Ruda Śląska (formerly ) is a city in
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
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. It is a district in the
Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of two million. It is in the
Silesian Highlands, on the
Kłodnica River (tributary of the
Oder).
It has been part of 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, it was 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, part of the
Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship. Ruda Śląska is one of the cities in the
Katowice urban area (population 2.7 million) and within the greater
Silesian metropolitan area (population 5,294,000). The population of the city is 135,008 (December 2021).
History
A large village is known to have existed at the location of the present day city center in 1243. The city name appears to indicate the awareness and perhaps exploitation of ores from early times.
The area underwent rapid industrialization (coal, steel,
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
) in the 19th and the beginning of 20th century. However, it remained a cluster of industrial settlements and villages until the 1950s, when it was administratively united. However, it never developed into a truly unified city.
Before the German
invasion of Poland and the 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, in 1939, German saboteurs carried out an attack in Ruda. Following the invasion, the area was under
German occupation from 1939 to 1945. Several Polish teachers from present-day Ruda Śląska were murdered by the Germans in
concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
as part of the ''
Intelligenzaktion
The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders which was committed against the Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) early in the ...
''. The Germans also established and operated a ''
Polenlager''
forced labour camp for Poles in the present-day district of
Kochłowice, and the E83 forced labour subcamp of the
Stalag VIII-B/344 prisoner-of-war camp in the present-day district of
Chebzie. The
Polish resistance movement was active in the area. In 1945, the German occupation ended, and the area was restored to Poland, although with a
Soviet-installed communist regime, which then stayed in power until the
fall of communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
in the 1980s.
After the fall of communism in 1989, the significant heavy industry was largely scaled down or restructured. The area has been transforming to a service-based economy. The well-known still operating coal mine is "Halemba".
Since 2007, Ruda Śląska has been a member of the
Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, the largest legally recognized urban area in Poland.
Transport and infrastructure
Significant roadways are
Highway A4 and the
Drogowa Trasa Średnicowa. There are several small railway stations, mainly on the line Katowice-Gliwice.
Since 1950, Ruda Śląska is the site of a transmission facility, which was used from 1950 to 1988 for medium-wave radio broadcasting.
Higher education
The neighboring cities of
Katowice and
Gliwice
Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capi ...
are large academic centers. Ruda Śląska is a seat of the Higher Academy of Commerce (Wyższa Szkoła Handlowa).
Sports
*
Zgoda Ruda Śląska – women's
handball team playing in
Polish Ekstraklasa Women's Handball League
The Polish Women's Superliga, also known as the PGNiG Women's Superliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top women's handball league in Poland. The current champion is MKS Lublin
2021-22 teams
* JKS Jarosław
* Piotrcovia Piotrków Trybunalsk ...
*Rugby Club IGLOO Ruda Śląska – men's rugby team playing in Polish Ekstraliga Rugby Seven's
Subdivisions
The city of Ruda Śląska is divided into following subdivisions:
Notable people
*
Karl Godulla (1781–1848), German industrialist
*
Günter Bialas (1907–1995), German composer
*
Paweł Cyganek (1913–1995), footballer
*
Ernest Pohl (1932–1995), footballer
*
Erwin Wilczek
Erwin Wilczek (20 November 1940 – 30 November 2021) was a Polish professional footballer who is most famous for his 1960s performances in both Górnik Zabrze and the Poland national team. He started as a forward, after some time he was moved ...
(born 1940), footballer
*
Marcin Baszczynski (born 1977), footballer
*
Marek Plawgo (born 1981), athlete
*
Otylia Jędrzejczak (born 1983), Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder in swimming
*
Kasia Moś (born 1987), singer and songwriter, represented Poland at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2017
*
Artur Sobiech (born 1990), footballer
*
Kamil Grabara (born 1999), footballer
*
Mateusz Bogusz (born 2001), footballer
*
Jakub Kamiński (born 2002), footballer
Ruda Śląska is the largest population center in Poland never to have been visited by
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democrati ...
. This is shown on a brass
plaque
Plaque may refer to:
Commemorations or awards
* Commemorative plaque, a plate or tablet fixed to a wall to mark an event, person, etc.
* Memorial Plaque (medallion), issued to next-of-kin of dead British military personnel after World War I
* Pl ...
on the side of the ratusz (town hall).
Twin towns – sister cities
Ruda Śląska is
twinned with:
*
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...
, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
*
Levice, Slovakia
*
Mank, Austria
*
Vibo Valentia
Vibo Valentia (; Monteleone before 1861; Monteleone di Calabria from 1861 to 1928; scn, label= Calabrian, Vibbu Valenzia or ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Calabria region of southern Italy, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the ca ...
, Italy
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruda Slaska
City counties of Poland
Cities and towns in Silesian Voivodeship
Socialist planned cities