Świętochłowice (; german: Schwientochlowitz; szl, Świyntochłowice) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

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

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 populou ...

, 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 popu ...

. It is also the central district of the

Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union The Metropolis GZM ( pl, Metropolia GZM, formally in Polish Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia) is a metropolitan unit composed of 41 contiguous municipalities in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. The seat of the metropolitan council i ...

metropolis, with a population of 2 million, and is located 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 *Silesia ...

, on the

Rawa River Rawa (pronounced: ; older name ''Roździanka'') is a minor river (about 19.6 kilometres in total length) in Silesia, Poland.http://www.bspnews.kiss.pl/bspnews/991/991-34.htm#RAWA Rawa River Project It is the largest right tributary of the Brynic ...

(tributary of the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

). It is situated in the

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 ...

since its formation in 1999, previously in

Katowice Voivodeship Katowice Voivodeship () can refer to one of two political entities in Poland: Katowice Voivodeship (1), initially "Silesian-Dabrowa Voivodeship" ( pl, województwo śląsko-dąbrowskie), was a unit of administrative division and local government ...

, and before then, of the

Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one' ...

. Świętochłowice is one of the cities of the 2.7 million conurbation –

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 Voi ...

and within a 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 administrative ...

populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 49,762 (2019).

History

Initially, Świętochłowice was divided into two parts: the older Małe Świętochłowice (''Little Świętochłowice'') and newer Duże Świętochłowice (''Big Świętochłowice''), which date back to the 12th and 13th centuries, respectively. The oldest known mention of Świętochłowice comes from 1313, while the present-day district of Chropaczów was mentioned in 1295. Both settlements were located within the

Duchy of Bytom The Duchy of Bytom ( pl, Księstwo Bytomskie) or Duchy of Beuthen (german: Herzogtum Beuthen) was one of many Silesian duchies. It was established in Upper Silesia about 1281 during the division of the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz among the sons o ...

of fragmented

and remained under the rule of the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branch ...

until 1532, as part of the duchies of Bytom and

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 l ...

, before passing to the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

.''Miejska strategia rozwiązywania problemów społecznych Świętochłowic na lata: 2006–2015'', Świętochłowice 2005, p. 13 (in Polish)
/ref> The village received

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...

at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. Until the end of the 17th century, the village of Świętochłowice was owned by the families of Świętochłowski, Paczyński, Kamieński, Rotter, Skall, Myszkowski and Guznar. Pomnik Powstanca Slaskiego w Chropaczowie

Pomnik Powstanca Slaskiego w Chropaczowie

In 1742 the settlement was annexed by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

and from 1871 to 1922 it was part of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. Both parts of Świętochłowice merged in 1790. In the 19th and first part of the 20th century the area rapidly industrialized (based on the numerous local resources, including coal and zinc), leading to the transformation of the village into an industrial settlement. In the early 20th century numerous Polish organizations were established there. During the Silesian Uprisings the present-day districts Lipiny and were captured by the Polish insurgents in 1920. In the 1921

Upper Silesia plebiscite The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out on 20 March 1921 to determine ownership of the province of Upper Silesia between Weimar Germany and Poland. The region was ethnically mixed with ...

, in Świętochłowice 51.9% voted for Germany, while in Chropaczów 70.0% voted for Poland, and in Lipiny and Piaśniki combined 56.4% voted for Poland. In 1922 all named settlements were integrated with the re-established

Polish state 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 populou ...

. In 1929 Zgoda became part of Świętochłowice as its new district. In 1939 Świętochłowice was granted

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

with effect from January 1, 1940, however, due to outbreak 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the actual implementation of this law did not take place until 1947. In early September 1939, during the German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...

which started World War II, Świętochłowice was the site of Polish defense, also by the civilian population. Already on September 3–4, 1939, ''

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 previo ...

'' and ''

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, rega ...

'' troops murdered 10

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...

in Świętochłowice (see ''

Nazi crimes against the Polish nation Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occupation of Poland in World War II, consisted of the murder ...

''). Afterwards, the town was occupied by Germany. In 1943, the Germans established the

Eintrachthütte concentration camp Eintrachthütte concentration camp (german: Arbeitslager Eintrachtshütte) was a labour subcamp of the German concentration camp Auschwitz, opened in the Zgoda district in Świętochłowice in German-occupied Poland on 26 May 1943, in operatio ...

, a

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 ...

subcamp Subcamps (german: KZ-Außenlager), also translated as satellite camps, were outlying detention centres (''Haftstätten'') that came under the command of a main concentration camp run by the SS in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The Nazi ...

of the

Auschwitz concentration 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. I ...

. In early 1945 it was occupied by the Soviets, who established the Zgoda labour camp. After the war once again restored to Poland. In 1951 its city limits were extended with Chropaczów and Lipiny becoming new districts.

Location

Świętochłowice is situated the middle of a highly populated area of

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

and is part of the

, the largest urban center in Poland and one of the largest in Europe.

Population

Currently (2013) Świętochłowice has about 53,000 inhabitants and is thus the city county with the highest

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

in Poland. The population of the entire urban area is about 3.5 million.

Climate and soil

Świętochłowice is situated in Silesian-Krakowian climate-zone. The annual precipitation totals to about . The wettest month is July and the driest February. The average temperature is approximately in January and in July. Brunate and swamp soils predominate in Świętochłowice.

Districts

Świętochłowice has five administrative subdivisions: * Centrum * Chropaczów * Lipiny * * Zgoda

Sights

The , devoted to the history of the Silesian Uprisings (1919–1921), is located in Świętochłowice. In addition, the city has historical industrial architecture, town halls, churches, tenement houses and

familok Familok is a type of house for many families, designed for workers of the heavy industry, mainly coal miners, built at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century in the cities and towns of Silesia. "Familok" is a Silesian w ...

s. Muzeum Powstań Śląskich SW.jpg, Silesian Uprisings Museum Swietochlowice town hall.jpg, Town Hall Świętochłowice kościół ewangelicki im. Jana Chrzciciela DSC 7508.jpg, Church of St. John the Baptist Swietochlowice Donnersmarck.jpg, Former mine and steelwork headquarters

Sport

The most popular sport in Świętochłowice is

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

. The Skałka Stadium is located in the Centrum.

Sport clubs

Śląsk Świętochłowice Śląsk Świętochłowice (full name: Miejski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Świętochłowice (Silesia Świętochłowice City Sports Club) is one of the Polish sports clubs from Upper Silesia, strongly connected with the region, which is reflected in its ...

–

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 ...

, speedway * Naprzód Lipiny –

Czarni Świętochłowice Czarni, means "The Blacks" in the Polish language, and is a name commonly given to Polish sports teams, including: *Czarni Dęblin, men's association football club *Czarni Jasło, men's association football club *Czarni Lwów, men's association foo ...

–

Sportspeople of Świętochłowice in Olympic Games

*1928 –

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

**football –

Teodor Peterek Teodor Peterek (nicknames: ''Mietlorz'' and ''Teo''; 7 November 1910, in Świętochłowice – 12 January 1969, in Słupiec), was a Polish soccer player from the interwar period, forward, represented Ruch Chorzów and the Polish national team. ...

**gymnastics – Paweł Galus, Franiciszek Pampuch, Teofil Rost,

Franciszek Tajstra Franciszek () is a masculine given name of Polish origin (female form Franciszka). It is a cognate of Francis, Francisco, François, and Franz. People with the name include: *Edward Pfeiffer (Franciszek Edward Pfeiffer) (1895–1964), Polish ge ...

*1936 –

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

**football – Hubert Gad, Teodor Piec,

**gymnastics –

Klara Sierońska-Kostrzewa Klara may refer to: * Klara, a female given name, see Clara (given name) * Klara (radio), a classical-music radio station in Belgium * Klara (singer), birth name Klára Vytisková (born 1985), Czech singer * Klara (Stockholm), an area of central S ...

*1952 –

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

**football – Ewald Cebula **swimming – Gotfryd Gremlowski *1956 –

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

**gymnastics –

Małgorzata Błaszczyk-Wasilewska Małgorzata () is a common Polish female given name derived through Latin ''Margarita'' from Ancient Greek μαργαρίτης (margarítēs), meaning "pearl". It is equivalent to the English "Margaret". Its diminutive forms include Małgośka, M ...

*1960 –

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

**football –

Roman Letner Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

*1964 –

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

**gymnastics – Gerda Bryłka-Krajciczek, Małgorzata Wilczek-Rogoń *1976 –

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

**fencing –

Barbara Wysoczańska Barbara Wysoczańska (née Szeja).Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Adelige Häuser XXX, Limburg a. d. Lahn 2008, vol 145, pp. 412-420, ISBN 978-3-7980-0845-8, OCLC 1570546 (born 12 August 1949) is a Polish fencer. She won a bronze medal in th ...

**weightlifting – Leszek Skorupa *1976 –

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...

**ice-hockey – Kordian Jajszczok *1980 –

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

**fencing –

Politics

The President of Świętochłowice is Daniel Beger. He was elected in 2018.

Notable people

* Jacob Sonderling (1878–1964), German-American Rabbi *

Arthur Goldstein Arthur Goldstein (18 March 1887 in Lipine, German Empire – 1943 in Auschwitz, German-occupied Poland) was a German Jewish journalist and communist politician. Life Goldstein joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1914, and was ...

(1887–1943), German journalist and communist politician * Ewald Cebula (1917–2004), footballer *

(1910–1969), footballer *

Salomon Morel Salomon Morel (November 15, 1919 – February 14, 2007) was an officer in the Ministry of Public Security in the Polish People's Republic. Morel was a commander of concentration camps run by the NKVD and communist authorities until 1956. Aft ...

(1919–2007), commandant of Zgoda labour camp * Paweł Waloszek (1938–2018), motorcycle speedway rider * Krzysztof Hanke (born 1957), actor and satiris

Twin towns – sister cities

Świętochłowice is twinned with: * Heiloo, Netherlands *

Laa an der Thaya Laa an der Thaya is a town in the Mistelbach District of Lower Austria in Austria, near the Czech border. The population in 2016 was 6224. Geography The town is located in the northern Weinviertel region, near the Thaya river, directly at th ...

, Austria * Nový Jičín, Czech Republic *

Rimavská Sobota Rimavská Sobota (; hu, Rimaszombat, german: Großsteffelsdorf) is a town in southern Slovakia, in the Banská Bystrica Region, on the Rimava river. It has approximately 24,000 inhabitants. The town is a historical capital of Gömör és Kishont ...

, Slovakia *

Tai'an Tai'an () is a prefecture-level city in Western Shandong Province of the People's Republic of China. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to ...

, China *

Tiszaújváros Tiszaújváros (; sk, Nové Mesto nad Tisou) is an industrial town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary, south-east of Miskolc, near the river Tisza. History Tiszaújváros as a town owes its existence to the industrialization wav ...

, Hungary *

Torez Chystiakove ( uk, Чистякове, ), formerly Torez ( uk, Торез), is a city of regional significance in the Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine. The city is a center of the regional coal industry and much of its economy relies on mining industr ...

, Ukraine

References

External links

Official web

Jewish Community in Świętochłowice
on Virtual Shtetl
Świętochłowician discussion forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swietochlowice City counties of Poland Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Province of Silesia Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939) Nazi war crimes in Poland