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, see Przemsza).

Even though Dąbrowa Górnicza belongs to the historic province of Lesser Poland, it now is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship. Dąbrowa Górnicza is one of the cities of the Katowice urban area (2.7 million people), and within the greater Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area (5.2 million people). The population of the city itself as of December 2021 is 116,971.

Nature

In Dąbrowa there are many green areas. Total area of local lakes is over 800 hectares, there are 180 hectares of parks (0.96%) and 4100 hectares of forests (21.7%). Particularly noteworthy is the complex of Pogoria (lakes). Furthermore, part of the Eagles' Nests Landscape Park reaches the outskirts of the city.

The largest desert in Poland and in all of Central Europe, the Błędów Desert, lies within the city limits.

Locality and districts

Dąbrowa Górnicza is the largest city of the province and the 9th largest in Poland in terms of territory, with total area of 188 square kilometers. The city lies among the hills, at 258 to 390 meters above sea level. Dąbrowa Górnicza borders Będzin County, Zawiercie County, Olkusz County and the city of Sosnowiec. At the same time it borders the cities and towns of Sosnowiec, Będzin, Siewierz and Sławków.

Districts

The city is divided into several districts: Antoniów, Błędów, Bugaj, Centrum, Dziewiąty, Gołonóg, Korzeniec, Kuźniczka Nowa, Łazy Błędowskie, Łęka, Łęknice, Łosień, Marianki, Mydlice, Okradzionów, Piekło, Ratanice, Reden, Sikorka, Strzemieszyce Małe, Strzemieszyce Wielkie, Trzebiesławice, Trzydziesty, Tucznawa, Ujejsce, Ząbkowice. From 1977–1984, the town of Sławków was a district of Dąbrowa Górnicza.

Etymology

The place name ''Dąbrowa'', is derived from the Polish word ''dąb'' (oak), and denotes an ''oak grove'', as the territory of the original village is believed to have been covered by oak forests during the early days of its existence. From the 19th century, the settlement grew to be an important coal-mining center, and its name was supplemented by the adjective ''Górnicza'' (which refers to mining) in 1919, to distinguish it from such towns, as Dąbrowa Tarnowska and Dąbrowa Białostocka.

History

Early history

In the first half of the 18th century, ''Dąbrowa'' was a small agricultural settlement belonging to the Będzin parish of the Kraków Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province in the Kingdom of Poland. It was first mentioned on 25 July 1726, when the parish priest of Holy Trinity Church at Będzin noted a woman named Anna Lisowa from Dąbrowa. At the 1787 census of the Archdiocese of Kraków, the settlement numbered 184 inhabitants.

The districts of Dąbrowa, which for centuries had comprised separate villages, are much older. Trzebieszowice was first mentioned in the 12th century; Błędów was mentioned by Bishop of Kraków Iwo Odrowąż in the year 1220; Strzemieszyce and Ujejsce were mentioned in the 14th century; Gołonóg in the 15th century; and Ząbkowice was described by Polish historian Jan Długosz in the 15th century.

Industrial growth

After the Third Partition of Poland (1795), Dąbrowa was annexed by Prussia and incorporated into its newly formed province of New Silesia. The Prussians discovered rich deposits of coal here and the first coal mine was established by Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden in 1796. In 1799, first detailed map of this area was created, on which a settlement called ''Stara Dąbrowa'' is presented. It was located along a road from Kraków to Upper Silesia. The coal mine established by von Reden attracted workers, and a settlement was soon established around it.

In 1807, Dąbrowa was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw. After the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it became part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland. In 1846, the ''Cieszkowski Coal Mine'' was opened, named after Józef Cieszkowski. The ''Zinc Plant Konstanty'' operated as early as 1823, and the ''Huta Bankowa'' steel works, which is still in operation, was built in Dąbrowa Górnicza in 1834.

The first primary school was opened in 1820, and first Roman Catholic church of St. Alexander was built in the 1870s.

During the January Uprising, in February 1863, Dąbrowa was captured by Polish insurgents after their victory in the Battle of Sosnowiec nearby.

In 1909, the gmina of Dąbrowa Górnicza was established by Tsarist authorities. Even though its population reached 30,000, the Russians were reluctant to grant Dąbrowa town charter, so it remained a village until 18 August 1916, when Austrian authorities, which during World War I occupied southern part of Congress Poland, agreed to establish the town. After the war, in 1918, Poland regained independence and control of the city. 15 local Polish boy scouts were killed in fights for Polish independence in 1914–1920. In the Second Polish Republic, Dąbrowa belonged to Kielce Voivodeship. According to the 1921 census, the town's population was 89.7% Polish, 9.8% Jewish and 0.2% French.

World War II

In September 1939, in the beginning of World War II, the city was invaded by Germany, and shortly afterwards the German '' Einsatzgruppe I'' operated in the city and committed various crimes against the Polish population. Also in September 1939, Wehrmacht troops carried out a massacre of 14 Polish boy scouts from nearby villages in the present-day district of Tucznawa. Poles from Dąbrowa Górnicza were among the victims of massacres committed by the Germans in other places, including Sosnowiec on September 4, 1939 and Celiny on June 4, 1940. Under German occupation the city was annexed directly to Germany, and included within the Upper Silesia Province. At least 14 Polish policemen from Dąbrowa were murdered by the Russians in the large Katyn massacre in April–May 1940. Further executions of Poles were carried out by the Germans during the war. Over 40 local Polish boy and girl scouts were killed by the Germans in various places, including the Auschwitz concentration camp and during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, and over 60 local miners were also murdered in Auschwitz.

In October 1941, the occupiers expelled over 100 Poles, who were then sent to forced labour either to Germany or to various factories in the region, while their houses were handed over to German colonists as part of the ''Lebensraum'' policy. The Germans also operated the E513 and E543 forced labour subcamps of the Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp at the local coal mine. More than 4,000 local Jews were enclosed in a ghetto, and later murdered in death camps. German occupation ended in 1945.

Recent history

Together with all of Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, the city was transferred to Katowice Voivodeship after World War II, in 1945.

In 1968, the local church of Saint Mary of the Angels was visited by the Primate of Poland

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