975), Kraków Voivodeship and in 1975-1998 to the Katowice Voivodeship. Bukowno is located in western part of Less ...

. Apart from its historic center, Sławków has 25 smaller districts, and as much as 35% of the town is covered by forests. The name of the town comes from ancient Slavic given name '' Sławomir'' (''Sławko, Sławek''), and can be translated as ''The settlement of Sławko''.

History

Archaeological sites from the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages have been discovered giving evidence to early human settlement in the area. The first written record of the town's name comes from 1220. However, the exact date of its incorporation remains unknown. Indirect written sources indicate that it most probably took place between 1279 and 1286. This assumption is supported by two documents from the 13th century: a charter issued in 1279 by Prince Bolesław V the Chaste, in which the locality is still called a village (''villa episcopalis'') and an agreement dated 1286 between the Bishop of Kraków Paweł z Przemankowa and Prince Leszek II the Black, in which Sławków is already called a town (''civitas''). In the 1280s, Bishop Paweł z Przemankowa built here a defensive castle, located near western border of Lesser Poland. Due to rich deposits of lead and silver, and location on a merchant route from Kraków to

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, Sławków quickly developed, and in the 13th century it was one of the most important urban centers of Lesser Poland. In the 14th century its importance diminished, and later on, the town was destroyed several times in numerous wars (1433, 1434, 1455), as well as in a fire (1498). Furthermore, the deposits of silver and lead dried out. Until the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

, Sławków remained administrative center of properties of the Bishop of Kraków. After the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, Sławków was annexed by

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

and included within newly formed New Silesia, and in 1806 was annexed by the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

. After the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it passed to Russian-controlled

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

. In the mid-19th century first industrial enterprises were established here, and the town was connected with other locations in the area by a paved road. In 1870 Sławków lost its town privileges, to recover them in 1958. In 1885 it got a rail connection with

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

and Dąbrowa Górnicza, in 1887 with Sosnowiec. In the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

Sławków belonged to Olkusz County, part of Kielce Voivodeship. During the German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

at the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, on 9 September 1939, German troops committed a massacre of 98

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

in Sławków. After the war, until 1975, it belonged to Kraków Voivodeship, then was transferred to Katowice Voivodeship. Between 1977 and 1984, Sławków was a district of Dąbrowa Górnicza. At that time the town grew in size, due to the construction of

Katowice Steelworks Katowice Steelworks (Polish: ''Huta Katowice'') is a large steel plant, located in southern Poland, on the boundary between the historical provinces of Lesser Poland and Upper Silesia. The current name of the plant is ArcelorMittal Poland Dąbrow ...

. From 1999 to 2001, Sławków was part of

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

. When it was transferred to

in 2002, it was assigned to

Będzin County __NOTOC__ Będzin County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its ...

, despite being separated from the rest of that county by the cities of

and Sosnowiec.

Points of interest

* Medieval center of the town, with a market square, and a town hall from 1905 * 18th-century inn (austeria), * St. Nicholas Church, * complex of church parish (18th century), * hospital for miners (1758), * ruins of the castle of Bishops of Kraków (13th century, destroyed in 1455 and never rebuilt), * ''Lamus'' – manor house of Bishops of Kraków (18th century) * St. Jacob Church (1827) * St. Rozalia

wayside shrine A wayside shrine is a religious image, usually in some sort of small shelter, placed by a road or pathway, sometimes in a settlement or at a crossroads, but often in the middle of an empty stretch of country road, or at the top of a hill or mount ...

(1536)

Demographics

ImageSize = width:470 height:190 PlotArea = left:40 right:40 top:20 bottom:20 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify Colors = id:gray1 value:gray(0.9) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:8000 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1000 start:0 gridcolor:gray1 PlotData = bar:1600 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:555 width:15 text:555 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1790 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1592 width:15 text:1592 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1805 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1556 width:15 text:1556 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1817 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1590 width:15 text:1590 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1820 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:2003 width:15 text:2003 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1827 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:2026 width:15 text:2026 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1856 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:2393 width:15 text:2393 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1865 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:2682 width:15 text:2682 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1897 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:4226 width:15 text:4226 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1920 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:5155 width:15 text:5155 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1939 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:7801 width:15 text:7801 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1945 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:5302 width:15 text:5302 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1984 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:7200 width:15 text:7200 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:1991 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:6853 width:15 text:6853 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:2007 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:6866 width:15 text:6866 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px bar:2013 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:7100 width:15 text:7100 textcolor:blue fontsize:8px File:Slawkow Austeria.JPG, old inn from 1781 File:Slawkow ruiny zamku.jpg, ruins of the Sławków castle (13th century) File:Sławków, Rynek, muzeum i informacja turystyczna.jpg, market square southern frontage File:Sławków, ulica Poprzeczna.jpg, one of the streets File:Dworzec PKP w Sławkowie.JPG, railway station File:Poczta w Sławkowie 2011.JPG, post office File:Szkoła podstawowa w Sławkowie 2011.JPG, primary school

Broad gauge railway

Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa (known by its acronym ''LHS'', English: ''Broad gauge metallurgy line'') in Sławków is the longest

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

railway line in

. Except for this one line, and a few very short stretches near border crossings, Poland uses the

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

for its railways, unlike Russia and the other former countries of the Soviet Union. The line runs on a single track for almost from the Polish- Ukrainian border, crossing it just east of

Hrubieszów Hrubieszów (; ; , or ) is a town in southeastern Poland, with a population of around 18,212 (2016). It is the capital of Hrubieszów County within the Lublin Voivodeship. Throughout history, the town's culture and architecture was strongly shaped ...

, to Sławków. It is used only for freight transport, mainly

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

and coal. It is the westernmost broad gauge railway line in Europe that is connected to the broad gauge rail system of the countries which before 1991 constituted the Soviet Union. The line is managed by PKP Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa Spólka z o.o. company. Previous name of this line was ''Linia Hutniczo-Siarkowa'' (English: ''Metallurgy – Sulphur Line''), but after sulfur ceased to be transported on the line its name was changed.

Twin towns – sister cities

Sławków is twinned with: * Horní Slavkov, Czech Republic * Malý Slavkov, Slovakia * Messeix, France * Slavkov u Brna, Czech Republic

References

External links

Jewish Community in Sławków
on Virtual Shtetl
Official Website
Official city website {{Authority control Będzin County Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Enclaves and exclaves Sites of Nazi war crimes during the Invasion of Poland