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Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city 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 *Silesian ...
, on the
Kłodnica Kłodnica () is a river in the Upper Silesia region. It is about 75 km long and a right tributary of the Odra river. Along Kłodnica's shore are Polish cities of Katowice, Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Ruda Śląska, Gliwice, and Zabrze. There wa ...
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 ...
). It lies approximately 25 km west from
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 regional capital of the Silesian Voivodeship. Gliwice is the westernmost city of the Upper Silesian metropolis, a conurbation of 2.0 million people, and is the third-largest city of this area, with 175,102 permanent residents as of 2021. It also lies within the larger
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 ...
which has a population of about 5.3 million people and spans across most of eastern Upper Silesia, western Lesser Poland and the Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic. Gliwice is bordered by three other cities and towns of the metropolitan area:
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 ...
,
Knurów Knurów (; german: Knurow; szl, Knurōw) is a city near Katowice in Silesia, southern Poland. Knurów borders on the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of two million. Knurów is located in the Silesian Highlands, ...
and
Pyskowice Pyskowice (german: Peiskretscham) is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Borders on the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – metropolis with the population of 2 million. Located in the Silesian Highlands. It is situated in the ...
. It is one of the major
college town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...
s in Poland, thanks to the
Silesian University of Technology The Silesian University of Technology (Polish name: Politechnika Śląska; ) is a university located in the Polish province of Silesia, with most of its facilities in the city of Gliwice. It was founded in 1945 by Polish professors of the Lwow P ...
, which was founded in 1945 by academics of
Lwów University of Technology Lviv Polytechnic National University ( ua, Націона́льний університе́т «Льві́вська політе́хніка») is the largest scientific university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since its foundation in 1816, it has bee ...
. Over 20,000 people study in Gliwice. Gliwice is an important industrial center of Poland. Following an
economic transformation In economics, economic transformation refers to the continuous process of (1) moving labour and other resources from lower- to higher-productivity sectors (structural change) and (2) raising within-sector productivity growth. As such, economic tran ...
in the 1990s, Gliwice shifted from
steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...
and
coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
to automotive and machine industry. Founded in the 13th century, Gliwice is one of the oldest settlements in Upper Silesia, with a preserved Old Town core. Gliwice's most historical structures include St Bartholomew's Church (15th century), Gliwice Castle and city walls (14th century), Armenian Church (originally a hospital, 15th century) and All Saints Old Town Church (15th century). Gliwice is also known for its Radio Tower, where Gleiwitz incident happened shortly before the outbreak of World War II and which is thought to be the world's tallest wooden construction, as well as Weichmann Textile House, one of the first buildings designed by world-renowned architect
Erich Mendelsohn Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a German architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic Functionalism (architecture), functionalism in his projects for department ...
. Gliwice hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 which took place on 24 November 2019.


Etymology

In Slavic languages, the root or suggests terrain characterized by
loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...
or wetland. In South Slavic languages, or refers to mushrooms, with meaning little mushrooms.


History


Early history

Gliwice was first mentioned as a town in 1276, however, it was granted town rights earlier by Duke Władysław Opolski 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 ...
. It was located on a trade route connecting Kraków and Wrocław and was part of various Piast-ruled duchies of
fragmented Poland The period of rule by the Piast dynasty between the 10th and 14th centuries is the first major stage of the history of the Polish state. The dynasty was founded by a series of dukes listed by the chronicler Gall Anonymous in the early 12th ce ...
:
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 ...
until 1281,
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 ...
until 1322, from 1322 to 1342 Gliwice was a capital of an eponymous duchy, afterwards again part of the Duchy of Bytom until 1354, later it was also ruled by other regional Polish Piast dukes until 1532, although in 1335 it fell under the suzerainty of the
Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of Bo ...
, passing with that crown under suzerainty of the Austrian
Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
s in 1526. According to 14th-century writers, the town seemed defensive in character, when under rule of Siemowit of Bytom. In the Middle Ages the city prospered mainly due to trade and crafts, especially
brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...
. On 17 April 1433, Gliwice was captured by the Duke Bolko V, who joined the Hussites after they captured Prudnik.


Early Modern Age

After the dissolution of the
Duchy of Opole and Racibórz The Duchy of Opole and Racibórz ( pl, Księstwo opolsko-raciborskie, german: Herzogtum Oppeln und Ratibor) was one of the numerous Duchies of Silesia ruled by the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. It was formed in 1202 from the u ...
in 1532, it was incorporated as Gleiwitz 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 ...
. Because of the vast expenses incurred by the Habsburg monarchy during their 16th century wars against the Ottoman Empire, Gleiwitz was leased to Friedrich Zettritz for the amount of 14,000
thaler A thaler (; also taler, from german: Taler) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter of ...
s. Although the original lease was for a duration of 18 years, it was renewed in 1580 for 10 years and in 1589 for an additional 18 years. Around 1612, the Reformed Franciscans came from Kraków, and then their monastery and Holy Cross Church were built. The city was besieged or captured by various armies during the Thirty Years' War. In 1645 along with the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz it returned to Poland under the
House of Vasa The House of Vasa or Wasa Georg Starbäck in ''Berättelser ur Sweriges Medeltid, Tredje Bandet'' pp 264, 275, 278, 291–296 & 321 ( sv, Vasaätten, pl, Wazowie, lt, Vazos) was an early modern royal house founded in 1523 in Sweden. Its memb ...
, and in 1666 it fell to Austria again. In 1683 Polish King
John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...
stopped in the city before the
Battle of Vienna The Battle of Vienna; pl, odsiecz wiedeńska, lit=Relief of Vienna or ''bitwa pod Wiedniem''; ota, Beç Ḳalʿası Muḥāṣarası, lit=siege of Beç; tr, İkinci Viyana Kuşatması, lit=second siege of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mou ...
. In the 17th and 18th century, the city's economy switched from trading and brewing beer to clothmaking, which collapsed after the 18th-century Silesian Wars. During the mid 18th century Silesian Wars, Gleiwitz was taken from the Habsburg monarchy by the Kingdom of Prussia along with the majority of Silesia. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Gleiwitz was administered in the Prussian district of Tost-Gleiwitz within the Province of Silesia in 1816. The city was incorporated with Prussia into the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
in 1871 during the unification of Germany. In 1897 Gleiwitz became its own Stadtkreis, or urban district.


Industrialization

The first coke-fired
blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...
on the European continent was constructed in Gleiwitz in 1796 under the direction of
John Baildon John Baildon (11 December 1772 – 7 August 1846) was a Scotland, Scottish pioneer in metallurgy in continental Europe. Baildon was born in Larbert, Stirlingshire. In 1793, he came to Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian Province of Silesia, Silesia (i ...
. Gleiwitz began to develop into a major city through
industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
during the 19th century. The town's
ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...
fostered the growth of other industrial fields in the area. The city's population in 1875 was 14,156. However, during the late 19th century Gleiwitz had: 14 distilleries, 2
breweries A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...
, 5 mills, 7
brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
factories, 3 sawmills, a
shingle Shingle may refer to: Construction *Roof shingles or wall shingles, including: **Wood shingle ***Shake (shingle), a wooden shingle that is split from a bolt, with a more rustic appearance than a sawed shingle ***Quercus imbricaria, or shingle oak ...
factory, 8 chalk factories and 2 glassworks. Other features of the 19th century industrialized Gleiwitz were a gasworks, a
furnace A furnace is a structure in which heat is produced with the help of combustion. Furnace may also refer to: Appliances Buildings * Furnace (central heating): a furnace , or a heater or boiler , used to generate heat for buildings * Boiler, used t ...
factory, a beer bottling company, and a plant for asphalt and paste. Economically, Gleiwitz opened several banks, Savings and loan associations, and bond centers. Its tram system was completed in 1892, while its theater was opened in 1899; until World War II, Gleiwitz' theatre featured actors from throughout Europe and was one of the most famous theatres in the whole of Germany. Despite
Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationa ...
policies, the
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 Ce ...
established various Polish organizations, including the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society, and published local Polish newspapers.


20th century

According to the
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...
, Gleiwitz's population in 1905 was 61,324. By 1911, it had two Protestant and four Roman Catholic churches, a
synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
, a mining school, a convent, a
hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
, two orphanages, and a
barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...
. Gleiwitz was the center of the mining industry of Upper Silesia. It possessed a royal foundry, with which were connected machine factories and boiler works. Other industrialized areas of the city had other foundries, meal mills, and factories producing wire, gas pipes, cement, and paper. After the end of World War I, clashes between
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 Ce ...
and Germans occurred during the Polish insurrections in Silesia. Some ethnically Polish inhabitants of Upper Silesia wanted to incorporate the city into the
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
, which just regained independence. On 1 May 1919, a Polish rally was held in Gliwice. Seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict, the League of Nations held a plebiscite on 20 March 1921 to determine which country the city should belong to. In Gleiwitz, 32,029 votes (78.7% of given votes) were for remaining in Germany, Poland received 8,558 (21.0%) votes, and 113 (0.3%) votes were declared invalid. The total voter turnout was listed as 97.0%. This prompted another insurrection by Poles. The League of Nations determined that three Silesian cities: Gleiwitz (Gliwice), Hindenburg (Zabrze) and Beuthen (Bytom) would remain in Germany, and the eastern part of Upper Silesia with its main city of Katowice (Kattowitz) would join restored Poland. After delimiting the border in Upper Silesia in 1921, Gliwice found itself in Germany, but near the border with Poland – the nearby
Knurów Knurów (; german: Knurow; szl, Knurōw) is a city near Katowice in Silesia, southern Poland. Knurów borders on the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of two million. Knurów is located in the Silesian Highlands, ...
was already in Poland. During the interbellum the city witnessed not only
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 ...
, but also
Anti-French Anti-French sentiment (Francophobia or Gallophobia) is fear or antagonism of France, the French people, French culture, the French government or the Francophonie (set of political entities that use French as an official language or whose French-s ...
incidents and violence by the Germans. In 1920, local Polish doctor and city councillor , protested against the German refusal to treat
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
soldiers stationed in the city. In January 1922, he himself treated French soldiers shot in the city. On 9 April 1922, 17 Frenchmen died in an explosion during the liquidation of a German militia weapons warehouse in the present-day Sośnica district. Styczyński, who defended the rights of local Poles and protested against German acts of violence against Poles, was himself murdered by a German radical/militant on 18 April 1922. Nevertheless, various Polish organizations and enterprises 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 banks and a scout troop. On 9 June 1933, Gliwice was the site of the first conference of the Nazi 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 ...
in Upper Silesia. In a secret '' Sicherheitsdienst'' report from 1934, Gliwice was named one of the main centers of the Polish movement in western Upper Silesia. Polish activists were increasingly persecuted starting in 1937. An attack on a radio station in Gleiwitz on 31 August 1939, staged by the German secret police, served as a pretext, devised by Reinhard Heydrich under orders from Hitler, for Nazi Germany to invade Poland, which marked the start of the Second World War. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, on 4 September 1939, the '' Einsatzgruppe I'' entered the city to commit atrocities against Poles. After the invasion of Poland, the assets of local Polish banks were confiscated by Germany. The Germans formed a ''
Kampfgruppe In military history, the German term (pl. ; abbrev. KG, or KGr in usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or "battle group") can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the of Nazi Germa ...
'' unit in the city. It was also the cremation site of many of around 750 Poles murdered in Katowice in September 1939. During the war, the Germans operated a Nazi prison in the city, and established numerous
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 ...
camps, including a ''
Polenlager The ''Polenlager'' (, ''Polish Camps'') was a system of forced labor camps in Silesia that held Poles during the World War II Nazi German occupation of Poland. The prisoners, originally destined for deportation across the border to the new semi-c ...
'' camp solely for Poles, a camp solely for Jews, a penal "education" camp, a subcamp of the prison in Strzelce Opolskie, and six 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. ...
. From July 1944 to January 1945, Gliwice was the location of four subcamps 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. It con ...
. In the largest subcamp, whose prisoners were mainly Poles, Jews and Russians, nearly 100 either died of hunger, mistreatment and exhaustion or were murdered. During the evacuation of another subcamp, the Germans burned alive or shot 55 prisoners who were unable to walk. There are two mass graves of the victims of the early 1945 death march from Auschwitz in the city, both commemorated with monuments. On 24 January 1945, Gliwice was occupied by the Red Army as part of their Allied Occupation Zone. Under borders changes dictated by the Soviet Union at the Potsdam Conference, Gliwice fell inside Poland's new borders after Germany's defeat in the war. It was incorporated into Poland's Silesian Voivodeship on 18 March 1945, after almost 300 years of being outside of Polish rule. The Germans were displaced to the new borders of Germany. Some of Poles that were the from the Polish Kresy (Eastern Borderlands), that were incoporated by Soviet Union, settled in Gliwice, for example from the vicinity of
Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
(Lviv) and part of Eastern Galicia incorporated into the USSR (the western parts of Eastern Galicia with
Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...
, Sanok, Lubaczów,
Lesko Lesko (or ''Lisko'' until 1926; ua, Лісько - Lisko; la, Lescow, alias ''Olesco Lescovium''; yi, לינסק-Linsk) is a town in south-eastern Poland with a population of 5,755 (02.06.2009). situated in the Bieszczady mountains. It is ...
and the Western Bieszczady remained with Poland). Poles from other parts of Kresy also settled in Gliwice: from Volhynia, Polesie (Polesia), the Wilno region (Vilnius region) and the
Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...
region. In addition, Poles from other regions of Poland, including the vicinity of
Kielce Kielce (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern 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 bank ...
, Rzeszów, Łódź or Poznań, as well as Poles from other countries, settled in Gliwice.


Demographics


Population development

The earliest population estimate of Gliwice from 1880, gives 1,159 people in 1750. The same source cites population to have been 2,990 in 1810, 6,415 in 1838, and 10,923 in 1861. A census from 1858 reported the following ethnic makeup: 7,060 -
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 **Ger ...
, 3,566 -
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
, 11 - Moravian, 1 - Czech. Since the Industrial Revolution, Gliwice saw rapid economic growth which fuelled fast population increase. In 1890 Gliwice had 19,667 inhabitants, and this number has increased over twofold over the next 10 years to 52,362 in 1900. Gliwice gained its status of a large city (''
Großstadt 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 ori ...
'' in German) in 1927, when population reached 102,452 people. In 1945, with the approaching Red Army, a significant number of residents were either evacuated or fled the city at their own discretion. Following the Yalta Conference, Gliwice, along most of Silesia, was incorporated into communist Poland, and the remaining German population was expelled. Ethnic Poles, some of them themselves expelled from the Polish Kresy (which were incorporated into Soviet Union), started to settle down in Gliwice. Population estimates reached their pre-war levels in 1950, at 119,968 people. Gliwice's population peaked in 1988 at 223,403 inhabitants. As of December 31, 2016, Gliwice's population stood at 182,156 people, a decrease of 1,236 over the previous year. Gliwice faces a continuous population decline since 1988, which is credited to very low birth rates (exceeded by death rates) and suburbanisation.


Nationality, ethnicity and language

Historically, Gliwice was ethnically diverse, initially inhabited by
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 Ce ...
, later it had a
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 **Ger ...
majority as a result of German
colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
, with a significant autochthonous Polish minority. In the
Upper Silesian 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 bot ...
in 1921, 78.9 percent of voters opted for Germany (however 15.1 percent of the vote in Gliwice was cast by non-residents, who are believed to overwhelmingly vote for Germany across the region). However, in 1945 most of Germans were expelled or fled themselves, and the city was repopulated with Poles, mostly displaced from former Eastern Poland, annexed by the Soviet Union. Many of these new inhabitants were academics from the Lwów Polytechnic who created the
Silesian University of Technology The Silesian University of Technology (Polish name: Politechnika Śląska; ) is a university located in the Polish province of Silesia, with most of its facilities in the city of Gliwice. It was founded in 1945 by Polish professors of the Lwow P ...
. According to the
2011 Polish Census Polish census of 2011 ( pl, Narodowy Spis Powszechny 2011) was a census in Poland taken from 1 April to 30 June 2011. Results Population by voivodeships Source: National/ethnic identity The Census included two questions regarding national and et ...
, 93.7 percent of people in Gliwice claimed Polish nationality, with the biggest minorities being Silesians (or or both Poles and Silesians at the same time) at 9.7 percent (18,169 people) and Germans at 1.3 percent (2,525). 0.3 percent declared another nationality, and the nationality of 2.1 percent of people could not be established. These numbers do not sum up to 100 percent as responders were allowed to choose up to two nationalities. Most-common languages used at home were:
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
(97.7 percent), Silesian (2.3 percent),
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 **Ger ...
(0.7 percent) and English (0.4 percent).


Religion

Except for a short period immediately after Reformation, Gliwice has always had a Catholic majority, with sizeable Protestant and Jewish minorities. According to the population estimate in 1861, 7,476 people (68.4 percent) were Catholic, 1,555 (14.2 percent) Protestant, and 1,892 Jewish (17.3 percent, highest share in city history). Currently, as of 2011 census, 84.7 percent of inhabitants claim they belong to a religion. The majority – 82.73 percent – belongs to the Catholic Church. This is significantly lower than the Polish average, which is 89.6 and 88.3 percent, respectively. According to the Catholic Church in Poland, weekly mass attendance in the Diocese of Gliwice is at 36.7 percent of obliged, on par with Polish average. Other larger denominations include
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
(0.56 percent or 1,044 adherents) and
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
(0.37 percent or 701 adherents). Gliwice is the seat of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Gliwice The Diocese of Gliwice ( la, Glivicen(sis)) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Poland. Its episcopal see is located in the city of Gliwice. The Diocese of Gliwice is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesia ...
, which has 23 parish churches in the city. Gliwice is also the seat of the one of the three Armenian Church parishes in Poland (the other being in Warsaw and
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 ...
), which is subject to the Holy See directly. Other denominations present in the city include a Greek Catholic Church parish, an Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession parish, a Methodist parish, 9 Jehovah Witnesses halls (including one offering English-language services), several evangelical churches, a Buddhist temple and a Jewish prayer house.


Jews in Gliwice

Gliwice's Jewish population reached its highest number in 1929 at approx. 2,200 people, and started to decline in the late 1930s, as NSDAP gained power in Germany. In 1933 there were 1,803 Jews in the city, and this number has dropped by half to 902 in 1939, most of them perished in the war. Between 1933 and 1937, Jews of Upper Silesia enjoyed somewhat less legal persecution compared to Jews in other parts of Germany, thanks to the Polish-German Treaty of Protection of Minorities' Rights in Upper Silesia. This regional exception was granted thanks to the
Bernheim petition The Bernheim petition was a 1933 petition by a Jewish resident of Gleiwitz - German Upper Silesia, Franz Bernheim, to the League of Nations in protest at Nazi anti-Jewish legislation. The petition was made under the provisions of the 1922 German ...
that Gliwice citizen Franz Bernheim filed against Nazi Germany in front of the League of Nations. Only 25 Jews of the pre-war population lived through the war in the city, all of them being in mixed marriages with gentiles. Immediately after the war, Gliwice became a congregation point for Jews saved from The Holocaust, with population at around a 1,000 people in 1945. Since then, the number of Jews in Gliwice has started to decline as survivors moved to larger cities or emigrated to Israel, United States and other western counties. Currently, Gliwice's Jewish community is estimated at around 25 people and is part of the Katowice Jewish Religious Community. Gliwice has one Jewish prayer house, where religious services are held every
Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...
and on holidays. It is located in the house that the Jewish Religious Community elected in 1905. Previously, Jews in Gliwice prayed in the New Synagogue which was destroyed by Nazis during the Kristallnacht in 1938. Notable members of the Jewish community in Gliwice include: *
Wilhelm Freund Wilhelm Freund (January 27, 1806June 4, 1894) was a German Jewish philologist, born at Kempen. He received his education at Berlin and Breslau. For twenty years he was chiefly engaged in private tuition, but from 1855 to 1870, he was director of ...
(1806–1894), philologist and director of the Jewish school *
Oscar Troplowitz Oscar Troplowitz (18 January 1863 – 27 April 1918) was a German pharmacist and entrepreneur. Troplowitz trained at Heidelberg University and in 1890 he purchased Beiersdorf AG, which at the time was a chemist's shop and laboratory in Hamburg ...
(1863–1918), German pharmacist, owner of
Beiersdorf AG Beiersdorf AG is a German multinational company that manufactures and retails personal-care products and pressure-sensitive adhesives. Its brands include Elastoplast, Eucerin (makers of Aquaphor), Labello, La Prairie, Nivea, Tesa SE (Tesa ta ...
and inventor of Nivea Creme *
Eugen Goldstein Eugen Goldstein (; 5 September 1850 – 25 December 1930) was a German physicist. He was an early investigator of discharge tubes, the discoverer of anode rays or canal rays, later identified as positive ions in the gas phase including the h ...
(1850–1930), German physicist, discoverer of anode rays, sometimes credited for the discovery of the proton *
Julian Kornhauser Julian Kornhauser (born 20 September 1946 in Gliwice, Poland) is a Polish poet and literary critic. He was born to a Jews, Jewish father and a Catholic Church, Catholic mother, as a son of Jakub and Małgorzata Kornhauser. He is an author of poe ...
(b. 1946), Polish poet and father of current
first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...
Agata Kornhauser-Duda Agata Kornhauser-Duda (born 2 April 1972) is a Polish former teacher and the current First Lady of Poland. She is married to the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda. Background and family Kornhauser was born in Kraków, the child of Julian Kornhau ...
, born in Gliwice to a Jewish father and Polish Silesian mother from
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 ...


Sights and architecture

*Market Square (''Rynek'') with the Town Hall (''Ratusz''), Neptune Fountain and colourful historic townhouses, located in the Old Town *The Gliwice Radio Tower of ''Radiostacja Gliwicka'' ("Radio Station Gliwice") in
Szobiszowice Szobiszowice is a neighborhood of the Polish city of Gliwice in Upper Silesia, located in the central part of the city. History The village was first mentioned in 1276 through the divestiture of its owner Graf Peter von Slaventaw, who sold the v ...
is the only remaining radio tower of wood construction in the world, and with a height of 118 meters, is perhaps the tallest remaining construction made out of wood in the world. It is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland and now it is a branch of the local museum. * Piast Castle dates back to the Middle Ages and hosts a branch of the local museum. *Museum in Gliwice ('' Muzeum w Gliwicach''), a local museum * Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral, the cathedral church of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Gliwice The Diocese of Gliwice ( la, Glivicen(sis)) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Poland. Its episcopal see is located in the city of Gliwice. The Diocese of Gliwice is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesia ...
, and other historic churches *Medieval
fortified A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
Old Saint Bartholomew church The Old church of Saint Bartholomew is a fortified church in Gliwice in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. Originally, it was built in Romanesque style about 1232 and situated far outside the defensive walls of the city. In the 15th century, it ...
*Medieval town walls *
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
Holy Cross Church and Redemptorist monastery from the 17th century (former Reformed Franciscan monastery) *Piłsudski Square with a monument of pre-war Polish leader Józef Piłsudski *Chopin Park with a monument to the Polish composer
Fryderyk Chopin The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name. Its status in the Polish public can be compared to the American Grammy and the UK's BRI ...
and the Municipal Palm House *Various historic public buildings, including the Main Post Office, Voivodeship Administrative Court, the district court *Teatr Miejski (''Municipal Theatre'') * Chrobry Park *Monuments to Adam Mickiewicz and Tadeusz Kościuszko *Gliwice Trynek narrow-gauge station is a protected monument. The narrow-gauge line to Racibórz via Rudy closed in 1991 although a short section still remains as a museum line. *The Weichmann Textile House was built during the Summers of 1921 and 1922 . It was never referred to as Weichmann Textile House from its completion in Summer 1922 until its closing in 1943. Rather it was founded under the name Seidenhaus Weichmann (“ Silk House Weichmann) by a Jewish WWI veteran, Erwin Weichmann(1891–1976), who had been awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class by Germany. Erwin Weichmann a long time friend of
Erich Mendelsohn Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a German architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic Functionalism (architecture), functionalism in his projects for department ...
, commissioned the architect to design Seidenhaus Weichmann. Today a monument can be seen near the entrance to the bank, that now occupies the building. Seidenhaus Weichmann is a two-floor structure. The second floor was initially a bachelor's pad for Erwin Weichmann, as he did not marry until 1930. In 1936 the newly created Nuremberg Laws forced Erwin Weichmann to sell Seidenhaus Weichmann and move temporarily to Hindenberg (
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 ...
) before emigrating to the United States in July 1938. The individual, who had purchased Seidenhaus Weichmann in 1936, never saw a profit, as the economic strain of WWII severely reduced the market demand for nonessentials, which included the fine imported silks of sold by Seidenhaus Weichmann. Then in 1943, the purchaser of Seidenhaus was killed in an Allied bombing raid, which marked the end of Seidenhaus Weichmann.


Higher education and science

Gliwice is a major applied science hub for 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 is ...
. Gliwice is a seat of: *
Silesian University of Technology The Silesian University of Technology (Polish name: Politechnika Śląska; ) is a university located in the Polish province of Silesia, with most of its facilities in the city of Gliwice. It was founded in 1945 by Polish professors of the Lwow P ...
with about 32,000 students (''Politechnika Śląska'') * Akademia Polonijna of
Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...
, branch in Gliwice * Gliwice College of Entrepreneurship (''Gliwicka Wyższa Szkoła Przedsiębiorczości'') * Polish Academy of Sciences (''Polska Akademia Nauk'') ** Institute of Theoretical And Applied
Informatics Informatics is the study of computational systems, especially those for data storage and retrieval. According to ACM ''Europe and'' ''Informatics Europe'', informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which ...
** Institute of Chemical Engineering ** Carbochemistry branch * Other (commercial or government funded) applied research centers: **
Oncological Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...
Research Center (Centrum Onkologii) **
Inorganic Chemistry Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...
Research Institute (Instytut Chemii Nieorganicznej) ** Research Institute of Refractory Materials (Instytut Materiałów Ogniotrwałych) ** Research Institute for Non-Ferrous Metals (Instytut Metali Nieżelaznych) ** Research Institute for Ferrous
Metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
( pl, Instytut Metalurgii Żelaza) ** Welding Research Institute (Instytut Spawalnictwa)


Transport

The Polish north–south A1 and east–west A4 motorways, which are parts of the European routes E75 and E40, respectively, run through Gliwice, and their junction is located in the city. In addition the Polish
National roads National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
78 and 88 also run through the city.


Water transport

The
Gliwice Canal The Gliwice Canal ( pl, Kanał Gliwicki, german: Gleiwitzer Kanal) is a canal connecting the Oder (Odra) River to the city of Gliwice in the Silesian Voivodeship (Upper Silesian Industrial Region), Poland. Also known as the Upper Silesian Canal ...
(''Kanał Gliwicki'') links the harbour to the
Oder River 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 ...
and thus to the waterway network across much of Germany and to the Baltic Sea. There is also an older
Kłodnica Canal The Kłodnicki Canal ( pl, Kanał Kłodnicki) is a canal along the Kłodnica River in Upper Silesia, Poland between the Oder River and Gliwice. Constructed when the territory was part of Prussian Silesia, it was originally known as the Klodnitz Ca ...
(''Kanał Kłodnicki'') which is no longer operational.


Sports

*
Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. History The club wa ...
– 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 (since season 2008–09), 2019 Polish champions and 2016 runner–ups * Carbo Gliwice – 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 * Sośnica Gliwice – women's
handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
team playing in Polish Ekstraklasa Women's Handball League: 10th place in 2003/2004 season * Gliwickie Towarzystwo Koszykówki – men's basketball team * P.A. Nova Gliwice – men's futsal team playing in 1st league (4 times Champion of Poland) * Gliwice Cricket Club * K.S. Kodokan Gliwice – martial arts team and club * Gliwice LIONS – American Football team


Politics

The city's President (i.e. Mayor) is Adam Neumann. He succeeded Zygmunt Frankiewicz who was mayor for 26 years (1993–2019) before being elected as a Polish Senator. Gliwice has 21 city districts, each of them with its own ''Rada Osiedlowa''. They include, in alphabetical order: Bojków, Brzezinka, Czechowice, Kopernik, Ligota Zabrska, Łabędy, Obrońców Pokoju, Ostropa, Politechnika, Sikornik, Sośnica, Stare Gliwice, Szobiszowice, Śródmieście, Żwirki I Wigury, Trynek, Wilcze Gardło, Wojska Polskiego, Wójtowa Wieś, Zatorze, Żerniki.


Bytom/Gliwice/Zabrze constituency

Members of Parliament ( Sejm) elected from Bytom/Gliwice/Zabrze constituency include: Brzeziński Jacek (PO), Chłopek Aleksander (PiS), Gałażewski Andrzej (PO), Głogowski Tomasz (PO), Kaźmierczak Jan (PO), Martyniuk Wacław (LiD), Religa Zbigniew (PiS), Sekuła Mirosław (PO), Szarama Wojciech (PiS), Szumilas Krystyna (PO).


Notable people

*
John Baildon John Baildon (11 December 1772 – 7 August 1846) was a Scotland, Scottish pioneer in metallurgy in continental Europe. Baildon was born in Larbert, Stirlingshire. In 1793, he came to Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian Province of Silesia, Silesia (i ...
(1772–1846), Scottish engineer *
Helmut Bartuschek Helmut Bartuschek (25 December 1905 – 18 May 1984) was a German poet and translator of French literature. Life Born Gliwice/Oberschlesien, Bartuschek moved to Leipzig in 1922, where he passed the Abitur in 1925 and studied Romance languages a ...
(1905–1984), translator and poet * Horst Bienek (1930–1990), German author of novels about Upper Silesia * William Blandowski (1822–1878), German explorer, zoologist, photographer * Sebastian Boenisch (born 1987), Polish-German footballer who plays for the
Poland national football team The Poland national football team ( pl, Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) has represented Poland in men's international tournaments football competitions since their first match in 1921. The team is controlled by the Polish Football Associ ...
* Lothar Bolz (1903–1986), German politician, foreign affairs minister of the communist German Democratic Republic *
Agata Buzek Agata Bronisława Buzek (born 20 September 1976) is a Polish actress and model. Agata, the daughter of Polish politician, former Prime Minister of Poland and President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, was born in Pyskowice in Gliwice Cou ...
(born 1976), Polish actress, daughter of
Jerzy Buzek Jerzy Karol Buzek (born 3 July 1940) is a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament from Poland. He has served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001, since being elected to the European Parliament in 2004, he served as Pre ...
*
Jerzy Buzek Jerzy Karol Buzek (born 3 July 1940) is a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament from Poland. He has served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001, since being elected to the European Parliament in 2004, he served as Pre ...
(born 1940), professor of chemistry, Prime Minister of Poland 1997–2001,
MEP MEP may refer to: Organisations and politics * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka * Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...
since 2004 and president of European Parliament since 2009 *
Ernst Degner Ernst Degner (born Ernst Eugen Wotzlawek on 22 September 1931 in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Germany - died 10 September 1983 in Arona, Tenerife, Spain) was a professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Eastern Germany. Degner was noted fo ...
(1931–1983), German Grand Prix motorcycle racer and designer *
Robert Dziekański The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
, Polish immigrant to Canada who was tasered 5 times and killed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at Vancouver International Airport *
Gottfried Bermann Fischer Gottfried Bermann, later Gottfried Bermann Fischer (31 July 1897, Gleiwitz, Silesia – 17 September 1995, Camaiore), was a German publisher. He owned the S. Fischer Verlag. Biography After serving as an officer in World War I, Bermann Fischer ...
(1897–1995), German publisher *
Christian Ganczarski Christian Ganczarski (born 1966, in Gliwice, Poland) is a German citizen of Polish ancestry who converted to a radical Islamic group. Nicolas Sarkozy, then French Interior Minister, alleged Ganczarski was a top Al-Qaeda leader who had been in Afgh ...
(born 1966), German citizen of Polish descent, convert to
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and convicted terrorist *
Eugen Goldstein Eugen Goldstein (; 5 September 1850 – 25 December 1930) was a German physicist. He was an early investigator of discharge tubes, the discoverer of anode rays or canal rays, later identified as positive ions in the gas phase including the h ...
(1850–1930), German physicist * Sophia Grojsman (Khodosh) (born 1945), internationally famous American perfumer *
Hans Hanke Johannes Reinhold Hanke (13 March 1912 – 13 August 1981) was an '' SS-Obersturmbannführer'' (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen SS during World War II. He possibly received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (''Ritterkreuz''), the highest awa ...
(1912–1981), German military officer (World War Two) *
Rudolf Herrnstadt Rudolf Herrnstadt (18 March 190328 August 1966) was a German journalist and communist politicianmost notable for his anti-fascist activity as an exile from the Nazi German regime in the Soviet Union during the war and as a journalist in East Germ ...
(1903–1966), German
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
* Adalbert Kelm (1856–1939), architect, important for the enlargement of the town in the 1890s. Famous for the Naval Academy Mürwik in
Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...
- Mürwik. *
Wojciech Kocyan Wojciech Kocyan is a Polish pianist. He is most well known for his performances of Chopin, and for his 2001 album, which was named as one of the 50 best classical recordings ever made by Gramophone in 2007. Kocyan earned a master's degree with Joh ...
, Polish pianist *
Włodzimierz Lubański Włodzimierz 'Włodek' Leonard Lubański (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1947 in Gliwice-Sośnica) is a former Polish football striker, the second all-time highest goal scorer for the Polish national team. For his national team, L ...
(born 1947), Polish football player *
Adam Matuszczyk Adam Matuszczyk (; born 14 February 1989) is a Polish footballer who plays for 1. FC Düren and was a member of the Poland national team. Naturally a left midfielder, he can also be deployed as a defensive midfielder. Career Matuszczyk began h ...
(born 1989), Polish football player *
Zbigniew Messner Zbigniew Stefan Messner (; 13 March 1929 – 10 January 2014) was a Communist economist and politician in Poland. His ancestors were of German Polish descent who had assimilated into Polish society. In 1972, he became Professor of Karol Adamiecki ...
(1929–2014), professor and former rector of Economic Academy in Katowice, deputy prime minister of
People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...
1983–1985, prime minister 1985–1988 *
Gustav Neumann Gustav Richard Ludwig Neumann (15 December 1838 – 16 February 1881) was a German chess master. Neumann was born in Gleiwitz in the Prussian Province of Silesia. In matches he lost to Louis Paulsen (+3 –5 =3) at Leipzig 1864, and defeate ...
(1838–1881), German chess player * Lukas Podolski (born 1985), Polish-German football player * Wojciech Pszoniak (1942–2020), Polish film and theatre actor * Tadeusz Różewicz (1921–2014), Polish poet and writer *
Zofia Rydet Zofia Rydet (May 5, 1911 – August 24, 1997) was a Polish photographer, best known for her project "Sociological Record", which aimed to document every household in Poland. She began working on "Sociological Record" in 1978 at the age of 67, and ...
(1911–1997), Polish photographer * Stanisław Sojka (born 1959), Polish musician * Oskar Troplowitz (1863–1918), German pharmacist and owner of Beiersdorf AG, inventor of Nivea and other products *
Richard Wetz Richard Wetz (26 February 1875 – 16 January 1935) was a German late Romantic composer best known for his three symphonies. In these works, he "seems to have aimed to be an immediate continuation of Bruckner, as a result of which he actually ...
(1875–1935), German composer *
Erich Peter Wohlfarth Erich Peter Wohlfarth (December 7, 1924 in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia – March 1988, in London) was a theoretical physicist. He is known for his work in magnetism, in particular the Stoner–Wohlfarth model he developed together with his teacher E.C ...
(1924–1988), German physicist *
Leo Yankevich Leo Yankevich (30 October 1961 – 11 December 2018) was an American poet and the editor of '' The New Formalist''. Early life and education Leo Yankevich grew up and attended high school in Farrell, Pennsylvania, a small steel town in western ...
(1961–2018), American poet and translator * Adam Zagajewski (1945–2021), Polish poet * Krystian Zimerman (born 1956), Polish pianist and conductor


Twin towns – sister cities

Gliwice is twinned with: * Bottrop, Germany * Dessau-Roßlau, Germany * Doncaster, England, United Kingdom * Kežmarok, Slovakia *
Nacka Nacka () is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to a 16th-century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mil ...
, Sweden * Salgótarján, Hungary * Valenciennes, France


See also

* Gliwice County *
Gliwice incident The Gleiwitz incident (german: Überfall auf den Sender Gleiwitz; ) was a false flag attack on the radio station ''Sender Gleiwitz'' in Gliwice, Gleiwitz (then Germany and now Gliwice, Poland) staged by Nazi Germany on the night of 31 August 193 ...


References


Sources

* *


External links


Um.gliwice.pl

Web.archive.org

Jewish Community in Gliwice
on Virtual Shtetl
Polsl.pl

Gliwice.pl

Gliwice.com

Gliwice.zobacz.slask.pl

Forumgliwice.com

Gliwice.info.pl

Aegee-gliwice.org
, Travel Guide * About the labor market in Gliwice (PL)
Oferty pracy w Gliwicach


Further reading

* Max Lamla: ''Merkwürdiges aus meinem Leben (1917–1999)'', Saarbrücken 2006, * Boleslaw Domanski (2000) "The Impact of Spatial and Social Qualities on the Reproduction of Local Economic Success: The Case of the Path Dependent Development of Gliwice", in: Prace Geograficne, zeszyt 106, Cracow, pp 35–54. * B. Nietsche, ''Geschichte der Stadt Gleiwitz'' (1886) * Seidel, ''Die königliche Eisengiesserei zu Gleiwitz'' (Berlin, 1896) {{Authority control Cities in Silesia City counties of Poland Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship Nazi war crimes in Poland