Pszów is a town in
Wodzisław County
__NOTOC__
Wodzisław County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, on the Czech border. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government ref ...
,
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 ...
, with 13,896 inhabitants (2019). It is located on ''Rybnik Plateau'' (''Płaskowyż Rybnicki''), in close vicinity to such cities, as
Rybnik
Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; ) is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, around 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Katowice, the region's capital, and around 19 km (11 mi) from the Czech Republic, Czech border. It i ...
,
Wodzisław Śląski
Wodzisław Śląski (; , , , , ) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 47,992 inhabitants (2019). It is the seat of Wodzisław County.
It was previously in Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998); close to the border with the Czech ...
,
Racibórz
Racibórz (, , , ) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Racibórz County.
With Opole, Racibórz is one of the historic capitals of Upper Silesia, being the residence of the Duchy of Racibórz, Du ...
,
Radlin,
Rydułtowy,
Jastrzębie-Zdrój
Jastrzębie-Zdrój (, ) is a city in the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland with 86,632 inhabitants (2021). Its name comes from the Polish words ''jastrząb'' ("hawk") and ''zdrój'' ("spa" or "spring").
From 1861 until the 20th century, it w ...
and
Żory
Żory (; , , ) is a town and city powiat, county in the Silesian Voivodeship, located in southern Poland with 62,848 inhabitants (2021). It is located in the historic Upper Silesia region about southwest of Katowice.
Location
Żory is located in ...
. With the area of .
History
First mention of Pszów comes from 1265, when, called then ''Psov'', it was granted
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights (, , ; 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 cities and villages gr ...
. The first wooden church was built in the town in 1293. Across the centuries, Pszów shared the fate of
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...
, belonging to
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385.
Background
The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...
,
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...
,
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
,
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
, and
German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
. Following the
Silesian Uprisings
The Silesian Uprisings (; ; ) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic at the time. Ethnic Polish and Polish-Silesian insurrectionists, seeking to have the area tran ...
, in 1922 Pszów became part of
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 ...
.
Following the joint German-Soviet
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 ...
, which started
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 ...
in September 1939, it was
occupied by Germany until 1945. From September 1942 to November 1943, the occupiers operated a ''
Polenlager''
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, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
camp for Poles
expelled from the region.
Incorporated as a town in 1954, it now is a part of the
. ''Coal Mine Rydułtowy-Anna'' is located on the territory of Pszów and Rydułtowy. Between 1975 and 1994, Pszów was a district of Wodzisław Śląski.
On April 13, 2025 five people were killed and twelve others were injured in a fire at an illegal
hostel
A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...
.
Sport
Pszów has one sport club – Górnik Pszów, founded in 1924. It is most famous for boxers, such as
Andrzej Biegalski,
Bogdan Gajda (gold medal at
1977 European Amateur Boxing Championships), and
Zbigniew Kicka (bronze medal at
1974 World Amateur Boxing Championships).
Twin towns – sister cities
Pszów is
twinned with:
*
Hornà Benešov, Czech Republic
People
*
Julius Szmula (1829-1909), German politician, member of German Reichstag
References
External links
Official website
Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship
Wodzisław County
{{Silesian-geo-stub